Dear Team, June 26, 2013
I am asking for prayers today for Dana. She has been having back pain for several weeks. But last night it became much worse and she is having a lot of pain and is experiencing tingling in her legs. We have been in contact with our Tenwek Drs. and we are starting some meds and rest for her. Please pray for relief from the pain and complete healing for her.
Also, tomorrow Thursday at 11:00 am Indiana time, my dad Harry Jacobs will undergo back surgery to install an additional 2" of titanium steel rod (to the already there 8" of rod) in his back. This is a risky surgery, but he need it to be able to continue to walk. Please keep him and my mom in your prayers.
Thank you for your prayer support,
Dan Jacobs
Director
Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre
Dear Team, June 28,2013
We were called by my brother last night, and my Dad made it through surgery well. They ended up replacing the 8" rod in his back with a 10" rod. Please pray for the difficult recovery ahead.
Dana is not doing any better with her numbness and tingling. So we are headed to Nairobi today to get her an MRI. We will then wait on the Drs. to evaluate what the next steps are. Please pray for all of us as this will be a difficult trip for Dana and we will likely leave the kids at the Baby Centre. We are so very
thankful for the pain relief, and are still believing in her back being fully healed through the power of prayer. Please continue to pray for guidance and wisdom as we go forward.
Believing and trusting in Him,
Dan Jacobs
Director
Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre
Dear Team, June 29, 2013
Thank you all so much for the prayers and encouragement. Mom and Dad made it to Nairobi safely, and Mom has been admitted to Nairobi Hospital. They have met with the doctor, and the doctors have done a few tests. We won't know anything for sure until tomorrow though. The MRI has to wait until tomorrow
morning.
Again, thank you for the prayers. I will send out an update tomorrow as soon as we find something out.
Blessings,
Talia Jacobs
Dear Team, June 30, 2013
Mom had her MRI today, but it was too late in the day to get the results back. Dad has planned for Hope, Carson, and I to join them in Nairobi in the next few days. We will know more tomorrow after they meet with the doctor and get the MRI results.
Thank you so much for the prayers, the phone calls and all the emails!
Blessings,
Talia Jacobs
Dear Team Members, July 1, 2013
We thank you for all the prayers you've offered up for Dana already.
We met with the doctors today, and the news is not what we had hoped for. She has a small tumor in her spinal canal that is compressing the spinal cord. That's what is causing her leg weakness. In addition to that, the doctors believe that the tumor is very possibly cancerous. We've conferred with the
doctors at Tenwek, and they agree that moving quickly is the best course of action. Tomorrow (Tuesday) Dana will have a nuclear bone scan. Wednesday she will have a biopsy of the tumor, and surgery will follow after. She will more than likely have to have chemo and/or radiation treatments following that.
We don't know what the future holds, but we do know that God is still in control. We thank you for all the prayers so far, and we appreciate you continuing to lift Dana up in prayer each day. Please also pray for the family back in the States as they struggle with being so far away during this difficult
time.
It's only the power of Christ in all of our lives that allows us to persevere through these difficult trials. Thank you so much for all the
support.
Blessings,
The Jacobs Family
Dear Team, July 2, 2013
We thank you all so much for the prayers, calls, emails, and Facebook messages, we cannot possibly at this time respond to all of them, but do know that we read each and everyone, many times with tears flowing for the love that is expressed to all of us. Thank you and please keep them coming the days ahead are some difficult ones, but we can rejoice in the fact that this battle has already been won, and Jesus sits on the throne.
Today was a good day. We got Dana's nuclear bone scan done at Aga Khan University Hospital. That involved two ambulance rides over and back from Aga Khan to Nairobi Hospital. That was to say the very least interesting. We have been blessed that at each junction so far, they have allowed me to be right with Dana. I was able to be in the MRI with her, and I was able today to set in on the bone scan. We believe that her surgery to remove the tumor will be on Thursday, but will not be sure until we meet on Wednesday with the Dr. Musau. Please pray that we are in time to relieve the pressure off of her spine, so she can regain full feeling and strength in her legs. The next steps are in progress, but we need to take one step at a time.
We will be letting everyone know what time her surgery will be.
A special thanks to our driver Francis for bringing our children safe to us in Nairobi, for Auntie Robyn Moore meeting them at Junction and treating them to KFC and taking them shopping, to Dr. Mike Chupp and all of his help in research
and consultation for us, and to those at the Baby Centre taking care of things will we are away.
Pray for the surgery to go very well.
Pray that Dana will regain the full use of her legs'
Pray for strength for all of us as we are drained.
Pray for wisdom and guidance as we move forward.
Pray for our families back in the States
Pray for my father, Harry Jacobs who just had major back surgery and is still struggling to recover
Many may question why this has happened, are we sure we are doing the right thing staying in Nairobi for this? The answer is, we can never outdo God in His plan for our lives. We were called to Kenya to take care of orphans. We believe we are at the center of God's will here, and that is the best place to be. We feel God's leading through this process and will continue to seek His guidance every step of the way.
Blessings and many, many thanks, from all of us here in Nairobi - Dana, Talia, Carson and Hope
Dan Jacobs
Director
Africa Gospel Church Baby
Dear Team, July 3,2013
In God's infinite wisdom, He has brought us to this time and place. Dana will be having surgery here at Nairobi Hospital in Nairobi at 17:00 to 18:00 this evening local time. That is 10:00 to 11:00 EST in America. Our families have been notified, the entire WGM family has been notified, the entire Africa Gospel
Church Pastorate has been notified, the Baby Centre Staff has been notified, and hundreds like yourselves who have been praying for us throughout now know this time has come. Your prayers have not gone in vain, they have sustained us through one of the darkest hours we have endured. Please specifically pray for Dr. Musau and his team as they operate. Pray for the surgery to be a success. Pray for no post-op infection.
Dr. Mike Chupp will be coming into Nairobi to be with me through the surgery. Please pray for Talia, Carson and Hope, they will remain at the apartment during the surgery, it is the best place for them.
The surgery will take approximately four hours. A successful surgery will mean feeling coming back to the legs almost immediately after surgery. Dana will still have to deal with the cancer, but the immediate threat is the spinal cord.
We thank you again and again for the prayers, and calls, they have meant so much to all of us. We put our whole faith and trust in Jesus the Great Healer.
I will let everyone know how she does,
In His service and in His hands, for the Jacobs family
Dan Jacobs
Director
Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre
Dear Team, July 3, 2013
Dana was just taken into surgery a few minutes ago. They are starting about an hour late. They wanted to make sure about a small clot that had formed in her lower leg, but the cardiologist has cleared her to go into surgery. We only knew
about it because they ran a Doppler Ultrasound, checking for them. We are thankful for their thoroughness. The surgery is still scheduled to take approximately 5 hours. That means that she will be coming out about midnight our time. She will then go to recovery for a short time, then to a HDU High Dependency Unit to be monitored over the night. I don't know when I will get to update you again, my primary focus will be seeing and attending to her. I will try to have Talia update when she is out, and how it went.
Pastor Anthony Bones is with me here at the hospital, and I do appreciate that so very much. Dr. Mike Chupp and his wife Pam are also here in Nairobi and will be joining us at the hospital. Jeff and Christine Stanfield came up to pray for us right before Dana went down to surgery.
At 14:00 this afternoon I was able to give blood for Dana should she need some. Dr. Chupp and Pam are also going to donate.
This will be the longest five hours of my life to date. I appreciate all of the prayers that have been lifted up and are continuing to lifted to Jesus.
