Dear Friends,

 Thank you so much for your prayers. We receive notes from all over, from friends telling us that they are praying for us. What an encouragement!  Please keep praying as we have a ways to go yet.

 On Tuesday, April 8^th, Phyllis had her last radiation treatment.  We celebrated by stopping at a bakery to enjoy coffee and a chocolate éclair on the way home.  I would have done that after the first treatment but was afraid that it could become addictive J

 Phyllis has been more tired than usual since the last few treatments, which is somewhat of a concern, since we are planning on flying to Kansas City on Monday to participate in Avant Latin American Field Directors’ meetings. She may have to skip out on some of the meetings but that’s okay.  Pray that the trip will go without health problems and that the current cancelation problems with MD 80 aircraft will not affect us.  We will be flying Northwest, on DC 9s but they are the older generation of the MD 80.

 Our next appointment at the hospital takes place May 12^th when Phyllis will have another CT scan. This will be followed by a meeting with the doctors on the 22^nd where we expect they will give us final clearance to return to Ecuador .  With this expectation we have reserved seats to fly out of Toronto on the 24^th of May. We will be arriving just as our annual field prayer retreat begins.  The retreat will be held in the mission guesthouse where we were already planning to stay for a couple of days while we unpack our apartment. It will be good to see all of our missionaries again and share what God has been doing in each others’ lives these nine months we have been away.  Pray that we will be able to settle into the work well.

 Our prayer is that Phyllis will have no recurrence of this disease.  You cannot go through this kind of thing and ever be the same afterwards; our desire is to come out of it better.  We look to God to continue conforming us into the image of His Son.

 One of the joys of this time home is the realization that we have so many friends.  We will never be able to adequately say thank you for your participation with us through this. We are sorry that because of the many appointments and Phyllis’ compromised immune system, we have not been able to see very many of you.  In some ways we are feeling sad about leaving Canada again, but look forward to getting back to what God is doing in Ecuador .

 Don had the special joy of spending a beautiful day with a good friend last week, collecting sap and boiling maple syrup, a very Canadian tradition that most Canadians don’t ever get to experience. We are blessed in so many ways.

 I have been reading a book on prayer. One of Paul’s frequents prayers for his reader is:

 “The Grace of the Lord Jesus be with you” That is our prayer for you. His grace is sufficient.

 Don and Phyllis.