Life Update

Jon and Joanna Gurr
Jul 24, 2023
5 min read

As most of you know, a little over a year ago, my (Joanna) mom went into cardiac arrest. It literally turned our world upside down. She spent 2 months in ICU, was transferred to Jacksonville, FL, transferred back to Albany and now is in Colquitt, GA. We have had to step in as full-time caregivers for mom. It has definitely been the hardest thing we have ever walked through, but the faithfulness of God has been overwhelming every step of the way!

A few months ago a pipe burst in our home and it flooded. We are working with insurance and our contractor to get it livable again. Between the flooding and mom’s out of town stays it has been over a year since we have been able to live at our home. Some days we look at each other and laugh and say we feel like we are living in the book of Job, but we are constantly reminded how the story of Job ends! We know God has the victory and He will redeem, restore and work all of this out for our good!

Eloise is almost 18 months now! She keeps us busy but she is such a joy! God’s timing is so perfect that she would be here at this time to bring so much love, fun and laughter during this difficult season. Eloise loves to cuddle with my mom and can always get a smile out of her.

ADOPTION UPDATE

We are continuing to move forward with the adoption and we can’t wait to bring home Eloise’s little brother or sister. Right now it is moving extremely slow due to us caring for mom and our house flooding. As soon as we are back in our home we can continue our journey of adopting. It has been extremely hard having so many delays, but we continue to trust Him and His timing!

TESTIMONIES

This last year we have spent a lot of our time in hospitals. In one of mom’s ICU stays, Jon met a family who had a man in the ICU also. Jon felt led to go speak to them and approached them. They said the man was not doing well and was not expected to live much longer, and Jon prayed for them. Jon was not allowed to go into his room but every time he passed his room he prayed for him. The next day, he saw the family again and they were so excited to report that the man had made a huge turn for the good!!! They were so grateful for the prayers.

A few months ago, mom developed an unexplained high fever of 103 degrees. After almost 2 weeks of tests, the doctors didn’t know what else to do. We had a prayer meeting over zoom and within the hour her fever broke and never came back!!! The doctors were stunned and just sent her home! Even in a hard situation, God is ever-present and moving on us and those around us!

WELLSPRING

Our church family at WellSpring has been amazing during this season! They have stood by us and supported us this past year as we have cared for mom. We have had such a beautiful time of gathering on Sundays and in our home on Tuesdays as we have been studying Acts and what it really looks like to be the church and live in community with one another. We have also started a Friday night worship and outreach and it has been wonderful to see how God is moving!

JETHRO'S

We continue to work with our non-profit, Jethro’s Coffee Company and Community Center. We hosted a karaoke night and an open mic night. It was so much fun to gather with people in the community and develop new relationships. We also had someone request to use our building for a workshop with a local realtor on how to buy a home. We are currently working on offering an art class, health class and financial literacy class. It has been exciting to hear people as they walk in talk about how nice and peaceful the building feels. We know it is the presence of the Lord that they are encountering as they walk in! What an honor it is that the Lord would use us to extend His kingdom to our city!

UPCOMING MINISTRY OPPORTUNITIES

We are planning the official launch of HOUSES OF ACTS. Houses of Acts are one-night meetings of worship, prayer and ministry designed to carry revival to homes.The kingdom of God is relational and the body of Christ is designed to be a family (Acts 2:46-47). Our desire is to see people come alive as they encounter His presence as their homes become places of refreshing and revival. If you are interested in hosting a “Houses of Acts” in your home you can email us at jonandjoannagurr@gmail.com.

PRAYER

We continue to ask for your prayers! Pray for mom. We continue to pray and believe for a miracle for her! Pray for us to be strengthened and for wisdom as we care for her. Pray for our home repair. Pray for it to be repaired quickly and without any issues so we can move back home. Pray for the adoption to move quickly and that there would be no more delays! Pray for provision. This situation with mom has definitely taken a toll on us financially, but we know He provides! Pray all that has been lost would be restored. Pray for our ministries. Pray for WellSpring and all those in the WellSpring family that the Lord would encourage and sustain them as they have been on the front lines of this journey with mom along side of us. Pray for Jethro’s as our involvement within our city and downtown community continues to grow.

SUPPORT

We ask for your support. In stepping into the emergency situation with mom, Jon has not been able to work much. Last summer, we raised almost $10,000 to help and we are incredibly grateful. We are hoping to raise another $10,000 this summer to help cover our bills and home repair as we start to rebuild and recover. We also ask you to prayerfully consider becoming a monthly supporter of our ministry.

If you would like to make a donation to help us rebuild, a gofundme has been set up on our behalf. You can click the link here.

You can become a monthly supporter by going to buymeacoffee.com/thegurrs.

You can donate to our adoption fund by making checks payable to us directly, or you can donate online at paypal.me/babygurr.

If you would like to donate to our ministry, you can go to iwellspring.org/give and choose “Missions - Jon and Joanna” from the list.

We cannot thank you enough for the constant generosity during this time.