Brain Stuff: Lauren Piper's Status Updates

October 30th at 9:15pm

Prayers please

October 31st at 7:51am

Calling for prayers- David hasn't been feeling very well for some time now and he went in for a CT scan yesterday morning. They found what seems to be a benign cyst in his third brain ventricle which is blocking cerebral spinal fluid flow and causing excessive pressure in his head. They sent us to the Emergency Department in PA, who then sent us to Seattle for emergent neuro-surgery. So we are currently at Harborview hospital waiting to hear when surgery will be. He is handling this with total peace and confidence in whatever happens and feels as if God has been preparing him for this. I am just now getting past my shock- it was a pretty big bomb for me, but the Lord has been holding my heart. Please be praying. To God be the glory.

Here is a note from David:

God is sovereign. God is love. King Jesus is seated on his throne. Feeling complete peace and thankfulness in these moments. May He be glorified through every aspect of my life. Thank you Father for allowing me to experience this.

October 31st at 1:55pm

Update #1: David is a happy boy, he got to watch his All Blacks win the World Cup and has just been cleared to eat (no surgery today, probably tomorrow-the docs will be reviewing his MRI and other scans to come up with the best plan of action) Thank you all for your continued love and prayer- it is deeply felt.

November 1st at 12:30pm

2nd and latest update on my amazing husband David Andrew Piper:

Surgery will take place tomorrow, November 2nd. We just got word from his official neurosurgery team and they will be inserting a ventricular peritoneal shunt. It was determined that removal, or even a biopsy of the cyst itself would be too risky at this time, so they will be monitoring it regularly. The shunt will act as a permanent detour of sorts for his Cerebral Spinal Fluid to drain and relieve cranial pressure. We don't know what time the procedure is tomorrow, but I'm figuring it will be sometime in the late morning. Thank you thank you thank you for all the continual kindness, support, warm thoughts and prayers. I will keep you posted as best I can. No matter what circumstances we may face, God is good. Thanking Him for the many opportunities He's given for healing- be sure to be praying for the surgical team. Love and hugs from Seattle!

November 2nd at 1:40pm

David just went in for surgery. Thank you Lord for all the good You've already done through this and for all the good You have yet to do.

November 2nd at 4:44pm

Surgery was a success! It was too dangerous to remove the mass or take a biopsy, so we will be monitoring it closely. David is in recovery. THANK YOU for keeping us in your hearts and for your faithful prayers

November 2nd at 9:49pm

He's doing so well J

 The shunt procedure was a success, more images of his brain were taken, and now we stay here for the next couple of days for monitoring... and to see if we can figure out what's going on with the mass- the neurosurgeon says that it's more characteristic of a tumor than a cyst, but unfortunately was too dangerous to biopsy or remove. We will be keeping a close eye on it. The shunt (a permanent tube going from his brain to his abdominal cavity) will be the solution for the pressure build up in his ventricles.

November 4th at 5:16pm

UPDATE on David Andrew Piper: I wasn't up to posting this yesterday but he stopped doing so well... They were going to send him home around noon yesterday because he WAS doing well... but he was up and walking with his walker (something he had done just fine an hour prior) and he lost consciousness in the ICU hallway... He's had a few dizzy spells since then from simple movement activities and gets pretty out of it even when lying still. They've been doing all sorts of tests and scans to try and figure out why his body is responding this way. His symptoms don't fit with what they think is going on. He seems to be doing a bit better today, but still no real explanation.

November 5th at 7:03pm

UPDATE on David: He is actually being sent home tonight (Nov 5th)- the docs have literally done everything they could to try and figure out what happened, I think we have pictures of/exams done on every part of his body now, but they're basically just chalking up his syncope episodes to his body not being able to handle the inter-cranial pressure change even though his symptoms didn't quite match that explanation. He's done much better today, and is actually being discharged because he was able to get up and moving without getting too woozy 

J  He has his follow up appointments mostly scheduled and we'll just be taking it day by day. I've been trusting God with it all and am very humbled and thankful. What a roller coaster. We SO appreciate all of your love and prayers. Please keep that up

❤

DCC Mexico Spring Break 2015 Application

Feel free to Copy/Paste this into Word and then print it out at home. Applications are due February 1st to the DCC Office (45 Eberle Lane) or electronically to david@dcchurch.org. Any SHS student welcome, you don't need to be a Christian to come with us on this service trip.

