We have been in the United States for over a month now and we are feeling ready to head back to Bolivia after visiting almost daily with many of you and spending time with family. God has been doing a lot in us over this short season where we had to say goodbye to our home, friends, school and ministry in Bolivia to come back to the United States. Our kids have had very memorable connection with cousins, we have been able to enjoy some much missed pastimes, and most of all we have been present with you to see what connecting the move of God in Bolivia to what He is doing in your hearts here in the US does to change us as we long to draw closer to our beloved Savior.

But, we didn’t really come for R & R or connection with loved ones though we have enjoyed that alot and are so blessed to have this time. We came because our Izzy was in desperate need of care. Over a year and a half ago our sweet Izzy started having seizures in her face that abruptly brought to our attention that she had a serious problem in her brain. I (Jon) then had the weight of finding and communicating in Spanish with a neurologist. For those who know me, you can almost picture the look on my face and countenance change as I face a humbling task of sounding like a two year old all over again as I try to understand the doctor. That neurologist ran some tests and referred us to one of the very few neurosurgeons in Bolivia, who spoke English, which was a huge relief to me. He said that they know how to fix this problem, which was called Brain Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM), but that it is potentially fatal, can bleed (probably causing brain damage), and needs surgery to correct.

We then had the decision of asking God how to love Izzy best and obey His voice and call for our lives. A wonderful former missionary friend who is an MD now in the US gave us some advice to not do this type of surgery in a developing country. We prayed and our friend reached out to find a Pediatric Neurosurgeon in the US who would have direction or a possible treatment plan for her. He finally replied and said that she would need to be seen by an AVM team in Boise or other established location and then go through a treatment that would last between six months and a year. We were stunned! We live in Bolivia. We don’t want to leave the community that God is building. We love living on mission and daily dependant on Jesus, but this is His plan. So, we asked the doctor if there was any possibility and he didn’t respond.

So, we prayed, fasted and waited. Then, Carly says to me one day, “we can’t wait anymore. We should buy our tickets because we haven’t seen our family in three years and we will trust God regarding Izzy’s treatment.” Two weeks later Dr. Bruce Cherny emails us back from Boise and lets us know that “Yes” they can treat her within our three month timeframe that allows us to keep our residency and not leave our home and fledgling ministry for too long. We were overjoyed by God’s response to our little step of faith. Then came the details.

Surgery in the US is MUCH easier and safer than in Bolivia. We got to the States hurried to Saint Luke’s Hospital in Boise and ran Izzy through test after test, from one doctor to the next until they had all the information that they needed. We sat down after the team of five neurological physicians had conferred and established a game plan. They gave us the verdict: her AVM is smallish, near the surface, and not in a really risky part of the brain to prevent Izzy from staying Izzy even if there were some complications. Then Dr. Cherny said they saw some complications.

Her AVM was different than most children’s and did not dead-end in the AVM but the artery continued on up and also back into other parts of her brain. This meant that they would have to cut and close off many arteries with active blood flow in order to avoid a stroke. Also, in the middle of her AVM she had an aneurysm, which is like a landmine in her brain. ALSO, they thought that she might have another aneurysm in a completely different part of her brain. All that to say, this was more difficult than we first thought and a lot more scary.

BUT JESUS! Dr. Cherny called upon another specialist to come in five days after our meeting to extract this AVM, because he had the experience with this type of AVM. He was available! They went in to surgery and came out eight hours later to tell us that they removed everything and she was fine. Also, later they discovered that what they thought may have been another aneurysm was actually a very unusual formation of arteries that should never be a problem for her. She is HEALED.

Through this process we had to cry, go to Jesus, tell our children that Izzy might not have lived or possibly woken up a different type of person and He proved so faithful. We were able to pray for the whole surgery team, walk by faith, receive tons of presents, visits and gifts from you all, and so much more support and love than we could have imagined. Thank you all!!! Meanwhile, life in Bolivia has continued. Our small team has continued to disciple, love, feed, worship and fellowship without us. It hasn’t all been perfect or pretty, but God is moving in and through our growing team in Bolivia.