Greetings from Tanzania! We hope this finds you all doing well and prosperous in the New Year.
The Andrew Connally School of Preaching is about to kick off the school year and we are expecting 16 new students for the English program. These, combined with the returning Swahili class, will bring the student body to 32 students. Please pray for these men as they dedicate themselves to studying God’s word and prepare for their lives as proclaimers of the gospel.
We want to solicit your prayers for a matter about which we are quite concerned. While we were on furlough last year I was doing some work for my parents and, long story short, twisted funny and dropped a 12 foot 1x12 board on my neck. Dumb, I know. It hurt a little but I didn’t think anything of it. A couple of weeks went by, the pain wasn’t subsiding, and two fingers on my right hand went numb.
I went to the doctor (an excellent physician and member of the church) and he arranged for an MRI. The MRI revealed some vertebrae hanging out in a place they weren’t supposed to be - on a nerve. After considering that our furlough was coming to a close, and we wanted to get back to TZ, the good doctor arranged for a couple of injections in my neck. (Did I say long story short?) The injections didn’t produce the results we were hoping for and now my entire arm goes numb when I turn my head, sit down, juggle or walk a high wire. I have stopped the juggling and the high wire but haven’t been able to stop turning my head or sitting down. After waiting as long as I thought safe, I called the doctor, explained my symptoms, and he suggested that we come back to Texas and that surgery is most likely. We will be arriving in Texas on February 3rd and have an appointment on February 4th. Again, we solicit your prayers and when we know something, you will know as well.
Our doctor has been very helpful in negotiating prices on our behalf. In fact, I think he probably used up a lot of favors to help us with our previous treatment. We don’t know what financial obligations we will be faced with but, with no medical insurance, even discounted care is costly. If you are able to help toward this need we would be very appreciative.
Until next time, take care and God bless.
Yours in Christ,
Sean & Anita Hochdorf