George4Jesus, South African Idol Elvis Blue and prayers for rain

Yesterday we drove from Cape Town to the city of George on the Southern Cape's garden route - it truly is one of the most beautiful cities in our country. We had been here last year on the 6th of October (2009) when the region was in crisis, experiencing the worst drought in more than 100 years.

The leaders of the city had asked us to call a 'day of prayer for rain' - I realize that there are some sensitivities around such events. However, my basic point of departure in such matters is always to err on the side of grace and faith! If the mayor and City leadership invite us to come and pray with them and their people that is a good thing in my books!

Of course we prayed that God would meet their needs for the water that they need in order to care adequately for their community. However, we also had a wonderful opportunity to talk about the care of creation (one of the results of that effort is that the George community was able to save enough water to fill an entire dam). But we were also able to address other important issues in the city such as the need to engage in the establishment of God's Kingdom values in their society. Thus we addressed things such as poverty alleviation, economic empowerment, racial reconciliation, care for the most vulnerable in society, and practical and tangible expressions of the Gospel - my challenge last year, and again this year, was for Christians and churches in the area to take personal responsibility for being God's good news in society, primarily as good news agents in action.

Yesterday was a special day - I would guess that there were about 4500 or so people at the George stadium who came to offer thanks for their answered prayers. The city's water supply is sitting at 70.2% compared to less than 23% in at the same time on 2009. We were also able to meet with the Mayor, Mr Petrus, and his City Councillors. They have taken the 'good news challenge' to heart and are working really hard to see that the needs of their community are cared for. There is a very effective primary health care clinic right at the municipal offices, we heard of some great projects that are helping people to gain skills and start businesses, housing is being formalized for those who live in squatter communities... The list of Gospel work goes on and on....

So, I was nervous as I stood up to speak to the crowd, but I did my best to encourage them to take responsibility for their sphere of influence. I am convicted that so often we don't do as much as we could because we're waiting for a better situation in which to serve God and His will... Perhaps we long for a better working environment, or maybe we're longing for more time or resources to do ministry. I used Micah 6.8 as my text 'What does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with God'.

I am struck that the most pervasive and established institution that works for good in the world, the local Church, was built on the courage of 11 teenage men and 3 young teenage women... Yup, 11 young men in their late teens and twenties and some very courageous young women. We make a mistake when we think that Jesus disciples were established, older, men. No, like Jesus they were young people. Their commitment, courage, and love started a revolution that has persisted throughout history. Because of their courage to do community in the manner of God's loving Kingdom, many millions have been fed, clothed, educated, found hope, and been re-connected with God over the last 2000 years.

God's revolution begins with the obedient courage of the faithful few... If you and I can take responsibility for what we already have it will be powerful. The metaphor I used was that of driving at night - you know that you're heading to a destination, yet your car's headlights only light up enough of the road for you to see a short distance. Yet as you move they drive out the darkness and bring you closer to where you need to be. You don't need to see everything, or have complete vision, to make it. You must just keep moving forward in the small space of light before you - that is enough.

Manie, a friend in George, have me this quote

"While any fool can tell how many seeds are in an apple, only God knows how many apples are in each seed".

So, let's live with courage, faithfulness and love today. It may just start a revolution!

One of the highlights of the day for me was meeting the South African Idols winner, Elvis Blue (Jan Hoogendyk). He is a deeply committed disciple of Jesus with a heart for the Gospel and a commitment to justice and transformation. He sang beautiful songs of worship and praise. We spent some time talking before luck and at the stadium. I shall be praying for him and his family. I am certain that God has a great plan for his talents and gifts!

Here's part of a video I took during his worship session - it clips a bit since I recorded it on my iPhone.

http://www.Twitter.com/digitaldion (@digitaldion)
2010/11/09 3:53 PM
Elvis Blue singing 'How great thou art'! At George4Jesus http://twitvid.com/RAIOA

Let me ask you - what do you do when people ask you pray form them? How do you feel about asking God for rain? Is it all that different from asking God for food, health, or peace?

