I'd be most grateful for all your prayers and thoughts tomorrow, Thursday, and the few days after. I report to hospital at 10 a.m. for minor surgery to remove three basal cell lesions on my nose, chin and left calf. This will be a conscious sedation procedure and should take only a short time. I'm told it takes most of the rest of the day for the sedation effects to wear off. Meryl has to come with me to drive me home and be with me for the 24 hours afterwards.

Pray the wounds will heal quickly and well, especially the "nose job", cosmetically (although I'm not a vain person I do want to look presentable!). More importantly, pray the surgeon will get all the cancer cells out!

I know many people have this sort of procedure but I'm not looking forward to the day; and I don't like pain either! My platelet count, although much better, is still low and means that any bleeding takes longer to clot than it used to.

Otherwise, I continue to feel better than I have for more than 6 months as my immune system strengthens, the GVHD goes away, and the dosage of Prednisone gets reduced again next Tuesday.

Thank God for the excellent ministry trip we just came back from.

The Anglican Chaplains Convocation was very enjoyable, solidifying relationships with many armed forces Chaplains as well as those ministering in Veterans and other hospitals, hospices and correctional institutions (prisons in UK parlance).

The Welcome Home Initiative retreat was a huge healing blessing for everyone who came.

At least one marriage seemed to be significantly and positively improved (the couple decided to renew their vows soon).

I felt that the "coming alongside" ministry I exercise seemed to be well received as I (with several others similarly "called") listened to stories of deep trauma, showed compassion to those suffering and prayed deeply for them to be set free from the memories and experiences that haunt them, that often cause Soldiers to feel like they are tied up with barbed wire.

Meryl played a crucial part as she helped minister to the five young wives who came. Her experiences as an Army wife for 23 years including several years of dealing with combat and other operational deployments, proved invaluable to several women present.

Please also pray for the Godly provision of $1,200 -$1,500 to enable me to attend and minister alongside Rev. Nigel Mumford at a healing conference for military Chaplains from August 27-29 at Orlando, FL. Nigel is the main speaker and leads the very small healing ministry team, of which I feel called to be a part of. He very much wants me there.

Thank you so much!