Goldfuss update

It's been a whirlwind, but God is GREAT!

First of all, thank you so much for praying for Faith's ear surgery.
The operation took about 2 hours, but the surgeon said he was thrilled
that he was able to get all of the tumor out, the eardrum is totally
intact without damage, and we have a follow up appointment to see him
later today (Thursday afternoon.) He was so happy that instead of
keeping Faith overnight for observation, he let her leave the hospital
around 7 PM. We were going to get a taxi back to where we had left the
van by the church, but as we were walking out of the lobby, I heard a
voice yell, "Hey Mike." I turned, and it was a family that we have
known for a number of years here in Mexico. Faith just saw the mom last
week for the first time in about 3 years. They had come to the hospital
to see Faith and ended up driving us all the way down to the south of
the city to where the van was parked. That was a tremendous blessing.

With Faith's surgery scheduled for this past Tuesday morning, (and we
only found out that it would be Tuesday on Saturday around noon,) we
also had our girls' competing in gymnastics over the weekend. Two of the
girls (Cristi and Caralyn) were supposed to compete on Sunday. That
obviously isn't an option. The moms at gymnastics feverishly worked to
find a solution--"Well, Faith, you and Mike go to church; we'll take
care of the girls." "We can write a letter that she's sick." If they
don't compete, they end up losing the whole year and have to repeat the
same cycles while their friends move on. We said that we wouldn't lie.
We also said that we don't go to church to be right with God or to make
Him happy with us, but because we love our Savior. The Lord worked it
out that Caralyn could compete on Saturday evening with Cherith (even
though the rest of Cara's group competed on Sunday), and that Cristi
could compete Monday morning. Her whole group was changed from Sunday
to Monday. :-) Cherith got first place out of around 60 girls, Cristi
got second place out of 50 girls, and Caralyn got third place out of 62
girls. Their coach makes all of her students get first, second or third
before they can move on. So it was really neat to see how the Lord
rewarded their faith and trust in Him this weekend. Even if they
wouldn't have medaled, they were a testimony to their coach, the other
mom's and some in our church. Praise the Lord that they really want to
glorify the Lord.

Saturday Faith was up at 4:30 AM helping the girls get ready for their
competition. Sunday she was up really early as she had to go to the
hospital to get her blood work done before church. On Monday, we were
up again about 5 AM to go to Cristi's competition. Because our van has
foreign license plates, we are severely curtailed in our driving
privileges here in Mexico City. We drove down to the church and a man
from church drove us in his taxi downtown to the gymnastics competition.
After we finished, we took a family to eat lunch and then Mike had a
great talk with two young people who have been coming to church for a
number of months--Eduardo and Norma. They are quiet and shy and from
Chiapas, about 15 hours from here. Pray for them to be saved.

Faith's surgery was scheduled for 11 am on Tuesday. The doctor said we
needed to be there at 9:30 for pre-op and everything. But, about a
month ago, we had already scheduled for the same morning, passport
renewals for Matthew and Cristi at the US Embassy downtown. Again, we
got up at 5:30, left our van at the church, took a taxi downtown and
arrived at 7:20. We got in the line at 7:40, made it inside to find
another LONG line in front of us. I mentioned to an officer that we had
a recently scheduled surgery for later that morning and he MOVED US TO
THE FRONT OF THE LINE. Our appointment was for 8:30 but we handed in
our apps, paid, got the pictures taken and were out and in another taxi,
in traffic, but still made it to the hospital at 9:15. THAT MIGHT BE
THE BIGGEST MIRACLE IN ALL OF THE WHOLE WEEKEND. :-)

So, we have had some very long days. We had a very good prayer meeting
tonight. Pray for us to rest in the Lord, trust in Him, and walk with
Him. Pray for Faith's follow up appointment Thursday afternoon at 5 PM
(7 EST.) I have some work that needs to get done on the van tomorrow.
Please pray that I'll be able to get that fixed in the small window of
time that we can drive tomorrow.

Thank you so much for your prayers and concern. We have felt the Lord
at work through you.
With much love in Christ for you all, from us all,
Mike, Faith, Mikey (17 on Thursday), Cristiana, Carissa, Matthew,
Cherith and Caralyn Goldfuss

Faith's ear update

We met with the doctors yesterday and they have scheduled the surgery
for Tuesday morning at 11 AM. The tumor is about 3/4 of an inch in
diameter so it is rather large in the ear canal. The doctor is a bit
worried about the eardrum perhaps being ruptured. We appreciate your
prayers for this on Tuesday for the Lord's will to be done. The doctor
says it should be about a 1 1/2 hour surgery. The plan is for Faith to
be hospitalized for about 24 hours, so please pray for all the rest of
us here at home.