Our faith is sure and our trust and hope rest in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,
Dan Jacobs
Director
Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre
Dear Team, July 4, 2013
Just a quick update on Dana. Instead of the surgery starting at 18:00 it started at 20:00 local time. So it is currently 2:20 here, and they are saying everything is going according to plan, but they still have about 40 minutes to finish up, a half hour in recovery, and then onto the HDU for close observation.
I will give a full report when I talk to the Doctor and see her for myself.
Thank you for all of the prayers for us. They are felt in the peace that has overshadowed us this day. I am still praying for a God sized story to finish up this day.
Blessings,
Dan Jacobs
Director
Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre\
Dear Team Members, July 4, 2013
Mom is finally out of surgery, and Dad is now with her in recovery. The doctor said that everything went well, and we will know more in the next twelve hours.
Thank you so much for all the prayers!
Blessings,
Talia Jacobs
Dear Team, July 4, 2013
I am so sorry to have kept from giving an update until now, but I have been a little busy. Dana got out of surgery at 3:45am local time on July 4th. I don't think that we were able to convey the seriousness of this situation properly. This was a very critical situation and the call went out to the saints, and God has answered in a God sized way. The details of how this day came together are many, and we see God's fingerprints all over it. This was the most stressful days we have had in our lives to date, but through it all there was peace. A peace that we know can only come from Jesus. We felt ourselves being held up by your prayers in a very tangible way. There were hundreds of e-mails, hundreds of texts, dozens of verses, phone calls, prayer vigils and I am certain thousands of prayers lifted to the throne on Dana's behalf.
Well God chose to make the surgery a success!!!! First we were glad she survived the procedure, then we were elated at the surgeons report that it went so well. But God was not done, He still had more for us. Dana has actually been able to wiggle her toes!!!!
Thank you does even seem adequate to say to everyone for the love we have experienced thus far. We appreciate our group in Nairobi, Robyn Moore, Dr. Mike Chupp and his wife Pam, and Pastor Anthony Bones all of who have taken very good care of us and our kids.
The story is not over though. As you know, we have to still deal with the source of this issue, cancer. We are not exactly sure of the next steps, but we do know we have an army of prayer warriors ready to go into battle with us. God has been so faithful, and has showered us with His love and His peace.
Also a special thanks to the Bishop and Assistant Bishop for coming and praying over Dana and I at the hospital.
We can never tell each of you how really special you are in an e-mail, I prayer we can in person to each of you one day.
Blessings on behalf of Dana and myself,
Dan Jacobs
Director
Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre
Dear Team Members, July 6, 2013
I am setting here in Dana's room, thanking God for being here today. As we look back over the last week, I can see how God has lead us through very stressful and difficult week. I have been able to spend each night up here with her, and that helps both of us. It is against hospital policy, but they have seen that it is in Dana's (and mine's) best interest. We do praise God for that bit of comfort we both get. The kids are doing well, they are very strong, and strong in the Lord. Please continue to pray for them as their days are also long.
Now to the main event, how Dana is doing. She is doing very well considering what she has been through. She is now 2 days post op and she is very alert and ate her entire breakfast this morning. The wonderful and miraculous thing is that she is slowly regaining sensation in her legs. We praise God for this, this is truly a miracle. We have a long way to go, and everyone knows how patient I am. Kidding aside, God has been growing me in that area these past few days. The care she is getting is excellent, they take very good care of her. I thank God for Dr. Musau and his skill as a surgeon. I thank God for Dr. Mike Chupp and being there to help guide and answer questions.
On a long journey like this we will have days that feel like we take steps back. Please continue to keep Dana in prayer, pray for no bed sores, pray for no clotting issues, pray for healing of her wounds, pray for strength in her legs, pray for her heart and soul as she walks this difficult journey.
I am so very proud of her. Her faith has been steadfast. She is at peace with the situation she is in. I thank God for everyday He blesses me with her.
Thank you, with much love from Kenya, from Dan, Dana, Talia, Carson, and Hope
Dan Jacobs
Director
Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre
Dear Team, July 6, 2013
At 18:30 hours here in Nairobi and 11:30 am in the Indiana, Dana will have a screen put in to catch blood clots. This is something that we new was a possibility. She does have a clot that has formed because of the inactivity in her legs. We thank God for the medical team here that has been monitoring and checking her. They have been proactive, not reactive. Another blessing from God. Dr. Musau came in to see us and it was agreed that this is the best step for now. This is a relatively normal and safe procedure and should take less than an hour.
Dana and I are very much at peace on this decision, it will also allow her to be more mobile. We can't ever adequately tell all the small stories of how God has been with us through this entire walk so far. But it is amazing. We hope to be able to tell the stories later. Please pray for the skill of the Cardiologist Dr. Kisyoka as he performs the procedure. It should take less than an hour and be done with local anesthetic.
As always continue lift up Dana as she is the one enduring all of these procedures. A quote from the movie fire proof, "you never leave your partner in a fire", I am very committed to my partner, and we are in a fire.
Thank you for standing with us,
Dan Jacobs
Director
Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre
Dear Team, July 6, 2013
The procedure to insert Mom's screen went very well. Thank you so much for all the prayers! Dad will be sending out a more detailed update tomorrow.
Blessings,
Talia Jacobs
Dear Team, July 7, 2013
It has been a good day here. Last night as you know, it was decided to put in a screen or umbrela as they call it here to protect Dana from a large clot breaking free. The procedure was a success, and Dr. Kisyoka allowed me into the Cath Lab control room to see the finished product. He and his team did a great job. We praise God again for their skill and proactive approach to Dana's care. She slept well last night and was able to set up and eat breakfast this morning.
As I set here and look at her resting, again I am so proud of the way she is handling all of this. Each person she meets, she greets and asked them their name and how they are doing. She also asks them where they are from and about their families. She always is able to bring the conversation around to the babies and why we are here. She is continuing her role, even from her hospital bed. Always smiling, and never complaining that is her normal day.
As I said it has been a good day, a day of rest. We have also had visitors. Our three courageous children decided that they could walk to the hospital to see mom, so they did. It is actually easier and somewhat safer to walk in the daytime that to drive. So they had a nice visit with us. Then right before lunch we had two pastors from the local Anglican Church of Nairobi stop by and say they were told we wanted them to come. We had not made that request but we greeted them anyways. I introduced ourselves and told them that we were missionaries with WGM. They said that is great, can we tell you about our sermon today and pray with you? God always knows when we need a boost. They sat down and talked about Genesis 2: 19-25, the creation of Eve. They spoke about how the oneness of couples has been lost in society and that God's intent was for us to cherish our wives. It was a blessing for me to here that and affirm my place right here beside Dana every step of the way. Then they prayed, and without knowing us other than our conversation, prayed a prayer that we both needed. He even got Dana's name right after only hearing it at the introduction. Some may say, so what? I believe God put it on their hearts to come and lift us up this morning, what an awesome God we serve.
Dana has also today made some more progress in that she can move her legs more, we are very encouraged and we praise God for all that He is doing in her life.
Please don't make the mistake of thinking that we are thinking the difficulties are over. We know there are many more mountains to climb. But, we take each day as a blessing and in today's case a victory. Tomorrow we will see what is on the horizon, we will grab the Lord's hand, and head into the day.
Thank you for all of your prayers, emails, and calls, they are very much appreciated. That is the way we fill our days right now.
