We're Back!!

WE'RE BACK!! We are thankful to the Lord that He enabled us to make the trip from Iowa out to a supporting church in Wilson, KS, on to Craig Hospital in Englewood, CO, on out to two of our supporting churches in Arizona, and back again to Iowa!!! When we pulled into the driveway here in Ankeny, IA at 8:00 p.m. last (Wednesday) evening, the first thing we did was to bow our heads and thank the Lord for His goodness to us, and now we are thanking YOU (our prayer team) for your prayers.

One of the first things that we noticed when we arrived was that our house was still "in tact" even after 13 days of three teenagers living inside of it with only "daily phone call" parental authority. Of course, we are GRATEFUL to Megan O'Leary, the daughter of John's cousin, who graciously consented to stay with them and try to keep things somewhat "under control" while we were gone! Actually, things went along very smoothly (at least they SEEM that way!), and it truly was great to see our kids again. Josh has spring break coming up and plans to be here this weekend for Easter. Thank you again for your prayers for our family.

Many have been wondering about our stay at Craig Hospital, and what we found out from them. We were really impressed with their competent staff, and they certainly gave us lots of helpful information concerning John's rehabilitation time that he is going through right now. The staff conference at the end of the week let us know that they felt we received excellent training and care here at Iowa Methodist Hospital (Younker Rehabilitation), and that the progress John has made is quite commendable. The tests that were ran showed that he is in very good health--no signs of any specific problem areas, which is great. We asked them if there was any type of surgery or procedure that could be done to help John get more movement at this time, and they said that there was not at the moment. They went on to say, however, that there are lots of research projects going on right now, and if anything came up they would let us know. We are so grateful that the Lord lead us to Craig, since they are on the cutting edge of all of the latest SCI (spinal cord injury) information, and just by being a patient there automatically qualifies John for further treatment, if something should come up. Another very positive thing that happened was that we also got medical approval to head back to the mission field of Brazil around next year at this time. Their only recommendation was that John come back to have a check-up before we go to the field just to make sure all is well, and also wanted him to come back to Craig for periodic check-ups after that.

The work in Brazil continues to go forward. Pastor Lelo and Andre have informed us of five salvation decisions in recent days. These people are being disciple and prepared for baptism. Some of the children that we lead to the Lord many years ago are dating and one of the couples recently got engaged to be married this up-coming October. The congregation in the town of Igaci is struggling. Pastor Cicero (the Brazilian pastor who came out of retirement) has decided he can no longer lead this small flock because of persecution. It is a great sacrifice on the part of our churches, but they have told us that they are not ready to give up, but will continue the work. Please pray with us as we seek direction from the Lord in who should take over the ministry in Igaci.

We are grateful for your prayers!!

John and Bev Leonard