January 2025
Dear Family and Friends,
“I’m glad we finally got out of America!” Furlough behind us and back in his own bed surrounded by the familiar once again, Nathan breathed the sigh of relief we all felt. Sure, there had been bright spots for him and Alyssa: kid’s museums, cousins, tree swings and green lawns. They loved running outside full speed, with hearts racing to see the garbage truck with its robot arm. Our button-operated minivan doors were an exquisite pleasure. Once, kind lifeguards neglected to say Nathan was too short to go down a big water slide. He rode the wet, twisty tube over and over until his feet wouldn’t carry him up the stairs anymore. What else was a highlight? The weather in America is nicer. By nicer, we mean, of course, we like not being trapped in the sizzling barbecue place for a while. Unanimous decision there.
If where y’all live is nicer, why are we relieved to be back where the daily fight for life is against bugs big enough to saddle up? Come on our missionary “furlough” with us. It is nothing like a furlough in the military sense. For one, soldier types don’t have as many dried mangos and kid’s toy bags to carry around as we do.
It all started with a debrief with AFM leadership in [MI]. (I will bracket the places we went so we can count them.) They were great. They asked us what was going well, what wasn’t, and how they could help. They cheered for us. They noticed we looked like we had been sleeping under a bridge to survive a hurricane and gave us permission to take breaks away from “it” all when needed. Most recently, “it” had been Nathan and Alyssa fevering and throwing up through [Taiwan] and [Chicago] airports separated by the 13-hour, four-square-foot daycare for two at 30,000 ft. Then we had to find childcare for our sick kids while we were in the AFM meetings. Thanks so much to every brave soul who had our kids throw up on your couches and carpets during our furlough. Despite the challenges, Nathan and Alyssa still bring up sweet memories of all their “aunts” and “uncles” who gave them love and toys. Thank you.
So right off the plane, we’re trying to find a doctor for our kids. No one is accepting new patients. Once, we think we are going to see a doctor and are greeted by a nurse practitioner. You can’t see a doctor until the NP runs all his tests and tries everything he can think of. Then you get on a waiting list for cancelations to see the doctor. The first appointment isn’t even a proper physical but an onboarding. Maybe if your insurance is in-network, they will let you make a real appointment. This doctor is a bit puzzled about where Cambodia is. He has only a vague idea of tropical parasites. He definitely has never met one in person. I doubt he has even ever tried . . . pineapple.
By now, we are at Grandma’s house in [TN]. But we are not actually at Grandma’s house. We are in the ER with Alyssa, and she’s on IVs. There’s only an NP here too. We need a tropical disease specialist. An alert friend said Vanderbilt would be it. We called, and they said getting in would “be a nightmare . . . because that’s our policy.” Actually, what they said was, “Your Primary needs to refer you.” Alyssa did have a Primary. Did you know if you don’t have an appointment for three years, they take you off their books? That is a thing! And they are not accepting new patients. We didn’t want to be a new patient. We fit in nowhere.
We had to be our own doctor. My priceless wife was up all hours of the day and night calling every clinic in a two-hundred-mile radius, looking for an opening. “We don’t accept new patients.” “We don’t accept your insurance.” “We only accept patients that meet certain criteria.” Click. Click. Click. She messaged specialists who were friends or friends-of-friends and described symptoms over the phone. Every time we went to a new state, we started the whole process again. [MI. TN. WA. CA.] We had enough of America. So, we got on the next flight back to Cambodia, went straight to the U.S. Embassy and took oaths renouncing our U.S. citizenship.
So much has happened, and this newsletter is a bit long, so up till now I’ve been exaggerating things a bit to keep your attention. But what I have to say next can’t be exaggerated.
Stephanie’s sweet brother Gary Roberts died. He was a goalie playing soccer and couldn’t catch the ball. He went to bed early, thinking he just needed rest. He lost motor skills rapidly. That was the first symptom. He went from Indonesia, where he was a missionary and a pilot, to Malaysia. They found two golf ball-sized tumors in his brain. He went to Loma Linda only to confirm the findings and that it was inoperable. Stephanie’s family decided it was time to come together. Since arriving back in the States, we had only squeezed in quick visits with my family between doctor’s visits. We canceled all our engagements to see you all that had been so carefully planned months in advance. We left [TN] for Southern California. Nathan and Alyssa were barely feeling good enough to travel again.
We spent a week together as a family in a relative’s home. We knew Gary was dying, but our brains and our hearts didn’t want to believe it. Aside from starting to loose control of his left side, he seemed normal. He still had his humor and his will to live. He tried everything. Fasting. Juicing. Specialists the world over. Steph’s oldest brother, Eric Roberts and his wife sat with Gary for hours as he dictated notes regarding his various mission projects in Africa and Asia.