" Have I not commanded you, be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified. Do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." Amen
Dan Jacobs
Director
Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre
Dear Team, July 8, 2013
Here we are today, Monday and we are now 4 days, post op. Dana continues to get stronger and looks very well, I am biased of course! She is now starting her physical therapy and doing well. They will start out slowly and increase her work each day. We are grateful for the time for her now to rest and gain her
strength back. We also will be getting the histology report and will know the way forward there. We are not 100% sure that it is cancer, but is very likely.
Many have asked what are plans are and what is next? We don't know for sure. We are going to be doing some additional testing in the days to come, that coupled with intensive prayer will allow us to make our God guided decisions.
Dana looks great, but we know that she is still very far from okay. please stay with us in prayer on the following:
Pray for healing upon Dana's body.
Pray for wisdom in the treatments to come.
Pray for Dana and I, as the enemy wants to constantly bring fear and doubt into our minds. We know we are being prayed for because there is a tangible peace that is surrounding us, I don't think Satan likes it.
Pray for the kids as they endure here with us in Nairobi. They are doing well and we are so proud of them as they do their part to help out.
Pray for the Baby Centre and staff as they are short staffed because we are not there. They are doing well and I know they can manage fine without us.
Pray for our situation with Hope, that doors will be opened to complete the process to adopt her.
God is with us, we know that for sure. We pray that through this entire trial we are in, we will bring honor and glory to Him for all He has done in our lives.
Blessings, for Dana, Talia, Carson, and Hope
Dan Jacobs
Director
Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre
Dear Team, July 9, 2013
We praise God for another good day. We continue to be thankful for the progress Dana is making in her back healing and in the senses coming back to her legs. This has been nothing short of a miracle, and we give Jesus all the glory for it. Dana can now sense hot, cold, pain and being tickled, I like that one. She also has started physiotherapy and is doing quite well. We are seeing small improvements each day. We are so very grateful for the prayers lifted up on her behalf. We believe that the Lord has answered them in a mighty way already. We look at each issue, each battle and count each victory. After talking to Dr. Musau today, they are going to ask Dana to stay in bed for a few more days to make sure the clots are dissolved. This was a minor disappointment, but in no way hampers the rest of her body healing from the surgery.
We have met with a Medical Oncologist Dr. Othieno-Abinya and he is looking at Dana's case. We should know more concrete information about the cancer in the next day or so. We know we still have this mountain to climb. We also know that God has been with is, He is with us and He will be with us. We are so thankful for how far He has brought us in the 10 days, imagine what can happen in the next through the power of prayer!!
Praises - God's peace throughout today
Talia, Carson and Hope coming to visit
Pastor Bones and Pastor Max coming to visit
Dana's therapy going so well and a wonderful therapist.
Our medical team of doctor's and nurses - they are taking very good care of Dana
Prayer Requests - First and foremost, divine healing of Dana's body which includes these below:
For the clot in Dana's leg to resolve
For the oncologist to have keen eyes and discernment when looking at all of the test results
For wisdom when time comes to make the decisions on treatment options
Thank you for staying connected and for standing with us in prayer. Prayer is the most powerful tool the Lord has given each of us. With faith we can move mountains, through Jesus Christ our Savior.
Blessings - Dana, Talia, Carson, and Hope
Dan Jacobs
Director
Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre
Dear Team, July 10, 2013
I have to say, I am tired today. So this may be a short update. Every day cannot be a great one, but today was a great one also. Dana's clot is resolving!!! Thank you for the continued prayer on that issue, but she has made significant progress. Also, physiotherapy is ongoing and expanding each day. She has quite a way to go, but is making progress everyday. We also had visitors from Grace House here in Nairobi. It is a hotel here in town that Dana deals with for the teams that come to Kenya. They brought her over a lovely bouquet of roses and a fruit basket. We were also blessed to have the Bishop Rev. Dr. Robert Langat and Rev. Rueben Langat come up to see us and to pray for us. The outpouring of love to all of us whether a visit, an e-mail, a phone call, or a Facebook post has been overwhelming and we are very humbled.
Tomorrow, I meet with a Lawyer here in Nairobi about Hope, please pray for that meeting that it will go well. Along with the other prayer requests of yesterday, we have a praise/prayer request. Because Dana is now getting feeling back everywhere, see is experiencing discomfort some of the time. In her own words though," I will never complain about pain again, it is good to feel it"
We have not heard anything from the Histology report, but should before the end of the week. We are now just trying to get her strength up, and get her back on her feet so we can approach the next obstacles.
Thank you for your faithful praying, it is felt each and every hour.
Blessings, from Dana, Talia, Carson, and Hope
Dan Jacobs
Director
Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre
Dear Team, July 12, 2013
Sorry I did not update yesterday. The day got long, so I decided to wait until today. I am sitting in her room beside her bed, she is sleeping right now. She has been doing therapy twice a day now for her breathing and for her legs. It has been a true blessing from God to see how she regains some strength and movement each day. This is nothing short of a miracle, and we praise God and give Him the glory for it. By the time we had gotten to the hospital two weeks ago on that Saturday night, Dana was paralyzed from the bottom of her rib cage down. We praise God today she can move her feet, and we believe she will soon walk again. The nurses and doctor's continue to take very good care of her. They allow me to help sometimes, I do get to wash her hair for her.
The road is far from over, but we take one step at a time and pray for strength to face each day with joy, courage and hope. We had visitors here today. Jim and Alice Vanderhoof are back in country and stopped by to see Dana and to pray with us. We also had April Hershberger and Liz Meert come by to see Dana and I. They brought several cards of get well wishes from the Baby Centre.
Here are some specific praises and prayer requests.
Praises - Praise for a wonderful place for Dana to heal
Praise, the blood clot appears to be resolving, praise God for that.
Praise that she gets her last IV out today, staples from surgery tomorrow
She is able to drop now two of the ten drugs that she has been on.
Praise for the support of prayers and e-mails from our brothers and sisters in Christ from all over the world.
Prayer Request's
Pray for the dizziness that Dana sometimes experiences when moved
Pray for bladder and bowel functions to be fully restored.
Pray for the full Histology report due at any time.
Pray that Satan would be bound against putting fear and doubt in our minds, and stealing our peace and joy.
Pray for Talia Carson and Hope, they are doing very well, but this is very taxing on them also.
Pray for our issue with Hope, I met with the Lawyer, very nice and willing to pray for that please.
Thank you once again for standing strong with us and lifting us up in prayer. Each morning we get up, it is a good day, a day to thank God for His abundant goodness to each of us.
Blessings and many, many thanks - Dana, Talia, Carson, and Hope
Dan Jacobs
Director
Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre
Dear Team, July 14, 2013
It is Sunday afternoon, and it is a beautiful day. Dana has had a good couple of days, and continues to make steady progress. God has been faithful every step of they way. Even the small prayer requests and small needs are met each day. Dana and I have been so blessed by the outpouring of support and the prayers lifted up to our Lord and Savior on her behalf. She is still doing very well managing pain, in fact she is totally off one of the pain meds now. We thank God for that!! She also got her staples out of her incision on her back yesterday, and everything looks great. She continues the two a day physical therapy to stretch her legs and muscles in anticipation of being released tomorrow for a full physical therapy regiment.
Please pray for Talia, Carson and Hope. Carson and Hope are sick. They both have fevers and Auntie Robyn stopped by to check them out. It looks like they both may have a virus. With that, they cannot come to the hospital, so we are sending them back to our home at the Baby Centre where we know they will be more comfortable. We will bring them back to us when the time is right. This is another difficult choice to split up again, but we are at peace that it is the right decision.
