Ted
& Juli Kautzmann... with
the Latin
American Training Network
September, 2001
Dear friends,
God is never taken by surprise, but sometimes we
are. That’s true for the Kautzmann family as much as for our whole
nation. I came to the U.S. with my daughter Sarah last July so that she
could receive treatment for depression. We hoped to return to Central
America within two months. My wife Juli and our other children came up to
be with us in Michigan for the month of August.
Then came the surprise. While here, Juli saw her cancer
doctor and had a small nodule taken off her skin. It turned out to be a
tumor consisting of metastatic breast cancer cells. It was back. Happily,
all of the scans and tests that followed showed no signs that the cancer
had spread elsewhere. However, the tests do not prove that it has not
spread, so it’s possible that she still has cancer cells lurking in
small numbers. Starting about October 4, she’ll undergo radiation daily
for six weeks. Fortunately, they’re not planning more chemotherapy. We
hope to return home to Costa Rica after Christmas.
This news made us scramble to set up a full household
here in Michigan and enroll the kids in local schools. God has answered
lots of quick prayers. We can live in a furnished house belonging to our
church. We have been given a car to use during this time. I have set
myself up here to work with LATN from our home, using on-line
communication with the team. I already have all the materials I need here
for several months’ work.
We’re all doing very well, all things considered. Most
of the time we feel God’s peace at work in our hearts. It’s amazing
how His grace is sufficient for any crisis. If Juli’s treatments are not
difficult or exhausting, I will make a trip to Costa Rica in October for
some meetings to keep LATN on track. I’ll also move our stuff out of our
rental house to get out of those monthly payments. There is a better house
for us to move into anyway when we return there as a family.
We need you to stand with us in prayer over all of this.
I hope that you can pray through this list of requests. It’s longer this
time than usual.
Prayers:
 |
For
all of us: Faith, hope, joy & wisdom |
|
For
Juli’s treatments to be effective and quite bearable. |
|
That
Juli would be patient and at peace |
|
For
Ted: effectiveness in his work with LATN while in the US this fall. |
|
For
Sarah, that she would have insight into her tendency toward
depression and the commitment to address its causes. |
|
For
Sam: joy, new friends, uplifted spirit, love for God |
|
For
our Character: That God will use the events to come as tools to
build us into committed, believing, tough-minded disciples of Jesus. |
