In the book of Acts, chapter 3, we read that Peter and John were going up to the temple to pray. Along the way they passed a man who was begging at the gate called Beautiful. The man had been lame from birth. In fact, his friends had to carry him everyday to place him there to beg. On this day, God had in mind to give him more than the simple trinkets and money that would allow him to buy his evening bread. God had something supernatural planned for the man. Peter said to the man, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” Peter took him by the right hand and raised him up and immediately the man was made strong. The Bible says the man leaped up, and went into the temple “walking and leaping and praising God.” All the people were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. I say to you, we are also watching in wonder and amazement as we see what God is doing in Isaac!

Today his physical therapist had Isaac outside doing lunges, brisk walking, and even easy jogging. He has completely regained his coordination and balance! She said next week she will plan to change one of his sessions to allow for more cognition therapy. The cognition is really what must be worked. He is doing much better though. His speech therapist was very enthusiastic this morning when she gave the report, “Isaac is improving in leaps and bounds!” That is what caused me to recall the story in Acts chapter 3. We were all giving praise when we heard how Isaac only missed one question during his testing this morning. His vocabulary continues to grow, as does his math skills and reasoning.

He blew us away tonight when his new nurse asked him some questions. He told her it is the year 2010, he is at Trust Point Hospital, His uncle works at the Pentagon in Washington D.C., it is the capitol, and so on! This is HUGE! This morning he couldn’t remember that he shaved himself. I actually did help a little, but the nick on the chin was his doing. 🙂

We are rejoicing in what God is doing. He also went before Hannah in court yesterday. The biggest praise is that the judge communicated to her that after completing certain actions yesterday, she fulfilled her responsibility to the state for the accident and there would be no more recourse pending. The Judge shared with her a similar message that the Teague family has told Hannah all along, “She needs to put this behind her and move on with her life in front of her.” God truly does have a hope and future for Hannah, one in which she can shout of the grace, forgiveness, and works of the Lord. This message has been constantly communicated and reinforced in word and action by the Teague family. We praise God for them, and for their prayers for Hannah as she went to court yesterday. Thank you, Donna, Mark, Michael and Lance!

We have been blessed with two campers being provided by friends in Clovis. The campers are setup on the Trust Point property, so we get to live right here. It is such a blessing to have Isaac able to join us in the camper in the evenings for a visit. The opportunity to grab a quick bite or nap while Isaac is in therapy is also wonderful. Thank you, dear friends!

Lastly, I would like to ask if you would continue to pray for my brother, Nathan, as he must go through another round of chemo. We are trusting God for a great report. Also, please pray for my brother-in-law, Bill. He was just diagnosed with rectal cancer, the same Nathan. This is hard for Bill and my sister, Crystal, and all of our family.

“Saviour, He can move a mountain . . . our God is mighty to save.” Thank you for your prayers. We’re jumping and leaping and praising God for each new step!

So many of you have been asking the question about financial status and support opportunities. Even as early as 4 days into the incident, a friend was offering to setup a fund because people were asking how to give. At that point we were not even aware of the extent of injury or prognosis for recovery and treatment. Now we are ready to share specifics with you.

Let me begin by saying, it is not my intent to play on your heart strings to solicit support from you. All of our updates our genuine, and we are greatly overwhelmed by all of you and your constant outpouring of prayers and support to our family. God is doing an amazing work through each of you! Thank you. In response to many of your inquiries, let me share another need, knowing that God is already providing the solution. He just continually works miraculously in all of the details!

Isaac is 22 years old, no longer a student, and therefore not covered under my insurance. In fact, he has no medical insurance. His missionary insurance stopped on 9 February and the accident happened on 13 February, on his way home from the mission field. Thus far, it is only our limited vehicle insurance that is offsetting a portion of the medical bills. Our insurance adjuster is also working with the Teague family to help them inasmuch as possible. To me, they are the priority.

Isaac has been receiving in-patient treatment and rehab since 13 Feb, so of course the expenses are extremely high. Presently, he is expected to stay in Trust Point for a month. Afterward, he will be evaluated to determine if he needs to remain longer, advance to a different in-patient facility, or be scheduled for out-patient therapy.

