I hope this post finds you all in good health and blessed by the Lord. Some may have seen on facebook that about three weeks ago I (Joe) was very sick with Dengue Fever. It has taken this long to really get my health back and I am still working on it, although I am over the sickness there are still some issues I am having. Mainly I lost about 20 lbs that I could not afford to lose. Let me be the first to tell you Dengue is not fun, nice, or like anything I have ever experienced before. The first few days were the worst with a very high fever, and a lot of pressure in my eyes, so much that I could not as much as open them. I slept these days. After I was able to wake up we noticed a rash in all my not tan parts, torso, arms, and legs, turns out this was not a rash it was hemorrhaging. There are four forms of Dengue and the one I was lucky enough to catch was Hemorrhagic Dengue. This form causes internal bleeding and obviously hemorrhaging. After about five days Pastor Ehkhaw and Sarah convinced me to go to the hospital, which was a good idea as I had started bleeding from my gums, and in addition to this I was having trouble breathing and had no balance. Upon arrival to the hospital it was clear to the staff I had dengue, so they administered a blood test which confirmed that I indeed had Dengue. I was given the option to stay in the hospital or go home. Being the hardheaded male that I am I decided to go home and tough it out. That is when Sarah posted on FB about my sickness and asked for prayer. I want to thank everyone for your prayers as that was really the turning point. The following week was spent regaining my thought process as with no food, water, internal bleeding and fever was not an easy task. Thankfully after three weeks I am doing better and am working, like I stated before, regaining the wait that I lost. Again Thank you for your prayers, I am fine and getting better daily. I am now back to my daily routine.
On a much better note Marissa is now a big 7 years old. Her birthday was June 2nd. I was very ill at this time but was able to go to the small birthday party we had for her, here at the church with some friends. For her birthday she received a few presents, a special dinner and a self made and decorated cake. She was totally blessed and worried about her poor sick daddy. She was very thankful for all the birthday wishes and the cards she received from her grandparents.
Many people in our village are under the weather with some strange stuff, ears ringing, dizzy, fatigue, and cold, no fever just cold. As a family we are also experiencing this so please pray for us as we struggle though it with the rest of our neighbors.
The ministry is going very well, with the members now really warming up to the new leadership. I am very thankful that the Lord has and is really doing a work both in the Nelson family and in the church members. The twice monthly Bible reading is going really well, we have had to non-church member Christians attending which is a huge blessing. As a church we are currently going through the book of James on Wednesday, Galatians for our combined service on Friday, and Mark for our Sunday worship service. We are going very slow through each book about 5-10 verses each week. Going slow has been a blessing as most of the members cannot read and really enjoy the slow study.
Today is Fathers day for most of the world, but not Thailand. We did however celebrate it here at CCBNK. We celebrated with a combined service and communion. Having all the members both Thai and Burmese is always a great time of fellowship. HAPPY FATHERS DAY to all you fathers out there, we as children appreciate all the work you do to provide for us and we are so grateful for your service as fathers. God Bless you.
Thank you for your prayers and God Bless.
