Clay Pots ~ Getting Better

Daddy’s Feeling Better!

This has probably been one of the worst cases of malaria I have ever had. It, along with the infection, must have really worn down my system because at the 2 week mark, I finally now have enough energy to walk through town without being completely worn out. The chest pain was painful and scary, but thankfully, not heart related. The chest pain is not gone, but I am still on some medicine for the next few days in order to take care of whatever infections are still lingering. We will be in Australia for the next couple weeks just to make sure nothing comes back and so that we can just enjoy some time as a family away from the tribe. We had originally planned a break for next month, flying down with our mission plane, and my sister, brother-in-law, nephew, Noah, and my Mother were all going to meet up with us. We had to cancel all those plans and were pretty disappointed but we are here now, starting to enjoy some much needed R&R despite it being Australia’s winter time and a bit cool. We may never know why God chose to change those plans, but we are thankful that He knows best and we trust in His perfect timing.

We have been very encouraged with what we have heard about the Tobo church back home. They have really rallied together and prayed for me. How awesome is that? People who, a few short months ago were afraid of God, are now praying for me that my health be restored! Public prayer is a struggle for them but was something they felt comfortable praying out loud for. Mankins said it was a wonderful time with the believers on that day. And as a dear Tobo woman (Daisa) told the Janeene, “Jason still has a ton of work to do here, so I knew that it wasn’t time for him to go to heaven.”

Thank you for your prayers and words of encouragement!

His Clay Pots,

Jason, Kellie, Micah, Sophia, and Malachi

Emergency UPDATE

Thank you so much for your e-mails and those much needed long distance hugs!

Today is Monday morning here in Aussie land. We were in total culture shock yesterday so I’m glad it’s a new day. The general population seem to wear less clothing and get louder every time we come outJ. Jason got pretty weak yesterday and is still in pain but every day he is getting a little better so that is a huge praise and we are in a place that he can rest.

We found a place yesterday for the next 3 weeks to stay. We will move there today. The guy was really nice, (although scary looking and our next door neighborJ) and he gave us a 1 bedroom apartment with a little kitchenette for the next 3 weeks. And it is about a 5 minute walk from grocery stores so we don’t have to rent a car. I still don’t like losing $3,000.00 to stay somewhere but I am SO thankful that we found a place and it is very nice and clean and the cheap in comparison to everything else. I went on the internet and it was the only place that had something available for 2-3 weeks straight without having to move to different places every couple days. So that was a total answer to prayer.

Thank you for your prayers, we can feel them.

Love,

Kellie for the family!

Emergency UPDATE

On our last update Jason had mentioned that he had malaria. Well his malaria got pretty bad (105 fever) and then we noticed he had infected boils on his feet causing other symptoms on his already worn out body. Then to top it off he got really bad chest pain Tuesday night. By Wednesday morning, this wife couldn’t take it anymore and called our mission nurses on our 2-way radio. They were and are my heroes! They agreed that we needed to get Jason out of the tribe and at 12:15 there were 2 pilots (more heroes!) landing on our airstrip to take Jason, me, and the kids out to town to our mission’s base where the nurses could monitor Jason (Our mission Dr. was on his way out of the country when all this was happening). At 2 pm Jason was lying in the clinic in totally awesome and capable hands. I couldn’t stop smiling. Not because my husband was in pain and very sick but because I wasn’t the one trying to read all the medical manuals and “guess” what he had! It was no longer in my hands and I was no longer in an isolated mountain tribe with no help or no way out. I was surrounded by the body of Christ who were bending over backwards to do all that they could for us.

Thursday, Jason seemed to be doing better. His malaria was gone, and his infection was slowly starting to go away. But his chest pain was still hanging on. Then Yesterday morning at 2:30 a.m. his pain woke him up; he wasn’t out of breath or going numb, but the pain was intense in the center of his chest, and it was spreading from side to side with a heat type of pain, which scared him (and me) a bit. We were pretty sure it was not cardiac related, however, the EKG machine was not working very well, and we still did not have conclusive evidence to support this, so the nurses decided it was best to send him down to Australia to get the necessary checks done. So by 6:00 a.m. we were on our way to the airport for a medevac. We all got down to Cairns, Australia by 10:30 a.m. and they rushed Jason off in an ambulance while the kids and I went through customs and immigration and got a taxi and got our luggage and followed him there. When I got there, they had already taken an EKG of Jason’s heart rhythm, drawn blood for tests, and were on their way to sending him to the X-ray room.

