Hi everyone, below are links to the Word and pdf versions of our prayer letter for June 2010. We have a couple of important requests to share in it as well as the usual information.

Word version: http://www.giffmex.org/docs/jun2010plv2.doc (clicking this should download the file to your computer)

PDF version: http://www.giffmex.org/pdfs/jun2010plv2.pdf (this should open the pdf right in your browser)

Blessings to you all in Christ,

Dave Gifford

I will need to send out a general email to everyone, but I don’t have the energy for that right now…

In our last update I shared joyfully how Blanca got a second opinion in Michigan that said she doesn’t need Herceptin injections. Well, this Wednesday she got a third opinion, since the first two didn’t agree. This doctor said she really should get the injections. And she was very impressed by his thoroughness and his helpful answers. She has decided to get the injections after all, and get the first one in Michigan while she is there.

However, this doctor gives the injections in smaller doses over three weeks, which means that she will be there until midMay, and I will be a single Dad until then.

My regional director encouraged me to go to Michigan to be with Blanca this Thursday for her first injection. He said I could take the time off I need to be with her, even though we have our annual missionary retreat this coming week. But what to do with the kids? We cycled through various options, and I finally decided to take them with me. We were going to be there from Weds the 21st to Tuesday the 27th, but I just found out that the Monday meetings after the retreat are pretty important and that my presence is required. So instead, we will be up from Wednesday the 21st to Sunday the 25th. Of course, with all the flip-flopping mentioned above, I wouldn’t be surprised if it changes by the time I hit the ‘publish’ button for this post.

Please pray for Blanca’s health and treatment. Please pray for patience and endurance for me. And pray for our kids as they cope with these changes. Blessings to you in Christ,

Dave  Gifford

(p.s., after our last update and email I was deluged by about 50 or more emails and well-wishes. That’s awesome and we were very encouraged by that. But since time is short and I am really busy before the trip, please understand that I will not be able to answer emails this time around. (But send them anyway, because we would love to hear from you!) And please understand that we will only have three days in Michigan, one of which will be at the hospital, so, we really won’t be able to visit anyone.

Hi everyone,

Just a quick note to let you all know that Blanca saw the oncologist in Grand Rapids, Michigan today. The doctor said that he did not recommend Herceptin injections for her:

• Her cancer, though the most aggressive kind, was spotted at a very early stage in November
• The affected area was small, and plenty of surrounding tissue was removed in December
• Her lymph nodes had tested negative for cancer in December
• She finished radiation in a timely fashion
• Her chance of recurrence is 10% or less
• The side effects and long term risks associated with Herceptin are too great to justify the injections in this case, given for the small chance of recurrence

So Blanca will be getting a checkup every few months, but will not need these injections. We praise the Lord for this good news!

We also want to thank again the many people from Christian Reformed World Missions who showed their concern and generosity in sending Blanca up for this second opinion. “World Missions is a caring community”, one director said during this process, and we sure experienced that.

We also want to thank all of you who prayed for us, and sent us words of encouragement and advice. You guys really went to bat for us, and it is surely due to your prayers that God has answered in this way. Way to go, team, you are awesome!

Continue to pray for me as I have a lot on my plate – teaching and preaching, retreat planning, and the responsibilities of being a ‘single dad’ until Blanca decides to come home!

Blessings in Christ who is above all,

Dave Gifford, Christian Reformed World Missions, Mexico City

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to post that Blanca arrived in Grand Rapids today and will have an appointment on Friday in order to see if Herceptin injections are the right treatment to eliminate any lingering cancer after her December breast cancer surgery and her seven weeks of radiation treatment. We ask your prayers for her health, and also for the kids and I as we cope with life and ministry without her here. Also please pray that I (Dave) will feel better. Since my Easter week trip to Tabasco I have been feeling exhausted easily, among other things. I think I am coming out of it, as today I did well, but pray anyway…

Blessings to you all in Christ,

Dave

Hi everyone!

Below are the links to our April prayer letter, made radiant by Blanca’s many weeks of radiation treatments, which are thankfully now over. Thank you for your prayers, encouragement and support. God bless you all.

