Tammy, Kellie & Joel
Greetings, Family and Friends! 2024 started off with a bang for our family. As we were preparing for my (Roger) second hip surgery, I thought it would be a good idea for Tammy to be refreshed before heading into a long season of caring for a patient and all that entails. Tammy and our daughter Kellie headed off to England from January 15th-25th, to spend time having fun with Koral, her husband Divan, and one-year-old Joel. They had an amazing time away while David Johnson and I held down the fort. Good news, no one died, and we survived being mommyless for 10 days.
Personal & Family Update
Roger & Zeke before Zeke’s surgery
Upon their return, Tammy noticed that Zeke’s ability to walk had become much more labored and his pain level had increased exponentially. To backtrack a bit, Zeke had been having problems since August with his right hip and was receiving treatments from our chiropractor on a regular basis for what we thought was hip flexor issues. He continued playing soccer and walking fine with a bit of soreness and limping once in awhile. Then he fell down a flight of stairs January 1st on his left hip, but could walk and therapy seemed to be helping…
Zeke after surgery with his Cheeseburger Pillow
Tammy left for England expecting to come home to Zeke walking normal again. She was so shocked at how much he had deteriorated that she immediately called the doctor and had an appointment set up for Wednesday the next week. We saw the doctor, had X-rays and were recommended to an orthopedic specialist. We went home to have dinner, Tammy made an appointment for the next day with the ortho specialist. She no sooner hung up from making the appointment when Zeke’s doctor called saying, “Get Zeke to Children's Hospital STAT, there is a surgery team waiting for you and do not let Zeke put any weight on his left leg.” All I could think was that went from 0-100 fast!
After arriving at the hospital, it was determined that Zeke was going to need procedures on both hips, and since it was both hips they wanted to wait till morning with a fresh surgeon. Zeke underwent double hip surgery on February 1st putting a screw in each hip. He could not put any weight on either leg for 6 weeks! We rented a hospital bed and a wheelchair and he convalesced in the living room.
Our living room became Zeke’s new bedroom
It was rough for him to have his 13th birthday confined to bed. He had originally asked to have a nerf birthday party running around shooting his friends, but that did not happen. Don’t feel too bad for Zeke though, he received a Nintendo switch for Christmas from a very generous family. He has been in game-playing heaven being allowed to play more games than he would under normal circumstances. It’s amazing to see God’s goodness in the timing of this gift. Even before we realized a ‘need,’ God provided.
Zeke’s good friend, Jaxson, who is also homeschooled, got to spend many nights and days here (as long as he had his school work done), and became his personal nurse getting him water, food and other things helping to ease the burden on Tammy. Shout out to Nurse Jaxson!
Roger after his second hip surgery
My surgery came one week after Zeke’s and while I am not confined to bed, I was unable to put more than 50% of my weight on my right leg until April 15th. Then not more than 75% until May 15th, which is only 1 week away from the anniversary of my first surgery… a whole year will have gone by and I still have more physical therapy (or physical torture as I call it) to do.
Going into the 2nd surgery, we were told they would remove the bursa and fix a muscle tear. Coming out of the surgery, we were told they removed the bursa and stretched and reattached the medial gluteal muscle and tendon that had ripped away from bone. So needless to say, the Myers’ home is a recovery ward. We are very excited that our family finally got attend church together as a family, the week before Easter Sunday!
A Bible verse from The Message translation helps put this last year into context:
”Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.“ James 1:2-4 MSG
God is Good no matter our circumstances. He is in control and we are growing to become more like Christ with each trial.
Feeding Africa
We continue to run the Feeding Africa program as there is still a huge need to help people have enough food and water. We are working toward ways to help this program to be more self sufficient.
Volunteers getting food supplies for our Feeding Africa program
The Mathare feeding program near Nairobi has a small plot of land that they are growing food on to help feed families. They are also raising chickens. They began with just a handful of baby chicks and now have nearly 50 chickens for eggs and meat! They use the sale of those to buy feed to keep the chickens growing.
Volunteers gathering food supplies for our Feeding Africa program
The Kijabe feeding program is also in need of funds to finish the housing structure being built on the 3 acres of farm land they have. Margaret is hoping to use this home (Amani Haven) to take in girls who need a place to live. Some are orphaned, some are homeless, some just cannot be cared for by their families…all are at risk for trafficking. She knows three young girls (ages 3-6) who lost their Mom and their Grandma is struggling to care for them. Margaret would like to take them into her home and love them as her own. The needs are currently to finish the roof and paint…roughly $4,000.
As of March 31st, we are pleased to announce that we have provided $187,445 to supply 1,690,960 meals to help our brothers and sisters in Africa. Money that is collected for the Feeding Africa program goes 100% to food and water, nothing goes to administrative costs either here in America or overseas in Kenya. All administrative costs are covered by other individuals or come out of the Kingdom Partners general Fund. So you can be assured that anything you give to help feed God’s children in need, goes to feed them.
As we recently celebrated Easter and all that Christ has done for us, won’t you consider blessing those who are in need of their daily bread with a gift to Feeding Africa to help meet this need? If we are to continue helping to feed at this rate, we will need $29,250 to finish out the year. We appreciate you praying about whether or not God wants to use you through this program to help further his kingdom.
“A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them. If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward.“ Matthew 24:45-46 NLT
City-Wide Prayer
Monday prayer nights are amazing, and I continue to look forward to getting out of the house and praying with a group of like-minded people who are committed to praying for our city and each other.
As we look to the future, please be in prayer for me as I believe God has been speaking to me about a city-wide Worship gathering… bringing the Church of Kenosha together to Praise God. It’s a huge task, one which I do not feel qualified to do. I need His direction and favor to pull this off.
Thank You
Just want to say thank you so much for those of you who have been praying for us over these past difficult months, we greatly appreciate it. For those of you who have given to Kingdom Partners Global or the feeding program, may God richly bless you for your generosity. Paul writes in 2nd Corinthians encouraging us to give to others and to help others financially.
”Give in proportion to what you have. Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have. Right now you have plenty and can help those who are in need. Later, they will have plenty and can share with you when you need it. In this way, things will be equal.“ 2 Corinthians 8:11b-12,14aNLT
Please take some time and ask the Lord if He would have you help in this ministry. The question is not whether or not we should give, but where we should give. If God is leading you to give here, please click the appropriate button below. Thank you for your generosity!
Click the link below to give online. If you are giving by check, please send your check to the address listed below; do not put our name on the check, but make checks payable to Kingdom Partners Global. All checks will go towards our personal support unless stated otherwise. You will receive a receipt for tax purposes. Thank you so much for being a part of the ministry with us.
Kingdom Partners Global Inc.
6015 60th Street
Kenosha, WI 53144