We are pursuing Texas residency for Eli so that Isaac may have some further care and funding opportunities made available. We are also applying for state and federal funding opportunities; however, some would only be made available further down the line, and only if funding is available and Isaac qualifies.

We have established a recovery fund for Isaac in order to meet the on-going financial obligations resulting from the accident. I must let you know that the monetary gifts can not be written off for taxes. If it is on your heart to give a donation to Isaac, you may send a check or money order directly to the bank. Here is the information:

Beneficiary Name: Isaac L. Godwin Recovery Fund, c/o Ivan Godwin

Bank Address: New Mexico Bank and Trust
PO Box 730
709 Pile Street
Clovis, NM 88102-0730

If you would like to wire a gift, you can contact Gina Chavez at the bank office @(575)762-4741. She will provide the wiring information. Also, you can contact me (575) 799-9096 or Kris (575) 693-1509 and we can provide the bank ABA# and Account information. We won’t post it because of security reasons.

Many of you have already given our family funds during this time, and we are applying that toward Isaac’s medical expenses. Thank you so much.

Thank you for your relentless prayers for Isaac, Hannah, and the Teague family. That is our biggest request. We know God holds all of this in His hands; He’s holding all of us in his mighty hands. Praise You Lord that you know what we need even before we ask. You’re amazing!

We love you guys! With much humility, Ivan

Isaac continues to get better with his memory. This morning was the first time he remembered that Kristi is from Washington. Every other morning that I’ve asked, he said she is from “Siberia.” Oh,Isaac!

The speech therapist was very pleased at how well Isaac is working through his flash cards, identifying various objects and filling in the blanks. He also spent time with another therapist who is from Kenya. The man is a very strong believer and just kept encouraging Isaac in the strength of the Lord. It was awesome.

Here is a scripture I read with Isaac this morning. The scripture is from 2 Cor 6:1-2. It reads, “As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says,””In the time of my favor I heard you,and in the day of salvation I helped you.”” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” I see the Lord’s favor upon Isaac. He is doing such a wonderful work in and through him.

“God, you see how I’m broken and you know how helpless I feel. Please come and help me today.” This was Isaac’s prayer this morning. It shows that he is beginning to realize the state he is in; moreover, he knows who it is that can help him. I’m sure that some of us identify with this state of brokenness and helplessness. Maybe it’s physical like Isaac, or perhaps relational or spiritual. Whatever it is, God is able and willing to “come and help.” HE IS THE ANSWER!

Psalm 121: 1,2

“I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD,the Maker of heaven and earth.

Sunday truly was a day of rest since there was no therapy scheduled for Isaac. We had a very good day just being together as a family and visiting with some friends. We got to provide our own therapy in the way of simple games and music. It was also the first time Isaac was allowed to go outside, so that was rather refreshing. We were trying to keep him on level ground, but just as when he was growing up, he wanted to step up on/over every curb or negotiate any obstacle he could find. At least he had some good guardian angels around with the names Eli, Kristi, Kris and Hannah.

A very special treat was having his friend Mark Murray visit. For those of you who don’t know, Mark is the young man who wrote the song for Isaac and made the Heal Isaac video you see on the Videos tab above. It was very special when Mark played the song for Isaac yesterday, and Isaac played along with his guitar. When Mark wrote it, Isaac was still in ICU and we were all praying for breath! God has done such a work in Isaac since then, and continues to do so! Thank you, Lord!

We were excited to see Isaac recall the names of many people in pictures from high school and also his trip to New Zealand. Everything is “weird” to him, because he is not able to remember what he was experiencing in the pictures he was looking at. It doesn’t make sense to him that he recognizes himself and others, but has no idea what he was doing. We just keep assuring him that the memories will come, “in the mighty name of Jesus.”

Today, Isaac’s speech therapist (entails all cognition) raised him a level on the Rancho Los Amigos Cognitive Scale. She was pleased that he moved up one level in only a week. Amen! He is now at level VI: Confused/Appropriate. Inconsistent orientation to time and place, retention span/recent memory impaired, begins to recall past, consistently follows simple directions, goal-directed behavior with assistance.