A small group of close friends came for an anointing. There wasn’t a dry eye as we all sought to be right with God and asked for a miracle.
Gary seemed stable. He left for Spokane to explore treatments. We decided to give Gary and his family some time just to be together. We bought a car, rescheduled all our West Coast appointments that were supposed to be later in the summer and started heading North. We spend the afternoon with my Grandma Cannon who lives in Concord. We both knew it was for the last time. She won’t make it another three years. We hugged and hugged. She kept saying, “I love you, sweety.” Goodbye was especially hard for me because My grandma has denied God her whole life and believed in the occult and the universe. What a difference her life is from Gary’s!
Without news on Gary’s condition, we decided to go to Hope Camp Meeting as planned. We were nearing Portland, Oregon when Eric called us. Gary had taken a sharp turn for the worse. We changed course and went directly there. When Gary heard Stephanie’s voice, he could only give her hand the faintest squeeze. Family and friends were all together and taking turns watching him for a few sweet days. Then he was gone. It was six weeks from the first symptom. Our precious time together was healing and a gift well-appreciated by the Roberts family. They didn’t have that time together when Steph’s dad died or when Gary’s son died of Malaria in Africa. Gary’s memorial was the most interesting I’ve ever heard. His exploits on every habitable continent were compelling and captivating. He lived more life in 46 years than most can even imagine. He lived to help others get ready for heaven.
The question weighing on Stephanie’s heart is, “God, haven’t we had enough!?” Please pray for her as grief comes in waves. And if you know someone grieving, please let them know you are there for them when they need someone to talk to or to hold them while they cry. Pray for God’s blessing on Eric Roberts, who now leads Adventist Aviation in Indonesia—a position that his father and brother have both died in serving Christ and others.
After the memorial, we drove from Spokane to [Walla Walla,] and because we had dear friends we wanted to see, we rushed up to Canada for the last half of Hope Camp Meeting. We stayed with Stephanie’s mom in Walla Walla, keeping appointments in the Northwest. I went to a family reunion and my Grandma’s 80th birthday in Renton, [WA.] Then I flew our kids back to [TN] for two weeks with my mom and met with Stephanie en route to [Canada] for a two-week stay at Silver Hills Health Retreat. Our bodies took the time with no responsibilities as the signal to call time out and go into crash mode. The kind staff and the long walks in the forest were a blessing. Thank you to our kind friends who paid our way and encouraged us to go.
We reunited with our kids and spent a few precious weeks with my family in TN. We presented mission reports in TN and GA and thoroughly enjoyed meeting all the sweet people who support us so well. Our kids got good at making one-day friends and then saying goodbye. Then it was back to Walla Walla, packing and prepping for takeoff again. Our 30-hour travel became almost double since we missed our first flight due to slow check-in and TSA despite arriving three hours early and being the fifth in line when the counter opened.
We got back to the field exhausted. We feel like we have been running on empty for a long time. Someone needs to come up with a better name for this kind of trip other than furlough. Nathan and Alyssa, of course, were overjoyed to be back with Tirado’s kids again. Steph and I needed to debrief and have time to readjust. Instead, we were met with a situation that needed attention right away. It took a lot of energy for several months. It was very hard because we had been excited about getting back into ministry and it seemed like a delay. Through this crisis, though, we have learned so much, and we see God’s mercy. I know it will make our project stronger for years to come.
Our kids happily reunited with their best friends, River, Osiah, and Selah!
Maybe it was the desire to have our house done, to be settled, unpacked and in our own space that led to me to push a little too hard and slip off a ladder breaking my foot, ankle and leg a week before Christmas. Steph has again been my hero, driving me to appointments in the capital city four hours away and taking care of the home while I’m in bed with my foot elevated. At her suggestion, I’ve been using this forced downtime to work on Khmer reading fluency, and I’m halfway through the book of Matthew in Khmer. It’s actually been a very good devotional experience to read slowly in a language that is not my usual for Bible reading.
Visiting the family of one of our house builders and eating popcorn
There are exciting things happening in the project this year. We feel united as a team and led to continuing media ministry with a call center and online Bible studies. We continue to get requests for help with health concerns and find answering them a way to make friends and establish goodwill. As a team, we are exploring a new ministry opportunity that aligns with our skills very well and also with the skills of one of our baptized local believers whom we wish to partner with and train in soul-winning. We will save the details for a later newsletter as they are still coming into place.
May God be gracious to you, our friends, and give you peace. Thank you all for being a part of our lives and mission!
Love,
Josh, Steph, Nathan and Alyssa Lewis
