Update Letter - September 2013

Written by Ben: 

It's really quite amazing how much life can change in just a matter of weeks! I wrote our last letter laying in bed in constant pain, and Jes was 9 months pregnant. Since that time, I am now on my way to recovery and we are a family of three!!

After much prayer and counsel, we decided that surgery was the best option to restore my (Ben's) back to full strength. The surgery took place in early August and we were thankful to have had my mom here for a couple of days to help with the recovery. The full recovery period will take up to 4 months. Up to this point, recovery has been slow but I am feeling better and stronger each day. I am very thankful for the relief from the constant pain! Jes was full-term in her pregnancy when I was operated on, but she was in great health and was a phenomenal nurse to me during my slow recovery!

About two weeks post-surgery God blessed us with an amazing blessing by allowing us to be parents to Wyatt Benjamin Thacker! He was born on his due date, September 4th, at 8:30 am. He was a healthy 8 lbs 7 ounces and was 21 inches long. Watching Jes go through the process of labor and delivery was absolutely amazing! She was a great example of experiencing the peace of God through extremely difficult circumstances! All of the nurses who took care of her commented on her sweet spirit and it allowed her to point those ladies back to the Lord in the way she was handling herself. She never complained, and was a beautiful example to me in the way she made glorifying God her focus during that time.

During these two major events I have continued to learn more about what it means to work as a team. When working as a team to make disciples, the goal is always making your teammates as effective as they can be to minister to others. There will be times in all of our lives where we must rely on the strength of our team to get through the day. I was fully reliant on Jes to meet my physical needs during my time of bed rest, and I learned much about what it means to receive grace. During her recovery from the birth, I have enjoyed the opportunity to serve her and to work to once again restore her to a place of being most effective for the kingdom of God!

This past week we have had the great privilege of spending time with our colleague in ministry, Jim Caminata who is working to make disciples in Italy. Jim is a part of our ETM team and has spent 2 weeks here in North Carolina and in Indiana watching how we work as a team in ministry. Pray for Jim as he goes back and seeks to build a team to equip Italy.

We do ask especially for your prayers concerning our financial support. Working at Eternal Truth we receive funding from individuals and churches who financially support our ministry. We are not paid through ETM, we live based on whatever support comes in for us in a given month. Our current monthly support is not enough to sustain our needs as a family moving forward. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about this. Please pray with us as we wait to see how God will meet this need!