Thank you for praying. Shirley’s catheterisation was difficult and challenging (not to say precarious) for the surgeons but it has been successful. She has come through the severe trauma of the past week very well. That is despite being informed how really ill she was. Had she not had the procedure at this time she had only weeks before something catastrophic happened.
The wonderful news is that she has been allowed home tonight (Wednesday). She is badly shaken and very weak but rejoicing in the Lord. We praise God with her and Hamilton for His goodness and mercy to them.
But please note that it will be some considerable time before Shirley is able to do anything like what she did before. She MUST rest and will be monitored closely over the coming weeks with checks and tests. The problem of the blockage has been solved but this was not some regular stent insertion. Her heart condition has been changed forever but with the right care her health situation is manageable.
Normally I respect people’s privacy and do not say as much in such circumstances but I have deliberately painted just a little picture of what life is going to be like for them for the foreseeable future (I speak with some experience) So please pray for them both. Pray for Shirley’s recovery physically and emotionally and please – give them space. It is crucial that Shirley relaxes for at least 10 days.
They would want me to express their deepest thanks for all your love and prayers. What a wonderful encouragement you are to them. Join with them in thanking God for all He has done for Shirley.
The Lord bless you
David
david@2hearts.org
1 Peter 5:10-11
“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.”
Urgent request:
Please pray for Shirley today. She is in the Royal Victoria Hospital and due to face her catheterisation soon. But please pray earnestly. She and Hamilton have been told that this is much more serious and complicated than first thought and will take much longer with two surgeons “operating.”
Today is a critical day for Shirley and for Hamilton and they need our prayers that the Lord might grant a successful outcome. They rest in Him but know that the coming hours are filled with uncertainty. The Lord knows the way ahead for them and His presence will be with them. May His mighty healing touch be upon Shirley/
I am very grateful to all who have sent messages through me. david@2hearts.org I will share them all at an appropriate moment. But they are getting inundated with text messages and feel the pressure to respond. Please, please can I ask you to give them both some space. They appreciate every one but the next day or two will be overwhelming enough without the pressure of feeling the need to reply individually. I promise I will keep you updated. Thanks for understanding.
God bless you for walking the dark valley with them.
David
Update on Shirley
I am replying on Shirley’s behalf. We both appreciate the many messages we have received in response to the news of what has happened as far as Shirley’s heath is concerned. It is very moving to see the love and concern for us.
I just came back from Romania on Saturday night. It was good to fulfil the ministry Shirley would have carried out if she had been able to be there. All the donated items (frozen bags, patchwork dolls, knitted hats and little puddings with a chocolate in them, the special gifts etc.) all have reached their destinations and are in the hands of Shirley’s friends in Casa Grace and Hospice Care team. I was able to visit on her behalf some families who lost loved ones recently and bring to them the comfort of God’s word and the hope of the gospel, take the money designated to particular families in need, plus record for Christmas on Radio Voice of the Gospel and share about the book on the Pastoral Epistles just translated into Romanian.
Regarding Shirley, she has been waiting in the Ulster Hospital until she could be transferred by ambulance to the Royal for her Angioplasty. The good news is that she is going across in the morning at 8am dv. Just pray for her and for the recovery period over the next weeks.
God bless you – He is Emanuel God with us!
Hamilton
Baby Florin
Shirley has asked me to let you know that the little boy Florin, who was pictured in the November Food leaflet with his family has lost his battle with leukaemia. He was just 18 months old. They are a Roma family who were receiving support from the Emanuel Hospice Home care team. Shirley had visited them recently. Do continue to remember them and the ongoing ministry of Tell Romania.
And please continue to pray for Shirley as she waits for her coronary angioplasty and stent insertion. Pray that it will be scheduled early this week.
Pray for Shirley
David McFarland writing on behalf of Shirley:
Some of you may know that Shirley has been having worrying health issues for some months. On the other hand, you may not know for she has bravely and quietly battled on waiting for appointments and medical intervention, knowing it could take months.
In a remarkable providence from God she was able to see a consultant yesterday and he has confirmed that she has a blocked artery that is in urgent need of intervention. She is in a Belfast hospital and will be there until next week awaiting a transfer to another hospital to have the procedure carried out. I am not sharing which hospital she is in because only family visiting is allowed. Shirley must rest.