We are overjoyed at the progress Isaac is making with the help of our God. He still has such a long way to go, but by the grace and power of God he is moving forward. Complete healing is our prayer!

I love what Kris prayed this morning for Isaac. She thanked the Lord for the rainfall this morning and the evidences of Spring all around us. The trees budding and the flowers poking up from the ground after a dormant season all point to new life and imminent beauty. So too, with Isaac. Each new face he recognizes, a new word in his vocabulary, a steady walk, etc., all point to new life and experiences that have been hidden for a while. We know that God is renewing Isaac’s mind, and in the right time, Isaac will blossom with fullness of life to reflect the beauty of the Lord and offer a sweet fragrance of praise for the work the Lord has done! Blessings!

We were blessed tonight when Isaac recognized and was able to recall the names of his brother, Eli, sister-in-law Mayra, and niece, Elizabeth. Way to go, Isaac! Isaac was able to play some sweet piano music for Elizabeth, and later we all sang some worship songs together with our good friends, the Daale family.

We sang the song, YOU ARE MY ALL IN ALL. The Lord truly is our all; at least He wants to be. We are realizing that there is nothing and no one else in whom we can go. We seek His presence because truly, only He has the words of life. I’m reminded of the story in Matthew chapter 11 when John the Baptist heard in prison what Christ was doing so he sent his disciples to ask, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” I loved the answer Jesus gave. He said, “Go back and tell John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” In other words, “I AM the one, John. Your hope is not in vain!” We continue to put our hope in the LORD. He is holding Isaac in His right hand.

“Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: “”The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things! The Lord’s right hand is lifted high; the LORD’s right hand has done mighty things!”” I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done.” Psalm 118:15-17. The Lord gave me this verse the night of the accident. We see Him holding Isaac in His strong right hand: guarding him, healing him, and renewing him so that he will proclaim what the Lord has done.

May shouts of joy and victory resound from our lips!

What an amazing day and evening we’ve experienced! The therapists are giving Isaac opportunity in the therapy time to play piano and guitar. Today Isaac was asked to play guitar in the gym while others were also doing their different types of rehab. Kristi joined Isaac and they sang praise songs to Jesus. Isaac did a good job playing the songs and was able to sing most of the words. This was all done without the use of music. Praise God!

Earlier today, Kristi asked Isaac, “Was ist los? Isaac replied in English, “Nothing.” That must have been the spark to get a fire going because tonight we spent a lot of time astonished at Isaac speaking and translating German phrases. 🙂 We would ask him something in German, and he would answer in German and then give us the translation. For those that don’t know, Isaac was born in Germany and attended the first grade in German school. We lived there as a family a total of 12 years; Isaac was around for 10 of those. Kristi had a great German lesson tonight. 🙂 We captured some of it on video. I’ll ask Ivan to post it later.

There were some instances when Isaac wasn’t able to give the correct answer or translation. For example, when I told him (Sorry if I’ve messed up the spelling), “Preiset den Herrn,” meaning “Praise the Lord,” Isaac said, “it means you win a prize for kissing a heron.” I still gave him some points for trying. 🙂 Other than that, he did superb!

We are going to try and Skype our friends in Germany tomorrow to pass on the great news! Inge and Andreas sent a gift and card to Isaac and included these Bible verses from Psalm 126:4-5:

“Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like streams in the Negev. Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.”

We have been, and still do continue to sow in tears as we seek our God for Isaac’s complete healing. We were able to rejoice tonight in the victories we saw today! We are praying that God will allow Isaac’s therapy of praise, with Kristi at his side, to be as seed for the folks at Trust Point. We pray, too, that we might be able to see some sheaves of salvation because of the work that God is doing.

To God be the Glory!

Today was a good day. Isaac did well in therapy again, but came back pretty tired out. He’s doing better at walking and is stumbling less and less everyday. The therapists have been telling us that most of the work that needs to happen in Isaac’s recovery will be on his cognitive skills. You can talk with him and he understands pretty well, but his brain is still jumbled up so when he tries to communicate it comes out quite silly.