Tomorrow, Monday, will be a day we would appreciate prayer for. We should be getting Dana's full pathological report, she will have a Doppler Ultrasound to check on the progress of the clot dissolving, and we believe start full physical therapy. Please pray for strength for Dana.
We are very much at peace with where we are at today. God has been so faithful and loving to us, providing for our needs, and even exceeding them. We are thankful for a God who loves us and takes care of us, a God who seeks an intimate relationship with us. He has never felt so close than now.
We had a pastor of a local church stop by a few days ago and ask if he could pray for us. We said yes we would appreciate that. After he prayed a wonderful prayer for us, he told us that he himself was paralyzed 25 years ago, and God had fully and completely healed him. Today, he stopped by again to see us and pray with us. It was one of those special moments, when you have a complete stranger pray for you, and the prayer is exactly what you need. Praise God for His divine appointments.
I will try very hard tomorrow to update on all of the happenings of the day. We thank you for all of your prayer support.
Blessings and many thanks, Dana, Talia, Carson, and Hope
Dan Jacobs
Director
Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre
Dear Team, July 17, 2013
So very sorry we have not gotten to update anyone over the last two days, internet trouble and phone trouble.
We still do not have the pathology report, but we have been praying for it to be entirely accurate, and not be just the test results we want to hear. So the Medical Oncologist came in last night and said they are going to re-do the tests and send them to two other labs to confirm all tests are correct. We praise God for this.
So here is the big praise for the day!!!! The clot has resolved, a big answer to prayer. And Dana has started full physical therapy!!! And she gets to get out of bed today!!! We cannot tell you how elated we are for this day. God has brought us through very probably the darkest valley we have been through to date. He has been faithful, and sustained us, even blessed us through this entire time. We thank you for all the support and prayers that have been lifting up on our behalves.
Please pray for strength and endurance for Dana as she starts to work her legs again, she can now move them side to side, and slightly lift them. Praise God, Praise God!!!This is truly a miracle from God.
The kids are back in Nakuru and doing well. Carson and Hope are still not well, but feel better being at home. There is so much more to tell, but I wanted to get this out before I lose the internet again.
Blessings and many, many thanks, Dana, Talia, Carson, and Hope,
Dan Jacobs
Director
Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre
Dear Team, July 18, 2013
Today, Thursday the 18th of July, our 20th day at the hospital, has been a very good one. Dana is working so hard at her physical therapy. As far as walking, this is like a total start over for her. She sat up in a chair again today for two hours, did physical therapy in the room, and then went down to the physical therapy department and they stood her up with the aid of a tilt-table for the first time in almost three weeks. It brought tears to my eyes. I am so proud of her and her wonderful faith and attitude. We praise God for this miracle, and give Him all the honor and glory for it. It is a long road ahead back to regular activities, but her progress though small sometimes is truly miraculous!! Today's workout was a total of almost four hours. She is exhausted and sleeping now.
Her Cardiologist was in twice today just checking on her, and she is doing great with her clot issue. Dr. Kisyoka has been very attentive. We also had Dr. Abinya and Dr. Musau stop in today, they too are very intentional about keeping us informed. Part of what we had been waiting were the test results. They were so long coming out because they wanted to double check them, and cross check them. Dana has metastatic breast cancer. This is not a shock to us, we new that this was very likely the case. We have already started on the treatment for the most urgent area, the spine. She will have her mapping for radiation therapy next Wednesday the 24th of July. Then on July 29th, she will start 2 weeks of radiation therapy along with physical therapy. She will be released from the hospital sometime early next week, and will continue outpatient physical therapy while we are still here in Nairobi.
This will likely not be the end, there may very well also be chemotherapy in her future. But we are taking one day at a time right now.
She is still very upbeat, as am I. God has sustained and has answered prayer after prayer after prayer. He has given us a peace for each day, that cannot be humanly explained. He gives us a hope and a joy for each day. The kids know and they are also doing fine. They have seen God working all through these last few weeks in our lives.
Praises - Praise for the peace that surpasses all human understanding.
Praise for wonderful medical care.
Praise for our prayer warriors standing strong with us.
Praise for my wife and her wonderful witness.
Prayer requests - Prayer for strength for Dana each day
Prayer for our spiritual well-being, the enemy attacks constantly, but peace prevails.
Prayer for radiation therapy to go well.
Prayer for wisdom and guidance for the next steps.
God is sustaining us each and every day, and we believe that there is a purpose for all of this. God has been and will be glorified through this. He has shown Himself to us, and our faith in Him has grown.
These are just the highlights of the day. I am journaling and making as many notes as I can. There is so much that happens each day it is hard to capture it all.
Please continue faithfully lifting Dana to the throne, we have seen so many answers to prayer and we believe many more to come. One huge answer to prayer is that Dana has been virtually pain free her entire time here, even post-op. It has went so well that they are going to wean her off of all pain meds starting tonight.
Thank you again for staying in touch and praying for all of us,
Dana, Talia, Carson, and Hope
Dan Jacobs
Director
Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre
Dear Team, July 21, 2013
Praise the Lord for another great day!! Day number 23 at the Nairobi Hospital. Dana is full into her physiotherapy now. She was out of her bed today for three and one-half hours doing many things. She has not stood on her own yet, but we believe that in the next day or so, that will take place. She has been stretching, exercising, lifting weights in anticipation of this day!! There is still a long way to go, but praise God she will walk again!!!! We are overwhelmed the touch of healing that she has experienced. The Doctor's and Nurses are very impressed with her progress, we see it increasing daily. Our God is a big God who can and does exceedingly more than we can ever hope or imagine.
Today all of her Doctor's paid her a visit. All of them said she is doing very well and she will be released from the hospital on Thursday!! We will then come back to the hospital on an outpatient basis for her physiotherapy and her radiation therapy. We will be bringing Talia, Carson and Hope back to Nairobi to join us for the next two weeks and then we will be all heading back to the Baby Centre.
We are deep in prayer about wisdom for the next steps. We will be making these decisions very soon. We covet your payers for wisdom and discernment.
Praises - Praise for a God who loves us more than we can comprehend.
Praise for a God who has provided excellent medical care for my wife.
Praise for a God who gives us peace in the middle of the storm.
Praise God for a wife with a wonderful faith and testimony.
Prayer Requests -Pray for strength for Dana, she is working very hard.
Pray for wisdom and discernment for Dana and I.
Pray for health and safety for Talia, Carson and Hope as they travel back to Nairobi next week.
Pray for our family back in the States -- Andrea; Nathan; and both sets of our parents who have had to
endure all of this from long distance.
We had a wonderful time today with two of the pastors from the Anglican Church of Kenya today. We spoke of family, and Proverbs 31. We were also able to take Holy Communion with them, it was a great time of fellowship and praising God! One of the pastor's was in a violent car wreck 25 years ago and was paralyzed. Today he has had a full recovery from his injuries, praise God.
Many, many thanks and blessings are being sent your way!
From Kenya for the entire Jacobs family, thank you for all of your prayers,
Dan Jacobs
Director
Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre
Dear Team, July 23, 2013
Just a quick update on Dana. She has been working very hard on physiotherapy twice a day. And in between we do exercises in her room. She has been on the stationary bike working her legs, today she did twenty minutes!! It is great to see. We praise God for His healing touch on her life. We will have her set up meeting tomorrow for her radiation therapy at 11:00am local time. Then, on Thursday morning, after 26 days in the hospital, Dana will be released to do the rest of her medical needs as an outpatient. We have been so blessed to have such a wonderful place for her to recover, but we are ready to get out! Talia, Carson and Hope will be coming tomorrow to Nairobi to be with us, and this time actually with us. We have been apart for almost four weeks, it is time to be back together. Talia and Carson have done an amazing job with Hope. We thank God for both of them and their faith and maturity level.
