Weekly Update

Well.... As most of you have likely seen on Facebook Meghan is home safe and sound after her surgery. This is a huge answer to prayer. As she continues to recover she will be home schooled by her mom.

Also, her brother was able to fly down to visit with her, thanks to the company he works for - which covered the cost of the airline ticket.

Last weekend Abigail performed in the Union Church talent show. She did an amazing job! We were very proud of her.

Our family had an interesting weekend. We decided not to attend the Intermissions conference this year. We stayed local and had a family night Friday. Saturday the girls went to gymnastics then we went to pick up some stuff at the store before we headed off for a preplanned family adventure...

We were heading down the main boulevard and decided we really did not feel like running out of gas so we pulled into the Texaco. I put a full tank in, paid, then we got ready to leave... Alas the van had other ideas. It did not start. Now, if it were a computer I'd have better luck figuring it out. If it were a piano then maybe Joy... Better idea - call Cesar, our favorite mechanic. He drove up to the Texaco, opened the hood, and said, "Well there is your problem - you're missing your serpentine belt!" I mean, what!? How does this happen?

Well, long story short, after trying for three hours to find a new belt we gave up and accepted the Agrellas' loan of their suburban so we could go on our adventure. Oh, and a thank you to Mark for extracting Joy and the girls from the hot van at Texaco.

We did go on our adventure and Cesar found a belt, repaired the van and brought it to the house that night. So for us a good end to the day.

Our niece , Emily, arrived in country Sunday with the team from her school. It was awesome to get to surprise her at the airport and to hang with her and the team that evening. We were not able to visit with them today but hope to tomorrow night and Wednesday.

I am racking my brain ... I believe that covers the notable things in the past week. If not I'm sure we'll follow up soon.

Blessings and thanks to all,

--knme

Surgery Successful!

Megs surgery lasted a lot longer than they expected,  but the doctor feels it was so successful that he wants her to start walking tomorrow.   Today she is in a lot of pain.  They put 8 screws in her spine, and discovered she also broke her sternum.  Thanks so much for your prayers for her!

Waiting on Meghan

Meghan is still in surgery.  We will post more when we know it, but so far all we are hearing seems positive.

Most Recent Meghan Updates

Thank you all for continuing to pray.  Tonight she is in ICU at the new hospital, standard procedure, but her Mom (our friend Lisa) is devastated that for the first time since the fall she will have to leave Meghan.  Please join us in praying that she can get the rest she needs tonight.

These updates are taken from facebook, so if you have been following our page there you are fully up to date.  Otherwise please read them through, or skip to the last one to get the most recent information.

Wednesday:

What an amazing day. No, we don't know which hospital she will be going to in the States yet, but what an amazing day!

Meghan had many visitors today. One group were the girls from her 9th grade class. Each of them read a letter they wrote to her personally, each of them then knelt around her bed and prayed for a specific thing - physical, mental, doctors, hospital, etc. Finally, they all sang "How Great is Our God" to her. I cried through the entire thing, but was able to video it. I will share a link to it soon. It was truly inspirational and exactly what Meghan needed today. It is a must watch.

If there is anything God is teaching her through this ordeal is that she is beautiful and that people love and care about her. We have been so overwhelmed throughout this whole thing. Overwhelmed by the Body of Christ. Overwhelmed by God's grace. Overwhelmed by God's love shown through so many of you. I was talking with a fellow missionary tonight and he said that his entire mission knows about Meghan; that people on the other side of the world are emailing him to find out, "How is Meghan?" That's so cool!

We had two more doctors come this evening to assess Meghan and see what they thought. Both felt that her condition is serious, but can be corrected by standard surgery. This was great news as we thought that the surgery would be very invasive. Please pray that the US doctors agree and that she will have a less invasive surgery. Continue to pray for the hospital to open up. It's hard to actively wait on the Lord, but we know He has a perfect plan for Meghan.

Meghan is now back on Facebook. In the picture, you can see that she has her hand behind her head looking at the computer. What you can't see is the milkshake and fries on the other side of her. Her appetite is returning and she was much happier today. I know it was because of the visitors she had.

Thursday:

Well, today is a day I'd like to forget. Meghan spent most of the day sleeping. When she was awake she stared off not really knowing what was going on. She has so much pain that they are giving her Lyrica to sleep in addition to the pain medication she already has. That's what causes her spacey look. As a father, I'm really struggling. As a Christian, we're hanging in there and trusting.

