Missionaries - Dick & Darlene Need
April 2010 (prayer request)
Hi Folks,
Dick just heard from the doctor about his shoulder that has been bothering him for some time. He will be scheduled for repair surgery in the muscle as soon as possible. We are supposed to leave on May 3 so will you please pray for God’s intervention in all these details that need to come together. We are actually excited that the MRI showed the tear.
Thanks so much for you love and encouragement which we have received from many of us during this trip.
Love,
Darlene and for Dick
November 2008
This has been quite an adventure this past two weeks! We lived in a room at the New Tribes Mission house the first week while we looked for a house or apartment. We couldn't find anything suitable and it was getting very discouraging. We wanted an apartment up above the ground floor so it would stay relatively dry and be more secure against thieves. Then, within a couple of days, we rented an apartment and moved in.
We have a nice apartment, and we are settling in nicely. It is a nice apartment but the reason it is available is somewhat sad. The owner's wife died about 6 weeks ago and he moved back home so his mother can help with his two children (1 yr and 3 yr). He says that sometimes it is difficult to understand God's will. Pray for him (Israel Gama da Silva). The 3-yr old still cries for his mother.
There was a thunder storm yesterday. After it was over our "line stabilizer" wasn't working and the rain had blown in through a window onto my computer. Not a happy moment. I was able to repair the stabilizer and dry out the computer, which is still working. The Lord turned it into a good day.
We haven't been able to get good internet connection. We have had a connection about 3 days out of the week we've been here. Unfortunately, the connection is good for only one computer. It was registered to my computer so Darlene has been unable to get on line. She does all our finances on line so it has been a frustration. Today we decided to switch providers. We went to the store to buy the modem and initiate the service but they can't sell to us unless we can prove residence. For that we need an electricity or water bill, or a bank statement, or a credit card bill, with our name and the local address. We don't have these things. The owner of the store is the man we are renting from so he is trying to find a way to do this but he may not be able to get past the company policy.
Coming back from the store we stopped at a shopping mall for supper and to buy groceries. When we came back to the car we found it had been broken into. The window was shattered! They took a small bag that had a thermos, a Tupperware, and a USB thumb drive. They didn't look under the cover behind the back seat where we had both of our laptop computers! We hated to have been victimized but we praise God the thieves didn't take our computers!!!
Darlene goes to work tomorrow. They have an office for her and a computer waiting, and a log-on for the office network. I went to work yesterday, at the hangar. There is no place for me to set up a shop because their building project hasn't gone as planned. I am storing my test equipment at home. I am going to look into the bus service, here, because it is 12 miles to the airport and car expenses are about US$0.80 per mile. That will be about $18.00 a day for commute. If I can get there by bus it will be free. "Old" people are allowed to get a free bus pass. They define "old" as 65 and over, which I am. I need to find out where the bus pass is available and then figure out which bus to use.
I don't know just why we are facing what appears to be satanic opposition but I take it that Satan doesn't want us here. I trust that God has something important for us to do.
Serving Together,
Dick and Darlene