Dungeness Community Church

 High School Short-Term Service Application

We at DCC are excited you are considering serving in Mexico with us! Before we start the application process though, we would like you and your parent(s) or legal guardian(s) to consider the level of time and financial commitment required to attend this trip. 1) The financial cost is significant: $550+ meals to and from Mexico. This cost can be reduced by actively participating in the DCC Youth Auction or writing support letters. 2) Team meetings and participation leading up to our trip to Mexico is crucial for building relationships/trust and construction skills among the group. 100% attendance to 2 training sessions is required  (March 1^st and 15th from 12-5pm at the Holloway’s) to attend this mission trip.

Students, will you commit to attending both meetings? Please circle one: YES / NO

Signature and date: ___________________________________

Parents, do you understand that 100% meeting attendance by your student is required to attend this service trip and that it cost $550+? Please circle one: YES / NO

Signature and date: ____________________________________

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INSTRUCTIONS:

1.  Please type or print clearly.  If more space is needed to answer questions, write on a separate       sheet of paper or on the back of the page.

2.  Please return the completed application to the DCC Office or Piper, by Sunday, February 1st.

3. Only adult leaders of the trip will see these applications. Individual student interviews begin on February 4^th.

   MINISTRY LOCATION: Mexico: House building trip with Amor, March 27^th – April 4^th

PERSONAL INFO:

________________________________________________            ______________

            Legal Name: Last, First, Middle                                             Date of Application

__________________________________________________        _______________                  Present Mailing Address: Street, City, State, Zip                  Phone: Home

E-mail Address: _____________________________________       Cell Number: ____________

Date of Birth: ______________________________ Age: __________

Passport Number: ___________________________  Do you have a birth certificate? ________

Place of Birth: _____________________      Sex:      M       F      Citizenship: _______________

Employment:___________________________________________________________________

Have you been baptized   _____ Yes             _____ No     If so, when? _____________________

HEALTH:

The spring temperatures in Mexico can range from freezing cold at night to smoking hot during the day. Does your current level of physical fitness allow you to serve in these conditions?  YES /  NO

1.  Condition of health (circle):   poor   fair   good   excellent          

2.  List any chronic ailments: ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

3.  Explain any physical limitations: _____________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

4.  Briefly share your testimony by describing how and when you came to know Christ as your personal Savior as well as your present relationship with Him. If you are not a Christian, just briefly share your understanding of Jesus and Christianity.  _______________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5.  What spiritual truth has the Lord taught you most recently?  ________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6.  Have you ever been on a mission trip? ________________ . If so, please list the trip(s)

7.  Do you regularly attend church?  Youth group?

Explain: ___________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

YOUR INTEREST IN SHORT TERM SERVICE:

8.  What do you hope to gain from a short-term service experience?__________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

9.  Why do you want to participate in this short-term service trip?____________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

Questions, comments or concerns? Feel free to write them below:

Parent Signature: ________________________________   Date:_________________________

Signature: ______________________________________   Date:_________________________

                                    

Our Lives and the Gospel: Pastors Pen, April

 Stories are powerful. Stories shape the way in which we view the world around us and believe me, there are many stories competing for our affections within the world we find ourselves. I just love an engaging story. Stories filled with heroes and villains, light overcoming darkness. Maybe you’re the same way and if the two of us could sit down at Hurricane Coffee together, I’m sure we could swap the titles of our favorite books or movies with relative ease… speaking of which, I would truly love to extend the fellowship of my dinner table to your family- let’s have this conversation at my house J Be on the lookout for a dinner sign up sheet in the auditorium, mid-April.

I’ve had the privilege of walking the middle and high school students through God’s Story, the Bible, at youth group. The story in which all of us find ourselves in as characters- regardless of whether we have surrendered our hearts to Jesus Christ. The story that begins with creation, climaxes with the enfleshing of our savior, and ends with the renewal of all things. Every man, woman and child you know (or will one day know) is caught up in this grand story as a character even if they are unaware of the all encompassing plot line with its Hero and demons.

