Dec 2009
Winkie is at home!
Dec/31/09 08:59 AM
Happy New Years!
It's New Years Eve here in South Auckland, New Zealand.
Winkie was discharged from Middlemore hospital late this afternoon. He is at home with us now, sleeping as I type.
He is expected to be on medication for at least three months, something normally a natural health advocate such as he would never want to be. But he hasn't put up a fight on that front. The only things we've had to fight him for, have been putting his socks on, brushing his teeth...silly little things.
We are so thankful for all the prayers that went out for him. I just want to say, that just because he is with us at home, he by no means is recovered. He has made progress, but is still quite impaired. He is in no condition to be giving any kind of teaching, or answering any kind of complicated theological question right now.
We're also planning on keeping him off his computer for a while. So if you've sent him facebook, myspace, or email messages, I wouldn't expect any kind of response from Winkie, at least not at this time.
Special thanks go out to David, Dale and Melinda Garratt (www.davidanddalegarratt.com), for their help during this time. Everyday they've been bringing Winkie and us delicious homemade meals, some of which are probably straight out of Dale's hospitality/cookbook. Special thanks go out also to the Ministry of Helps team (www.moh.org), including Dee Patton and Israel Anderson for posting these blogs and keeping you guys informed. His Way Church International (www.hiswaychurch.com) have also been a big blessing to us during this time, helping (along with David Garratt) get the word out to various churches, keeping us in prayer, and sending flowers. We appreciate you His Way! Thanks also to all the other churches and individuals that have been praying for Winkie and us, his family, at this time. May God bless you!
Winkie will be on meds to maintain his blood pressure (too much could cause another bleed), pain (he still gets headaches - something he was having right before the incident; too much pain apparently increases blood pressure), and to guard him against seizures (doctors told us one seizure could kill him). Most of the natural health remedies we would normally use, we have been told, would actually have the opposite effect on someone with his condition, a hemmorhagic stroke. (See "hemmorhagic stroke" in the Merck Manuals Online Library: http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec06/ch086/ch086d.html?qt=stroke&alt=sh) So no cayenne pepper! ): Nothing to thin his blood. Not even Winkie's advocated nattokinase, which he usually uses in place of aspirin when he travels.
Please pray first of all for us (Mom and I, and those doctors that will be working with him), that we would give him exactly what he needs in order to give his body the best fighting chance to effectively (and quickly) deal with the blood clot sitting in his brain, and also for Winkie, that God would bring him to the point of full functionality again, utilizing that amazing brain of his!
Winkie's memory is still slowly coming back (the morning this all happened he couldn't remember our names, his own date of birth, or even tell where he was, so he's made vast improvement...). It looks like it could take a while though (at least from a medical standpoint - God can do anything). We covet your prayers at this time.
Good to hear, also, from so many of you. Love and greetings back at ya!
With regards,
William
It's New Years Eve here in South Auckland, New Zealand.
Winkie was discharged from Middlemore hospital late this afternoon. He is at home with us now, sleeping as I type.
He is expected to be on medication for at least three months, something normally a natural health advocate such as he would never want to be. But he hasn't put up a fight on that front. The only things we've had to fight him for, have been putting his socks on, brushing his teeth...silly little things.
We are so thankful for all the prayers that went out for him. I just want to say, that just because he is with us at home, he by no means is recovered. He has made progress, but is still quite impaired. He is in no condition to be giving any kind of teaching, or answering any kind of complicated theological question right now.
We're also planning on keeping him off his computer for a while. So if you've sent him facebook, myspace, or email messages, I wouldn't expect any kind of response from Winkie, at least not at this time.
Special thanks go out to David, Dale and Melinda Garratt (www.davidanddalegarratt.com), for their help during this time. Everyday they've been bringing Winkie and us delicious homemade meals, some of which are probably straight out of Dale's hospitality/cookbook. Special thanks go out also to the Ministry of Helps team (www.moh.org), including Dee Patton and Israel Anderson for posting these blogs and keeping you guys informed. His Way Church International (www.hiswaychurch.com) have also been a big blessing to us during this time, helping (along with David Garratt) get the word out to various churches, keeping us in prayer, and sending flowers. We appreciate you His Way! Thanks also to all the other churches and individuals that have been praying for Winkie and us, his family, at this time. May God bless you!
Winkie will be on meds to maintain his blood pressure (too much could cause another bleed), pain (he still gets headaches - something he was having right before the incident; too much pain apparently increases blood pressure), and to guard him against seizures (doctors told us one seizure could kill him). Most of the natural health remedies we would normally use, we have been told, would actually have the opposite effect on someone with his condition, a hemmorhagic stroke. (See "hemmorhagic stroke" in the Merck Manuals Online Library: http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec06/ch086/ch086d.html?qt=stroke&alt=sh) So no cayenne pepper! ): Nothing to thin his blood. Not even Winkie's advocated nattokinase, which he usually uses in place of aspirin when he travels.
Please pray first of all for us (Mom and I, and those doctors that will be working with him), that we would give him exactly what he needs in order to give his body the best fighting chance to effectively (and quickly) deal with the blood clot sitting in his brain, and also for Winkie, that God would bring him to the point of full functionality again, utilizing that amazing brain of his!
