Incredible Near-Death Experience

It's a rainy day here. I love the rain. Josh and the boys went outside to watch the clouds roll in before the rain started falling. The breeze was cool and felt wonderful!! My kids are coloring and doing homework, Josh is working in the office and I'm answering all sorts of random questions. ("Is it Easter at America, mommy?" "Which picture do you think I should color?")
We had a couple who just came out of the tribe in for lunch today - we served a big salad as well as "Ayam Cabe Hijau", Chicken seasoned with green chili peppers served with rice. It was just mildly spicy so that the kids could eat it too.
Our friends did some story-telling while we ate together. They work interior and were travelling down a river between villages when (they're not sure why - could have been several factors) the boat tipped and they and 2 tribal guys were thrown out. They're just a bit older then my folks (so middle-aged), and have been here for 20+ years, traversing the river between the villages many times. This time was pretty scary as the wife almost drowned. There are many rapids and the river was pretty high, so it was a miracle that her husband was able to pull her out (she kept coming up under the boat and there wasn't much air under there.) Finally she came up away from the boat and was able to hold onto a log, very weak. Her husband was able to lift her up so her head was above water, and then the force of the water washed him down the river further. She wasn't able to hold on much longer so a tribal guy (who had trapped the boat against some logs to keep it from going down to the next set of rapids) let the boat go, crossed the river to her and helped her up onto the log. The amazing thing (besides the fact that they survived) was that they had packed the boat so well that they didn't lose anything besides their hats! The boat did go down the chute towards the next set of rapids, but somehow ended up getting redirected just before the big rapids and was tangled in some vines, floating upside down. When the boat was righted again, everything was in it. They lost their hats from their heads. They did end up having to wait for a couple of hours on some logs in the middle of the water while they were waiting to be rescued (one of the tribal guys made a raft out of vines and logs and floated down the river looking for the boat). She ended up with heatstroke, and was sick for 2 days throwing up and very weak (probably a combination of both the near-drowning and subsequent heat stroke) in the village they were visiting. Thankfully she did recover her strength to take the return trip (yes, on the same river in the same boat) the 3rd day. No one heard about the accident until they were safely back home. (A good reason to pray for missionaries even if you don't hear from them - you never know what's going on, sometimes don't hear until it's over.)

We are incredibly thankful that the Lord chose to spare our friends last week. They both have been an incredible encouragement to us in the time that we've been here. They head home to the US for their son's graduation from medical school and their daughter's wedding in the coming weeks so pray that in the next few days before they leave that she would regain her strength. She's still experiencing weakness in her arms.

Thanks for praying with us!