He and I had an awesome time playing some music today! That was my highlight for sure. His physical therapist, Roda was working with him and she asked him to come with her to the activity room and play the piano, she said I could tag along too… I think because Isaac was holding my hand beaming at me. So we were about to go out the door and Isaac stopped and asked, “Should I bring that?” pointing to his guitar next to the door. “Sure, if it’s in tune” said Roda. So he grabbed it and we went into the activity room. Roda had him sit in a comfy chair next to the piano and he started to play something on the guitar. I wasn’t sure what it was, but it sounded like the song, “How He Loves,” so I started singing it and he caught on and we played together. Then I got an idea! I wondered if he remembered a certain song that he and I played a bunch together in New Zealand called, “Falling Slowly.” I asked him and he just said, “Oh you wanna do that one… ok…” So I started to play and sing, kinda wondering if he actually knew it when he started to play along, but then he started to sing with me! It was so awesome. I actually kinda messed the song up by playing the wrong chord and he made a little face at me. Haha, so I apologized and asked if he wanted to start over. He said, “Yeah if you want to.” He said it just like he usually would and that made me very encouraged.

A little bit later, a small crowd had formed of other patients and nurses. Kris had found the lyrics to some worship songs in Isaacs’s guitar case and brought them over to him. We convinced him to play them for the crowd. The sheets had no chords, just the lyrics so I helped him out by singing a little bit of each song to remind him. I was SO AMAZED! After just a little reminder, he found the key I was playing in and picked out the chords and just played the song! It was beautiful… and honestly Isaac is so humble, I didn’t know he could do that even before the accident happened!

The rest of the night was pretty uneventful, except for a sweet/romantic moment (that I am allowed to mention since I am the “love of his life.”) Isaac was sleeping, and I was sitting on the couch across from him. I was kinda discouraged and praying… and I started to cry a little bit and he must have heard me because when I looked over at the bed I caught him watching me. “What’s wrong babe?” He asked. “Umm, nothing…” I said, kinda trying to cover. I didn’t want him to feel bad! “Come here,” he said softly. So I went over to the bedside and he took my hand and kissed it very sweetly. Man that really doesn’t help me when I’m trying not to cry! “Aww, baby don’t cry! It’s not good for your heart,” Isaac told me as he pulled me into a hug, “I will protect you.” Then I cried a bit more and said, “God has this in his hands right…” “Yeah…” Isaac replied. Then after a pause he said, “But do you have it in your hands or His hands?” I gave him a sweet kiss and sat back on the couch and thought, “Wow, did God just smack me in the face with the truth or what?!” Isaac didn’t mean to be so profound, but the Holy Spirit did. It was really good.

So, I hope you’ve enjoyed the stories! Now for prayer requests, I think it’s basically the same as last time I posted something… Pray mostly for his brain to mend. For his memories to return! And for good rest at night – he’s been very restless the last few nights because his mind is doing so much right now… it doesn’t want to turn off.

Also, I wanted to let you all know that Young Ivan has posted some new videos on isaacgodwin.com of Isaac’s piano playing today! Thank you all for your prayers – they are powerful and effective!

God Bless!

I tried to post last night but lost the whole thing in the submission. It was midnight, so I decided to go to sleep rather than post again. I’m glad I did because Isaac awoke at 2:00 a.m.; his mind is constantly firing to try to piece things together. We had a similar experience Tuesday morning from 3:00 to 5:00 a.m. Isaac and I spoke about so much stuff as he tried to reconnect to memories, past and present. The therapists said this is a primary focus for Isaac right now, as he really can’t remember much. His short and long-term memory have to rebuild. The therapists have been doing a great job with setting short term (1 week) and long term (1 month) goals for Isaac. They discussed those goals with us yesterday. I do appreciate the expectations they’ve outlined, but I believe that God wants to do exceedingly, abundantly more than even they can think or imagine. May the Lord WOW everyone at Trust Point. We want to be his lamp on the lamp stand.