Sorry, that is all for now. I can't even begin to tell you all how much we appreciate the prayers and e-mails. We have made it through the first valley, and are resting in that right now. The Lord was with us, the Lord is with us today, and the Lord will be with us through the next valley. And, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!" We say, Amen and Amen
Dan Jacobs
Director
Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre
Dear Team, July 27, 2013
We praise God for today! We have her home!!! We brought her back to the apartment here at Savannah Sands late in the day on Thursday. Today is our 22nd wedding Anniversary. It is a very special one for us in that we are not still in the hospital. I do thank God for my wife today. Not only has she been a great example of faith and strength through Christ during our time in the hospital, she is a great mother, and the best partner anyone could ever ask for.
It has been a few days since the last update. We have been very busy. Getting her back on her feet is a large task. On Wednesday she went for her mapping to start her radiation treatments on Monday. It went very well and only took about an hour. On Thursday she was to be released, but they did not start the process until about 2:30 pm. We ended up leaving the hospital at around 5:00 pm.
Dana can still not stand on her own or walk. Her therapy is going very well, and we see improvement each day. I am very happy to announce though, she did stand with our help today for the first time in four weeks!!! I think she did it for me for our anniversary. Her legs are very strong, but she still has weakness in them preventing her from standing. She is exercising three times a day for one hour each time, and riding the stationary bike from 20 to 30 minutes at a time. We were able to get one and have it here with us at home, that way she can ride whenever she wants.
Her radiation starts on Monday at 11:00am.
Praises: We have her at home!!
Praise for the staff at the hospital, that did not want her to leave.
Praise for the Oncology team, and how they are taking good care of her.
Praise for the kids being with us.
Praise that the Dr. said Dana could hold Hope with no issues.
Prayer Requests:
Pray for safe transfers as we move Dana around, in and out of the car, and around the apartment.
Pray that the radiation therapy will go very well, be effective, and have minimal side-effects.
Pray for wisdom as we move forward from here, in the pursuit of any additional treatment needed
Thank you once again for standing with us in prayer. God has been a very real and tangible presence in this trial. Satan has been too. But, God always triumphs, and either touches us when we need it, brings the right person or the right news just when we need it, or the right phone call, or the right e-mail.
So please also celebrate with us today on our anniversary, I don't think we will be going out to dinner, but neither of us care. We are home, we are together.
Blessings and many thanks,
Dan Jacobs
Director
Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre
Dear Team, July 29, 2013
We had a great day today. Dana started her radiation therapy today. It went very well. Her appointment was at 11:00 and they said 20 minutes. She went in at 11:00 and she came out at 11:20. I also got to be in the vault with her during set-up which was very good for both of us. All the prayers for today were answered. We had safe transfers of Dana to and from the car. There were no side effects today from the treatment. And, Dana worked out to times after she got home and rode her stationary bike for 33 minutes!!!
Today was a great day, filled with peace and joy. We know that there is a definite possibility that this type of cancer will spread. But we also know, God is in control of everything. We do not live in fear of the future. We take one day at a time and we look to the Lord for our direction and for our strength. Jesus has walked with us in a very tangible way, and we know he will be with us each and every day if we just ask and listen.
Praise: For a great day of so many small prayers being answered very specifically
Prayer request: Please pray for the radiation to do it's job, we know that she still will probably have to have some chemo,
not sure yet, but we also know that the medical profession treats us, but Jesus heals.
God has been with us in an amazing way these last four weeks ++, we believe that He called us to Kenya, we believe He brought us to the Nairobi Hospital, we believe that the good work He has started in Dana will come to completion and bring Him honor and glory, amen.
Many thanks and blessings
Dan Jacobs
Director
Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre
Dear Team, August 1, 2013
It has been a good couple of days here. Dana has been taking her radiation treatments, and completed number four today(she has ten total). We praise God that she has not had any adverse side-effects from it. They have all been good sessions and all of the transfers of Dana have went well. Dana continues to gain strength, but she still cannot stand on her own yet. She did have a great day today though in that, she stood for five minutes assisted by us and she was able to ride her bike for thirty five minutes today!!! Some may not understand, how can she do all of this and still not walk? She still does not have the awareness of her feet in space, so she can not fully sense the ground below her although she can feel it. We believe that she is very close to making this break-through.
We have also been in contact with family, friends, WGM and Doctor's in the States, and we will be coming back to the US in a very short time. We do not know all of the details yet, but we have said all along that we would come home for a period of time. We will also use this time at home to get a full work-up done on Dana to see the extent of her condition.
We are also working on Hope's paperwork, and we are praying for a quick resolution to that.
God has been so good and so faithful and so real to us these last five weeks. Please continue to pray for Dana and our issue with Hope.
Praises: Praise for radiation therapy going well.
Praise for physical therapy going well.
Praise for all the safe transfers for Dana
Prayer Requests: Pray for the radiation therapy to be effective
Pray for Dana to get her spacial capability back
Pray for Hope to get a visa to come to the States with us
Thank you for all the prayers and continuing to lift up Dana,
Dan Jacobs
Director
Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre
Dear Team, August 15, 2013
It has been a great day here at the Baby Centre. We have been so blessed to be back here and the wonderful support from our staff. We had our Thursday morning staff fellowship and we were officially welcomed back. It was very humbling to hear how we were missed. We missed being here also. The staff has been coming over to the house to and visiting with Dana and praying for her. She had a very good day today. She continues to work very hard on physical therapy. She has not started walking yet, but she has been standing at her walker practicing in anticipation of trying it next week. She stood today for 5 minutes for three times and then we practiced sitting and standing three more times. She is doing great. It is very tiring for her. Mwangi our head maintenance guy here at the Baby Centre has built some therapy equipment that I had asked him to do. We now have climbing bars and we have parallel bars for Dana to practice walking and standing. The staff have been great and are believing with us that Dana will walk very soon. They have also been praying with us for her complete healing, they are believing that God will indeed bring us back here!
God has been so good to us over the last few days with being back here at the Baby Centre. We all have felt His presence here very strong. Dana, Talia, Carson, Hope and I are all very thankful to be back here and to have our Baby Centre family surrounding us with love and support.
I was also able to get our paperwork in for Hope and we have our court hearing for her guardianship on this next Tuesday. We have applied for her birth certificate. When we receive that we will then be able to go and get her passport next week. That will complete the Kenyan side for us to be able to travel. On the United States side we have Congresswoman Jackie Walorski's office working through the State Department and in conjunction with the Embassy in Kenya to get and emergency VISA. We should be hearing about this in the next several days. Please pray for these two major events that are coming up. After we get the official word on these two, we will be setting the date for our return to the US. It will be very hard to leave the Baby Centre, but we do know that for this time, we need to head back to our home in the US to seek what is the best course for Dana. God has been faithful through this entire trial, and we do know that we need to come back to the US to recover from this trial we have endured. We will be taking a medical leave and will remain WGM missionaries. I will also remain the Director of the Baby Centre and will help run things from the US. This will not be a very hard task since the people left behind here are doing a great job. God has brought together the right people at the right time for this situation, His timing is always perfect.
