Emi's Surgery A Success!

Thank you guys so much for praying for Emi during her tonsillectomy. Emi did well in her surgery, and today is DAY 3 and she is still doing great. We’re just staying on top of the pain meds and so far so good.

Thank you!!

Love,

The Deetlefs family

Please Pray for Emi's Surgery TOMORROW!

This is just a quick note to ask you to pray for Emi tomorrow (Thursday, October 20), as she will be having her tonsillectomy in the morning. The ENT recommends that with her recent struggles with her tonsils, this is the best route for us to go. Her surgery will be around 8am (2am for you guys in Georgia), so please pray for her before you go to bed.

It was such a blessing for us to see many of you in the States. Thanks again for helping us to get there with your sky miles! Thanks mom and dad for all of your hospitality and help with Emi while I was home. Emi had lots of great time with her Ouma, Oupa, cousins, and aunt and uncle!

We love and appreciate you greatly! Please pray that all goes well tomorrow.

Jodi  (for the whole Deetlefs gang)

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME!

There’s No Place Like Home!

Emi was released from the hospital on Sunday morning with an infection count of 10 (down from 94!), and the doctor was confident that she was ready to fly. So we did, and we landed safely in Atlanta yesterday (Monday) morning, after our 16 ½ hour flight.

She did great, and we are SO happy to be here! We had a late Happy Birthday party with Oupa (Afrikaans for Grandpa) and look forward to spending lots of time at Ouma and Oupa’s house, catching up on sleep, getting Emi’s appetite back, and recovering from this serious bout with tonsillitis. I pray these next few weeks feel like a long time.

Thanks so much for all of your prayers and support that helped us make this trip. There really is no place like home!

Lots of love from Jasper, Georgia,

Mama & Emi

Operation SkyMiles - TEMPORARILY GROUNDED!

OPERATION SKYMILES – TEMPORARILY GROUNDED!

Most of you know that I was supposed to be landing in the good ole USA this morning to surprise my dad for his 60^th birthday. Unfortunately, that did not happen, and we are still in South Africa.

Emi has been battling with tonsillitis for almost 2 weeks, and was on her 3^rd round of different antibiotics and still she had a pretty high fever. Emi and I flew to Johannesburg on Tuesday, and when she still wasn’t improving on Wednesday (the day we were supposed to fly) I decided to take her to the doctor to just make sure it was ok for her to fly in this condition.  After looking at her tonsils, he immediately admitted her into the hospital for IV antibiotics. She is scheduled to be in the hospital for 5 days! This was SO unexpected, but God has been taking care of us in every way.

This morning her fever broke (after hovering at 102-103 since Sunday) and she is just starting to feel a little bit better. Marius flew in last night, and that is a great help for me and for his biggest fan-Emi! We pray by Sunday she will be released from the hospital on schedule, and be feeling like herself again!

I am SOOOOOOO grateful to God for giving me the wisdom to go for that doctor’s visit. The pediatrician said that her tonsils were so big that her airway could have been compromised, and that is one thing you don’t want to happen at 30,000 feet! When they did her blood work, her infection level was sky high. They usually give kids antibiotics when their infection level is between 2-5, and Emi’s was 94! This is after being on Zithromax, Augmenten, and Orelox. Anyway, please pray with us that she continues to get better and better. 

We have really felt the grace of God on us in these last days; so many kind strangers, and wonderful nurses, and lovely friends encouraging us and praying. Thank you!

While I’m very disappointed that I’m missing dad’s actual birthday, we will still get to fly, possibly even Sunday evening. So, it will still be great to come home and celebrate, just with a healthy little girl instead. Thank you all so much for helping make this trip a reality, and we’ll see you a little later, ok? Keep prayin!

Lots of love from Pretoria East Hospital!

Marius, Jodi, and Emi

OPERATION SKY MILES: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

I am SO grateful, and thankful, and speechless at the tremendous response to my last blog and request for Sky Miles! As a result of so many generous mile donations, I have booked our sky miles award tickets, and we are coming home for my dad’s birthday!!!

I want to thank the following people for your GENEROUS GIFT OF MILES to us:

Bonnie Padgett

Dee Benbrook

Tom Wade

Marty Beaver

David & Lisa Filkins

Jerald & Majesty Brown

Jennifer Davo

Kent & Becky Pirkle

And to those of you who also GENEROUSLY OFFERED to donate miles or help in other ways to get us home:

Tommy James

Randy Saxon

Larry Womack (thanks to Steve Wallace)

Steve Kasha

The Altmans (thanks to Elysa MacLelllan)

Tricia Turner Atkinson

Lynn Weaver New

Thanks also to so many of you who were praying with us for this to happen. Your prayers were answered.  My dad is going to be SOOOOOOOOOOO excited and so surprised for this tremendous Birthday gift! I assure you – he is worth the surprise. Anybody who knows him knows that for sure.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this gift to him and to us! USA here we come…….

Love,

Jodi & Emi

*Please let me know if I need to reimburse you for your transfer fees, which I am more than happy to do!

TOP SECRET MISSION!!

I have a really great idea, and I just need a little help to make it happen. My dad’s 60^th birthday is next month, along with my parent’s 40^th wedding anniversary, and I would LOVE to surprise them with a quick surprise visit home. We won’t be coming home for Christmas this year, and I can think of nothing my dad would rather have for his birthday than a surprise visit from his grandbaby that he hasn’t seen in 9 months!