We found out that the air flight we thought we had is not going to work out. This limits our options as to what we can do in the United States. We're looking at at least $20,000 just for the flight. Philadelphia has accepted her, but they are snowed in and cannot admit her. Miami is requesting a deposit BEFORE they will accept her. We hear the deposit would be at least $200,000. Of course, I have that just sitting around the house...

We've been speaking to, what many here call, the best neurosurgeon in Guatemala. We understand this would be a big cost as well, but perhaps not even as much as the medevac alone would cost to go to the States. We've been praying for God to close doors and it seems many of our options are closing as far as the States go.

With all of that said, we have been humbled by many of you asking how you can financially support us. Many have asked, "How much do you need?" Well, we simply just don't know yet. We do know that it is in the THOUSANDS. We've incurred many charges already just being here in the hospital in Guatemala. The best way to support us financially is to go to our website and donate to "The Bradleys - Meghan" in the “Additional Specifics” box. The website is http://foundationformissions.com/donate/

Thank you in advance for any money you can help us with.


Friday:
First, let me say Happy Valentines Day to my wonderful wife Lisa Workman Bradley. She has been so strong through this entire process. What a great mom!

The Corkscrew
Growing up we went to Myrtle Beach many times. I loved going to the amusement parks. One park had a roller coaster called the Corkscrew. I loved it. Beyond the big opening hill there were three successive loop-d-loops. Up and downs, twists and turns. What kid wouldn't love it. I'd ride it over and over again.

Well, at this point, I'm pretty ready to get off the Corkscrew and get back to steady ground. It seems that after praying, seeking, researching, and calling, a trip to the United States for surgery is not an option. We prayed for closed doors and we got them. Our surgeon friend in the US said this, "If you pray for closed doors, you have to accept the closed doors." I agree. We've had nothing but open doors here in Guatemala and see this as pulling into the station of the roller coaster we've been on concerning where to have the surgery done.

Today, we will be transporting Meghan to another hospital. It is even more state-of-the-art than where we are now, and this is a pretty cool hospital. We have talked with a doctor who is considered the best spinal and orthopedic doctor in Guatemala, and he speaks perfect English. (Thank God...) They will do another set of MRI's today to see exactly what is going on. PRAYER ALERT - we believe that God has and will continue to heal these bones. Let's shock the doctors with a totally different AND BETTER MRI reading! Pray for the MRI results today.

If she still needs surgery..., then he will perform the surgery here in Guatemala. We're still going to need at least $20,000, but we know that our God owns the cattle on a 1000 hills. (Psalm 50:10 "for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills."). The world is full of money and we know He will provide. If you would like to help please visit the following website and type "Meghan Bradley" in the comments.http://foundationformissions.com/donate/

I can't say enough about our daughter Emma Bradley. She loves her sister so much and has been such a great help to us during this time. It's truly amazing to see how people step up in times like this. I'm truly a blessed dad and husband.

God bless you all!

Another Friday Post:

Meghan Update:
Well, the day started out great. Lisa and Meghan both received Valentines which they loved... However, this has been a day of transition. We left one hospital and were moved to another. The new hospital is absolutely state-of-the-art. The doctor is amazing. After explaining everything to us he said, "The only thing I ask of you is that you pray that God would guide my hands." He was very humble. The staff are incredible. God has us right where He wants us.

The new doctor ordered more MRI's. He showed us that he found yet another fracture on T8, and he feels like it is very unstable. We are thanking God for closing doors to the United States. We could have done more damage during the flight. Meghan is now resting but in a lot of pain because of the move. Today I asked if she was scared, and tears began to stream down her face. I pray that I could be as brave as she has been this past week. She's tired, scared, and in so much pain.

The good news is that we have a great doctor who will be performing the surgery either tomorrow morning, Sunday morning, or Monday morning. He is awaiting some supplies that will fit Meghan. PLEASE PRAY that this would be ushered in quickly and the surgery could happen tomorrow. We were told the price of the surgery. We're looking at about $40,000. If God speaks to you to help fund this, please go tohttp://foundationformissions.com/donate/ and type "Meghan Bradley" in the comments box. Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement.