The purpose of this message is to ask firstly for your prayers. These are difficult days for Shirley and Hamilton; Hamilton is in Romania until Sunday. Shirley knows she is in the Lord’s hands and is at peace but any time in hospital brings anxiety. It is crucial that she remains calm and peaceful while she waits. Pray for that and for a successful medical procedure next week.
I want also to ask for something really important. Shirley gets dozens of emails daily and you know how she replies personally to each one. Please do not email her because she has no access to them and anyhow is not fit to respond. This will be the case for some time and even after she gets home it will be some time before she is able to do anything like what she has done before. I know you will want her to recover and we know how much she longs to be able to do what she once did. So please do not send emails for the foreseeable future. I will keep you informed.
We commit Shirley to the Lord for his grace and healing touch.. Thank you for fellowship with her and Hamilton at this time.
If you need to contact me feel free to email me on david@2hearts.org
“My heart and my strength may fail but the Lord is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.” Psalm 73:26
The Perfect Gift
….. The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God’ Luke 1: 35.
No Room, the Innkeeper could only offer a lowly, humble manger of hay for the birth of God’s Perfect Gift, Jesus, the Saviour of the World, the Lord, the King of Glory. Immanuel (God with us). The Christmas Story speaks of faith, hope, love, light, joy, worship. Angels singing ‘Glory to God in the highest’; Shepherds falling down in worship; The Star in the East going before the Wise Men who offered gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. As we focus our hearts this blessed season, let us make room, take time to bow down and worship the Rose of Bethlehem whose fragrance and beauty fills our heart.
My friend Ann shared this beautiful hymn by William W. How, (1823 – 1897).
We give Thee but Thine own,
What e’er the gift may be;
All that we have is Thine alone,
A trust, O Lord, from Thee.
Christmas Morning, the most important day in the life of a child, waking to the pealing of resounding bells, the singing of Christmas Carols, special gifts wrapped with love ….. Christmas Remembrances (for me) – Mr Robin Red Breast hopping on a snowy covered window sill and watching the little sparrows find their twigs even though the strong mature boughs of the trees were bending beneath the weight of the newly formed snowflakes, the falling Pine Cones….The day of ‘Thanksgiving’ is soon passed, friends and family are long gone, the table once spread with the Goodness of His Bounty, a constant reminder that He is ‘Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace …..’ the true message of Christmas ‘Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given’. Greater love hath no man than this.
THE PERFECT GIFT
‘ ….. The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God’ Luke 1: 35.
No Room, the Innkeeper could only offer a lowly, humble manger of hay for the birth of God’s Perfect Gift, Jesus, the Saviour of the World, the Lord, the King of Glory. Immanuel (God with us). The Christmas Story speaks of faith, hope, love, light, joy, worship. Angels singing ‘Glory to God in the highest’; Shepherds falling down in worship; The Star in the East going before the Wise Men who offered gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. As we focus our hearts this blessed season, let us make room, take time to bow down and worship the Rose of Bethlehem whose fragrance and beauty fills our heart.
My friend Ann shared this beautiful hymn by William W. How, (1823 – 1897).
We give Thee but Thine own,
What e’er the gift may be;
All that we have is Thine alone,
A trust, O Lord, from Thee.
Christmas Morning, the most important day in the life of a child, waking to the pealing of resounding bells, the singing of Christmas Carols, special gifts wrapped with love ….. Christmas Remembrances (for me) – Mr Robin Red Breast hopping on a snowy covered window sill and watching the little sparrows find their twigs even though the strong mature boughs of the trees were bending beneath the weight of the newly formed snowflakes, the falling Pine Cones….The day of ‘Thanksgiving’ is soon passed, friends and family are long gone, the table once spread with the Goodness of His Bounty, a constant reminder that He is ‘Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace …..’ the true message of Christmas ‘Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given’. Greater love hath no man than this.
