August 24, 2008


Dear friends,



I am so sorry we haven’t written sooner. I know many of you are concerned for us and have prayed faithfully and we appreciate all the emails, calls and other expressions of concern. We have been travelling and between that and keeping up with treatment and ministry, we have not had the energy or initiative to write. But here we are, finally, with a short update.



Last week we returned from a 5 week road trip, attending conferences & meetings in California, Oregon and Arizona and visiting family in Washington. We received good and inspiring teaching and enjoyed quality time with Shanie’s dad, uncles & aunts and brothers. I got to go fishing with Shanie’s dad on our last day in Washington and I caught a nice salmon that we brought home and ate together that evening. It was a nice way to end our time there.



Before I say anything about my health, let me just start by saying that GOD IS STILL GOOD! In fact He’s Amazing! I had a few hard days last week. I was miserable both physically and emotionally, and it was so hard to keep a positive perspective on life. I felt so down, discouraged and exhausted. I have been in so much pain and discomfort for so long, and I was discouraged from what I felt was a lack of progress. I had a CT scan done last month and initially I was told that the tumors in my neck had shrunk significantly, but as it turned out that was a misinterpretation of the report. The scan actually showed no shrinkage in the neck and minimal shrinkage in the chest (compared to the January scan). Because of the initial good report, it really gave me a shock to discover that things weren’t as good as I had thought. The oncologist we met with last week, told us that from his perspective this report was good and that there is another test we can do (PET scan) that will show us the state of the tumors. He said it’s possible for the tumors to still be there, but for the tissue to be dead or dying and that it just takes time for the masses to dissolve. So we are planning to hopefully get that scan done sometime soon. It is much more costly than the CT scan ($2,000), but so worth it considering the information we can get from it.



In reality I have really felt the grace of God most of the time and I have been amazed at how well I have functioned in spite of the horrible itching in my body. Please pray for more of God’s strength and grace. It is hard to endure, but I know it will be worth it in the end. God is working in our lives through this situation, and producing endurance and maturity. We have truly seen God at work both in and through our lives recently and actually there is so much we could tell, but we will save that for another time…maybe we’ll do a video again. If you haven’t heard the two devotionals that we did in Slovakia in May, please take the time to listen to them as they do give a very real and clear picture of what we are going through, what we are learning and what we believe. You can download them off our website at www.kkee.dk.



Prayer Points:


For Shanie: she has given so sacrificially during the past 8 months.
For Elizabeth: she is having a wonderful time in South Africa. Pray for God’s continued protection and guidance over her life.
For Amanda: she is leaving for an 8-months DTS in Slovakia on Sept. 10th. Pray for provision, protection and peace.
For CammiAnn: soon she will be the only child at home. Pray for God’s grace, joy and comfort as she begins this new phase in her life.


Thank you for your support, prayers, concern and friendship! We TRULY appreciate it!



Blessings,



Peter (and Shanie)