Praises: Praise for being back at the Baby Centre
Praise for Jamie being here and helping in so many ways
Praise for the wonderful comfortable chair that J&N Stone bought for Dana so she has a place to rest.
Praise for all of the wonderful prayers lifted up on our behalf
Prayer Requests: Pray for Dana's continued recovery and for her complete healing
Pray for Dana's throat/chest , she is experiencing some discomfort after her last radiation treatment.
Pray for Hope's court date
Pray for Hope's Visa
Pray for our transitions here at the Baby Centre
Thank you for all of your prayers and your support in so many ways. God continues to show us the way each and every day!! We remain encouraged, hopeful, with His joy in our heart for each wonderful day we have!!
Blessings, from Kenya - Dana, Talia, Carson and Hope
Dan Jacobs
Director
Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre
Dear Team, August 23, 2013
Praise the Lord for another hurdle taken care of!! After 5 days, and five trips to court we met with the Magistrate this morning and we were granted legal guardianship of Hope!! We were also granted in the court order to be able for Dana's medical reasons to take her out of the country to America with the understanding that we will return with her. A huge answer to prayer, God has done another amazing thing for us and for Hope.
The next steps for Hope are for us to travel to Nairobi and meet with the Country Director of Children's services to secure her passport. This is another new step because of the new government organization that needs to take place. We have already talked to them, and this should be no problem with us having our court decision already. Then all of the Kenyan side is complete, it is onto the American side. We will meet with the Embassy Consular next week, and present our case. Congresswoman Jackie Walorski's office has done a lot of prep work for us, and we are going with what we believe is a good case for Hope's Visa.
Dana continues to gain strength and push herself very hard. She is up to 40 minutes on her bike and she is now practicing standing and sitting at her walker. Yesterday she did 40 up and downs which is a huge change and encouragement to us all. Tomorrow is Dana's birthday!! We are looking forward to her first couple of steps tomorrow! We will also be traveling to Nairobi next week for her doctor visits for all of her follow-ups.
We had the Baby Centre board meeting this past Monday, and it went very well. With a lot of help from Jamie, we were able to get the employee handbook completed and approved. We were able to get the financial policy manual completed also. We also installed Emmanuel as the Acting Director of the Baby Centre. This is truly a historic event. Man is the first Kenyan Director. I will be a resource for him, but he has full authority over the Baby Centre until I can return. The Baby Centre is doing very well. We are doing well with our finances, our adoptions, our babies and our projects. We have also elevated Reverand Pius Korir to the Ministry Manager position in order to help Emmanuel with the administration of the Baby Centre. This is a great addition to the admin team.
Praises: The guardianship of Hope.
Dana's strength continuing to grow.
The Baby Centre board, and how well the Baby Centre is doing
Prayer Requests: Hope's passport and Visa
Dana's feeling in her legs to get stronger.
Complete healing for Dana, some days are very tough for her in this process
Pray for Emmanuel and the Baby Centre staff as they go through this transition.
God has been so good and so faithful to us each day. He gives us the joy and the strength for each day. He has shown Himself to us in a mighty way. Even in the midst of very difficult circumstances, we can still laugh, love and enjoy each day we are blessed with. I still believe that God is not even close to finished with this story, there are many more miracles to be seen.
Thank you for your unceasing prayers for all of us, they are powerful!!! We should know when we are heading back to the US in a couple of days. The details for the tickets are being worked out.
Blessings and much love, for Dana, Talia, Carson, and Hope
Dan Jacobs
Director
Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre
Dear Team, August 27, 2013
A day we have been praying for!!! Dana was able to walk with her walker today for 10 feet!!! Praise to the Lord for His healing touch and the power and determination He has given to Dana. It was very difficult as you can imagine, but this is a huge breakthrough for her. She has been taking practice steps for several days, but today was the breakthrough day. This is also a huge encouragement to the kids and I. We have seen God do a miraculous thing before our eyes. She also continues to do very well on her bike, she is up to 40 minutes, and we are now increasing the tension on it. She has also been practicing standing and sitting with her walker. She is up to 60 up/downs now. Just amazing!!!
We are working on Hope's paperwork also. I have been in contact with the Embassy, and we are in the process of doing our applications and getting our appointment with them. We will travel to Nairobi tomorrow to try to get her paperwork for her passport and to take Dana to her follow-up visits with her Doctors. It looks like Hopes Visa will rely on the open-mindedness of the Consular. We have all the required documents that will answer all of the questions that they have. We have a very strong case. We are relying on God's favor and provision to get us through these obstacles.
Praises - Praise for Dana starting to walk!!!! A huge, huge answer to prayer!!!
Praise for God's provision each and every day, everything we need to get through the day.
Prayer Request's - Safe travel to Nairobi on Wednesday and back on Thursday.
Pray for Dana to continue to gain strength, and for her continued complete healing
Pray for favor with Hope's paperwork, that God would put us with the right people and each junction.
We are so, so blessed to see God working in Dana's life. It has really affected all of us in a profound way. We continue to learn how precious each day is, how we need to rely on God each and every day for all of our needs. And, that we an fully trust in Him to be right with us step for step through our greatest days, and our deepest valleys.
Thank you for your prayers, they are powerful, never forget that!!
Blessings,
Dana, Talia, Carson and Hope
Dan Jacobs
Director
Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre
Dear Team, September 2, 2013
We were reminded this weekend of how wonderful it can be when God meets you where you are. Even in the midst of very difficult circumstances He is there with you, with love, peace and joy. Each day has its own challenges, but God gives you exactly what you need to get through it. At the same time I don't want to paint a picture of everything being perfect, it is not. But God does shower us with His grace to deal with each situation as they come. He gives us a thankfulness for even having the opportunity to experience some of the more difficult things to see how He takes us through them.
Dana has been continuing to do more and more. It is still a huge physical struggle, but she continues to step up to the new challenges posed by her physical therapist :). On Friday, Saturday and Sunday past, she walked 60+ feet each day. She has also been practicing turning and has done several 90 degree and 180 degree turns with her walker. We are very proud of her and her drive to do her part in walking again. We do know that it is only by the grace of God this is possible. Medical science can do only so much, Jesus is the Healer. We praise Him and are so thankful of how far He has brought Dana.
The trip to Nairobi for Hope did not get the results that we wanted, but was helpful. I am supposed to go to court in Nakuru today to get another court order to allow us to take Hope to the US. This is necessary to get her passport, and to get the official meeting with the Consular at the Embassy. God willing, this will all be done this week. Our plan is to be heading back to the US before the end of the month, and tickets are in progress. We know that our paperwork with Hope will be a yes or no, there will not be any middle ground. Kenyan law states that, "the best interest of the child is paramount". I would hope that the same sentiment would be carried by our government as well. Hope has stayed with us now for 9 months, she is our daughter. to leave without her would be like her being abandoned a second time. We are trusting totally in the Lord, that what is best for Hope will be done.
Praises to the Lord - For Dana walking and her continued healing.
For Hope's paperwork continuing to move forward.
For so many praying for us here and in the States. The Bishop came by yesterday and visited and
prayed with us.
Prayer requests - Pray for Hope's paperwork.
Pray for Dana for strength and encouragement, as this is and will be a long road.
Pray for a continued healing touch on Dana, she continues to improve each day.
Pray for us as we prepare to leave the Baby Centre, our family here in Kenya, they will be terribly
missed.
Thank you for standing with us in prayer. We look forward to giving hugs and thanking many of you in person very soon.
