December 2000

Dear Friends,

Advent is a period of four Sundays when the church eagerly awaits the coming of the Christ child. It is a time filled with expectant hope, joy, and waiting. This has been for us a year of waiting. We returned to Brazil mid-July to open new work in the city of Sobral in northeast Brazil. We were filled with expectant hope and joy as we set out to establish a new church in a city of 150,000 people.

September 9th, time stood still for our family. While Dorothy and Elizabeth were riding their new bicycles in town, Dorothy was hit by a car on her right side. She was thrown up in the air, bounced on the hood of the car a couple of times, and broke the windshield before landing on the pavement, face first. The same car that hit her took her to the hospital within twenty minutes of the accident. Dorothy had deep cuts and abrasions to the right side of her face and scalp. The five days she was in a coma were spent in the intensive care unit, where she received superb care. The other six days she spent in the hospital—before the whole family was air-lifted back to the States on a medical plane—were adequate.

The Worldwide Ministries Division called from headquarters in Louisville and said, "Gordon, we can fly you and Dorothy and the children back to the United States. Would you like that?" I said, "Yes." I had 48 hours to figure out where our passports were, pack bags for Dorothy and me, and supervise the children’s packing. I needed to find somebody to stay in our house while we’d be gone. The Lord provided many people to help get us through those days in Sobral. I appreciated Louisville saying to me, "This is a medical trip. This is not the end of your missionary career." All of this is a "bump" in the road in our lives.

The Lord used many people here in the States to help make the decision to fly us back here for Dorothy’s treatment at Shepherd Center in Atlanta. It is a specialty hospital for catastrophic illness, dealing mainly with spinal-cord injury, acquired brain injury, and multiple sclerosis. You can learn more about them at their Web site at www.shepherd.org.

Dorothy had severe head trauma. I knew Dorothy was hurt, but I had no idea of the extent of her injuries. She spent a month at Shepherd Center in intensive therapies, speech, physical, and occupational and others as well. Her long-term memory was good, but her short-term memory was not.

When we arrived, she could not speak above a whisper. Her voice is now 90 percent back to normal. At Shepherd they get their patients up every day, get them dressed and work with them to see how quickly they can return to a normal lifestyle. She made fantastic progress while there, due in part to the host of people all over the world praying for her speedy recovery. Even the doctor and nurses realized that she was progressing at a record pace.

Once she no longer needed the hospital setting, she went to Shepherd/Pathways Rehabilitation Center, which is an arm of Shepherd. Dorothy was not ready to make the move directly from the hospital to our house. She needed more time to recuperate before she was ready to face our household. She has now been home for two weeks, but goes for outpatient therapy at Pathways several days a week. We are developing a new daily routine. I have to help Dorothy with many things, but she is able to do many things on her own. Her eyesight will take another three months to straighten out. Her depth perception is way off, which also causes her balance to be off. She used a wheelchair at Shepherd quite a bit, but has graduated to using a rolling walker, which was provided by someone in the church.

Dorothy most probably will be in therapy until the end of January. Her love of reading will have to wait until March, when her eyes have settled down enough to be checked. At that time she can have a new prescription for her glasses.

I want to get back to Brazil, but I know that I can’t do my work without Dorothy. She and I are a team. I need her well, so we can do our work together.

The Lord has assured me that the time we are spending and waiting in the United States will not be wasted time. He will use it. The Lord’s reminded me as well that it is His work. He is the Lord of the Harvest. The Lord will be victorious in Sobral. The Lord calls Dorothy and me to be faithful to Him. The Lord’s times are different than our times. We are in the Lord’s hands. The Lord goes before us.

The Lord has provided so graciously for us while we have been back. It’s great to be back at Mission Haven, where we were last year. The children have been able to go to their schools and be among friends. It has been wonderful to come back to our church community and other friends who have provided evening meals, helped our kids get to school, etc. The community support here has been fantastic. God has graciously taken care of us every step of the way.

May this Advent for you be like no other, as you wait expectantly with joy and hope for the coming of the Christ child.

"To God be the glory great things He hath done."

Lovingly,

Gordon Gartrell for the whole family

The 2000 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 252