Dear Friends
Thank you so much for all of you who responded to our email last week. It was so good to hear so many of you related with our hearts and have been praying for us. We thank you also to those who are considering financially partnering with our ministry; either by monthly support or special one time gift.
We wanted to keep you updated on our needs, as promised.
This last week God has begun to bring us closer to our $400 extra support a month. We have had 4 new people express their want to commit to support us monthly and one family raise their monthly giving! We are so thankful God put us on their hearts! We still await to hear exactly how much 2 of them are committed a month but we have an extra $55 a month coming in now! To God be the glory! And so we pray on and continue to ask you to pray with us, consider us in your monthly giving, and connect with us so together we can see God's kingdom expand not only in New England but the ends of the earth. As I type I think about the 1,111 people who gave their hearts to Jesus in Taiwan; so many of them had never heard the name of Jesus, never heard of a creator God- in fact one night our team did outreach in a square that had a temple which was dedicated to the "unknown creator God"! They got to tell people that the creator God is not unknown, He is real, He loves you, He is Jesus and He wants you to be in relationship with Him. What an amazing privilege to share God.
So our total now is $345 and we will keep you updated!
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, be encouraged that God is working powerfully in our world :)
Connect with us to hear more...johnedwincaton@gmail.com
Much Love
John and Amanda
John and Amanda Caton
Friday, September 30, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Day 267
It was an early morning in clinic but happy to say it was a short appointment :)
John is looking much better, all vital signs good and he is even beginning to consistently gain weight.
All counts also look good (red, white and platelets). His T cell level is also good at 374 at last test (normal range is between 400 and 500). Doctor believes this will continue to go up which is very exciting! John having T cells is a miracle and our hope and prayer is that they will continue to multiply to a normal human level. Another t cell level test was done today and we will find results tomorrow.
They have also been measuring John's B cell levels. John has never had these before. The last level in August still showed that he had none. We await to see if this will change.
John was due to come off the anti-rejection drugs today but that was delayed due to a suspected resurgence of Graft Versus Host disease (GVHD); John has a rash on his face. Please pray with us that this is not GVHD as that would complicate things.
Overall the future looks bright and we continue to see progress, albeit slow.
John is looking much better, all vital signs good and he is even beginning to consistently gain weight.
All counts also look good (red, white and platelets). His T cell level is also good at 374 at last test (normal range is between 400 and 500). Doctor believes this will continue to go up which is very exciting! John having T cells is a miracle and our hope and prayer is that they will continue to multiply to a normal human level. Another t cell level test was done today and we will find results tomorrow.
They have also been measuring John's B cell levels. John has never had these before. The last level in August still showed that he had none. We await to see if this will change.
John was due to come off the anti-rejection drugs today but that was delayed due to a suspected resurgence of Graft Versus Host disease (GVHD); John has a rash on his face. Please pray with us that this is not GVHD as that would complicate things.
Overall the future looks bright and we continue to see progress, albeit slow.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Transparency
Transparency. Openness. Honesty.
Our hearts yearn to live a life defined by these attributes, and yet one thing holds us back. Fear. Fear of judgment--not only from others but from ourselves. Fear of a lack of provision--what if we can’t pay our bills? Fear of the future--what if John gets sick again? And yet the very brokenness that should lead us to God and to our friends is the one thing that leads us away.
Away from expressing our need and into self-sufficiency.
As we prayed last night, going over our budget for the coming year, we knew we were in need and yet every part of us resisted admitting it.
A wave of realization hit us.
We needed to confess. We needed to repent.
Our hearts yearn to live a life defined by these attributes, and yet one thing holds us back. Fear. Fear of judgment--not only from others but from ourselves. Fear of a lack of provision--what if we can’t pay our bills? Fear of the future--what if John gets sick again? And yet the very brokenness that should lead us to God and to our friends is the one thing that leads us away.
Away from expressing our need and into self-sufficiency.
As we prayed last night, going over our budget for the coming year, we knew we were in need and yet every part of us resisted admitting it.
A wave of realization hit us.
We needed to confess. We needed to repent.
So often this year we have been led by fear in our finances. We stockpiled food, buying more than
we needed because we were so afraid we might not have the means to get more. John
spent much of this year too sick to drive, so every time I could get a ride I spent as though another
ride would never come along.
We should have expressed our need. We should have humbled ourselves to ask for help.
We should have trusted God more. He has surely proved faithful to us.
And so we write today to repent openly, confess and ask for your forgiveness. Those of you who
give to us, we ask you to forgive us for not making Godly decisions in our finances. God is changing our
hearts, leading us to a deeper place of trust in Him. Thank you so much for your commitment to us, you
are truly invaluable and we love you.
We also write to swallow our pride and say we need help. Our projected expenditure for the coming
year leaves us with a deficit of $400 a month. This year we have relied heavily upon one-time donations,
which have been a great blessing.
We ask that you would pray about joining our team, if you are not already part of it.
Giving is easy. It can be done by check or online at www.ywamboston.org; there is an option to set up
a monthly direct debit transfer, so it can happen automatically. We also have a Paypal account, if that is easier for you.
If you are in the UK please contact Amanda at electromand.ywam@gmail.com.
Thank you for taking time to read this.
