Thoughts on concluding a very eventful year

2016 was the most eventful year of our marriage, perhaps even of our individuals lives.

How God is growing our family:

As 2016 began, our sister, brother-in-law, and nephew were stuck in the Philippines for an extra two weeks due to complications regarding Aldean's Green Card. Finally, they returned to Indiana and we announced our pregnancy. I had horrible 24/7 morning sickness for almost six weeks. January 18-21, we attended Champion Migration Strategy orientation at WGM headquarters – a training that would launch us into support-raising. That same week, I started my online studies towards a master’s degree in Applied Biblical Studies with Moody Bible Institute. That same week, Titus and I both got a terrible case of the flu, which last five days and seven days respectively. While January 18-21 was definitely our craziest week, all 52 weeks required a high level of balancing demanding responsibilities – marriage, parenting, support-raising, working, studies, taking care of our home, our walks with the Lord, etc.

On February 4th, Sophear turned two-years-old and on March 16th, she had surgery to close a hole in her heart. It was a very scary time for us, but we felt so supported! There were people all around the world praying for Sophear and for us! During the days and weeks leading up to and following Sophear’s surgery, we were reminded in a very real way two important truths: 1) God is a big God and 2) He loves our precious daughter, His precious daughter. I’m reminded of the lyrical line “I'm no longer a slave to fear, for I am a child of God!!” It is with confidence in this truth that I am able to go to Cambodia.

In July, we attended Family Camp – a traditional church camp-meeting for all ages. It was our last week as a family of three (Chamnab was born Tuesday after camp), and we shared some special times together as a family living in a small cabin and staying up too late. We also enjoyed the time away from technology and other distractions, which allowed us to reconnect in fellowship with those around us. God gave us many opportunities that week to advocate for the unreached in Cambodia and we’re grateful for how our support team grew that week!

On August 2nd, our son, Chamnab Harvey, was born. As I’m writing this, I CANNOT believe that our Baby Bear (affectionately called Chamnabby as dubbed by Sophear) is five-months-old. We were so busy and the months flew too quickly… and yet, he’s thriving! He’s rolling, he’s sitting unassisted for short periods, he’s laughing, he’s playing… but HOW is he five-months-old?! Over the weekend, I built a blanket fort for Sophear and put Chamnab in the fort (per her request). I sat a few feet away, listening, smiling, burning into my memory what I was seeing and hearing. Sophear was making silly noises and waving toys and Chamnab was laughing until he fell over. Things won’t always be easy in Cambodia, but they will always have each other! We wake up and go to bed thanking God for our fun and beautiful duo!

On October 29th, we celebrated 5 years of marriage. I’m so grateful to go through life TOGETHER. The last five years have been full of adventure! We’ve pursued dreams of a driver’s license, citizenship, educational pursuits, extensive travels, and raising support for our ministry in Cambodia.

How God is growing our support team:

In April, we became connected to a small community of Cambodian Christians in Columbus, Ohio. We have been able to visit both churches on three visits, including Cambodia’s most celebrated holiday – Khmer New Year. It was a real blessing and encouragement to connect with some Cambodian families and to feel so welcomed by them. Our time with this Cambodian-American Christian community grew even stronger our desire to take the Gospel Message of Jesus Christ to reach the unreached in Cambodia. We believe that God allowed us to cross paths with these people for a great purpose!

On May 1, we spoke at our first church, located in Coleman, Michigan. I believe we will always remember the first pastor who had enough faith in us to offer our first speaking invitation! Our first invitation came from a former classmate who sat in front of me in Homiletics my senior year in college (Fall 2010). While some relationships have fizzled in 2016, it has been a blessing (and fun!) to reconnect with old friends and classmates as well as to build new relationships! As we have traveled, we have met some wonderful people –people that we wish we could have spent more time chatting with and people that we hope are not just a one-time-meeting!

In June, we traveled by faith to a small church nine hours away in North Carolina. This was our first time visiting a place that we had never been, where we knew no one (and staying in the home of people we had just met). Along with taking Sophear, I was already well-advanced in my pregnancy. We questioned, ‘Is God calling us to go?’ and ‘Are we sacrificing too much at the expense of our children?’ God was good to bless our obedience to accept His call to North Carolina. Three families/individuals from the little NC church started supporting us and one of the families has been especially loving towards us, even advocating for us!

In September, we began a very busy travel schedule which took us to 18 speaking engagements in 18 weeks. Our travels took us to Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, New York, and North Carolina. Raising support has not been easy; in fact, it has been very hard, but God has been good to us! Very good! As I wrote earlier, we have met many wonderful people and we have also been blessed with opportunities to reconnect with friends from our past! We consider it a privilege to be sent out to advocate for the Great Commission, to advocate for Cambodia’s unreached, and to finally return to Cambodia and commit our days, our mouths, and our hands to winning souls!