The Microsoft Word version: http://www.giffmex.org/docs/apr10pl.doc

The pdf version: http://www.giffmex.org/pdfs/apr10pl.pdf

Hi everyone. You know the drill: pick which file format you want (Microsoft Word or PDF) and click the link to download your copy of our February prayer letter. Thank you all for your interest, prayers and support. Blessings to you all!

Microsoft Word version

PDF version

One thing I (Dave) did on vacation in December was catch up on reading and research that I don’t always have time to do during the rest of the year. This time around I investigated a number of aspects of the book of Revelation. In order to share my findings, I created a blog called Giffmex’s Blog of Apoca-lists. You can see it by clicking on the image below. No, it’s not filled with end-times speculation, but lists and resources to help understand the book of Revelation. We hope you find it helpful and we hope you take time to post comments and questions there.

Hello everyone,

Just wanted to fill everyone in on Blanca’s breast surgery. She had her surgery yesterday, Thursday Dec. 3, and it went well.

Blanca had discovered a cyst in her right breast, and when she had it checked out, the tests found a cluster of spots on her left breast, too.

The cyst was benign and they removed it. The spots did turn out to be cancer, but in the earliest stages, so that section was removed, too. The lymph nodes showed no infection whatsoever, which was a good sign. They removed one for testing, which is standard procedure.

Blanca was sitting up, talking and eating when I left. She said the worst part was the biopsy in the morning, in which she almost fainted from the pain. They had put a local anesthetic, but Blanca tends to be impervious to sleep pills, local anesthetic, etc, so it hadn’t taken full effect when they did the biopsy.

The doctor said she won’t know whether Blanca will need radiation treatment until the last test results are ready around Tuesday. Please pray she will not need this painful treatment, once a day for 25 days.

In addition to the successful surgery and the lack of infected lymph nodes, we are grateful to the many people who have been praying and helping us. We know that many, many people were praying in Mexico and the States, several people from church here have agreed to help with watching the kids and watching Blanca for a couple times when I need to leave, and my mother is coming on Sunday to help for about 10 days. God bless them all.

I came home to get the kids in bed last night, get them off to school this morning, but am headed out very soon to pick her up. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement,

Dave Gifford

Update, 12-10: Blanca will need follow-up radiation treatment for 5 weeks soon after Christmas, giving her body time to heal. However, we are grateful for three things regarding radiation treatment:

1. It is not painful as we thought at first. Thank you to those who wrote to encourage us in this regard.
2. Since it will not be for a few weeks yet, we will all be able to attend a retreat in Acapulco with the Jesús el Salvador church from Dec. 23-28.
3. Praise the Lord that Dave is not teaching until the end of January, so he will be more available and less pressed for time when he takes Blanca across town for daily radiation treatments in January.

We also ask your prayers for us as we look at the possibility of  a visit from Blanca’s mom (in Miami) and three nieces from Honduras, who all hope to visit us, possibly in January or February. This will be the first time that anyone from Blanca’s family has visited us here, so we are excited about that. However, the radiation treatments would limit our possibilities with them, so we need discernment as to the best way to proceed.

Hi everyone!

Here are the links to our November/December prayer letter, which includes a “Fridge banner” – a page to print out and stick on your refrigerator. The Fridge banner has our photos, our 2010 general prayer needs, and a ticket to clip and send in a support gift.

Word version: http://www.giffmex.org/docs/dec09plfridge.doc

PDF version: http://www.giffmex.org/pdfs/dec09plfridge.pdf

You may also enjoy this post about something funny that happened to me (Dave) on a recent conference trip: http://www.giffmex.org/newsblog/?p=183

Thank you to all of you who pray for us, support us with financial gifts to World Missions, and write us to encourage us. Blessings to you all in Christ,

Dave and Blanca Gifford

On October 31 I was in Altamira, Tamaulias to give conferences and preach. I stayed with a nice couple, Javier and Alma, and their two children. I knew from experience that the Christians from Altamira are very hospitable, so it did not surprise me when I saw them move into their kids’ room so that I could have the master bedroom. The previous 24 hours had been exhausting, involving little sleep and little food, so I quickly got to bed.

I woke up at 6:15 after a night of uninterrupted sleep, feeling refreshed, but needing to go pee. One hitch: the only bathroom was accessible only

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