Blessings, from Dana, Talia, Carson, and Hope
Dan Jacobs
Director
AGC Baby Centre
Dear Team, September 13, 2013
It is with very mixed feelings that we are now finally preparing to leave our home here to travel to our home in the States. We are anxious to see everyone there, but the suddenness of our leaving here is difficult. We do believe that we will be able to return after we get Dana the treatment that she needs. She continues to get stronger each day, and we praise God for His healing touch. We actually had tickets ready to go on the 17th of September, but we have delayed because of Hope's paperwork and because we had some other items to take care of at the Baby Centre.
We are right now working on tickets for the first week of October, and we will let everyone know when those are set.
Dana has continued on her physical therapy and is doing very well. It will though be a long road back to normal for her as far as walking. She now, with difficulty, walks everywhere in the house with her walker. This is so uplifting to all of us to see her start to gain some mobility. We praise God again and again for His healing touch. She is now up to walking hundreds of feet each day, and we will be starting on navigating steps this weekend.
We spent the last four days in Nairobi, checking with doctors and working on Hope's paperwork. Please continue to pray for that. We are awaiting today notification of a meeting with the Director of Immigration in Nairobi on Monday to make the final decision on the passport. We have a court ordered travel order, so we can travel with Hope, the passport will just make things more binding, streamline and easier. It is important that we get it.
The rest of us are doing well, tired as usual, but very thankful that our Savior gives us all we need each and every day.
Praises: Dana's good progress.
A wonderful medical team both here and in the States
People that are helping with Hope's paperwork, like Mrs. Karen Wanderi who has been such a blessing to
us.
Prayer request's: Dana's complete healing
Hope's paperwork
Logistics of getting home
Thank you for all of the emails, facebook posts, calls, and texts showing your support for us, it is greatly appreciated.
Blessings to all, and see you all in the States very soon.
Dana, Talia, Carson, and Hope
Dan Jacobs
Director
Dear Team, September 17, 2013
I know that many of you have been praying with us for Hope's paperwork. I wanted to give a quick update on that. We believe after several dozen visits to offices at Immigration, we will be picking up her passport tomorrow morning. I have been given a verbal yes by the Senior Assistant Director. We praise God for this, this has been a battle. And as we all know, this is in God's timing. We originally had tickets to leave today, but we moved them waiting on Hope's paperwork. Today, the day we were supposed to leave, the Embassy calls me!!! They had finally gotten the letter from Congresswoman Jackie Walorski's office and were contacting us to see what can be done. Within 45 minutes I got a second call from one of the Consular's. We had a great discussion, and we have already e-mailed her our relevant documents. She said they will go to work immediately on this. WOW! What a day. We still have a difficult road because of the speed we need to move. They are aware of the time frame. The other concern is the Director of the Children's office that gave us difficulties on the passport will be consulted on this also. Please pray for hearts to be softened and open to see this for what it is, the best for Hope and for us. I will continue to update on this in the next several days.
Dana continues to gain strength and is working on leg strengthening right now. I have been threatened by her several times over the last few days for being too tough! :)
Thank you for all of the prayers for Hope's paperwork. What a wonderful story we will have to tell her one day of the prayers lifted up on her behalf, and how her Lord and Savior saved her off of the streets of Nakuru.
Blessings,
Dana, Talia, Carson and Hope
Dan Jacobs
Director
Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre
Dear Team, September 18, 2013
It is official!!! We have Hope's passport in hand. It took a mere 6 1/2 hour today at the Immigration, but I was able to walk out with the passport at 4:40PM today. We do praise God for this. This has been a very difficult road, and we are so thankful for all the prayers and notes of encouragement. This is short, I am tired, but will do more of an update in a day or so. We did make contact again today with the Embassy, and with Congresswoman Jackie Walorski's office, who also has been in contact with the State Department today.
Blessings,
Dan Jacobs
Director
Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre
Dear Team, September 20, 2013
We have had a great day today. Dana continues to do well on her physical therapy. Today she has been doing well walking, lengthening her stride and getting more stable on her legs. She is doing a lot of leg strengthening exercises. Today she was able to do her first step up and down. That means she is now on her way to tackling stairs. We thank God for the healing touch He has given her, her recovery has been amazing. We are so thankful for all of the prayers lifted up on her behalf.
The second wonderful thing is that we got confirmation from the Embassy today that we have our interview for Hope's Visa on Monday at 2:00pm Kenya time. That is amazingly fast. Again, we believe that it is by God's grace this door has opened. The Consular we have been dealing with seems to be very nice. We have emailed all of our information to her ahead of the meeting, and we should get a ruling on Monday. We know how many of you have been tracking with us and praying for a favorable outcome. We are excited and a little nervous that this time has now come. Pray with us for open ears and open hearts.
Please pray also for the Baby Centre, we have two children right now with chicken pox. We pray that it will be contained. Also remember Christine Towett, our administrative assistant her and her husband Ben's baby is due any day, actually the due date is tomorrow!!
Thank you for continuing to remember us in prayer, God has been so real and so amazing to us through this whole season. Getting Hope's passport was another huge lesson in patience and perseverance, I am still learning patience!
Blessings, and many thanks,
Dana, Talia, Carson, and Hope
Dan Jacobs
Director
AGC Baby Centre
Dear Team, September 23, 2013
Praise the Lord! We got Hope's Visa. What a huge answer to prayer, thank you to all who have been following and praying for this situation. This has lifted an enormous burden off of all of us, especially Dana. The Consular could not have been any nicer. It only took 30 minutes for the interview. We got to talk about our ministry and the Baby Centre. It was a great time!!! Thank you, thank you to each of you who have been praying. I think the Lord knew that after Immigration, we needed a pick-me-up and He did it in a huge way. After they told us that we got the Visa, they left for a moment, and Dana and I looked at each other as tears welled up in our eyes, the Consular came back and asked if we were okay? We told her absolutely, these are tears of pure joy.
We will all be leaving Kenya two weeks from today we will give more details later. We really wish we could celebrate, but with the events here in Nairobi still taking place, it is very hard to move around. Please pray for all of those involved in the Westgate Mall Attack, we could see the mall on fire from the
Embassy.
Blessings, from a very thankful Dana, Talia, Carson and Hope
Dan Jacobs
Director
Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre
Dear Team, September 30, 2013
One week until we head for the United States. We are both excited and nauseous. Dana continues to do well. She is doing a considerable amount of strength training leg exercises and she can now navigate a normal height step. That is a huge blessing. She is walking, with the walker, hundreds of feet each day, today she may even go over one thousand feet. She continues on her bike also, now increasing her distance she goes during her forty minutes of riding time. God continues to shower her with His healing grace. We are very thankful for each new thing she can do. She is now three months post operative and is doing amazing!!! We are biased of course. Please know that walking for her is still a struggle. She still does not have all of her feeling back in her legs. We have been told that her full recovery to walk normal could take a year. We are however very happy and blessed to see her progress.
Hope is in the process of packing. We are so excited to be able to bring her with us and what a God sized miracle to get the Visa in a little over 45 minutes. It was definitely God's timing. As we were struggling at Immigration, Dana and I spoke to each other that maybe this delay was because the right person was not at the Embassy yet?? God's timing as always was perfect!!
Our schedule is as follows: Fly out of Kenya on Monday night. Arrive in London Tuesday morning. Stay in London two nights to allow Dana to rest and prepare for the next flight. Leave London on Thursday morning and arrive in Chicago Thursday afternoon. We will be staying in Goshen at the home of Arnold and Marsha Milliron. We plan on being at NMC on Sunday the 13th of October.
