Teaching Resources International

Grateful for God’s Small Providences … (May 2018 Update)

I thought about titling this, “How a Nose Bleed Saved My Life.” But that would be like Jonah saying the plant protected his head when the Bible says, “God appointed a gourd.” The reality is that God’s small providences have a way of reminding us that He is in control.

A Ministry Update …

Last week, even though I was still pretty sick, I attempted to teach my last class of the year.  It was Research and Critical Thinking.  We had 50 students including 5 from Belarus and 1 from Azerbaijan. I have co-taught this class with Natalie Tereschenko and Oksana Pros for the last 8 years. Fortunately, they were teaching with me again this year. I taught each morning for about 2 hours and then went to my room and rested two hours.  I did the same each afternoon.  By Wednesday, Oksana and Natalie saw that I was getting worse each day and they encouraged me to go home after morning lectures.  I did and it was great to know that the class was in the hands of these two incredible teachers!  This is another example of one of God’s small providences!  Also, on Saturday, the seminary had its annual graduation.  Here are some pictures of the class we taught and a picture of the professors at our seminary. Unfortunately, I was not able to be present because I was too weak.

A Health Update …

A couple weeks ago, I had a problem with an extremely high blood pressure (180) and bleeding in my nose.  We went to the hospital and they did MRI scans of the head and ultrasound for the brain in order to rule out the possibility of any kind of a stroke or embolism.  They didn’t find anything and so we did scans of all the major arteries in my legs and neck to check for blood clots.  The scans showed that I had only about 20 to 25% blockage in any of my arteries and no blood clots.  So we went to a specialized heart hospital and they conducted a full stress test followed by an echocardiogram.  The stress test showed that I had some problem in the right ventricle of my heart.  The echocardiogram showed that I had some significant blockage in my left pulmonary artery.  They believe this is what is causing the spikes in blood pressure as well as the significant loss of energy anytime I have any load or stress. We also completed a 24-hour cardio and BP halter test.  Everything else seems fine for now if we can control the BP and some other factors that I mention later.

The condition is called pulmonary hypertension. It is basically a partial blockage in the lungs in the pulmonary artery. From what we understand, this condition is not curable and it is not reversible.  Most people with this condition die from heart failure in 2-10 years.  In my case, it appears we have found this very early in what they call stage 1.  Some people in this stage can live over 15 years if they’re able to manage the blood pressure and make lifestyle changes.  I don’t have many lifestyle changes to make but I do need to manage the blood pressure. Of course, the artery could become completely blocked and my heart could fail at any time but, if I make the necessary changes, I stand a good chance of many more years.

While this was serious enough, my condition continued to worsen and I was having trouble breathing.  So we had some oxygen and sleep tests done and discovered that I also have sleep apnea  where I stop breathing for up to 37 seconds 25 times a night.  This discovery too was an example of God’s small providences. Most people with apnea snore and gasp for air when they start breathing again.  In my case, this never would have been caught because I rarely snore and, when I resume breathing, I simply let out a very light puff and continue sleeping. Because we were searching for oxygen solutions for the pulmonary artery problem, we found a really big problem that we would never have known about until the damage was too severe.

Doctors debate whether the sleep apnea causes pulmonary hypertension or whether the pulmonary hypertension has resulted in the sleep apnea.  But either way, when I stop breathing in my sleep, I’m putting my heart at great risk. When I begin breathing again, my blood pressure and heart rate shoot up.  This condition has been getting worse every day since we discovered the pulmonary arterial blockage.  I am hoping to start treatments this week to try to correct this.  They will help overall but, sadly, the damage has already been done to the artery.

The biggest concern is about flying home. It is not recommended for people with pulmonary hypertension to fly more than two to three hours. Even then, they should use oxygen. This is a big problem for international flights. For this reason, international flights for people with this condition are not recommended because the air pressure changes stress the cardiovascular system.

