My Personal Visit to the Hospital

Today my wife and I went to the hospital to bring dinner to the Leonard Family. My wife brought beef enchiladas which went over very well. There were about 10 people there eating, mostly children, John's brother Jim, Jim's wife and their oldest sister. On the way to the hospital I called Pastor Pat Nemmers to get instructions on where to bring the food. While on the phone he informed me that John started talking today. I guess John had some strong meds yesterday and it wore him out so he was very tired and sleeping most of today. He is now moving all of his limbs but it is still limited. Unfortunately the doctors never expected John to be able to move, so when he was shot in the arm they didn't work at getting it to heal; as in it was never set into place correctly. Judging by how Jim described it, there is about a 1" to 2" section shattered in the arm. It is only being held into place with a plastic brace at this time.

Jim can now post directly to this site and if you are on the mailing list it will come straight to you automatically without me having to touch anything. This way you will get faster and more accurate up to date information.

I contemplated as to if I should write tonight as Jim will probably tell you all of this but I wanted you to hear from an outside source (outside the family) just how everyone is doing. Jim's wife said all the kids were doing great and getting along and just having great fun together. There is an area for them to play in the children's hospital attached to the hospital. They have crafts and things for them to do. Jim and Julie seem to be doing well and continue to visit their supporting churches here in the Midwest on the weekends. Bev came out of the CCU (critial care unit) right before we left and said hi and also seemed to be doing well. You can really tell Christian families apart from the other families in the room in a crisis situation. Of course I was only there for about an hour but I could tell God's hand is surely on this family. I'm sure it is a great testimony to the staff and other visitor and patients.

Josh will be waiting a while to come home due to his situation. The only way to get him home was to take off the full body cast, fly him here (at least a 9 hour flight) and then put it back on. The doctors said it could be a cause for more surgery so they have decided to let him heal more in Brazil. Jim said he is surrounded by youth and church members and is safe. It would probably be very difficult for them both to be here now and there still isn't a place for him here yet. We all agreed God's timing is perfect and He knows best.

Jim also confirmed that John is talking. I think to myself that no matter what, now John will have his voice to preach again. If John is up to it we may have a message from him soon. From what I understand, The bullet entered in his right cheek area but Jim says it is appears totally healed from the outside.

John also was able to see the website today and we brought him all the updated messages from everyone. Jim assured me every one is read. I told Jim about the offering taken up for John and I could tell his heart was blessed. He said that John is already talking about a powered wheel chair and lift van. Jim told him it might be a little too soon for that. If you know John, you know he's ready to be out of there and getting back to "the work".

Besides other prayer requests I would mention to pray for John's ability to talk and for him to be able to witness to the staff at the hospital. I'm sure there's a lot he's had to say since he's been there and soon he will have that chance. Oh, I asked Jim if John has any memory of the shooting, so far he does not. In some ways that could be a good thing. There are a few things I will keep for Jim to say as I don't want to invade family privacy.

I still have video from service this past Sunday I am waiting to upload. Also look forward to a calendar that will not only show upcoming events like Josh's arrival date, but past events and time lines of John's story and progression.

All information is just from memory from visiting today so I appolgize if any info is wrong and Jim please correct me.

-Doug

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