According to Google, the definition of character can be summarized like this:

“a person in a novel, play, or movie.” I like that definition. It’s straight and to the point. I recently read Donald Miller’s ‘A Million Miles in a Thousand Years’, which gave me a deeper grasp on characters’ dynamic dual meaning. Again, according to Google, character can also be defined as, “the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual.”

As your youth pastor, it has been my heart to help locate our student’s individual stories within the wider story of what God has been up to on planet earth. In the past six weeks at youth group I’ve asked older characters with a Christward orientation in God’s story to come in to youth group and share their personal stories. Elders, deaconesses and beyond have proclaimed in these weeks that they did life on their own for a time but that Christ’s life is superior. Amen. As we submit our hearts and minds to Christ (Romans 12) they are renewed for correct worship, which enables us to more faithfully participate in God’s over arching narrative. In a very real sense, our character shapes our character. Has our character undergone spiritual rebirth or are we still living in darkness? We all have a part to play in God’s story, building for his Kingdom… what will it be?

Have we ever thought about the Gospel in terms of story?

My generation, growing up in possibly the most highly entertained and bored society in the world, has the convenience of choosing from a plethora of stories. From pursuing drugs to Facebook, sports, information about God, comfort, pornography, video games and beyond. We are all looking for a story to be a part of, something bigger than ourselves (which makes sense as eternity has been written on all of our hearts, Ecclesiastes 3:11). Each promises adventure and conquest, but ultimately we were created for more than this. We were created for unending relationship with the Creator God of the universe. We were all once characters walking in darkness who are invited into God’s mission of inviting others to participate in His story, His adventure. The daily choices we make shape the personal stories in which we live. The trajectory of my story changed drastically when an older man who wasn’t my father began to invest heavily into my life. I consider him one of the greatest men to walk the face of the earth. What did this man do? He spent time with me. He listened to me. He challenged me to live as Christ. He invited me into his life and home. Maybe this is why I’m so passionate about discipleship- I’ve seen how deeply it has changed my character.

A few months ago, God placed the Sequim Boys and Girls Club on my heart… and he wouldn’t let it go. I was surrounded by other individuals at DCC that already recognized the potential of journeying alongside younger students and families for the sake of the Gospel. During a sit down meeting with the director, I unpacked DCC’s vision and model of discipleship. He then asked me if we as a church could bring that to the B+G Club. My heart leaped. Christians… being invited into a secular organization (?!)- someone pinch me! Since this meeting, other DCC leaders have seen the potential this has to impact the community in which we have been placed, with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This Fall, a new type of discipleship will begin. Come September, I’ve asked more from my High School disciples and their older mentors, an additional two hours a month to be exact.

 I can’t tell you the joy I have in seeing older generations of men and women come alongside high school students that in turn journey with middle school students. I can’t unpack my total vision here or all of my dreams for DCC, but what I can say is that we, as the community of faith, need you. I need older men and women to respond to Christ’s call to disciple our young people. In the next two years, my dream is to see every sophomore age and above (Christian) student at DCC, have a mentor. “But Piper, I’ve never mentored anyone before and I’m not very “cool”.” That second part may very well be true, but when you love, truly love, you participate in the very life of God; God’s love mediated through you makes you something far greater than being “cool,” you’re desperately needed. I pray a mosaic of individual student disciples and mentor stories will converge for the glory of God’s over arching story. On top of this, I pray that those who have never even heard that they are characters in God’s story would hear that their lives have purpose and meaning as we invite them into something greater than themselves.

In Matthew 26, the gospel writer paints a disturbing and wonderful scene. A colorful character, a prostitute, comes in and anoints Jesus with an expensive perfume. What captivated me most was Jesus response to her. He said, “...wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” What? This spoke to me so clearly. The value of the things we do for Christ and in His name will have a ripple effect until eternity, even if we never see the fruit of our life’s impact on another. 1 John 4:19 says that, “we love because Christ first loved us,” meaning that after meeting Christ our stories are to be lived out of our response to him, his overwhelming love for us.

What stories will people share about your response to the love of Jesus Christ? What will your story be as part of God’s story? I want to invite you into a story of altering the course of a young persons character through discipleship at DCC or volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club. Interested? Compelled? Please talk to Ben Hegtvedt, Mark Holloway or myself.

His,

piper