The Nelsons are facing some serious challenges and would appreciate your help whether in prayer or giving! Vergil has had many ongoing challenges following his most recent brain surgery in August 2022. Kathy and the family dearly need your prayers as they navigate the very confusing world of Medicare/Medicaid, nursing facilities, and finances. The expenses for Vergil’s care are enormous. They are far more than Kathy is able to shoulder. While these things feel overwhelming and discouraging, Vergil and Kathy spent their lives serving a God who provides and they are trusting Him for all their current needs. If you would like to be part of providing for them, here are the details of what is happening.

Vergil is slowly improving with therapy, but we don’t know when - or even if - he will be able to come home. His left arm and leg still lack meaningful strength, mobility, and control. So he still has a long way to go to be able to go home. Also, consistent with a stroke, he is often confused as to where he is and mixes past and present events.

Kathy and Tim (son) recently met with an elder care attorney, who gave them great advice on setting up a trust, removing Vergil’s name from their shared assets, and getting Vergil on Medicaid so that his future care will be (mostly?) covered. Kathy has decided to move forward with hiring the attorney, as it will ensure she is taken care of and won’t become destitute trying to pay all these huge bills. Attorneys are not cheap, but we would not be able to complete all the complicated legal things and paperwork on our own. The attorney will also provide much needed financial guidance.

To add to all this complexity, we recently realized that we need to get Vergil on Medicaid. In order to do that, we will have to move Vergil to yet another facility because where he is right now doesn’t accept Medicaid.

Vergil and Kathy do have Long Term Care insurance, which should start after 90 days. Pray that both the prior and current facility will count toward this 90-day period. The LTC insurance will pay up to about $4,000 per month, but we are still in process with this paperwork.

To give you an idea of the costs that are accumulating, below are most of the current expenses:

We genuinely appreciate any donation, large or small, to help fund these expenses. After 38 years of serving and trusting God on the mission field, Vergil and Kathy know that they can continue to trust God for wisdom and guidance. His love and care continue to sustain the whole family during this incredibly difficult journey.

With love and gratitude,

Vergil & Kathy, Tim, Philip, Rachel, and the rest of the family