The journey is drawing to a close! An update on Courtney 1 October 2010

We cannot thank and praise God sufficiently for His unending mercy and grace to Courtney and our whole family!  

We love our girl so very, very much!  Her life is an immeasurable gift to us, and we know that God has such a special plan for our princess.  He has carried her through this last tough month, offering her courage and wisdom well beyond her tender age. We are so proud of Courtney - she has faced her fears, endured pain and uncertainty with courage, and through it all been a shining example of a young Christian woman whose faith is in our God!

Today, on the 1st of October, Courtney's journey with cancer has come to an end!!

This morning we took her back to Dr Wessels at the Somerset West Mediclinic for a final checkup and to have the 24 staples removed from her neck and head.  While she will bear the physical scar from this month on her body for some years, we are praying that God will completely remove any emotional scars there may be!  We know that she will soon return to her vibrant love of life!  The signs are already there!

Courtney is such a brave little girl. Her courage has blessed and inspired me. 

Sure, she cried a little today as they removed the staples, but in the end she managed a great smile!  We're hoping that she will return to school next week (for part of the day to start with, and then ease her way back in).

She received some medication to deal with the last of the blood and tissue that is in her brain and spinal fluid (this is a bit like a mild meningitis).  But this will clear and soon there will be no more headaches, vomiting or nausea.

All glory to God who not only creates in magnificence, but also re-creates, sustains and perfects His creation!

You can read about Courtney's journey through this illness to the miracle of healing by clicking here (or on the tag 'miraclegirl').

You may recall that our journey began about a month ago when Courtney fell ill with a cold.  This quickly spread into a sinus infection and later she was hospitalised with a swollen face and eye. Because there was some concern about the damage to her optical nerve (and to see where the infection was) she went for an MRI.  At that point it was discovered that she had a 3cm tumor in the 4th cerebral ventricle.  She was treated for the infection to her eye and her surgery was scheduled for two weeks later.  The operation was a great success and the neurosurgeon was overjoyed that he had completely removed the tumour. There was no damage to her brain at all.  

Whilst the worst was feared about the histology of the tumor, the best results returned a few days later!  Courtney's tumor was benign - she had a very rare form of brain cancer called a Choroid Plexus Papilloma (accounting for between 0.4-0.6% of tumors in that area of the brain). Even the doctor assured us that this was an answer to prayer since the Medulloblastoma (which is a much more agressive cancer) is the more likely growth in that region.  God in His grace had healed her!

All in all we have experienced anew the wonder of God's loving grace and power, it has been emphasized through the wonderful care and love of the body of Christ.  As family, friends and colleagues - and even people we don't know - have prayed for Courtney, sent notes, cooked meals, sent messages and loved us on behalf of Christ!

I want to encourage you about the certainty of God's love in every situation (as Romans 8.28 says).  Moreover, God's mercy and compassion is a source of great power and strength in such trying times (please read Lamentations 3.21-26 and Psalm 33.18-22).  

If you come upon this post in the years after October 2010; and you find yourself struggling with the diagnosis of a loved one, perhaps a child or a spouse, then please be encouraged by what God has done in Courtney's life.  Feel free to drop us a line.  It would be our joy to pray with you and offer you encouragement and care.

This unfortunate event has renewed our faith in God's power.  It has also caused us to have to reconsider our priorities in life!  Our children truly are our most precious gifts from the Lord - nothing is more valuable.  Work, ambition, material advancement, personal fulfilment, all of these things must rightly take their place behind the priority of creating a loving home to safely nurture our children towards their great destiny.

As you know both Liam and Courtney have had their fair share of health challenges in life - we thank God for all He has done in them and for what God wants to do with Courtney and with Liam.

Courtney's whole life lies ahead of her - please pray for our princess and ask God to bless and protect her in the many years that lie ahead!  Please pray the same thing for little Liam! May he too come to grow into all that God has destined him to be!

