Dear Family and Friends
I hope you are keeping cool this Summer. For those of you in America, please keep Europe in your prayers as we continue to see heatwaves that are now causing serious fires as well as deaths due to the heat in many countries across Europe. Here in London, it has cooled down a little, but it is still way above temperatures that most people are used to so people are suffering and the country is now in drought.
I am now 9 weeks post-surgery and my incision has healed praise God, and I have had my first week of radiation. I have radiation Monday–Friday for 3 weeks. The main side effects of radiation are skin irritation and exhaustion. So far I am feeling good but I would appreciate your prayers for the next few months regarding this because the side effects are normally worse at the end of radiation and for weeks or months afterwards. Also, please continue to pray that my gene results come back negative!
I have been working over the past 4 weeks, which has been so refreshing for me. July is normally a month where we begin to pause regular meetings to allow August to be a time of rest and refreshing before the new season starts with church courses, missions, university terms and a lot more!
Two of the meetings that have been put on pause for me is the monthly cluster I have with some of our female campus(university) missionaries across Europe. These ladies are heroes as they engage with university students across their cities leading them to Jesus and helping them grow in their relationship with Him and raising them up as leaders to pass on what they have received!
Another meeting that has been put on pause is my Connect Group. These ladies are a part of my church community from different countries living and working here in London.
We also had a few weeks of World Cup fever here in London. With so many nations represented in the city and our church, we have had BBQ’s after church, watch parties at people’s houses and when England played against Argentina, Dina and I decided to join a group of our university students at a local pub to cheer them on.
Some of our students have been graduating over the past few weeks. One of them is Nix who was studying at the London School of Fashion where she also had to present 2 designs at a fashion show for her final presentation. Nix is here in the white shirt with those of many of us who came to support her on the day. One exciting thing about Nix, is that she is taking a gap year to intern with us starting in September. She is one of 7 young interns taking a step of faith this next year to pursue God in a deeper way and exploring whether He is calling them into full-time ministry or preparing them to be ministers in the workplace.
I’ve also continued to plan a campus mission to Bournemouth with one of our churches in the south of England that will take place in November. We are praying that this mission will launch their campus ministry as we engage with students for the first time at Bournemouth Universities.
There are a lot of other things happening behind the scenes at the moment with church that I am excited to share with you in the coming months.
Thank you again for all of your prayers and support – I need it and feel it!
Lots of love
Traci
Dear Family and Friends
I hope you are well and enjoying your Summer so far and surviving the heat. For those of you outside of the UK we have been experiencing a few heatwaves. Last week in London we had our “feels like” temperatures at 40C/104F! My Florida blood loves the heat BUT - our homes in the UK and most of Europe do not have air-conditioning or ceiling fans like many homes have in America, so the heat was unbearable at times. Schools closed and people were encouraged not to travel on public transportation if they could avoid it because again, most buses and trains do not have air-conditioning.
The heat also did not help in my healing process. Trying to keep a wound dry so it could heal was impossible. My wound is still healing now 4 weeks post surgery. Please pray that it completely heals without infection or complications so the next steps can begin.
This week was my first oncology appointment. I know that everyone has been praying for my gene results to come back negative – Please keep praying for that! Unfortunately though, I found out this week that the results will take quite a while to come back. For radiation to be effective it has to happen within 12 weeks after surgery and because the gene test was only taken 2 weeks ago the results will not be back within the 12 week window of radiation. This means I will go forward with radiation before having the results. They still need to do some things to prepare me for radiation, like a CT scan etc, but radiation should start in the next 3 weeks. By then my scar should be completely healed.
I am feeling better and less sore praise God! I’ve even started back at work which has been so refreshing for me!
Last week was probably my hardest week emotionally because it was our Student Leaders Camp in Marseille. France that I help organise, oversee and teach on every year. It’s one of my biggest highlights of the year. I cried a lot missing out on seeing and experiencing everything that God was doing in and through these amazing leaders. This year we had 32 leaders from 13 churches across 10 countries in Europe! Here is a picture of the group.
Over the next 3 weeks I plan on getting back into a work routine as much as possible. My church is amazing and has been so good to me giving me all the time I need to recover. Once I start radiation they will continue to be flexible if I need time off. Summertime is usually planning and strategy time for the Autumn season which I am looking forward to. There are a lot of exciting things coming up that I will share in the coming months!
Thank you so much for all of your prayers – I REALLY need them and appreciate them SO MUCH!
Blessings
Traci
Dear Family and Friends
Thank you so much for all of your messages and prayers over this past month! My surgery date is next Monday, 1 June. The surgery was originally planned at the end of June but there was a cancellation so I’m happy that this will be done rather sooner than later. I have an amazing church family here so I know that I will have all of the help that I need over the next few months.
Besides my health issues over the past month so much has happened since I returned from America.
First of all, my time with my parents was amazing. I feel like the older we get, the closer we get. My mom’s memory is still challenging but health wise she is doing great. My stepfather has had so much on his plate but he is a wonderful husband and is doing everything he can to take care of both of them. Here’s a pic of us before I left.
When I was with them, we drove together from Georgia to Alabama to attend a funeral and so that I could preach at the church that my aunt and uncle go to. Thank you Clayton Assembly of God for being such a blessing to me! Many of you have heard me share my testimony about how my aunt prayed with me to become a Christian when I was 13 years old. The beautiful lady on the left with my mum is the aunt you always hear about.
The day after I returned to London, I went straight into our Freedom Weekend where I taught on 2 sessions and helped with personal ministry throughout the weekend.
On 8 May, we celebrated Julius and Amy getting married. Amy is Wolfi & Ali’s daughter. Wolfi was dearly missed but it was a beautiful ceremony and filled with God’s presence and joy for the happy couple. Here is a picture from the wedding with my friends Margie and Dina. You have seen Dina many times over the years in pics. She has been a housemate in the past, she’s a colleague, best friend and sister rolled up in one and part of my Portuguese adopted family here in the UK. Margie is a colleague and an amazing friend who has been with me at most of my hospital appointments so far. They will both be a huge part of my recovery over the next two months.
A week ago, I spent time in Glasgow, Scotland for a conference and was part of the coaching team who was helping the students develop ministry skills after teaching sessions. Here is a pic of all of us who attended the conference and of those of us who were coaching.
Finally, I promised you a recap video of our ENC Conference in Madrid so here it is:
I’m really sad to miss our ENC Leaders’ Camp at the end of June. I have been working on preparations for the camp and will tie up loose ends this week to hand over to everyone as well as my other Europe responsibilities.
I will be taking a break from ministry over the next few months to heal and recover, I would appreciate your continued prayers. I plan on spending lots of time with Jesus and coming out of this stronger than before!
Lots of love
Traci
