Rodney’s father, Wayne Friend, died on 27 November at age 85. Daniel, our son, fell at his job on 5 December and hit his head. This caused him to seizure several times and have bleeding in the brain. He was in the hospital a week, but has gone home. Rodney’s mother also went to the hospital on 10 December, the day we had a memorial service for Rodney’s father. Rodney continues to receive injections for the malignant tumors in his liver. God has brought us through it all. We still hope to return to Germany in late January for the Spring semester at the European Theological Seminary. This will be the first Christmas that we have ever seen our grandchildren, 8 and 3, open Christmas presents. This will be a special blessing for us. God bless all of you with a great Christmas!

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For the third day straight, we visited  classes at Lee University during their missions week emphasis. On 27 October, we visited the Old Testament Theology class taught by Dr. Jerome Boone and spoke about missions. Dr. Boone was my professor in the 1970s at Lee and hopefully some of those current students of 2011 will some day become missionaries also.

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On Wednesday, 26 October, we were invited to the Mission of the Church class at Lee University in Cleveland, TN, to share about missions during Lee’s Dee Lavender Mission Week. Dr. Jerome Boone teaches this class and Rodney spoke to the class. It was a real privilege to address the students.

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Lee University is having their annual missions emphasis week this week. We were invited to the chapel service there today on 25 October. We were also asked to visit two classes today, where I spoke to the Lee students about missions. These were the Demography and Social Theory classes both taught by Dr. Karen Mundy. It was great to be back in the classroom!

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On 21 October, we attended the monthly communion service for missions personnel at the Church of God International Offices in Cleveland, TN. Rodney spoke and officiated at the communion service. This was his first time to speak anywhere since his surgery on 1 September. We thank God for the faithful work of all the missions staff serving at headquarters. They are the partners in ministry for the missionaries.

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As an update, I am feeling better and moving about as I did before the surgery. I receive a monthly injection, but that has had no side effects. The purpose of the shots are to shut down the tumors in the liver. The liver is operating normally in spite of the tumors. Thank you for your prayers. We are eager to return to Germany as soon as possible.

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Our daughter, Leslie, came to assist Carol and me while I was hospitalized. Leslie is a RN who lives and works in a hospital in Palmdale, CA.  She works on a Medical Surgery floor there, the same on which I was.We had not seen her this summer, and we thank God for her help and our visit of six days with her. We were blessed to have a “private nurse” helping us.

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On 30 August, I (Rodney) became quite ill and went to the doctor. After being sent to the hospital emergency room, it was discovered that I had cancerous tumors in my small intestine and liver. The one in my intestines was surgically removed on 1 September. I have been recovering well. For the multiple tumors in the liver, I have begun taking injections three times daily, given to me by Carol. We will miss the Fall semester now in Germany. Our hope is to return for the Spring semester. We are believing God for a healing of my liver. Please continue to pray for us and support us until we get back to Germany. My illness required the cancellation of our final two services of the Summer itineration: Clearwater, FL and Port Huron, MI. We are grateful for Pastors John Armstrong and Richard Shelton for their undertsanding and support.

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Our scheduled services for 28 August in Laurel, Delaware, and Easton, Maryland (Rodney’s home town) were not held due to the presence of Hurricane Irene. We are grateful for Pastor Stacey Johnson of Laurel, and Pastor Keith Maxwell of Easton for their support. We ask all to pray for the people of the East coast recovering from the hurricane.

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  We enjoyed a great visit with the Manchester, New Hampshire, Church of God on 21 August. The church has been a faithful supporter of our missions work for many years. Pastor Art Fairbrother not only leads this church, but he also serves as Northern New England youth director. We appreciate the multicultural aspect of the church and their love for sending out the Gospel.

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