With inexpressible gratitude for God's loving grace,

Dion, Megan, Courtney and Liam.

Thanksgiving prayer service for Courtney - 29 September 2010

Dear friends,

We continue to experience God's lavish grace and love as Courtney recovers from the surgery! She came home on Monday evening and is doing better and better each day!

She will for a checkup on Friday and also have the 'staples' removed from her neck and skull. She's a little nervous about that - but, we believe this will be the last of the discomfort.

We want to praise and thank our Lord for healing her, and for carrying us all through this challenging time.

Please join us in a time of prayer and thanksgiving for God's goodness!

If you're in Somerset West this evening our friend Greg Long has arranged a time of prayer at the Coronation ave Methodist Church. Please see the map embedded below for directions:

View Larger Map

If you're elsewhere in the country or the world please do offer a prayer of thanks with us! We would be truly grateful!!!  God is so good and we want to celebrate God's goodness with thanks!

God bless you, and once again thank you so much for all of the wonderful prayer, care and support!

Thank you for your prayer and support! Update on Courtney 27 September 2010

Dear friends,

We wanted to send out a brief update about Courtney today and express our thanks to everyone who has so faithfuly prayed and lovingly supported us!

Megan, Courtney, Liam and I want to thank you so much for your love, prayers and support over the last few weeks.  

We rejoice to tell you that Courtney’s surgery went extremely well, the tumor was removed entirely, and that the biopsy showed that the tumor is benign!  

There is no cancer and no further treatment is needed!  All praise to our wonderful Lord for His Grace and Power!

The surgeon said to us that this truly is an answer to prayer!

While he had anticipated something worse the histology came back with wonderful results.  If you’re interested you can see the following link which describes the kind of tumor they found:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choroid_plexus_papilloma

Courtney came out of ICU on Saturday afternoon and is currently recovering in the children’s ward.  She has been struggling with nausea and is still a little sore.  This morning the doctor came to see her and has said he will do a lumbar puncture to remove some pressure from her brain.  However, she is on a great recover path and will be home in the next day or two!

Praise God!  Thank you so much for sharing in our joy and bearing us up through the tough times (it seems like a distant memory!!)  God’s grace is truly so magnificent!

Our friend Greg Long has arranged a time of prayer and thanksgiving on Wednesday evening at 18.30 at the Coronation Ave Methodist Church. If you’re able to join us that would be great, if not please do offer God all praise and thanks from wherever you are.

May the Lord bless you and your families even more richly than He has blessed us – truly God is able to do so much more than we can think, hope or imagine (Eph 3.20).

With much love and blessing,

Dion, Megan, Courtney and Liam 

So please spread the word! God bless you.

Update on Courtney 25 September 2010 - Praise God! Histology results are back.

Our neurosurgeon phoned me a little while ago with great excitement! The histology results for Courtney's tumor came back and the tumor is benign! The operation removed the tumor and there is no evidence of further cancer! He was very pleased to share the news! And of course we are overjoyed to share it with you!

The histology showed that she had a 'Choroid plexus papiloma' - you can check this link for details. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choroid_plexus_papilloma

At first they feared it was a Medulloblastoma - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medulloblastoma - but praise God that it is not!

God is so good to us! We cannot thank you all enough for your prayers, care and love!

Please join us in thanking the Lord for His mercy and grace!

Courtney is out of ICU and in the pediatric ward. She is resting well and should be home within a few days!

Praise be to God!

An update on Courtney 25 September 2010 - we're getting there!

Courtney is still sleeping most of the time. But, when she does wake up she is much more responsive and alert. She is certainly on the mend - we can see a marked improvement each day. She is still a little nauseous, particularly after any movement, but that will pass.

This morning the Doctor allowed her to walk to the bathroom (naturally the nurse and I had to help her), but she walked just perfectly! A real milestone along the journey.

If she manages to eat something today and keep it down she'll be transferred to the children's ward.

