Kojima News May 2007 What comes before a fall?….
I remember thinking, at the last Sunday evening party and worship with the SWT team and a bunch of Japanese folks, “Wow! Isnt’t this great! It’s a good thing Sandy and I came here sixteen years ago. If we hadn’t, this would not be happening, at least not here. There would be no LOGOS English School here in Kojima. LST would never have come. etc….” I am pretty sure I acknowledged God’s providence, but I was more than a little full of myself. A few days later…go to HEALTH ISSUES
HEALTH ISSUES, aka organ recital:
Please skip this part if you have heard way enough about Brent’s health.
I had been dragging and fading for several days in January. The day SWT left for Chico, I went straight from the station to the hospital to give them a blood sample. In the evening, I got a call between classes saying to come to the hospital immediately for tests. My blood tests showed dangerous creatin levels, indicating poor kidney function. The results of further tests revealed kidney stones small and large, and showed that my left kidney was blocked, atrophied, and non-functioning, a condition that still exists as I write this.
The next six weeks I was in the hospital. I was being blasted with ESWL treatments, each followed by a long period of fever. FINALLY, they went in and did the blasting using an invasive and very personal endoscopic procedure. A few days later, I got out. I have a tube from kidney to bladder. I will have it for maybe three or four months. After that, I hope they will attack the left kidney.
A few days after leaving the hospital, I started getting feverish and went back for a 10 day sentence, during which they confirmed the source of the fever being the kidney and brought it under control with iv antibiotics.
Last week, I went back for a check-up and the doctor seemed pleased. The stones and fragments may be shrinking. I am taking stone-dissolving medicine and go back in one month.
Please pray with us that the fever will not flare up again.
THANK YOU for the many prayers and emails.
WHAT I LEARNED DURING MY TWO TIME-OUTS in the hospital –
A. I need to be reminded how TOTALLY dependent I am upon God’s grace.
B. There are a lot of sick people in the world. I guess I had forgotten this.
C. Sandy is the best person in the world.
D. After Sandy, the best people in the world are nurses!
E. To a great extent, I had become comfortable with several bad habits. 1. Not reading the Bible and praying for my personal growth, 2. Too much Internet, not enough reading of good books. 3. Pride
F. I learned how expendable I am. The world kept turning! Subs taught most of my classes. My Bible class students were not devastated by having to wait for me to recover.
G. Gratitude. For every morning that I wake up alive, especially without fever or pain. For trees, flowers, friendly faces, MY HOUSE, MY WIFE, books, sermons on the Internet, my job, and… very deeply — the challenge of my life — the challenge of sowing the seed that will one day bring forth the family of God in Kojima, if God so wills.
BLESSINGS On two consecutive Sunday evenings, May 13 and 20, we were blessed with 100 percent attendance at our Sunday evening worship. Everyone we could really expect was there. Three of them are “pre-Christians”, Lord willing. We can realistically expect that with time and study, prayer, and the work of the Spirit, Kumi, Naoko, and Mi-chan will one day be your sisters. Another person attending has less obvious motives. Perhaps she just needs people to be with and perhaps she wants a little English practice. Of course, we don’t know God’s plans for her, either.
LOGOS English Conversation School needs your prayers, too. Over the past several months, we have lost a net total of about 80 students. One reason is that elementary schools now offer a little bit of English instruction. This loss of revenue was offset somewhat by reducing our teaching staff and by a contract to supply teachers for another school. Now we are about at the break-even point, after paying Brent and Heather a modest salary. This is really all we need, but it is bit of a concern.
SEMINAR The seminar with brother Noguchi while I was in the hospital, though sparsely attended, was a blessing and encouragement. We appreciate your prayers and concern and the Noguchis work. It was great to see them and their precious children.
PERSONAL Rachel married Chris Patton on May 4 and is starting a new job with T Mobile. She lives in Nixa, MO, outside Springfield. Please pray for her and Chris. And for our son, Tim.
THANK YOU for praying for us. And for your encouragement.
Brent and Sandy Rogers
Kojima, JAPAN
brentwrogers.com