When Isaac and I were talking in the early morning hours Tuesday, I prayed some scriptures over him to help him bring him peace. He said he didn’t understand a lot of what I was sharing. Then he mentioned that there are scriptures that really speak to him, but he can’t remember them. I decided to get his Bible to read some of the scriptures he has marked with pieces of paper that has his own thoughts about the scripture written on them. We looked at Isaiah 43:19, remembering that God will make a way in the wilderness and be our refreshing river in the desert. Isaac is in a sort of wilderness right now, but God is making a way through it; He is The Way! We turned to Jer 29:11-13. I was overjoyed when Isaac interrupted my reading of the scripture in order to finish the verses himself. It’s incredible to see how, even though Isaac struggles to remember the smallest details of his past or present, the Word of God is still on his lips. “From the abundance the heart the mouth speaks!” Amen. Isaac had a little note paper wedged between the pages of the Bible. I read to him these thoughts he wrote:

Jer 29:11 God thinks about me. He wants us to know peace . . . .
1. Regardless of where you begin, your beginning has nothing to do with where you could be (in His will and His plans) and where your final destination will be.
2. God has a specific (tailor-made) course just for you. He’s given you a purpose (plan) that only you can fulfill in your life. It’s made just for you.
3. It’s the devil’s job to do whatever he can do to keep you from reaching your future and your hope.
I don’t want to take a detour. Only God can keep you on the course he has for you.

Isaac and I talked about how the devil has tried to upset the hope and future God has set in his heart. But God has already provided the way, the victory through this trial; this wilderness, if you will. Isaac and Kristi have set their hearts and minds on a ministry that will take the Gospel of Christ to the world. It’s no wonder he is going through this hard time. I finished our talk reminding Isaac that we must put all of our hope and trust in God. Isaac then challenged me by saying, with complete clarity of mind and speech, “Dad, that is sometimes easier to say than to do.” O Lord, give us the strength to trust you, really!

Let me finish this morning by asking for your help with something. We are so encouraged by your prayers, cards, love gifts, and so much more. We also enjoy the short visits with you here in the hospital. Regarding the visits, I need to ask, that we finish all visits by 7:00 p.m. each day. If you come during the week day, you will probably find Isaac gone to therapy or asleep because of the therapy. They really work him hard. He is up and down at times, but no guarantees you’ll get to hear his laughter or voice, or see his blue eyes and smile. A better time to visit would probably be on Saturday afternoon or throughout the day on Sunday. He has only a half day of therapy Saturday and a free day on Sunday.

When you come, please don’t ask Isaac if he remembers you; he probably won’t be able to recall your name, no matter how close you are. He is working real hard on restoring that memory, but it is coming very slowly. Instead, tell Isaac who you are and maybe tell him of an experience you’ve shared in the past or hope to build with him in the future. That will help him best through this time of rehab.

We so appreciate all of you! Lance Teague and I were speaking about how all of you have truly been The Church of Acts in our families’ lives (Acts 2:42-47). We could never convey how much you’ve meant to us. Continue to Love in Christ! We love you all. Blessings.

Today was a good day. Isaac started his therapy early this morning by talking with the speech therapists, he answered a lot of questions. He was kinda tired so most of his answers weren’t right, but that’s ok, the day got better as it went on. He met his occupational therapist Seth, and took a nice walk to the gym and back. Then later in the day he did three hours of intense therapy, when he came back to the room he was tired and crashed for a bit. The other highlights of the day include, Isaac and Ivan playing guitar together for about an hour, Isaac talking to his big brother Ivan on Skype! Isaac taking a shower with his dad’s help (finally after 3 weeks! Bet that was nice!) Isaac took a stroll with me to the activity room were he, Hannah, Ivan, Kris and I all played “Uno” together – Isaac won twice! And then I asked him if he wanted to play the piano with me, and he said yes. So we went to the piano, and he started playing something beautiful. I don’t know what he was playing but I was able to join in and it made me and everyone else really happy to hear him play. He fell asleep peacefully as we prayed for him tonight.