To make a very long tiring story short, all of Jason’s blood tests came back fine, his chest X-rays were perfect, he went through a stress test and that also checked out great. He has a perfectly healthy heart! The EKG showed a couple blips (a birth defect) that we need to have a cardiologist look at when we get home to the states, but that was not the cause of the chest pain. So what was it that scared us so much and got us down here to Australia? They said that there was inflammation in the chest cavity due to the stress of the malaria and the infection which he had undergone. They put him on some medications/antibiotics told him to rest, recuperate and stay near a hospital for at least a couple more days. So, we are here in Australia right now and trying to put our minds in “break” mode since we have to stay here 3 weeks because we need our PNG visas to be renewed. Our passports are being DHL to us today and we will have to send those to Brisbane to get the necessary paperwork.

This has been hard on Jason leaving the Tobo church and not being able to teach the Acts lessons he was SO looking forward to teaching. But we are grateful for this God given, much needed break from the tribe and a chance to let our heads stop spinning. We are confident that our God is good and He is in charge. That’s reassuring and what we can rest in!!! We are very thankful for God’s protection, and for giving Jason good health. 4 days ago we were in the tribe and now we are in the heart of a busy tourist city in Australia. Pray for us as we re-group as a family and internalize all that just happened.

Right now we are at a hotel near the hospital and hope to find something cheaper very soon and find a place to send this to all of you.

We will keep in touch and praising the Lord for the Body of Christ and for our support team there in PNG.

His Clay Pots, Kellie for the family

Emergency UPDATE

I received this update from Joy:

Here's something more recent on Jason and family:

Jason's mom called one of my friends this morning and said that the chest pains were not a heart attack but rather an inflamation of the chest caused by the malaria. He is being managed on pain meds and released from the hospital. The congenital heart condition that they found is not life threatening and can wait until they go home on furlough next year for treatment.

The whole family is in Cairns, Australia and will need to stay there until they get visa clearance. That is a problem, the most inexpensive hotel that they could find was $100 a night; that could really add up with that many weeks; any one know of anyone living in Australia that might give this family some housing?

Scott of Sqribbled Design

Emergency

I received the following email this morning from Williamsons [Jason & Kellies new partners]:

We’d like to ask you to pray for our partners Jason and Kellie Knapp who’ve just had to be flown to Australia for medical attention (for him)… here’s an excerpt from our other partners [Chad & Janeene] who were with him when it happened:

Here’s what we know to date: Jason returned from an overnight trip to the river with his son and some friends this past weekend, and spent the rest of the weekend and early part of this week with intermittent high fevers, shakes and chills, and symptoms of malaria (which he contracted back in Madang—malaria just stays in the system and pops up at various times). Jason thought that he was improving by Tuesday. Then, that night he awoke from a dead sleep at midnight with chest pain. The pain kept him awake the rest of the night. By morning, after consulting on the radio with nurses Jason and Kellie and the kids all flew out on our mission’s plane to our base in Lapilo, where he could get the proper meds that the nurses felt might help him. While there, Jason had an EKG, and a cardiologist in Australia was going to be looking at test results.

Early this morning, Jason (Knapp) began experiencing chest pains once again. With no doctor available at this time, the nurses felt like Jason needed to have a doctor in Cairns, Australia look at him. So at 7 this morning, Jason and his family were on a plane to Australia.

Thanks for praying and trusting the Lord with us, that this will be something minor and treatable. We’ll update you as soon as we hear something more.

Your hands & feet,
Jason & Nisae Williamson,
Kadynn, Judah & Eden

Scott of Sqribbled Design (I maintain this website)