Okay, so those who visit my blog probably remember the drill with this.  I sometimes post names for Army and Marine units.

These guys are stationed overseas and they could use some letters and cards.  If you want to include an email address, they often do write back and at that point, if you want to think about sending care packages, go ahead.

But for now, cards and letters suffice.

The first guy…

CPT Granzow, David
HHC, 2/82 AAB
APO AE 09396

And then these three are all in the same unit, you’d use the address and just select one name to go with the addy (starting with the C-CO).

Again… right now, all that is asked for is cards and letters.

Eric Johnson
Ryan Grab
Shawn Brown
C-CO 1-175 IN
unit 31530 MFO 55
APO,AE 09833

If you have any questions, please read the soldier FAQ page first-I’m under a major deadline crunch and I barely have time to check email or breathe-the blog isn’t a big priority right now.  If you ask and I don’t respond for a while, I’m not ignoring anybody, I’m just running behind because of my deadlines and again, most questions for this are answered in the soldier FAQ.

Also, for those who’ve been following the issue with the Congo’s hero, Pastor Marrion P’ Udongo, I received this update from Indiegogo:

Hey folks,

It’s been over a week since my last update, so I wanted to let you know what’s taking place. Basically, right now we’re waiting. Two days after the transplant, the pastor’s new kidney went into a state of shock. As Dr. Twahir Ahmed explained, the kidney entered “a period of slumber.” It’s not dead, but it’s not really working, either. The pastor is still at Nairobi Hospital receiving regular dialysis. He’s also experiencing swelling and a lot of pain.

The good news, according to Dr. Twahir, is that this period of “slumber” is fairly common. Last night the doctors performed another surgery to clear up some minor complications and reported the kidney looked healthy. Overall, the pastor’s body is healthy. We’re just waiting on this kidney to WAKE UP and do its job. Sometimes it takes a few weeks, the doctor says. Despite this setback, they’re all still hopeful and optimistic.

So we wait. And while we wait, let’s hope and pray this kidney decides to finally show up to the party.

Several of you have also asked about Omaka, the kidney donor. Dr. Twahir said he’s recovering well and should be ready to go home soon. We’ll know more next week. We also hope to bring you an interview with Omaka so you can learn more about his own experience though this odyssey. We’ll also have updated photos and video of Pastor taken after the transplant. It’s been difficult to get footage over the past week because he’s often resting.

And of course, we’re still raising money. The expenses are really mounting right now. So please share this story with friends, family, and co-workers, and direct them to our website. We’ve come a long way since last July, and we’ve cleared the biggest mountain. But as Jimmy Cliff sang, there are many rivers to cross. For us, this isn’t over until the pastor is at home in Bunia, working and preaching and helping rebuild his great country.

Onward….

Bryan