We are continually amazed by how God is healing Isaac and we give him ALL the glory for it! He is so good to us. We had a very encouraging visit from Lance Teague today too. We all prayed together before he left and it really lifted my spirit. I hope he doesn’t mind me writing about this (he said he reads these updates!) He told us that the Lord gave him a word for us – RESTORATION. He said it was like a diamond, you can look at all the different angles and it’s more than we might be thinking. He also really encouraged me by affirming my hopes, saying that Isaac and I are a powerful duo because we’re sold out for Christ, we’re going to glorify him with our lives and ministry someday so Satan might as well give up. But that’s the thing… I know Satan doesn’t give up. I actually had a really vivid dream last night about that. I can’t quite remember it but I woke up with a sense that I needed to pray for protection over Isaac and all of us here. Please keep praying for Isaac and all of us to have Christ’s spiritual protection! We can become easily discouraged sometimes.

When Isaac was in the ICU this verse kept coming to my mind, and it still rings true even now while he recovers mentally. He’s not back yet, but everyday is a step closer and we are believing for a full recovery in His timing.

“O Lord, if you heal me, I will be truly healed; if you save me, I will be truly saved. My praises are for you alone!”

Our praises are for Him alone!
Thank you Jesus for your healing, and restoring today!
We pray that all of you prayer warriors would be very blessed today and encouraged! Please keep it up!

God bless

Sorry for the late update. Yesterday was very busy but full of exciting victories! Plus, I didn’t have the password for web access at Trust Point. 🙂 Yesterday morning was very fast paced. Isaac got his feeding tube removed and they pulled the IV just before he sat in the wheelchair to leave UMC. We are very grateful he was able to ride in Visiting Angels Shuttle from UMC to Trust Point. He is now situated in a beautiful room at Trust Point, room D102.

After he got checked in and rested for quite a while. Opa and Grandma Jo felt a peace about leaving yesterday afternoon to travel back to Indiana. We are so grateful to them, and all of our family and friends for the role they’ve played in Isaac’s recovery. We’re so very thankful to all of you! As is our family practice and privilege, we all joined hands to pray for Opa and Grandma’s travel. As soon as I said “let’s pray,” Isaac lead out with the most coherent, appropriate and beautiful prayer for his grandparents. We were all in tears! Even moreso when we closed our time by singing the song MIGHTY TO SAVE and Isaac joined us in singing. He didn’t even miss a word! GOD IS SO AWESOME!

Later,we were able to coax Isaac out of bed to walk with us to the Activity Room. For one thing, we all needed the exercise, and secondly, there was a hidden agenda, or rather a hopeful expectancy, invlolving a piano in the room. 🙂 You know where I’m going with this testimony! Kristi begged Isaac to walk with her to the room so that she could play him a song. We asked if Isaac wanted to play something, and he looked very puzzled and insisted that he couldn’t. Kristi sat down and played a beautiful song; Isaac was captivated. I sat Isaac in a chair beside Kristi and asked her to play MIGHTY TO SAVE. Whil she played, I poorly plucked out a melody on the upper keys. As soon as I took my hand away, Isaac placed his right hand on the keys and began playing the melody in a much more accomplished manner than me. He stopped. I asked if he could play something with his left hand; he did! Kristi yielded the center of the piano to Isaac who then proceeded to play with both hands a beautiful piece in a minor key. Kristi joined him and they played together songs from the heart for about 10 minutes. Pastor Alan and Peggy walked in on the concert and applauded when Kristi and Isaac finished. Isaac lit up! He sat on the couch and had a great visit with everyone. Afterward, he went to bed and had a long rest.

Hannah played Go Fish with Isaac last night. She said he organized his cards numerically and by suit. He remembered spades and clubs also. He also sat with Kristi and they read the Bible to each other! Praise you, Jesus!

God is doing exceedingly, abundantly more than we can ever think or imagine!

Please pray for Isaac as he completes his assessments with each of the therapists today and they outline a recovery plan. We know God is doing an amazing work in Isaac! We are excited for, and expecting, a complete recovery. In Jesus’ Name.

Blessings.