To those of you who have “followed” our journey and to those of you who have not forgotten us, although we’ve been away, THANK YOU. Thank you Lord for being us every day, on every mile, and at every podium! We faced some challenges in 2016, but God was with us every step and every decision! We trust that God will be faithful to walk beside us as we continue our support-raising and eventually move our family to Cambodia in 2017!

To see Christ glorified in Cambodia,

Titus, Jewel, Sophear, & Chamnab

You work all things together for my good

While some weeks our support-raising seems slow, God continues to encourage and strengthen us.  We have been motivated to seek deeper, look further, and stretch higher.  After hearing its words included in lyrics at church Sunday night, I have been encouraged by Romans 8:28

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Cambodia - Christmas 2010

Things don't always go according to our plans. We had intentions to return to Cambodia as missionaries within two years after getting married (2011), but God quickly showed us that He had other plans.  In the time that has passed since we had already hoped to be in Cambodia, God has led us on some amazing adventures!

• In July 2015, Titus became a citizen of the United States; this allows him the right to travel freely between Cambodia and the US without a visa.
• Our daughter was born with a heart defect, but was able to have life-saving surgery.
• Titus went on missions trips to Puerto Rico and Uganda.
• Jewel found gainful employment at Indiana Wesleyan University, which provided Titus with the opportunity to earn a bachelor's degree with free tuition.
• We plugged into ministry with the youth group at Brookhaven Wesleyan Church.
• We have built a strong support among those who have been able to get to know us as a couple and a growing family.
• We have also had the opportunity to return to Cambodia twice (December 2013 and October 2015).

Titus' citizenship ceremony - July 16, 2015

Our story is long; and our God is good. Our journey to now has not always been an easy one, but it has been one full of blessings, of affirmation, and of the Lord’s leading us. He led me to Cambodia, He led us to each other, and He has led us since then.  He's taken care of us.  His sovereign plan has been greater than ours.

While we continue to make plans, we're trusting that His plans, even when they do not match ours, are great.

We didn't plan for Sophear to have surgery this year and we certainly didn't plan for her to be born with a heart defect, but we're grateful for what God has taught us.  When the anesthesiologist carried Sophear to surgery on March 16, I found myself helpless and fully reliant on God's loving goodness.  When Sophear was 12-days-old, we dedicated her to the Lord and chose 1 Samuel 12:24 as her life verse -

But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.

He has already done great things for Sophear!  Dr. Kumar wants to see Sophear one more time before we move to Cambodia; but at her last appointment, he said she looks GREAT! The extra blood flow through her heart has COMPLETELY STOPPED and there is NO resulting DAMAGE on nearby veins or arteries. Also, he was surprised that the left side of her heart has SHRUNK back to almost its NORMAL size. (He had previously anticipated that the swelling would be long-term damage.)

On May 24, I (Jewel) had a very long and painful gallbladder attack.  While comprehensive bloodwork and an ultrasound (of the gallbladder) had good results, there is concern for another attack.  If I have another attack to the extent of the previous attack, my doctor wants to immediately remove the gallbladder.  Before removing the gallbladder, he will deliver Little Man.  Of course, our plan includes a full-term pregnancy and a complication-free delivery on August 1, but we're trusting that sovereign God has a plan to "work all things together for our good."

Memorial Day Weekend:

The Romdenh and Nov families

We traveled to Churchville, NY to spend the long weekend with our Cambodian-American friends and to speak at Spencerport Wesleyan Church. Phalkun and Janell have been friends of Titus since around 2001. Their story, though written a few years earlier than ours, is about the same – go to Cambodia as missionary from IWU, eventually come home with Cambodian pastor husband. Janell was a missionary at the Wesleyan Bible Institute in Phnom Penh and Titus also translated many courses for her. The drive to the Rochester, NY area was about 9 hours one-way and Sophear did FANTASTIC! We seriously couldn’t have asked for a happier girl!

On Sunday, we shared about our calling and ministry at Spencerport Wesleyan Church.  Because of our friendship with Phalkun and Janell, we had visited their church on previous occasions and we were grateful to see some familiar faces and receive a warm welcome!  SWC was the fourth church that we have visited as a family on this journey of support-raising.  We continue to be grateful for the opportunities that we have had to share, for the people that have encouraged us, and for the experience of worshipping God in a church outside our home church. Traveling and being a guest is not always easy or fun, but we are grateful for the opportunity that we have been given to raise our own support, to build our team, and to connect personally with our supporters!

We covet your prayers!