We still don't have the results of the histology. But, that will come in due course.

In my quiet time this morning I read Psalm 33.18-22 which was a great encouragement and comfort. I am dreading the end of the weekend. But the normal rhythms of life are a necessary part of not being 'consumed' by a series of events such as this.

Thank you for your ongoing prayers, care and love. Courtney, Megan, Liam and I appreciate it a great deal!

The photo above shows her feeling much better! Not quite a beaming smile, but she's getting there!!

Update on Courtney 23 September 2010 - after surgery

We are so thankful!  Courtney's surgery went very well!  We saw the neurosurgeon a little while ago - he was confident that he had removed the tumor effectively!  The surgery took 3 hours to perform.

We have just been with Courts in the ICU where she will stay for a day or two.  She woke up and was able to move all her limbs etc.  She is quite nauseous (both from the anaesthesia and from the trauma to the cerebellum).  But, they have her well medicated.  They will keep her a little sedated to reduce the swelling to the brain.  She is also in a bit of pain, but I think that is quite understandable and normal.  We are so blessed that we know a number of the doctors who are treating her personally (some belong to our Church, others are friends with whom I cycle on Lourensford).  This has been quite comforting because they are able to 'interpret' the news of the surgery for us and offer us some good practical and reassuring advice.

We will only get the results from histology of the tumor in a few days.  As soon as we have news on that we will let you know.  But, we are trusting for a perfect bill of health.

They had to shave a fair amount of the back of her head to do the surgery - she's not going to be too happy about that when she wakes up!  But, that is the least of our worries!

Thanks once again to everyone who has called, sent text messages, facebook messages, tweets and helped with food etc.  We are truly grateful.  It is likely that either Megie or I will spend the night at the hospital again.  Courts will be in ICU for the next 2 days and then into the general ward.

Unfortunately our phones have to be kept off while were in the ICU so we may not see, or respond, to messages as quickly as we would like.

For regular updates please either follow my twitter feed (see the twitter feed on the right hand side of this page, or go to @digitaldion on twitter.com.

God bless,

Dion, Megan, Courtney and Liam

Update on Courtney 23 September 2010 morning

Hi friends,

Just to give you a quick update on Courts.

We had a good restful evening at the hospital last night. We talked, prayed, played games (just about everything BUT sleep). It was good father / daughter time)!

She went into theatre at 7.30 this morning. She was very brave. Megie and I, not so much.

The doctor says the operation will take about 3 hours. I'm not sure when we will get the results from the biopsy of the tumor. I'll let you know once we hear anything.

She will go into ICU for a day or two.

Unfortunately they have to shave quite a lot of her head. I've promised her that if they shave her head I will do the same - so you may see me with a 'poena' next week ;-)

Well friends, thanks so much for the prayers and care. We'll keep you updated on any news we receive.

God is indeed good! His mercy is new every morning, it never comes to an end (Lam 3.21-26).

God bless,

Dion, Megie, Courtney and Liam

Courtney's surgery is confirmed for 7.30 on the 23rd of September

Courtney's surgery is confirmed for 7.30AM tomorrow morning (23 September 2010).

Please could we ask for your prayers for her, the surgeon (Dr. Wessels), and all of the nursing and support staff at the hospital. 

Please also pray for Megan, little Liam and I. We relying on God's goodness and grace. 

I will spend the night with her at the hospital - we're going to relax, pray, watch a few movies, and enjoy our time together!

Please forgive us if we don't respond to emails, SMS's, phone calls or emails - we have received so many calls and messages that it is not possible to respond to all of them.  So sorry!  We'll check in here and on facebook as time allows.

My friend @Cois sent me the following verse from the Message (Matthew 6:34) - it is very encouraging indeed:

“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. A Simple Guide for Behavior”

An update on Courtney 21 September 2010

This morning Courtney went for a CT scan to see if the infection in her sinuses had completely cleared. She is almost there! Not quite 100%, but the doctors 'conferred' and decided that they would go ahead with the surgery to remove the tumor on the Thursday morning the 23rd of September (thanks for spotting the mistake Ruby!). In the meantime Courtney will start a another course of antibiotics today.

