2 Kinds of Healthy Eyes

In the past three weeks we've been dealing with eyes. One way has been addressing a problem with Heidi's eyes, the other way has been David leading seminars on how we use our eyes online...

1] We are amazingly grateful to report that yet another anxiety-producing health issue this year has been laid to rest. After David's clot/arm mess in the fall, and Luke's seizures in December & January, a strange problem with Heidi's eyes was very unwelcome. Four times within a week and a half her pupils began dilating asymmetrically (left pupil wide open, right one normal) for hours at a time. Eye exams were completely normal, so an MRI was requested to rule out brain tumor/aneurysm/etc.. This required a visit to Cameroon's largest city, Douala, because it has the only functional MRI machine in the whole country. Long and short of it all is that we are praising God that her MRI results were completely fine. This means that the cause of the eye problem remains unknown, but the really scary reasons are now ruled out. Whew!

2] A very erroneous assumption that many folks have about missionaries is that they're super-holy. (I wrote about that fallacy in an earlier blog.) This reality applies to our online behavior as well. The statistics about porn are staggering; Barna survey results indicate every age and category of men (e.g., younger/older, single/married, Christian/non-Christian, clergy/missionary/laity), over 50% view pornography at least monthly. Many categories are higher and many are viewing far more often. The numbers from women are less but catching up quickly. Teens are among the highest consumers of porn; of course many other misuses of the internet are prevalent as well. In that context, the RFIS school counselor and I (David) have teamed up to get a long-overdue conversation going in the missionary community here. We have made two (a third upcoming) presentations called "Healthy Internet Habits." In my pastoral years, and now working with students again, the desperate need for addressing this realm is overwhelmingly obvious. My hope is that these three seminars might become some small part of the Spirit's cleansing and renewing work in the lives of missionaries, students and nationals here in Yaoundé. If you're interested, here is a pdf that contains the five handouts I created for the seminars.

Thank you, as always, for your prayers, support, encouragement and love. We love you too!

David