Please pray for the Lord's church here as well. We need lots of prayer
for encouragement. Attendance has been pretty low the last two weeks.
Please pray for us to have much wisdom in dealing with people and
encouraging them to continue on in their walk with Christ. Please pray
for our own walk with Christ as well.

We appreciate your prayers and support.
In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfii

Faith's ear report

Dear Prayer Partners,

 

Update on Faith's condition:

 

We went to the doctor last night and he said that I have a tumor of skin cells in the inner ear.  We do not want you all to become alarmed because it most likely is a simple surgery.  The tumor is pushing on the facial nerve.  I normally do not have any pain now, but sometimes there is a really sharp pain at times.  My face has been numb---including my eye and nose.   The next step would be partial facial paralysis.  Thankfully, I have not had that. 

 

The doctor is organizing a team of doctors to do the surgery.  There are several things that may happen.

 

1.  They will need to go in through the ear using microscopes and simply remove the tumor.

2.  They will find the tumor wrapped in nerves--- and will need to remove the tumor through an incision behind the ear. 

3. In either case, an oncologist will be a part of the team.  The tumor will need to be studied in pathology.  The good news is that none of my lymph nodes are swollen.  Cancer is not very likely.  I am not overly concerned, but I am just asking for prayer.

 

Do not be concerned about the medical team here in Mexico.  This is one of the very best hospitals, and my doctor studied in the States at the

Mayo clinic.

 

NOW we know why Grandma and Lauren are here!  The Lord has everything worked out, and HE knows what he is doing.

 

The surgery may be scheduled as soon as the beginning of next week.  There may be a problem with not being able to do it before Easter.  Please pray for the Lord's perfect will in timing and to give us grace to wait.  When I do have pain it is sharp--and at times just uncomfortable because it is just like having a giant Easter egg in my ear.

 

Please pray for the children.  The little ones have been a little unsettled because of my being away for the doctor's visits and tests.

 

Please pray for Mike.

 

With much love,

 

Faith

Goldfuss update

A number of folks wrote about the "big ladies' breakfast" joking that
they wondered when the smaller ladies were going to have their
breakfast. Very very funny. :-) (Faith apologizes for the faux paux,
but she really wasn't feeling well when she wrote the letter.) There
were 58 (large and small) ladies present, as well as 15 kids. We ran
out of tables and chairs, so we had a few ladies occupy "standing room
only" areas. Thank you for praying. Mom's talk lasted about an hour
and a half with Faith translating. People listened very well and a good
number stayed around afterward with good questions.

The only downer about the ladies meeting yesterday was that a whole lot
of people were missing today. That was discouraging, but we continued
on in our study of 1 Corinthians 5 about church discipline. The book
has been very helpful for our church as we've faced some of the same
problems that that early church faced. Pray for the Lord to continue to
work in us and change us through His Word.

Please continue to pray for Faith's ear. We went for the test on Friday
morning at the hospital. They said the results will be ready on Tuesday
evening. Faith has been very uncomfortable with it all. Pray that we
can get the results quickly and that the doctor will be able to
determine a quick and effective course of action.

On Friday night, we had a very good men's meeting. We were only missing
one main man. Some of our discussions were about the call to the
ministry and qualifications, expository preaching--its purpose, and some
of the different men trying to help a newer man, Sergio. He has a wife
that has some mental problems. He has been taking care of the little
one year old boy in the family and trying to work at the same time.
He's very tired. His family's house where he lives has turned off his
electricity and water. They are having a very difficult time. Pray for
the fruit of true conversion for Sergio and salvation for his wife Erica.

Pray that the Lord would make us to be satisfied in Him through our
Bible reading and personal time with Him. More love to thee, Oh
Christ--good challenge and reminder.

Thank you for your prayers,
In Christ,
Mike for all the Goldfii

Goldfuss update

Dear Prayer Partners,
This has been one of the busiest weeks in a long time.
Grandma arrived safely! We are being spoiled by her.
Please pray as we are having a big ladies' breakfast on Saturday at 10 AM. Over 50 ladies have signed up to come. There will also be about 17 little ones.
As we were preparing for all of this, Faith has had an earache that has progressively gotten worse. After 3 doctors, it has now been determined that she probably has a cyst in the middle of her ear. This is a condition that has been developing for years-- and we have been unaware of it. The symptoms have been dizziness, loss of balance, complete hearing loss in her right ear, and a lot of pain.
We are leaving here in a couple of minutes for a specific MRI type x-ray of her head. We would appreciate your prayers as she is leading the whole breakfast and translating as Mike's mom speaks.
We know that when we are weak, that is when He is made strong. Since every single thing done has been difficult, we are asking for your prayers for Faith to make it through Saturday.
Reme, Juana, and Gaby helped Faith last night tonight with decorating the whole church. That was a real blessing.
Thank you so much for your prayers.
In Christ, Mike, Faith and all the kids