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SUPPLEMENTAL UPDATE JULY 2021
While there is a lot going on in Colombia, and we have a lot we want to tell you about: our new Colombia Building Fund, the awesome new ministry that Ali Alexander has started for kids in Colombia, our plans for starting more churches, etc., this update is going to be more of a quick update to ask for prayer for Jonathan.
We don't want to shortchange you on communication. In fact, we should have had a letter out by the end of June, but Jonathan has been suffering through some health problems for the past 29 days and has not been able to write a proper prayer letter.
For context, we were back in the United States for a few months to enjoy the summer, get some rest, visit some supporting churches, and kickstart fundraising for the "Colombia Building Fund" through the BBFI Mission Office. That all came to a halt when these health problems began.
It all started when Jonathan had a simple operation that developed an infection. The doctor wouldn't believe there was infection, so it progressed unchecked for two weeks until the pain drove us to seek emergency care. Even the morning we went to the emergency room, the doctor insisted "You do not have an infection."
When the infection was finally confirmed at the hospital through blood tests, Jonathan was already in really bad shape. Not even morphine could control his pain for more than a couple minutes. The strongest pain medicine the hospital had would help for around 3 of the 4 hours between doses. He spent a week in the hospital just to get to the point where the pain could be controlled with pills instead of IV medications. After that, Jonathan was able to go home with the projection of 2 weeks of pain and 1 month to get back to normal.
We hope Jonathan has made it through the worst of it now, but we want to ask you to pray that it really will be the case. Today (Friday, July 9th), Jonathan will be having a surgery to remove all of the infected tissue that can be found from his wound. The goal is to prevent any continued infection, ending what has been a month of terrible pain.
Please pray for Jonathan's surgery to go well. Even if you read this letter after the surgery, you can still pray for his recovery to go well. We expect about a two-week healing process after the surgery, and up to a month to get back to normal.
We very much appreciate your prayers.
Jonathan & Anna Saliba
saliba@me.com
417-597-4626