So we are left with only one option to return to the states – taking a transatlantic cruise back.  We have some missionary friends who regularly do this and find it to be a more relaxing trip for just a little bit more money.  This might be exciting except that I don’t like water and boats!  Any way, it will be better than further compromising my health or having an incident on an international flight.  The costs for such a trip are about 50% more than our normal airfare costs. The biggest negative is the time – it takes at least 7-10 days (one way) instead of the 1 day air travel. But we think we can work it into our schedule. It will be a big plus for my health!

So what does all this mean? 

1. Ministry …. My greatest concern is that I can continue to be useful for the Kingdom of God and for my family. It’s strange, but when I think about dying, my one concern is that I can continue to work and serve until the day I die.  It appears that I will be able to continue to teach if I can correct the pressure and breathing problems.  So, for the coming year, I plan to teach 1 class less each semester and see how that goes. If I improve this year, I will try to return to teaching a full load again.
2. Family and Trips Home…. I want to give priority time to my family — both here and in the states.  Our trips home will be more expensive since we are trying to avoid air travel as much as possible.  This is especially true about the transatlantic crossings.  And we will try take trains in the US when possible and only short trips by plane when absolutely necessary.  But, since seeing family is so important, we think we need to spend the extra money.  We will have to make adjustments other places.
3. Medical Expenses … I have had many, many tests and we are calculating the costs so we can submit them to Samaritan Ministries (a faith-based sharing ministry). The plus is that medical expenses in Ukraine are a fraction of those in the US. For example, the MRI here cost 5000 UAH which is about $250! And that includes the doctors. The negative is that everything has to be paid in cash in advance. The other negative is that Samaritan Ministries has other people send money to cover the medical costs and it usually takes 3-4 months before the checks arrive.  In the states, that’s no problem because the hospitals bill you.  Here, since we paid in cash, we have had to use money that was budgeted for other necessities. Plus, there are some expenses that will not be covered by Samaritan’s purse (including our deductible).
4. Debt Retirement … When I moved to Ukraine in 2010, I was debt-free except for my house mortgage in Cabot. When we built our house here in Ukraine, since we could not get a mortgage here, we generally paid cash for labor and put many of the materials on credit cards.  Fortunately, I was able to find a few cards with 0% for 18-24 months and we have been paying those off.   We were hoping to cut this in half by Christmas so we can be debt free by next summer or fall. But it would help us greatly to eliminate or greatly reduce this debt now so that we can use the funds for medical and travel expenses. So we are praying for extra funds so we can be free to concentrate on other needs.

A Family Update …

Our girls continue to grow and provide lots of entertainment for us. Last month, we planted our garden and they loved planting and watering seeds.  It is exciting to see their eyes light up when the plants began to sprout.  Nadia is having fun with words.  Sometimes she hears us say a word and she thinks it’s funny and keeps repeating it.  Other times, she makes us her own words. Kristina is fascinated with learning about everything so we are excited about getting ready for homeschooling her this fall.

We still have a few things to complete on the house although none are essential.  We completed the insulation before winter but the temperatures were too cold to put the facade on and paint.  So that is our primary task for this coming month. It has been an unbelievable blessing to live in our own house in the country!

An Update for Ukraine …

Things continue in Ukraine as they have since the Russian-backed invasion in 2014.  Attacks continue and there seems to be no end to this conflict.  Right now it is called a “frozen conflict” since neither side is pressing the battle.  Still soldiers are being injured and dying and people from the war zone continue to be displaced.  Many of our students are serving as chaplains and some have started new churches for the refugees from the war.  Pray that believers will continue to respond with love and compassion toward those who have refugees as a result of this war.

Thank you for your support and prayers.  Right now, our monthly support has been down since the beginning of the year.  We are looking to add two new ministry partners this year and we are praying about this.  Thank you also for praying for my health and that we can work out all the details we need so that we can have a safe trip back to the states this winter.

By His Grace,

Jim, Katya, Kristina, and Nadia