I pray that in all that we do and say we would honor God through this. At times, it's hard to understand the plan especially when things seem to go in the opposite direction of our prayers - like the MRI reading, but we have confidence that God knows what He's doing - like cancelling our flight to the States.

God bless you all!

Daily Meghan Update

Again, this is copied from Meghan's Dad's fb page:

"Brace for a Fall"
Today, because of her fall, the doctor fitted Meghan for a brace to make sure her back doesn't twist. This will make things much easier for her when she travels to the United States. As the doctor was fitting the brace on her, he asked for my help. Since I know so much Spanish it was easy...LOL. He explained the whole process and he explained that the brace needs to always be tight around her sides. He said that sometimes it will loosen a bit because of her moving, but just tighten it a bit to make sure the sides of the brace "hug" Meghan's sides. (Ok, I had an interpreter...) Anyway, I was driving home and knew that God was speaking to me through that brace.

I began to realize that Jesus has been holding her together this whole time making sure that one fragment of bone didn't go into her spinal cord. Jesus has "hugged" her sides tight to make sure she would be alright. But isn't that what He is? A Brace for a Fall? In Genesis 3, we read about the "Fall" of Man. The only answer to that "Fall" is Jesus becoming our brace through His death on the cross.

We did a lot of waiting today. Meghan's records have now been sent to two other Shriner's hospitals as the one in Tampa is not a Spinal Center. We could possibly be going to Philadelphia or Chicago. We really don't know, but we do know that God is leading all of this and He is in control. We also know that we definitely will be going to the States to have this surgery done. Even one of the Guatemalan doctors said to us that if it were his daughter, he'd get her to the States. Good enough for us... So not really much to update other than God continues to show His grace and love to us through so many of you. We thank the so many people around the world that are supporting us through this process. I pray that each of you will see the glory of God magnified through the good times, bad times, good news, bad news. We love you all!

Update on Meghan

Meghan Update:
So today was a rough day to say the least, but let me say this - God is still on His throne and in control. That's why these two beautiful girls keep smiling!

We had Meghan's records sent to multiple doctors today. Some from the States and some from Guatemala. All of them came back in agreement and pretty serious. We had been praying that Meghan would need only a brace, but it looks like there is an unstable fragment in the vertebrae that could possibly move forward and damage the spinal cord. Surgery isn't just necessary, but it is a must and needs to happen within the week. Our immediate prayer need is that this vertebrae does not move and that the surgery can be performed in time.

I cannot tell you how much my stomach turns just thinking about all that needs to happen, but God is walking through this with us. Please continue to pray for her pain, and for wisdom going forward as there is a possibility that Meghan could be a candidate for a reduced rate surgery at Shriners Childrens Hospital of Tampa. This would be huge as we don't have health insurance. We will hopefully find out tomorrow if they accept her.

God bless all of you. We have been comforted by your prayers.

Miracles Still Happen!

We witnessed one today.  We had not been paying attention to facebook this weekend, and no that is not the miracle.  So we missed the post about our friend's daughter falling through a skylight and down two and a half stories onto a tile floor.  So many thoughts go through your head when you hear that - the first of which was paralysis for poor Meghan.  God is so much greater than our little brains can comprehend though.  We witnessed a miracle today as we stood with Meghan's family, watched her move her legs and arms, talked with her, and prayed with her.  She is in a lot of pain, but my how bad it could have been.  God clearly has a plan for this sweet girl!  The post below is copied from our friend Shawn's (Meg's dad) facebook page.  We will keep you updated as we hear more - but for now please be praying that the nurses will do a better job at helping to manage her pain.