Dana and I have been working on some items finishing up paperwork here at the Baby Centre as well. We are working on new forms and policies and procedures that go along with the new employee manual. The Baby Centre continues to do well. We have stepped back from day to day operations until Dana has been seen and evaluated in the States. We will however be in contact with the staff. You cannot go from a 24/7 involvement to nothing, especially when all of this was not anticipated. We are very grateful for the staff at the Baby Centre and have a peace knowing that it is in good hands while we are gone. We know that God knew this was coming, and I believe He has prepared those who have stepped up to help and take on new responsibilities. Specialized training is not necessary, what is, is a right heart and the character to go with it. We are truly blessed at the Baby Centre with leaders that have both.
We thank you for your continuing prayer support. We cannot begin to tell you how important that is, and how powerful prayer is. Please do not ever under estimate the power God has given each and every one of us to pray for each other.
Praises: Time to relax a little before we travel
Dana's continued healing and progress
Hope's smiling face, thanking God for bringing her into our lives
Prayer Requests: Pray as we prepare to leave the Baby Centre
Pray for the Staff here
Pray for Dana's continued progress and healing, we pray that her treatments have been successful!!
Blessings,
Dana, Talia, Carson and Hope
Dan Jacobs
Director
Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre
Dear Team, October 7, 2013
Just a quick note. We have made it to Nairobi and will leave for the airport in about two hours. It was a tearful goodbye at the Baby Centre. We had almost 40 people jammed into our sitting room to bid us farewell. We were very moved by the show of support, and the prayers that were lifted up. We had a safe trip to Nairobi, it was tiring on Dana especially because it was a rougher vehicle than ours, but she is doing well. Thank you for all who are praying us home. We look forward to seeing everyone in a few days. If we are able we will email from London.
Blessings,
Dan Jacobs
Director
AGC Baby Centre
Dear Team, October 15, 2013
This update is long overdue. However we have been recuperating after the long trip, so please forgive us. It was quite a trip home. We were supposed to stay two nights at a hotel attached to Heathrow Airport in order for Dana to recover from the first flight. Through the generosity of some of our donors Dana and I were able to be put into Business Class on British Airways for our return home. When we got to the airport, after our bags were checked, they ticket counter person asked me if we had a Visa for Hope for the UK. I said that we were not planning on entering the UK, but were in transit to the US and had a US Visa. They said, well they could not let Hope go without a Visa. Two hours later we had scrapped the two nights in London, had changed our flights, and barely had time to make our flight. The first flight went very well. Dana was very comfortable and Hope slept almost the whole flight. Talia and Carson took care of Hope for us. When we got to Heathrow, we had a ten hour layover so we went and got a day room at the Hotel. This is a whole other story in itself, but three hours later we got into our room. We went out a little early to get to our gate for the second flight. We found out however that our boarding passes and our luggage had been "messed up" in Nairobi. They had to re-do the boarding passes and get the luggage onto the right tickets for us to move on. We also had been seated in Business Class, but in an area where Dana could not get in and out. So we asked them to change the seats but they said it would have to wait until we boarded, that Business Class was full. Again to make a very long story short, no one would switch seats with Dana. So the flight attendants came back to us and said, " No one will exchange with you, but we have a treat for the both of you, you are both moving up to First Class". Wow! The flight crew was just amazing!! God provided for us each step of the journey. We arrived in the US at about 8:00PM Tuesday night. When we went through Homeland Security with Hope for her Visa, again God was before us, we barely were stopped long enough to tell him who she was and why she was here, and we were off with her full six month Visa. We then walked out of the airport to a smiling Renee Wise who picked us up, and took us back to Goshen. We got to our home in Goshen at about 1:00am Wednesday morning.
On Monday the 14th of October, Dana had her first doctor's visit. It went very well, we really like the Doctor and the staff. She will have her PET Scan on Wednesday the 16th of October at 6:30am local time, and a Doppler Ultrasound on the 17th at 7:00am. She has had a physical, history and blood work done. We will meet with the Medical Oncologist on the 22nd for him to give us all of the results and the way forward. Very thorough, very fast.
We are very glad to be back to see everyone, it is however a very strange feeling for all of us. To say we are home is not accurate. Our hearts are forever split between two worlds. It is very good for all of us to have a rest from the difficulties of what we have experienced these last three and one half months. We are relieved to be here and to get Dana checked out. A big thank you to all of those who had a part in it, and especially all of those who prayed us home.
Praises: Praise for very good flights
Praise for Jim and Alice hanging in there at the airport with us in Nairobi
Praise for people like Renee Wise, coming to pick us
Praise for Jamie and all he did that night when I called and said we had to change the whole plan
Praise for Arnold and Marsha Milliron who gave up their home for us, and had lots of food ready!!
Praise for our families, who we were very glad to see
Praise for the Friday morning Men's Prayer Group whom I missed terribly, it was good to see all of them
Praise for our church, it was overwhelming seeing everyone on Sunday, we felt very loved and very
blessed
Praise for each one of you who has stood beside us throughout, praying for us
Prayer Request's: Pray for accurate test results from the PET Scan
Pray for Dana to continue to heal and gain strength, (she was set-back by the long trip, but yesterday
actually walked up four steps into our home!!)
Pray for all of us and our transition here.
Pray for the Baby Centre, our minds are on it each and every day.
Also, a huge praise, Christine and Ben had a baby boy, 3.8 Kgs, no name yet, but Daniel has been kicked around.
Thank you for being there for us. And thank you for being a witness of what God has done for us. He has paved the way home in a way only He could. He has once again brought us to a team of health care people who we believe He will use to take Dana the rest of the way in her recovery.
We feel very happy and very blessed for each day!!!
Blessings, Dana, Talia, Carson and Hope
As you can see by the time, I am still adjusting to the time.
Dan Jacobs
Director
Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre
Dear Team, October 22, 2013
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be all glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen."
Ephesians 3:20-21
Praise the Lord, we met with our doctor this morning and got the best news that we could have. There was no spread on the cancer, it is contained in the bones. A huge answer to prayer, praise God for what He has done. Dana will continue on the treatments that were begun in Kenya and will be on a maintenance schedule here. We will be meeting with other doctors and nutritionists over the next couple of weeks to do some additional work to strengthen Dana's bones and we will have her evaluated by a Neurologist here to see how he thinks her rehab is going.
It is hard to describe exactly how we feel. We had a peace this morning before even going to see the doctor but to know that all that has taken place has been orchestrated by God to give Dana exactly what she needed when she needed it is quite overwhelming. Thank you for standing by us and praying with us. It has been awesome to see God's hand through this process. He has been so good to us and has surrounded us with countless people who have loved on us, shown support in many ways, and have used their giftedness and talent to help us along this process.
We will now concentrate on getting Dana back to as close to 100% as we can, (I am hoping for 101% :) ) She has again been making amazing progress. Today and yesterday, we went to a local mall and walked. She did 1000 ft. yesterday and 1100 ft. today. She has also went up and down steps, 4 of them to be exact. She has also been practicing her freestanding, which is without any assistance, walker or me and can now freestand for about 30 seconds. This is a wonderful sign that she is regaining her balance.
I will have more later, we are going to soak all of this in for now, and spend some time thanking our Lord and Savior, our Healer and Defender, Jesus Christ for all that He continues to do for Dana and each of us as we walk through this journey.
Blessings, and many thanks. I hope that this is a huge encouragement to each of
you!!!
Dan Jacobs
Director
Africa Gospel Church Baby Centre
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