A New Year is fast approaching, many hearts filled with memories of the changing scenes of life, challenge for another year ahead, I am reminded of the words of Charles Stanley: ‘Our willingness to wait, reveals the value we place on the object we’re waiting for’. May my quiet hours sense an awareness of His presence, His nearness, His interest in the ‘all things’ of life. I pray for wisdom, I ask for grace to love Him more; humility to serve Him more effectively in reaching Even One. ‘Am I my brother’s keeper’? ‘Brokenness is God’s requirement for maximum usefulness‘ (Charles Stanley).
2017 has brought me face to face with the reality of physical weakness, heartache, lonesomeness, the flawed of humanity, the outcast. I can choose to ignore or I can make the choice to ask for continued compassion in my service to others. When you have been torn inside, how can you banish such realities from your heart? The Word of God teaches that we can excel in our servanthood once we learn to value others higher than ourselves. How do I see my level of care, my attitude, my witness in showing the same love to others I have been shown? My love MUST penetrate the hardened heart, the closed door, the wall of insecurity. In the midst of all the suffering, my trust is steadfast in the Lord as I commit: Baby Florin, Andrada, Kevin, Dora, Denisa, Diana, David, Alex, Brother Joseph, Sister Magdelina, Sister Emese….. into His care, the list is endless. I think of the empty chair, the unoccupied corner, the humble gypsy home without heat, light, water, food, yet this is ‘Home’. Let’s ‘Come Home’ for Christmas and gather together in thanksgiving for all His blessings. Whether rich or poor we are family, we are one ‘In Him’. Let us expand our horizon together. ‘We can trust an unknown future to a known God. (Corrie Ten Boom). Only eternity will reveal the rewards from following the Lord with unwavering and unfailing faith.
‘John 13: 35 tells us ‘By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another’. Since my visit to Cighid, I have come to recognise that emotional pain is very real and that together we can demonstrate God’s Love to these traumatised, damaged adult orphans. We serve a God who will enable us to build a wall of security, form a deep and lasting relationship, reach the hidden depths of despair. The Lord already knows what is needed, we have proved His faithfulness throughout 2017. Food, necessities of life are important but love is the essence of real importance. Through your dedication and commitment, we will ‘Follow Our Heart’ in 2018, feeding the hungry, dying, orphan, disabled and abandoned children. He is the Giver of Life. Thank you for answering God’s call.
Shirley
Feeding Programme – December
Take a deep breath
As I walked into Dumbrava Rosa, a wind chilling factor came over me as I passed two newly built, freshly painted crosses, bearing the names of two (relatively young) residents. Two hundred and thirty homeless people reside there. At least two deaths occur each week. Mentally, I was unprepared, I took a deep breath, again I was surrounded by tragedy, disaster and suffering. Personal emotions prompt different responses; mine was a deep awareness of the destruction sin causes in the lives of those rejected by society. Another humbling experience into the depths of deep despair, with fear and trembling and an overwhelming sadness in my heart I continued my journey, meeting the residents who would remain there until their time on earth was finished. Many of the male residents were in wheelchairs or confined to bed, but as I entered the room and smiled into their dark eyes. Suddenly that cautious, sceptical distrust, changed to a faint smile as their hands were stretched in welcome to this new visitor from the West. Read more
The Forgotten
TO STEAL, KILL AND TO DESTROY…
Jesus said, ‘The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.’ John 10:10.
Children of disappointment, the forgotten, the unknown, those left behind whose memory has been ‘blotted out’, robbed of ‘childhood days’. They ask ‘will it ever happen; is there beauty to be found; who will scale these walls of ashes’?
We all require the use of a mirror each morning, as we look at our self-image. do we ever think as to how others see us or how they view our service? I do not compare myself to others, I just want to ‘fit’ into the plan the Lord has drawn up for my life.
With every kilometre my heart was beating faster. My destination – an isolated forest many miles from Oradea. During the journey my mind questioned how many stars fill the skies of these children, how many sunrises greet them each morning? I was visiting the original Romanian orphans who were cast aside as ‘rejects’, left without hope, undiscovered, barely surviving. ‘Shirley, these are not children any longer, these are adults’. They ran to meet me, thrilled, excited to see ‘another face’. I DID NOT see children but forty nine adults with the mentality of a young child, their dormitories filled with ‘fluffy animals’. Some could not come to greet me, they sat beneath a copper beech tree silently rocking; there were blind, lame, mentally and physically disabled. Read more