Liam (the Great!) has been in great health. We cannot tell you how thankful we are for God's gracious care for our family! We have truly experienced the most indescribable blessing and peace in the last few weeks.

Our friends and family, the Church, work colleagues and so many others who we don't even know have blessed us with encouragement and love. Yesterday Courtney received a package with 20 letters from one of the Lausanne Congress staff who arrived in advance of the meetings. A group of Christians in America had heard about Courtney and were moved to each write her a little card with encouragement. Such a blessing! Our 'local' friends have made meals, sent messages, left voicemail messages and truly taken great care of us.

Last night Courtney sang a solo and played her guitar in her school concert. She has such talent! It was a blessing to be able to take her to participate in that event - we could see that it has lifted her spirits! She has been a little down over the last few days.

BUT, today her uncle Craig (Megan's brother from the UK) and her Granny (Megan's mom who lives in Natal) arrived to visit her! Courtney is over the moon to see them! It has truly made her day. We are so thankful for times such as these.

As for Megan and I, we are both doing well, although a little tired. We wake up in the morning feeling as tired as when we went to bed! I'm sure that the worry of the surgery and the outcome of the test results of the tumor contribute to our sense of tiredness!

However, we have experienced such a sense of God's immeasurable grace and blessing during this time! We are so certain of God's ability to do more than we could ever imagine or hope for (Eph 3.20). Thank you for standing with us in faith!

God is truly good!

Will you consider joining us in fasting tomorrow?

For the past 4 years Megie and I have fasted every Friday.  You can read about that journey here.

We would like to invite you to join us in our fast tomorrow.

This simple spiritual discipline has had immeasurable benefits for our prayer lives.  It is not a big deal! Here's what we do:

• We choose not to eat any food until dinner on Friday evening.  Basically we skip our meals, or any form of food, until dinner on Friday evening. We do take liquids (juice, water, coffee, tea etc. So you can see we're not too strict!)
• Whenever we feel hungry we remember to pray.  It's amazing how often one thinks of food when you are fasting!  So, I get a lot of 'little' prayers in during the day.
• Use the time and food you would have used for eating for something else.  I normally take the time I would have used to eat lunch and breakfast and set it aside for reading the scriptures and engaging in specific prayers for particular people and causes.  Our prayers have focussed on children who are sick and their families for the past four years. You might even consider taking the food you would have eaten at lunch time and sharing it with someone who is hungry?

Would you consider joining us in prayer and fasting tomorrow?  Only do this if you are not suffering from any medical condition!  I would also ask you to use some of your time in prayer tomorrow praying for our daughter Courtney who will go for cancer surgery next week Thursday (23 September).

If you do choose to fast and have anything to share from your experience please would you share your experiences and thoughts with us here?

Making memories

This weekend was a gift to our family! Since all travels have been halted until after Courtney's surgery we enjoyed a rare weekend at home without any commitments!

We slept in, went to the beach, rode our bikes in the back yard, went to Church and also drove through to beautiful Hermanus to see the whales.

Megie and I needed the 'space' and time to catch up with one another and chart the course ahead. We are both feeling bruised and a little weary. And of course our hearts are very tender for our little girl and what lies ahead for her (see this and this for details). However, we are encouraged and strengthened by God's unfailing love and mercy! We have experienced His love, mercy and grace through to kindness of so many friends and family.

Both Courts and Liam are getting healthy again. Liam may return to school after his bout of tonsillitis, pneumonia and ear infection (which all seem to be clearing). Courts won't return to school until after her surgery. However, she will participate in the school concert this week and also in the guitar concert on the 20th.

Thank you for all the love and support we've received!

This weekend was a chance to make memories. These are a few pictures from the weekend.