First, thank you for your prayers. Friday was a normal day. We went to our pastor's house to have lunch. After lunch was all sat around the table. Our pastor lives in a two-story house with the third story as a roof terrace. Our two girls and his two girls went up to the terrace to play. A ball they had went to the other side. Meghan sat on a wall with her rear end on the edge of a plastic skylight. The plastic gave way and she fell backward through the skylight. She did try to grab a fence, but it gave way as well. She said she thought she would fall into the next room about ten feet, but that didn't happen. The skylight led to the laundry room 30 feet down. When she didn't feel an impact right away, her brain shut off. She passed out. As we sat in the dining room, we heard an incredible crash. We all ran. By this time, Emma realized what had happened and saw Meghan falling. She ran downstairs yelling Meghan's name. I got out to the laundry room and found Meghan face down in a pool of blood. Apparently, we will never know for sure, she fell and first landed on the top of a cabinet on her back, then crashed down onto the washer and dryer hitting her head and creating a huge gash, then flipped over to land on the floor on her stomach. We called an ambulance and it arrived in about 5-10 minutes, they got her to the hospital where she had two sets of stitches, multiple x-rays and cat scans along with an ultra-sound of her internal organs.
Now, for the miracles that have come over and over again. We couldn't get Meghan to respond in any way after the fall. She kept humming and grunting as we would ask her what day it was and where she was. We thought for sure she had a brain injury. However, by the time the EMS got there, she was understanding their Spanish and answering them in Spanish. We knew at that point she was doing better. They got her to the hospital and every test they ran came back totally normal. The doctor couldn't believe it. They were concerned about two vertebrae that they felt may have been compressed. Throughout the day on Friday, she was conscious and pretending to laugh at her dad's jokes - a great sign that everything was normal. However, the pain has been unbearable and they are giving her medication to help. Saturday, they moved her from one hospital to another. The new hospital is state-of-the-art and very much like a modern hospital in the US. They did an MRI and she does have a compression fracture in V7. We are praying for wisdom as to what to do next. The doctor here wants to do surgery, but we know that in the states surgery would be a last resort. Here, many times, it's about making more money than taking time and letting things heal.
Although in a lot of pain still, Meghan had a great night of sleep last night. We need your prayers for wisdom. Wisdom for what to do next. We have two other doctors that have offered to look at all of her films to get other opinions. One is the best neurosurgeon in Guatemala and the other is a doctor from the states. We're confident that we will get some good answers.
We have felt the prayers of everyone. We have seen God at work throughout this entire process. In times like this it's easy to ask, "Why God?", but don't. God has great plans for Meghan. This is something that she will use for His glory. He had angels guide her fall, and he has had her in the palm of His hands throughout this entire ordeal. Please continue to pray for her pain as she continues to hurt, but each day we concentrate on the positive things that have happened and are so thankful that she is alive and better than anyone could expect. Thank you to North Shore Alliance Church, Ministerios Cristianos Kabod, and our family and friends for the prayers we've already received. We'll keep you informed.

Weekly Update

Greetings y'all,

Life continues to be unboring. Now, I know this is not a real word because my editor underlined it in red. I'm ignoring it because I feel it should be a word. Now that is off my chest let me explain.

God has put it upon Joy's heart to introduce a new program - it started as a children's choir for the city of San Cristóbal, however, after meeting with the C.A.G. administration team they decided to focus it, for now, within C.A.G. as a children's choir (grades three through six) with an established mission statement and specific rules and requirements. Joy was very pleased with the outcome and is very excited where this is heading. Auditions were held this past Monday. There were twelve students total. This was fantastic.

Last Thursday night we had a call from a friend of ours, Steven. His daughter is one of Emma's friends... the same friend and father who took her with their family to Xocomil right after we returned to Guatemala. His wife is in the States and he had a team coming in country on Saturday. He was wondering if we could help out with getting Catherine to and from school while he was out of town with the team. We knew that wasn't going to work (with our schedule) so we offered to take her until 10 February when her mom returns from the States. This has been good for the girls to have Catherine around. Her personality has helped to balance our kids nicely.

Sara is doing fantastic at potty training. I think she'll have this thing nailed by the time our last pack of pull ups runs out. She only uses pull ups at night time and only has "accidents" once-in-a-while... Praise the Lord!

We are still single-car right now which has made our transport schedule a bit hectic - but we're managing. Really only is a challenge when we have to leave school and go here for the girls then back to school for Joy then home for supper.

At our local church their regular sound tech was involved in a motor cycle accident last week. I (Ken) was asked at 7:50am on Sunday morning to setup and do sound for the first service... service started at 8:15am. It was a bit crazy but by the end of the service the Lord was praised and everything went ok. I rather enjoy working with the sound stuff. It really is fun.

Thanks to all our faithful prayer and financial supporters! Without your support none of this would be possible. Our financial support was up a bit from last month, which has helped a lot. Beyond that we do feel your prayer support too. Every morning at 5:15am, when I get out of bed I know someone is or has been praying...  ;9)

Well, that is all for now.

Stay warm everyone!

-knme