• Praise God for His goodness and faithfulness!  Please pray that He will continue to strengthen and encourage us and provide us with more speaking engagements.
• Please pray for the people at Cambodian American Christian Fellowship, Cambodian United Methodist Mission Fellowship, Coleman Wesleyan Church, and Spencerport Wesleyan Church. (These are the churches that we have visited on our support-raising journey.)
• Please pray for God's favor upon Jewel's scholarship application for her continuing studies at Moody Theological Seminary.  Scholarship awards will be made in July and early August.
• July 23-31, we will attend Family Camp in Fairmount, IN.  Please pray that we find comfortable accommodations for our little family.  Please pray that it's a spiritually and emotionally uplifting week!  Praise God for the tradition on camp meeting!  
• Please continue to pray for Jewel's pregnancy, gallbladder, and Little Man, expected August 1.
• Praise God for Sophear's healing!

To see Christ glorified in Cambodia,

Titus, Jewel, Sophear, & Little Man

Sophear's Heart - Praise God!

When Sophear was dedicated at 12-days-old, we chose the following verse for her.  I'm amazed at how appropriate it has already become in her short two years of life!

But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart;
consider what great things he has done for you.

(1 Samuel 12:24)

7am; ready for surgery

Thank you to the many of you who prayed for our little family last week! We are overwhelmed with gratitude for the support and concern that we have been shown. I asked my friends on Facebook where they are praying from - the forty-something who responded represent fifteen states and twelve countries including: Bolivia, Canada, Haiti, Cambodia, Kenya, Mozambique, Hungary, Papua New Guinea, Ecuador, Australia, Albania, and Japan!  When I couldn't find the words to pray, I was comforted to know how many people were praying for the three of us, as well as Dr. Kumar, the anesthesiologist, nurses, and hospital staff.

Sophear, Mommy, and Dr. Bunny Rabbit preparing for anesthesia

We tried to prepare her for the surgery, separation, and hospitalization.  On Tuesday night, we took her to Build-A-Bear workshop.  We paid a little extra to give her Dr. Bunny a heartbeat and explained to her that just like she put a new heart in her bunny, the doctor was going to put a new heart in her while she was sleeping (okay, that isn't quite what happened, but it's the best I could come up with!) and she would feel better (or "better better better!" as Sophear likes to say).
 
The surgery on March 16th went well. The hole was larger than anticipated and the doctor affirmed that we made the right decision to move ahead with surgery and not delay.  The doctor inserted a "metal mesh" and he said it will take six months to build up a strong enough blood clot in the hole to prevent the mesh from sliding out.  He took before and after pictures, but technology failed so he wasn't able to show us.

Sophear watching Mickey Mouse Club House in recovery
(Olaf was a gift from her post-op nurse)

The surgery lasted about three hours and I was able to see Sophear in post-op (recovery) within 30 minutes.  The space was very small - with post-op patients (kids) on either side of Sophear's bed - but the staff finally permitted Titus to join us about 30 minutes later.

The next four hours were emotionally exhausting.

Sophear was uncomfortable and anxious.  She hated the IV.  She wanted to be held, but we were instructed to not let her move her legs for three hours.  Her face was pale and swollen.  Her voice was hoarse.  Apple juice, goldfish crackers, the Disney Channel, her dolls and toys helped, but three hours passed very slowly.

The nursing staff was incredible.  I do not know how to effectively or sufficiently thank them for their every effort to make all three of us more comfortable.

Sophear was excited to have a blue bed!
We were excited that she drank four sippy cups in five hours and they could stop her IV fluids! 

With the exception of blood pressure tests and changing the dressing on her wound, Sophear was an incredible patient! Even at midnight and 3am, she actively engaged in "helping" take her temperature and holding the stethoscope (a word Sophear and Daddy are both still practicing).  She called everyone in uniform "doctor" including: nurses, lab techs, transporters, etc.  She loved sitting in the bed with Mommy and going on rides through the hospital, waving and saying "Hi doctor!" at everyone we passed!  She won the hearts of many at Peyton Manning Children's Hospital - a blessing for our own hurting hearts.

Five days later, we are very thankful to be so far "on the other side" of healing.  Sophear's x-rays and echo cardiogram show evidence that the hole is already closing.  Dr. Kumer wants to do follow-up in two months.  She will take a daily children's Aspirin for six months, but should be back to herself very soon!

On Sunday night, Sophear helped Mommy make a blue cake to announce that she's going to have a baby brother!

We are very grateful for God's favor on Sophear and her recovery.  We praise Him for how He is taking care of us while we take care of Sophear.  I cannot imagine the heart ache of going through something like this without promises like:
He is Healer (Psalm 30:2)
He is Father (Isaiah 64:8)
He is sufficient (Isaiah 40:29-31; 41:10)
He is omnipresent (Psalm 139:7-10)
He has plans to prosper and not to harm (Jeremiah 29:11)

In our family, St. Patrick's Day will always be a day to celebrate life, healing, and prayer!

