Hi everyone,

 I take off to Tokyo in about 2 hours, so please begin praying if you remember.  We stay in Tokyo tonight and then leave there for the US at 11 am (10 pm eastern time Thursday night) Friday our time.  

Please pray for God to love A & J through me.  Pray that time will go quickly.  

We just heard from our friends Mark and Jennifer, and it seems that God is calling her home.  She is at home resting with anti-nausea medicine, but it seems that there is not much time left.  May we believe that God can do miracles always, whether He does or He doesn’t.  Needless to say, this has made me so sad, and I called Buddy who is away on a leadership retreat and we just cried together on the phone.  Adrianne was crying too because I was, and all the Rathmells had a little meltdown.  

I will attach Marks letter.  Buddy plans to visit them while stateside.

If you need me (Jen) while in the US, please write us at buddyandjen@hotmail.com

Buddy will be at this e-mail from Aug 6-13.

We love you,

Jen for us

Friends,

I thought I would send along an update on Jennifer and the journey that we
have been on for a few months now.  We were in Cincy two weekends ago,
worshiping and sharing life with friends from around the region.  Jennifer
had a really wonderful time; she was strong and was encouraged by all the
prayers and love we received while there.  When we returned on Monday, she
became very tired, and then started to experience nausea on Thursday.  The
nausea became so severe on Sunday that I took her to the emergency room, and
we spent the night in the hospital.

While there, she began to have waste drain from the tube in her stomach.  
Her doctor told me that this indicated that the stomach and the bowels had
fused, and that waste was passing freely into her abdomen.  This was what
was causing the nausea.  He encouraged us to bring her home, so that she
could be comfortable for her last days here on earth.  While at the
hospital, we also made the most difficult decision I have ever been faced
with, to stop her nutrition.  It was only feeding the tumors and making her
more sick.  So as of Saturday evening, Jennifer is no longer receiving any
nutrition for her body to live.

We came home Monday evening, and have been controlling the nausea with
around the clock injections of medicine.  Jennifer is sometimes aware, and
sometimes not.  This morning we spent a few hours together in the gardens
behind the house, talking of the future, the past, and how unimaginably
wonderful it will be when she meets God.
 
I also told her that I still believed God could heal her, and renewed my
promise to pray for that until the end.  I would encourage you to join me in
that prayer, asking God to bring His healing in a miraculous way.  I know
that if Jennifer had the strength to write, she would say the same thing.
 
She would also say to be encouraged.  Do not lose heart.  The Kingdom is
present.

All glory to Jesus.

Mark for Jennifer and Micah