Update and Prayer Requests

Dear Partners in the Gospel,

We wanted to give you a quick update on us and also pass along some prayer requests. We are currently in Dakar, the capital city of Senegal, having arrived here last Friday. We came here for two reasons: for the girls to see a doctor and for us to work toward getting our Senegalese residency cards. Let us give you a few details on both.

For over a month Hosanna has been having off-and-on fevers with little or no other symptoms. She will get a fever, it will last for several hours, and then it will go away. Then, about three days later, the fever will return. We were monitoring this, had given her a test for malaria (which was negative) and were in communication with an American doctor for advice. About a week-and-a-half ago, however, the level of the fevers increased and they began to arrive each day. It was at that point that we decided to come to Dakar to see a doctor.

In addition to this, Thea discovered a swollen "gland" in her cheek about a month ago and we wanted to get it checked out while we were in Dakar.

By God's grace we were able to see our doctor Friday afternoon and he ordered blood tests and other lab work for both the girls. All the lab work was completed by Saturday and now we await the results and another meeting with our doctor. Right now both girls are doing great and enjoying a few days of "downtime" in the city.

While here in Dakar we also met with the officials to complete the process for receiving our residency cards which will allow us to stay in the country. To make an incredibly long story shorter, we were unable to complete the process in Ziguinchor in southern Senegal because the man who is in charge of the process is away on vacation. However, the wait for our second appointment here in Dakar would be over a month. With all that being said, we have chosen to try and complete the process once again in the south when we return.

So here are some specific ways that you can pray for us during this time:

*For wisdom for our family and our doctor (Dr. Boukoulou)

*For us to continue to walk by faith and in grace as we wait

*For our travel back to the Casamance once we are finished in Dakar as we are planning to drive down through The Gambia

*That we would be able to complete the process for our residency cards soon after arriving back down south

Our family wants to sincerely thank you for being those that we can turn to when we need prayer. There is great comfort in knowing that you all do and will continually take our family and our needs before our gracious Lord and that you, along with us, will trust in His sovereign goodness for His people. You have no idea what an important part of our team you are as you pray.

We will update you as we receive some answers and pass along to you how God has moved in response to the prayers of His people.

Resting in Grace,

The Boyd Family

Romans 15:20