Our promise to you is that we will be more open from now on, about our needs, and about our hearts.
In return we ask you to do the same. As the body of Christ we need each other. In our shared
brokenness can be found true joy in the Lord.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Much love,
John and Amanda Caton
Monday, September 19, 2011
Revival
Our hearts yearn to see revival in Boston.
As we have prayed, worshiped and served in this city to our surprise God has bought a revival in OUR team! As we have prayed to see the spirit of independence, pride and intellectualism broken over Boston God has begun to break those things over our individual lives. There is a new openness within our team, a new surrendering and a deeper level of brokenness.
This is O so good.
How can we meet the broken if we are not also broken? How we can we bring a solution to a problem we do not understand?
We know God is doing a new thing in this city and in our ministry. He has blessed us with a new building, a new location (closer to the city) in a vibrant multicultural area and a new refreshed sense of purpose.
He is breaking us out into new areas we have only dreamed about! We are finally breaking ground in our Campus Ministry and this Fall we begin having meetings at Tufts, BU, MIT, Berklee College of Music and Harvard. Our evangelism is also evolving; spreading now to include internet evangelism. Our new building also enables us to host many more community events!
In the immediate future we face a big task.
Our new building need a lot of TLC; many of our days have been spent cleaning and fixing things; we have come so far and yet have far to go.
On October 19th our performing arts team begin a 4 week 'Encounter' tour; 2 weeks will take them PA, MD, CT, OH and VA and then 2 weeks will be spend performing in the New England area. Amanda will be involved in the New England tour.
It's so exciting here right now I want you ALL to be involved?
If your hearts are moved as you read this please let us know! We love to connect with people, not only to pray for us but so we can pray for you! It's what it's all about.
Pray....
Give....
Connect....
Join us :)
As we have prayed, worshiped and served in this city to our surprise God has bought a revival in OUR team! As we have prayed to see the spirit of independence, pride and intellectualism broken over Boston God has begun to break those things over our individual lives. There is a new openness within our team, a new surrendering and a deeper level of brokenness.
This is O so good.
How can we meet the broken if we are not also broken? How we can we bring a solution to a problem we do not understand?
We know God is doing a new thing in this city and in our ministry. He has blessed us with a new building, a new location (closer to the city) in a vibrant multicultural area and a new refreshed sense of purpose.
He is breaking us out into new areas we have only dreamed about! We are finally breaking ground in our Campus Ministry and this Fall we begin having meetings at Tufts, BU, MIT, Berklee College of Music and Harvard. Our evangelism is also evolving; spreading now to include internet evangelism. Our new building also enables us to host many more community events!
In the immediate future we face a big task.
Our new building need a lot of TLC; many of our days have been spent cleaning and fixing things; we have come so far and yet have far to go.
On October 19th our performing arts team begin a 4 week 'Encounter' tour; 2 weeks will take them PA, MD, CT, OH and VA and then 2 weeks will be spend performing in the New England area. Amanda will be involved in the New England tour.
It's so exciting here right now I want you ALL to be involved?
If your hearts are moved as you read this please let us know! We love to connect with people, not only to pray for us but so we can pray for you! It's what it's all about.
Pray....
Give....
Connect....
Join us :)
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Day 243
He just keeps looking better!
His doctors are all so happy with the progress John is making. He is now completely off steroids and has had no re-occurrence of the GVHD. His platelet, red and white count are now normal and the latest chimerism is showing a slow and steady rise in the graft taking over. Overall Ian's cell now comprise of 78% of John's cells :) and he is beginning to produce most of his immune cells.
At the end of this month John will begin to be tapered off his anti-rejection/immune suppressant drugs ; we hope to see the graft get stronger and stronger!
Although it is early days and too early to say John will have normal functioning immune system after this we can say that all signs, right now, point to the transplant being a complete success.
We walk in hope and in faith. We hold fast not to the words of doctors or the results of tests but the word of God which will accomplish all it has said. God will be faithful to do as He has promised. As I sat and prayed a few days ago I wondered "Is it arrogant or presumptuous of me to say that God will heal John?" Immediately I felt God say "No, it is true wisdom to trust in my words which I have spoken to you".
And so we press on, not in arrogance and not in blind faith but in the words of God whose promises never fail and whose love never leaves.
His doctors are all so happy with the progress John is making. He is now completely off steroids and has had no re-occurrence of the GVHD. His platelet, red and white count are now normal and the latest chimerism is showing a slow and steady rise in the graft taking over. Overall Ian's cell now comprise of 78% of John's cells :) and he is beginning to produce most of his immune cells.
At the end of this month John will begin to be tapered off his anti-rejection/immune suppressant drugs ; we hope to see the graft get stronger and stronger!
Although it is early days and too early to say John will have normal functioning immune system after this we can say that all signs, right now, point to the transplant being a complete success.
We walk in hope and in faith. We hold fast not to the words of doctors or the results of tests but the word of God which will accomplish all it has said. God will be faithful to do as He has promised. As I sat and prayed a few days ago I wondered "Is it arrogant or presumptuous of me to say that God will heal John?" Immediately I felt God say "No, it is true wisdom to trust in my words which I have spoken to you".
And so we press on, not in arrogance and not in blind faith but in the words of God whose promises never fail and whose love never leaves.
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