Prayer Request For Thailand Missionary Family

Last Spring we were privileged to have the Sorenson family, missionaries to the deaf in Thailand, here to help us in filming a special version of The GodMan created specifically for the deaf. The following is a communication we recently received from the ministry the family works with. Please lift them up in your prayers.

Dear Friends and family of Mark, Lulu, Marissa, Krysta, Tyler, Nathan, Hanna, Stephen and David,

I am sure most of you know that Mark had a very serious biking accident on January 5, 2008 in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Mark was preparing for a triathlon. As he was practicing “speed” biking, he suddenly came to an open ditch. He went headlong into the ditch with such force that his helmet actually broke in half.

Mark was temporarily paralyzed, some local villagers who found him called an ambulance and he was transported to a local clinic. This clinic realized they were not equipped to deal with his injury and transported him to a local hospital.

Mark had both X-rays and MRIs. He was admitted to the hospital. He has damage to his cervical spine; especially in the areas know as C5 and C6. This damage gave him a lot of pain in the neck and shoulders, as well as numbness, weakness and limited range of motion in his left arm.

Now several months have passed. Mark has had medication, heat pack, physical therapy and several consultations with Thai doctors. However, he is still experiencing significant problems. He has tightness of the neck and shoulders, sometimes radiating into his fore arm. He then experiences “pins and needles” in his fingers. At times he experiences difficulty in breathing. He has also had the “pins and needles” tingling in his left leg. He can not type on the computer or sign for any length of time, and is often very tired.

Recently, I (Mike Buus – DOOR) agreed with his family that it is time for Mark and family to come to the US and get some second and third opinions. The Sorenson family was scheduled to come home later this summer for “home ministry,” therefore; it was a simple matter to change the dates.

The Sorenson family will be returning to the U.S. on May 8th. Mark has appointments with specialists on May 14th.

We ask you to join us in prayer that the doctors would have great wisdom and insight into the best course of treatment. Pray for Mark’s healing. Pray for the family as they travel a great distance. Also pray that the additional finances would come in to get them through this period of time in the U.S. Mark hopes to keep up his leadership and translation work while he is recuperating.

Grace and peace,

Mike Buus

President DOOR International