Dear Praying Supporters,
“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is
to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But REJOICE,
inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall
be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” I Pet. 4:12-13
These verses were a real encouragement to us a few weeks ago!
We have been fighting sickness for a month now. Chad, LeAnn and I have all been
having malaria and parasites. Just when we think we are getting better then it
hits us again… we have treated for malaria twice. The beginning of the week I
went to the hospital here in Sogakope to have a blood test done to see if there
is still malaria parasites in my blood. And to see what the Doc. had to say
about it. The Doc. wasn’t very informative and the blood test came back
negative. We have just been trying to take it easy and not do much… just the
bare necessities. J
When you have 3 active children and 3 lethargic adults it takes a lot of the grace
of God to get through each day! But we are very grateful that the children have
not been sick so far! They were complaining of stomach aches and had diarrhea
so we are treating them for parasites. But other than that they have been very
healthy! We had treated Jarren for parasites a couple of months ago when he had
some blood and mucus in his stool.
Thank you to all who prayed for our water situation! It has
greatly improved since the rains have been coming regularly! We get water just
about every night and sometimes it is still flowing in the morning… which is
nice for our close neighbors who come and fetch water from our outdoor faucet .
Elayna just turned 4 the beginning of this month! She is
very happy to be 4 and to be growing bigger. Her only disappointment is that
she isn’t growing as fast as she would like! I had been doing school with her
almost every morning… until I got sick and couldn’t. Now she asks me almost
everyday when we can do school again! She loves to learn and is a very quick
learner. She is also a very big helper and does the breakfast dishes most
mornings. She is learning to be cheerful in everything!
Chace is 2 ½ and is a very active boy. He loves to climb,
run, jump, and most everything else that little boys like to do! He has been
pretty grumpy the last while as he is cutting his 2 year old molars. But they
are almost through and we will all be happy when they are finally finished!
Chace loves helping his Daddy or just watching whatever he does. It is such a temptation
to follow him into the garden… but the rule is he has to stay out because he
doesn’t know the plants well enough to not step on them! J
Jarren is our smiley little baby… who is growing up way too
fast! He is 5 months old now and just popped through his first tooth! He seemed
to be teething for months….. sucking and slurping on all kinds of things. He is on the verge of crawling, he gets up on
his hands and knees and bunny hops with his knees but doesn’t move his hands.
Or he’ll move his hands forward but not his knees! Very soon he’ll get coordinated
and be crawling everywhere and getting into everything!!!
Language learning has been at a stand still for about 6
weeks now due to either us or our teacher being sick with malaria! We hope to
resume classes as soon as Bro. Phil Petre’s visit is over.
Bro. Phil and his wife Brenda along with Juli Yoder are all
planning to arrive in Ghana tomorrow [Sat.] Bro Phil’s will be here for about 2
weeks and will take their daughter LeAnn back with them. And Juli Yoder will be
our new helper for the next 3 months! We are very excited to have them come!
Chad has taken numerous trips to Accra to work on paperwork.
And so far things are not going as smooth as we had hoped! So please continue
to pray that God would soften the official’s hearts and that His will would be
accomplished concerning Light and Hope Christian Missions!
We thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for your
continued love, prayers, and support for us and God’s work here! We know that your prayers are what get us
through each circumstance God brings our way!
Rejoicing in God’s goodness, Chad & Elizabeth Martin
Elayna's 4th Birthday
Chace with a teddy bear pancake on Elayna's birthday
Jarren 4 months old
Elayna and Jarren ready for Church
Jarren enjoys playing on the floor
