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Missions Letters |
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Updates from Drs. Les and Cindy Morgan, Mission Co-Workers, Bangladesh (A Ministry Supported by Covenant) |
Thanks to Nanette Smith for typing the following letter for us! A Letter from Dr. Cindy Morgan, PCUSA, Mission Co-Worker, Bangladesh: December 16, 2009 Dear Friends: Although Les and I returned to Bangladesh in September, it wasn’t until late October that I finally completed my journey back to the country that has captured our hearts and been our home for the past 20 years. After flying 36 hours over the Atlantic Ocean, Europe, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent, we returned to our apartment in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. But it was not until six weeks later, when I traveled on a battered bus for yet another five hours north, out of the city, and wove my way into the heart of rural Bangladesh that I felt the country receive me into its tender embrace. With a stethoscope, otoscope and other medical essentials in my backpack, I jostled about in a rickshaw through fields of rice and over bamboo bridges for the final hour of my trek to reach the small village of Katolmari. As I moved deeper and deeper into the gentle silence of the countryside, coconut and date alms waved their delicate fronds to greet me. The warmth of the sun anointed me as sparkling, lily-studded ponds welcomed me and evoked from me a reciprocating smile. At Katolmari, among the patients awaiting me was 13-month old Shahin. Cradled in his mother’s arms and weighing only nine pounds, he was about the size of a three-month old. Severely malnourished, he was unable to stand or even sit unassisted. Although his mother, Minara, had tried feeding him solid food, when he wouldn’t eat it she gave him all she had left to offer, the milk her own body produced. After carefully examining Shahin, I prescribed medicines and supplements to correct his nutritional deficiencies and stimulate his appetite. I then taught Minara how to introduce solid foods into his diet and set up the community nurse to check on him at home. On the eve of the year 2010, mover than a billion people in the world are undernourished; 20 million children suffer from acute severe malnutrition. In 2009, one million children died for the simple reason that they were not given enough food to eat. The earth produces ample food to feed everyone, yet death from malnutrition is still commonplace in many parts of the world. In Bangladesh, 41% of the children under five years of age are underweight, a greater percentage than in Ethopia, Uganda or Rwanda. Here, where one out of every five children with severe malnutrition dies, Shahin’s life hangs in the balance. I returned to Katolmari last week to see Shahin again. The treatment appears to be working; he is eating rice with lentils and has gained weight. He is more responsive and engaging, and even dances about on his two little legs when held upright. Minara is delighted! Just as in Katolmari, I will soon begin training community nurses in other parts of the country to address malnutrition. By weighing children in the surrounding villages regularly, these nurses will be able to identify early signs of inadequate weight gain in order to prevent malnutrition, especially severe cases such as Shahin’s. Through monitoring the weight of children and teaching mothers the basics of child nutrition, the Church of Bangladesh will help free many poor families from the oppression of malnutrition. By leading me into the tender embrace of rural Bangladesh in bearing witness to Jesus’ proclamation: Please join us in praying for Shahin and for all who hunger. Come, Lord Jesus! Shalom, Cynthia L. Morgan July 30, 2009 Dear Friends: The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) reappointed us this month to mission service in Bangladesh, and we plan to return there in September. We want to thank you for your faithful support over the past two years as we cared for our son Everett during his treatment for bone cancer and then as we grieved his death. Although our hearts remain tender from our loss, we feel we are ready now to resume mission service. The Church of Bangladesh, with whom we have worked for many years, has invited us to help them strengthen their medical clinics in various parts of the country and to continue providing professional support at Christian Mission Hospital in Rajshahi. We will live in Dhaka, the capital, a city of 12 million people, so that we can also help develop a healing ministry among slum dwellers there. We rely on your support, and we should be grateful for your continued contributions. As we have done in the past, please designate your gifts to "Directed Mission Support Account #D506770, Leslie and Cynthia Morgan" and send the gifts through the regular receiving channels of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). We thank God for letting us be with our son Everett to the very end, for the opportunity to serve again in Bangladesh, and for your faith that strengthens us. Your missionaries, Les and Cindy Drs. Leslie and Cynthia Morgan
Houston, Texas Dear Brothers and Sisters, Our son Everett, 23, died early this morning. Cindy and I were by his side. He had been under treatment for bone cancer-–Ewing’s sarcoma--at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston for over a year. Memorial services will be held at St. Philip Presbyterian Church in Houston at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, December 29, and at First Presbyterian Church in Shreveport, Louisiana, at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 30. Memorial donations may be made to the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center online at www.mdanderson.org/departments/development/. With grateful hearts for you and the son we loved, Les and Cindy Drs. Leslie and Cynthia Morgan
PC(USA) Mission Co-Workers/Bangladesh July 31, 2008
Dear Friends, Yours, Les Dr. Leslie Y. Morgan To
Our Supporting Churches and Friends: Crying in My
