Hello friends and family! We have two things to share with you this month. It is such a joy to minister and walk through life with you!!
Under the heading of, “Ministry,” Andy recently returned from Thailand. This was not Andy’s first trip to Bangkok, but it was filled with firsts. It was the first time he flew through Atlanta, making his second flight (Georgia—Japan) more than 14 hours long. Andy had never flown that route, and the flight path went up over Canada and Alaska and across Siberia.
This was the first time that Andy went to Bangkok to attend and participate in meetings rather than help run the conference. This was a gathering of Technology Operations people — staff who maintain the servers their ministry uses, manage their email systems, update and write software, etc. They shared ideas, highlighted best practices and encouraged each other with success stories.
The conference attendees included people from: France, Ethiopia, South Africa, South Korea, Canada, Costa Rica, Philippines, Thailand, and two different regions where we minister in secret (note the blurred faces in the photo below).
Andy got to share about some fantastic software discounts that Microsoft offers to ministries like ours. They will save our staff incredible amounts of money, which is huge in many areas of the world! Andy led a half hour session about moving our international ministries from possibly expensive, less reliable email services onto our main corporate email service (which is hosted by Google). This move is a main project for part of Andy’s Team.
A man named Sami from Ethiopia is working on a smart phone application which helps those discipling others keep track of the men and women they are ministering to. It helps encourage the mentorees through communication, suggests Bible Study material, prayer reminders and more.
A three-person team from France attended, and because of relationships built during the conference, they are planning on spending the summer in Orlando to work on a key programming project in partnership with the programming team in Andy’s department.
Andy thoroughly enjoyed the time he had with these men and women. His passion has always been aligned with the people who help our field staff do what God has called them to do. This was a gathering of passionate technologists who think the same way, though in a dozen different languages, in very different circumstances, different economic situations and very diverse cultures. And yet, they are all seeking after the same goal, to help share God’s love and message.
Khloe Aspen Bishop
Born 2/28/16
5lbs 12oz, 18.25 inches
It was a routine OB/GYN doctor appointment for Cady, our oldest daughter. It was the final monthly appointment before the weekly appointments began. Cady was almost one month from her due date. Then the doctor noticed, “You are having a really big contraction, can you feel that?” Cady said, “No.” The doctor checked and Cady was 3 cm dilated and 80% ready to give birth. Because Cady was having regular contractions and not feeling them, the doctor sent her to Winnie Palmer Women’s Hospital to be monitored for 24 hours. Good thing too — every time Cady would have a major contraction (which she didn’t feel at all) the baby’s heart rate would drop dangerously low.
Thursday night, Friday and Saturday, Cady sat in a bed and waited. About every 12 hours, the nursing team to ran into her room (they could see the baby’s heart rate on monitors in the nurses’ station) and made her roll from side to side until the baby’s heart rate would return to normal. The medical team suggested that Cady stay in the hospital for another week or two. Saturday night, as I left the hospital, Cady and I talked about that possibility. I encouraged her to pray and ask God to reveal His plan for both her and the baby, to pray for the patience to stay in the hospital as long as it would take to have a healthy baby, healthy mom. God spoke loudly.
Saturday night into Sunday the baby’s heart rate dropped six times, the last time the nurses rolled Cady several times and then had her get up on “all fours”! The doctor’s decided: this baby needs to be born!
Cady was a rock star — the induction started at 11:30 a.m., she began feeling her contractions around 3:30 p.m. and Khloe Aspen Bishop was born at 7:11 p.m.! Khloe was strong and did better on all evaluations than she should have been able to do at her age.
There was a day when Khloe’s temperature dropped and she ended up spending a couple of days back at the hospital, but other than that, she has grown, and thrived. Cady and Kevin are great parents, and we love being able to be a part of her life. I love that little face!
Please rejoice with us in God’s goodness to our family!
The Kelloggs 