Mike and Faith are ALONE right now in Mexico. What???? You say. That’s what we have said too. The Lord has made drastic changes. Even though life has been spinning, we know that every change and hectic day has been a part of God’s plan to draw us closer to Him and to be more effective in our service to Him in the future.
In early December, Mike’s sisters and mother headed up an incredible week of family fun at a family reunion on the beach in Charleston, SC. Mike is one of seven and there were 20 grandchildren! We even went to see Christmas lights in the church BUS! The special time there will not soon be forgotten.
We then headed up to Mentor, Ohio to our home church. We wanted to take the opportunity to see our home church and to have Faith’s second grade teacher evaluate our daughter Cristiana. The past year has been very difficult home schooling her. Some days Cristi seemed to read well. Other days, she could not. We had actually considered dyslexia; but then we knew that at times Cristi read well. It was Mrs. McCulloch that gave us the missing puzzle piece. She said that –"some days fine, some days not," could be the actual sign of some learning disabilities. Friends Tim and Rhonda Potter encouraged us to have her tested. So we continued with our plans to spend Christmas with Faith’s parents and had her tested in PA. The learning center in PA recommended a specialist called a clinical neurological psychologist. But their doctors had a 3 month waiting list. We then turned all of our attention to getting back to Mentor. There we could put the children in Mentor Christian School where we both grew up and have the help of our own church people. The learning center in Cleveland suggested a neurologist who would have just put Cristi on Ritalin. Wanting someone to deal with the whole problem, we called the PA specialist who verified that just neurology was not the way to go. He then found us a doctor in Cleveland who specialized in Cristi’s problems. Praise the Lord it is only 45 minutes away from us! The learning center also determined that Cristi had failed the hearing test. Cristi told us, "I can hear fine. It is just that sometimes I can’t get it." We chuckled inside because-- wasn’t that a hearing problem? Well, it turns out that Cristi was right. She was determined by the specialist to have dyslexia as well as an AUDITORY PERCEPTION problem which explained that sometimes she could hear well, but what she was hearing just sounded like ---blah, blah, blah. This also explained problems with immediate since she was two. The Lord was very gracious to reveal this to us at an early age, 8, before her condition became irreversible.
Words cannot explain all that has gone on since then. Mike traveled to Cleveland with Cristi for a week of testing while the rest of us stayed in PA, then he came back, got us, took us to his mom’s house, and left the next day. Kent Hobi drove down to Greenville with him while Mike’s brother, John Goldfuss met Mike in Atlanta. They both flew to Mexico City and waited while Mark Perry from Westerville Bible Church met them at the airport. The three of them spent over one week working feverishly on the house. Meanwhile, Faith was in Mentor trying the help the children get adjusted to a new home, church, school, and climate. We had little appropriate clothing, but the people of Bible Community have provided clothing, meals, and themselves to help us move into Mike’s mom’s home. Some have gone to the doctor’s appointments with Faith to help watch the children. Their help has been overwhelming. The people of Grace Church of Mentor have also helped by providing their van and taking the children to school. The Lord’s people are so gracious. It brings tears to our eyes when we think of all of the love that has been shown to us.
Grandma Goldfuss arrived from SC just in time as Mike had asked Faith to come to Mexico to help move things from the cabin to the new house. This will now free the cabin for Ruben and Heidi Zartman to come and fill in for us during furlough. Grandma is taking care of Cristi and Carissa, and the Houke family has Mikey. Faith brought Matthew and Cherith with her, but Juana and Reme quickly stole them away so that we could get more work done here. So we are alone!!! We have not been alone for even 1 hour in over 3 ½ years!
All three older children are at Mentor Christian School. Mrs. McCulloch (our 2nd grade teacher) has been invaluable to us in helping with Cristi. Cristi is presently involved in four different therapies tackling the auditory perception problem and beginning to deal with the dyslexia. Faith will return to Mentor on January 27th when she will have a big meeting with all of Cristi’s doctors to determine how to more intensely deal with the dyslexia. A dear friend, Susie Phillips, is taking over all of Cristi’s home exercises, and Cristi seems to be progressing well.
So what are our plans for 2006?
- (Mike) Helping Ruben and Heidi Zartman get adjusted to Mexico. They are coming on February 1st and Mike will drive the van up and hope to be in Mentor, Ohio by February 10th.
- Going on furlough to our 25 supporting churches on the weekends. We want to also encourage the Lord’s people with the fact that trials are allowed by the Lord for His glory and our good. They may not be the easiest, but they are the best. We also want to present the need for more workers and share the blessings of dedicating yourself entirely to serving the Lord.
- Helping at our home church during the week. Mike will tend to our missions responsibilities primarily each day, and then he would like to make himself available to the church and the school as he is needed. This may give us a chance to give back a little of all that Bible Community has given to us.
- Going on a twelve-day trip as team leaders of high school students to Puerto Rico in July with the purpose of helping the Pfaunmillers who are also supported by Bible Community. We are thrilled to be able to help these young people in their Christian growth.
- Continuing Cristi’s intensive therapies.
- Visiting family and friends that we haven’t seen in almost six years.
- Giving our children the big picture of our ministry and encouraging them in their part of the ministry.
- And finally, getting back to Mexico as soon as possible after reaching all of the above goals.
We are looking forward to seeing all of you soon! Please continue to pray.
With much love, The Goldfusses
