From Becky

Hi Everyone,

Smitty and I had a long talk with Greg tonight and I decided to send this email out as a result. Since I last wrote to you, a couple new things have occurred.

Greg has had appt. with a cardiac surgeon named Dr. Edward Lefrak tomorrow afternoon. He is actually the head of the cardiothoracic surgical team at INOVA Fairfax. Interestingly, in looking for some information on him, I discovered that he has done quite a bit of "mercy mission" work in Nicaragua and actually brought a little girl back with him who needed heart surgery. We pray that he is kind and compassionate in his dealings with Greg and Elise as well.

He has also been scheduled for a PET scan on Thursday to rule out sarcoidosis as the cause of all these cardiac abnormalities. They feel pretty sure that is NOT the case, but are seeking to rule things out so this is necessary. He is very anxious about undergoing this test since he tends to be a little claustrophobic. Will you please pray for him on Thursday along those lines?

I have attached the electronic version of this month's prayer letter that many of you would have already received or will receive in the US mail soon. Greg said that they hate to spend that precious communication focusing on themselves, but that he just felt a need to share honestly with their support team where he and Elise are emotionally right now and how God is helping them to find their way through it. He hopes that God will use what they're going through to show others that they're not alone in the tough times.

Last, I've included the link to a talk that he gave at the CRU weekly meeting in November. Each week, a speaker presents a message on a topic that is assigned to them by the campus director. This particular one is a continuation in the series they were doing on the attributes of God and Greg is speaking about God's justice. Although it's not short (probably 35-40 minutes), we listened to it tonight and would strongly encourage all of you to listen to it. It's a compelling, STRONG message talking about God's justice balanced by His mercy in providing for our salvation and Greg presents the gospel at the conclusion. Please listen and send the link to others who would benefit from hearing it.

The students return to campus this week and he and Elise will be trying to function in their usual capacities. In fact, next weekend, they will be travelling with students who are in leadership this semester to a retreat. Although that will be awesome, they are both pretty exhausted and Greg isn't feeling very well.

We shared with him the fact that SO many of you are praying and he was so reassured by that. I keep telling him that he is like the guy in the Verizon commercials that has his "network" behind him. You all are INCREDIBLE!

Thank you for your love and prayers.

Love,

Becky