Dear Praying Family,

More praises and prayer requests and progress...

·  Pray for one of our third-grade students; we praise the Lord that he asked Jesus to be his Savior two weeks before the end of school.  Please pray for him and his growth over the summer during our day camp program.

·  Praise for a safe trip back to the states.  

• We thank the several of you who helped provide to cover the cost of our travels—it was just the amount we needed all together. 

• We praise the Lord, too, for friends who traveled three hours—one way—to come pick us up at the airport. 

• And to Grace Baptist Church which provided the transport.

• Here in Cedarville, other praises:   

• we have a home to come home to, furnished and all;

• and we have a friend who has loaned us a vehicle as we have needed it;

• and we have many friends who constantly offer to help us with whatever needs we may have.

·  Please continue to pray for Tia as she starts getting ready to take masters classes next week at Cedarville.

·  And now that we have arrived in Cedarville, it’s time to start helping all those who have been involved in the wedding prep.  Please pray for Christina’s mom, Anita, as she is handling most of the work, and for others who are pitching in.

·  Kevin started off right away with a visit to the Veteran’s Administration hospital in Dayton.  Kevin is impressed with the staff there and how much they can get done in a day.  He was able to speak with a doctor, have lab work done, have x-rays taken, meet with a surgical team, meet with the home-care nurse coordinator, get a new wheelchair and new crutches, and more—all in one day’s visit.  The surgeons thought that what the doctors did in Costa Rica was good work.  He meets with the wound specialist tomorrow (July 1).

Please keep praying for the stitching to heal up well and as quickly as possible, so he can move on to the next step of having a prosthesis (no pun intended).

With faith in Him and happy to be here, Kevin and Tia, Sean, Kaitlyn, Colleen and Tara

“Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
       for his compassions never fail.

          They are new every morning;
                    great is your faithfulness.

I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
       therefore I will wait for him."

          The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
                    to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly
          for the salvation of the LORD.”

Those are the verses that met us this morning in our Bible reading from Lamentations 3.  And then also Proverbs 12:25

“An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up,” AND WE THOUGHT OF YOU!  Praise the Lord for those words and persons that He provides for just what one needs.  

We continue to pray for Kevin’s wound to entirely heal up, and that no infection set in.  Everything looks good, but it takes a long time.  Please keep praying.  We cannot go to the next step without the healing finished up.  

Tia’s mom has left now, too.  She has been such a blessing in helping and in company.  Just want the Lord knew we needed.

Please see our Ps&Ps site for other important prayer requests and praises:  http://hisnet.net/reilly/ps&ps/     

(Also we’ve uploaded much of the amputation adventure to http://hisnet.net/reilly/ps&ps_archived/index.htm)

 With faith in Him,

Kevin, Tia, Kaitlyn, Colleen, Tara

A necessary p.s.:  As we will have to head to the states this summer, we ask that if anyone is able and led to help to offset travel costs, please send any gifts to ABWE Finance Office, PO Box 8585, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8585.  Put toward account #11072.  The situation we face is that we cannot purchase tickets well ahead of time because we are waiting on the healing process.  Also, it is imperative that we arrive in Ohio in early July (or late June) to help out and ATTEND Sean's wedding.

May 3, 2008

Kevin’s back at home—hallelujah, and now for the next steps of recovery.  (In other words—please do not stop praying.) He does have to return everyday to the hospital (about 4 miles away) to have physical therapy and inspection of the wound/healing.

Praises:

n    He’s getting around better and faster than expected—that’s not a bragging thing, he says, but rather an answer to everyone’s prayers!

n    Much of the wound is healing up very well.

n    There’s no sign of infection.

Prayers:

n    That the top of the wound heals up well; it still has more to go.

n    That he will be able to have a prosthetic device in place as soon as possible (probably three or four weeks).

Isaiah 40:25-31 (selections below)

 Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:
       Who created all these?
       He who brings out the starry host one by one,
       and calls them each by name.
       Because of his great power and mighty strength,
       not one of them is missing. ....  Do you not know?
       Have you not heard?
       The LORD is the everlasting God,
       the Creator of the ends of the earth.
       He will not grow tired or weary,
       and his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary
       and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary,
       and young men stumble and fall;

But those who hope in the LORD
       will renew their strength.
       They will soar on wings like eagles;
       they will run and not grow weary,
       they will walk and not be faint.

Dear Praying Friends and Family,

This week has been an important one in our lives of Reilly here in Costa Rica—for a few reasons, but primarily in the area of Kevin’s health. We have some difficult news to explain to everybody because from Kevin’s perspective, it's very good news, but to others it may seem horrific. Most important, we need your prayers to help the process along.

This coming Friday, April 25, Kevin will be having his lower leg amputated. That is, the calf area and below. After having an accident on army duty, Kevin has struggled with his leg’s health for 22 years. As many of you know, he’s had around 70 hospitalizations over the years. The leg is really not helpful anymore—it's actually working against him. Throughout the years, and especially this year, we have struggled with many ups and downs—generally with chronic pain and two different types of infections. At this point we agree with the various doctors (orthopedists)--in the states and here--that it is time to have this operation done and get a prosthetic that will work –without pain and without infection. For many years, Kevin’s doctors have said that this was a future eventuality. In case you are unaware, his ankle doesn't work; he’s had three toes amputated; he has no feeling in the foot; the big toe has been operated on several times and the joint is failing again; and the calf area still holds dormant infection. Instead, what Kevin can look forward to is a new "leg" that will allow him to walk well, and maybe even learn to run again.

Kevin is excited. To him, this is a good step forward in serving the Lord—better than he has been able to realize in the last three or four years.

In agreement with his doctors, Kevin will do the preliminary procedures and physical therapy here. Then in the summer, he will return to the states for a more advanced prosthetic device and physical therapy at the Veteran’s Administration hospital in Dayton, Ohio.

What a great response our ABWE missionary team here has had, as they have worked with Kevin to cover all the Country Coordinator responsibilities through the upcoming weeks. Tia continues to cover the ministry at Sojourn Academy. The girls continue to be busy with ministries at church and school, and even at home. Tia’s mom, Esther Reed, a retired nurse, will come down and stay with us for a month.

The actual surgery occurs Friday, around midday, Mountain Standard Time (2pm EST). Kevin enters the hospital on Wednesday for pre-op procedures.

Please keep posted—we will update you after the surgery to let you know how it goes, and we’ll soon share upcoming needs and prayer requests.

With our faith in Him,

Kevin, Tia, Kaity, Colleen and Tara