Sleep Yesterday I spent the afternoon with my son Everett in his hospital room at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. He is recovering from his latest round of chemotherapy--high-dose ifosfamide and etoposide, a second-line regimen used in the treatment of Ewing's sarcoma. Last week we learned that Everett had not responded to a new experimental drug he had received for the past month; and as his tumor had previously become resistant to the first-line chemotherapy, his doctor recommended we move to this next line of treatment. The regimen is highly toxic and requires hospitalization to manage the side effects, mainly damage to the kidneys. He was in the hospital six days and got to come home today. After two weeks of rest and recovery, he'll go back in the hospital for the next round of chemotherapy. We had hoped and prayed that last month's treatment with the new experimental drug would work; but the follow-up scans showed that, despite the treatment, Everett's tumor had increased in size. That was difficult news for us, because it means that Everett now faces a quite complicated and uncertain course with no easy medical outcome. Friday night was especially hard for me, as Everett lay in the hospital receiving his chemotherapy. Sleep is a time when my mind integrates the information it has received and evaluates the problems it faces; and not infrequently I will wake up in the morning with a solution to a difficult problem or a way through a complicated situation. And the more my heart is oriented towards God, the closer I feel that solution is to his will. But Friday night was unusual, for the next morning there was waiting for me no solution, no counsel from God. Instead, I woke up crying and knew I had been crying even in my sleep. One thing is clear to me: I must concentrate on helping Everett and my family, especially over the next few weeks until we know he is responding to the current chemotherapy. So I have cancelled my work-related travel engagements and am planning some special things to do with him. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) World Mission offices to which we relate have been quite supportive of Cindy and me by allowing us the time we need to be with our son. I wish there were a way, other than through our letters, that we could express our deep gratitude to them and to all of you who have been so helpful. Yours, Les Dr. Leslie Y. Morgan To Our
Supporting Churches and Friends: A Time for Hope Dear Brothers and Sisters, Our son Everett, 22, is in his third cycle of chemotherapy for Ewing's sarcoma of the left pelvis, diagnosed in September. Each cycle lasts 21 days: the first five days he receives intravenous infusions of high-dose chemotherapeutic drugs, then the next sixteen days he recovers from those drugs' toxic side-effects. Although the drugs kill fast-growing cancer cells, they just as effectively kill fast-growing normal cells, such as bone marrow cells and cells in the lining of the mouth and GI tract; and it takes time for those vital tissues to recover from the insult of chemotherapy. During the recovery period, Everett makes almost daily visits to the hospital, so that his doctors can monitor his progress and treat any secondary illnesses that may arise during his weakened state. He must also use the time to replenish his body's minerals and calories. The goal is to help him recover enough to be able to tolerate the next round of chemotherapy. So for each 21-day cycle, there is a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build up. For everything there is a season, and for Everett, now is the time for chemotherapy. It is also a time for hope. Just before Everett started his third cycle of chemotherapy, his doctors repeated some scans that indicated he is having a good response to treatment. An MRI showed the tumor has reduced in size, and a PET scan revealed greatly diminished metabolic activity in the tumor, meaning we can expect it to shrink much further. Everett's oncologist, Dr. Joseph Ludwig, reminded us that because of the size and location of the cancer, treatment is still very difficult. But we have reason to hope. Tomorrow as the church begins its season of hope--the celebration of the Advent and Incarnation of Christ, the Savior of the world--our hope is that God will use the doctors, nurses, and medicines of the MD Anderson Cancer Center to save our son. Every night at bedtime, we place our hands on Everett and pray that God will touch him with his healing power and remove every last cancer cell from his body. That is what Advent is about: the hope of real differences made manifest in people's lives. Our years of directly facing human suffering in Bangladesh, and now our experience in caring for our seriously ill child, have taught Cindy and me that Christian hope is not about the fulfillment of vague and obscure desires. Hope, like the Incarnation, is about flesh and blood, things we can see with our eyes and touch with our hands; and in Christ, God invites us to hope and pray in those concrete terms. For that is how he cares for his people. I am reminded of that hope every time I walk into our apartment here in Houston. Strung across the ceiling of our living room, that is also Everett's bedroom, are scores of cards from many of you. As Everett lies in bed and looks up, he sees all those messages of hope that encourage him during this time of chemotherapy. And each night as Cindy and I sit by his bed, put our hands on him, and pray for his healing, all those cards, like angels, announce to us the good news that God is with us in our suffering, that we should not be afraid, and that now is a time for hope. Yours, Les Leslie Y. Morgan |
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Updates
from Lance and Elizabeth Edwards, former members of Covenant |
Mission Spotlight on Zimbabwe (Posted January, 2010) During the two-year stay of these apprentices, they are able to make enough profit to repay their start-up loans and to buy the livestock and equipment needed to continue their businesses at their homes. Ebenezer gives people the opportunity to not only become successful farmers and business people but also to become mature followers of Christ. Classroom discussions based on the Bible are made practical as staff and apprentices live alongside one another and serve the community around them.
Lance and Elizabeth wrote this fall about God’s hand
in their work. “In early May, just as the first crop of tomatoes
was ripening, our friend Mbonisi was driving back to Ebenezer
from a meeting. He noticed a thick layer of hail covering the
area. When Mbonisi asked Lance about it, Lance didn’t know what
he was talking about. Ebenezer neighbors were also asking the
staff, ‘How are things at your place?’ and couldn’t believe it
when we told them the tomatoes and cabbages were fine. There was
significant hail damage all around Ebenezer, but not one hail
stone fell on Ebenezer or the crops! It was as though God had
covered Ebenezer with His hand while the hail fell. God used the
hail to remind us that He is with us and has protected us from
many things we have not been able to see!”
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