Thank you all so much for praying. On Monday, Matthew got his long awaited prosthetic arm. It has been almost 22 months since his motorcycle accident, and 19 months since we started the process of working to get a prosthetic. The prosthestic arm is fiberglass, partially powered by battery and partial powered by body movement. It will probably be the first in a series of interim or trial prosthetics as he gets used to it and needed adjustments are made.
Very early in the morning on Wednesday, Matthew left for the 12-hour drive to his new apartment in Atlanta. The family was a big help packing everything into his truck. It was bittersweet, as we will miss having Matthew living with us, but are so thankful and proud of him that he is moving out on his own again. We’re thankful for his best friend from childhood and his family who live in Atlanta, who will be a great support system for Matthew, and are excited for him as he launches out to live in his own apartment. He is working freelance from home as a UX Designer; please pray he can find work in Atlanta to work in an office alongside other designers.
We are doing well as a family. Here are some pictures as an update. We had fun having Timothy over to celebrate his 31st birthday!
The stray cat we adopted had three darling kittens. (We are looking for homes for them if you are interested!)
Ariela performed in “On Broadway: A Musical Review” with her home school co-op, and did a great job!
Ariela and Pamala packed a couple shoeboxes with gifts for Samaritan’s Purse’s Operation Christmas Child for our church.
Daniel volunteers to help run the sound booth at our church on Sunday mornings. He and a friend recently purchased a 3D printer, and he amazes us with the models he can print out with it. And it’s just in time to print Christmas gifts. And speaking of Christmas, it’s never too early to do holiday baking, which Pam and Ariela love to do!
Since we moved back to the States, we have been renting a house in Independence, MO, but God has been so gracious and generous and has enabled us to put in an offer to buy a house in Belton, MO. Lord willing, we will close on the house and take possession the week before Christmas. Thank you for praying and we praise God for this huge answer to prayer.
We’re so grateful for a house of our own. It will allow us to live close to and help take care of Pam’s 91-year old mom, Barbie Hughes, whom we are helping to move from Dallas, TX, to Belton, MO, next month. My (Todd’s) mom is in a nursing home in Oklahoma City, and I will continue driving down to visit her there. Now that my role in the Bible translation project has adjusted to that of Bible translation consultant, I can carry out this full-time role from the States since all the work is done remotely with shared software and the meetings are done remotely over Zoom or Skype. I can take trips back to Croatia and Serbia as the need arises.
We are currently testing out and editing the drafts of the Gospel of Luke and the 50 chronological Bible stories in the 5th language, Ludari, which is the language spoken where we used to live in Croatia. We have a deadline to finish, print and record Luke and the 50 stories by the end of January. Please pray for me, Sergej, Stanoja and Zoki as we work toward this goal, for good progress and for clear and accurate translations.
I’m also checking and editing the draft of the Gospel of Matthew in all five Roma languages (Arli, Bayash, Chergash, Gurbet, and Ludari). Please pray for the Spirit’s guidance and strength to give wise advice and to help the Roma translators make the best possible translation of Matthew in these five languages.
Thank you for your prayers and for your continued generous financial support which makes it possible for us to do this ministry.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Todd
Exciting news all around!
My sister who also prays for you, asked me which arm Matthew had amputated. She thought it was the left arm, and that he was left-handed. The photo we saw in this blog looked like his prosthetic arm was on the right. I had not been so observant!!
I have looked back at your photos and blogs from last year, and yes, it was his left arm that was damaged. We trust he will soon settle in at Atlanta and get work which suits him and his training.
Yes, your sister is very observant. It is his left arm, but he took the picture of himself through in the mirror, so everything is reversed!
Oh, how clever is he?!!! Thank you for your explanation.
I have also seen that it is his left arm, in the photos of packing up the vehicle for him to shift.