Palm Sunday

With thankful hearts,
Titus, Jewel, & Sophear

Sophear's Heart

Like many other babies, our girl was born with a hole in her heart called a PDA (Patent Ductus Arteriosus). Unlike most of those other babies, Sophear's hole has never closed.  At ten-months-old, on Christmas Eve 2014, Sophear had her first visit to a children's hospital and to a pediatric cardiologist.  We were scared.  We are still scared.

The heart is an important organ.  And Sophear is a little girl.

The ductus arteriosus is an artery connecting the main body artery (aorta) and the main lung artery (pulmonary artery). The ductus allows blood to detour away from the lungs before birth.  After birth, the opening is no longer needed and it usually closes within the first few days of life outside the womb.  Sophear's ductus never closed.

The human heart has four chambers: two upper chambers (the atria) and two lower ones (the ventricles). The right atrium and right ventricle together make up the "right heart," and the left atrium and left ventricle make up the "left heart."

The heart circulates blood through two pathways: the pulmonary circuit and the systemic circuit. In the pulmonary circuit, deoxygenated blood leaves the right ventricle of the heart via the pulmonary artery and travels to the lungs, then returns as oxygenated blood to the left atrium of the heart via the pulmonary vein.

In a child with PDA, extra blood gets pumped from the body artery (aorta) into the lung (pulmonary) arteries. If the PDA is large, the extra blood being pumped into the lung arteries makes the heart and lungs work harder.  As a result, the walls of Sophear's heart are growing thicker, with the risk that they will not thin out again without intervention.

The heart is an important organ.  And Sophear is a little girl.

On Wednesday, March 16, Sophear is scheduled for surgery at Peyton Manning Children's Hospital.  We check-in at 7am, with surgery expected to begin by 9am, and lasting between two and four hours or longer.  I can't think about it too much without feeling paralyzed and broken.  It's not a complicated surgery. The risks aren't threatening.  We have full confidence in the Great Physician.

But the heart is an important organ.  And Sophear is my little girl.

Would you join us in praying?

• Yesterday, Sophear had some flu-like symptoms.  Pray that she is healthy and strong for surgery.
• Pray for Dr. Anil Kumar, the anesthesiologist, and the other medical staff during surgery.
• Pray for Sophear's recovery in the hours and days following the surgery.
• Pray for our nurses during the recovery and hospital stay.
• Pray for peace for our hearts, especially during the days and hours leading up to surgery and as we sit in the waiting room.
• Pray for our fundraising efforts - the surgery, etc. is very expensive and we're just not sure how we will tackle the medical bills.  We're also not sure how we're going to fundraise for the medical bills, because honestly, it's all just too much right now.

If you would like to receive updates during her recovery, or you would like to write or record a greeting or well wish for Sophear, click HERE.

Thank you, friends, for your prayers and support!

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

With thankful hearts,
Titus, Jewel, & Sophear

Sophear Jane: The 6th Love Language

In his popular book The Five Love Languages, Gary Chapman identifies the following five ways to express or communicate love: words of affirmation, acts of service, gifts, quality time, and physical touch.  According to Chapman (and we agree), each person has a primary love language that we must learn to speak if we want that person to feel loved.  From Chapman's list, my primary and secondary love languages are quality time and words of affirmation; however, I want to suggest a sixth love language - loving my child.

My love tank is filled as I watch our family, friends, and church community pour love into Sophear.  By investing in and loving Sophear, you are edifying our whole family!

Sophear is a special girl.  She's full of joy, full of laughter, full of life, full of energy, and full of love.  She's the sweetest thing and so hilarious!  On Thursday, she turned two-years-old.

Sophear Jane's name means "Beautiful Gift from God" - and she is!  She has only been a tremendous blessing in our lives and I'm certain the Lord is going to use her spirit and determination to bless others.  The Lord has called us to His ministry and He has given us Sophear; we're confident that He has also called her into His ministry in Cambodia, even if only for the time that she is in our home.

Will you join us in praying for Sophear as she journeys with us?

Like many other babies, our girl was born with a hole in her heart called a PDA.  Unlike most of those other babies, Sophear's hole has never closed.  At nine-months-old, her pediatrician told us, "If this hole was going to close on it's own, it would have by now."  We were sent to a pediatric cardiologist (Dr. Kumar) at Peyton Manning Children's Hospital in Indianapolis.  He explained that since Sophear was not having any complications, he wanted to wait until she's 3+-years-old to do surgery.  Last month, a year after her first appointment, Dr. Kumar discovered that Sophear's heart is enlarged (due to increased blood flow) and he wants to do surgery now.

Will you join us in praying for Sophear's heart?  For Dr. Kumar?  For wisdom as we make decisions regarding her surgery?

Thank you family and friends for loving our girl, for loving us, for investing in our family and in our ministry.

To see Christ glorified in Cambodia,
Titus, Jewel, & Sophear