At first I thought it was completely impossible, as it would cost close to $5,000 for Emi and I to fly home, but when I saw this month’s Delta Special Offer I thought this could really happen. So here’s the deal:

To be able to fly home for his 60^th, I just need some Delta Sky Miles. If any of you have some sky miles that you would be willing to transfer to me, I would greatly appreciate it!

Ticket costs:            100,000 miles

I have:                         8,000 miles

I need                        92,000 miles

*But the GREAT news is from August 10-Sept 30 Delta is offering a 100% Miles Bonus which means if someone transfers 10,000 miles to my account – Delta gives me 20,000 instead! So, I really only need:

Only need         46,000 miles

So, for only 46,000 Delta Sky Miles I can fly home and surprise my dad for his 60^th birthday! Marius won’t be able to come because of work, but I if I get Sky Miles for my ticket, then I will then purchase Emi’s ticket (which is only a 10% fare because she’s still under 2 years old).

So, please, if you have some extra sky miles in your account – would you consider transferring them to me?  Several of my friends are avid travelers, so I know this is really POSSIBLE!  If you are interested in helping me, please email me at jodideetlefs@yahoo.com:  

Here’s the link to the Delta Transfer Miles page if you want more details:   http://bit.ly/aEYG4E . There is a $10/1,000 miles fee and a transaction fee of $30 which I would gladly reimburse you for if you’re interested in transferring some miles for me! My Delta Sky Miles Account # is Jodi Deetlefs 2225388079.

Remember, this is a surprise, so please don’t tell my parents! I know it is a long shot, but I just want to see if this is possible, and if you can help, it has to happen SOON (like in the next 7-10 days) while there are still Delta Sky Miles Award seats available on the flights.

Let me know if you choose to accept this TOP SECRET birthday mission!

Thanks so much!

jodi

Out of Egypt....

What a joy to be alive and find our purpose and strength in Jesus! Looking back on the last six months I cannot help but notice how God has built into our lives. He has pushed us out of our comfort zones to embrace who we are in Him. I feel like a tree getting all the sun and water it needs to flourish. I am growing so much lately and I am thankful for this season. Jesus is calling me to BE who I am, who He has made me to be, to trust in my talents and gifts, and to live from a heart of courage. 


In the book “Strengths Finder” the author says: “When we’re able to put most of our energy into developing our natural talents, extraordinary room for growth exists.” He continues saying that there is a myth out there that tells us, “We can be anything we want to be if we try hard enough. Unfortunately, we cannot be anything we want to be, but we can be a lot more of who we already are”. He encourages the reader to focus on their strengths instead of putting so much of their energy into their weaknesses. I am at that place in my life where I want to focus on what I am good at instead of spinning my wheels on that which I am not good at. It brings freedom to operate from your natural talents. So, I am embracing opportunities to teach, to communicate creatively, and to focus on Bible training.

I just returned from my 3 week trip to Egypt/Budapest/Croatia. I met our Explore Africa team in Cairo, Egypt, met the Northbound team in Budapest, Hungary, and traveled on with them to Croatia. The focus of our time with the teams was a midyear debrief session during which we gauged where they were spiritually as a team, as leaders, and as individual team members.  We shared in their laughter and tears as they told the amazing stories of God’s miracles they have experienced in the last 6 months. We prayed for each of them and encouraged them to finish the second half of this year strong. 

What a huge privilege and joy it was for me to be a part of this process in their lives. Some of the students asked me where I got my training to do this. The truth is I haven’t;  it’s just flowing from the heart that Jesus gave me, and I'm learning to be faithful with that. I left Europe with a renewed sense that Jodi and I are exactly where we need to be for this season. I felt validated and appreciated. I felt like I really have something to bring to Global Challenge. I felt loved and cared for by Jesus, and He is helping me to retake me - who I am.

One of the many  highlights for me was when I was asked to teach on communion. Looking at the Gospels I grasped something of the beauty of us REMEMBERING our friend Jesus. I love the simplicity of the Gospel…

Just as a side note, Egypt is not my dream vacation destination. Cairo with its 20 million people is like a beehive on steroids. Crazy drivers and colorless landscapes with extreme heat. Not my favorite...  Three weeks felt a bit too long to be away from home. Jodi had a rough time with Emi who was looking for her dad all the time. Maybe 10-14 days would be better next time. 

I want to thank you all for being a part of this journey with me. Thank you for praying for me, and for Jodi and Emi while I was away. Thank you for selflessly sharing in our lives here in Africa and beyond. We appreciate you! Thank you for your sacrifices so that we can continue to serve Him with our lives here. Many blessings from our family to yours!

Marius

p.s. I still need to come up with $400 more dollars to pay off this trip if anyone feels led to contribute financially. Thanks!

Here are a few pictures of my time with our teams:

Here we were with the Explore Africa team in Dahub, Egypt.

This is possibly where Mt. Sinai is located where Moses received the 10 Commandments.

Marius in front of a pyramid. They are really magnificent and gigantic!

Budapest, Hungary -where we met the Northbound team. Such a welcome sight after Egypt!

We stayed in a college dorm for a few nights.

Marius in Split, Croatia.

Omis, Croatia

The beautiful Croatian coast.

One of our students who was being baptized by her father who is a pastor and her mother. This was so special!

Marius teaching on communion in Croatia.

The Northbound team 

Cairo Backpackers where we stayed in Egypt.

Lunch - Global style.

Marius and Anna-Marie meeting with the Northbound leaders - Elbe and Jonathan.