Winkie's memory is still slowly coming back (the morning this all happened he couldn't remember our names, his own date of birth, or even tell where he was, so he's made vast improvement...). It looks like it could take a while though (at least from a medical standpoint - God can do anything). We covet your prayers at this time.
Good to hear, also, from so many of you. Love and greetings back at ya!
With regards,
William
|
If you would like to give to the Pratneys at this time...
Dec/29/09 10:31 AM
If you would like to give to the Pratneys at
this time...
There are 2 buttons you can use to give, depending on if you need a receipt or not. This first button send the funds directly to William Pratney who is with Winkie and Fae in New Zealand. This is the best way to give, but we are unable to issue a receipt. All persons outside of the US should also use this button as we can not issue receipts to people outside the US.
If you need a receipt, then use this button. The funds will go to Winkie’s ministry in Texas and they will issue you a receipt.
Sending checks.
If you need a receipt, make checks out to Ministry of Helps and send to this address:
Winkie Pratney Family Fund
PO Box 876
Lindale, TX 75771
If you are outside the US, or do not need a receipt, please make the check out to William Pratney (please note, NOT Winkie) and send to this address:
Winkie Pratney Family Fund
PO Box 215
Manurewa, Auckland
New Zealand
(Yes, foreign checks can be deposited in New Zealand)
If you would like bank account details to make a wire transfer or Direct Deposit, please email us through our contact page.
There are 2 buttons you can use to give, depending on if you need a receipt or not. This first button send the funds directly to William Pratney who is with Winkie and Fae in New Zealand. This is the best way to give, but we are unable to issue a receipt. All persons outside of the US should also use this button as we can not issue receipts to people outside the US.
If you need a receipt, then use this button. The funds will go to Winkie’s ministry in Texas and they will issue you a receipt.
Sending checks.
If you need a receipt, make checks out to Ministry of Helps and send to this address:
Winkie Pratney Family Fund
PO Box 876
Lindale, TX 75771
If you are outside the US, or do not need a receipt, please make the check out to William Pratney (please note, NOT Winkie) and send to this address:
Winkie Pratney Family Fund
PO Box 215
Manurewa, Auckland
New Zealand
(Yes, foreign checks can be deposited in New Zealand)
If you would like bank account details to make a wire transfer or Direct Deposit, please email us through our contact page.
Already we have seen miraculous improvement
Dec/29/09 08:28 AM
(From William Pratney, Winkie’s son)
Hi all!
Thanks goes out to all the faithful in Christ Jesus that have been praying for Winkie at this time. After seeing some of the many emails that have been pouring in, I don't doubt that there are more than a few.
Good news!
Winkie seems to be making progress daily. Each day we've noticed marked improvement, and his recall seems to be deepening. He has began writing in a notepad we got him, attempting to remember things like peoples names, books he has written, sermon topics he has spoken on, computer operating systems he has used, as well as the categories of the honorary doctorate ("doctor of letters") he received from Ecclesia College in the United States before returning to New Zealand, among others. We are still learning how much of his memory was lost, and how much of his speech & vocabulary were affected. But like I said, each day he gets a little better, showing his ability to recall things he could not the day previous.
This morning I talked with the visiting neurologist/stroke specialist from Auckland hospital. (They decided not to transfer him many days ago - Winkie is still in Middlemore hospital in Otahuhu) They decided against any kind of head surgery. The grounds for this decision (from what I could deduce) were twofold:
1. They do not believe that a pressure relief needle aspiration (piercing the skull to let the blood out) will be helpful, because
a. in cases such as his, both aspirations and non-aspirations have shown similar outcomes, i.e. letting the blood out won't help. Why? Because (I am told) after having tried both aspirations and foregoing them for over 40 years, aspirations have proven no more effective and yet more dangerous - fluid will simply accumulate to take the place of the blood that was relieved...and any kind of head surgery is dangerous.
2. There is far greater danger in doing any kind of head surgery (including the risk of infection) in comparison to the safer alternative (if viable) of allowing the blood to reabsorb into the body and for the body to heal itself.
The neurologist also told me that they have foregone the MRI, and neither an MRI or a CT scan will be helpful at this time because neither (apparently) can see beyond the blood that has spilled in his brain. Another CT scan could be helpful (apparently) AFTER the blood that spilled in his brain has been reabsorbed.
Winkie met with a speech therapist this afternoon. She ran him through a series of tests designed to assess what parts of his brain were affected by the stroke, and how this practically affected his recall and communication skills. He did quite well, but the tests revealed that he is unable, on his own, to recall many basic words in his vocabulary. Words like, "comb", "coin", and "cup" were quite gone from him. Once reminded of the word used to describe a given object, he could usually recall it and continue to use it from that point on, having reintroduced it into his vocabulary (or memorized it). Other words, however, seemed foreign to him, as if he had never learned them before.
When the artery in his brain burst, part of his brain died. The information contained therein (if it was solely contained therein) will probably have to be re-introduced in order for him to function as he once did. The clot of blood we saw on the CT scan was about the size of a walnut. Normally something that large, in the area it is (just over and perhaps a little behind the left ear) impairs motor function on the right side of the body (i.e. right arm, right leg, etc). But Winkie does not seem affected like that at all.
Winkie met with a physical therapist recently for a full evaluation on his motor skills. This included an evaluation on his coordination, balance, and strength. As far as I could deduce, he passed all of the tests they gave him. (I want to say with flying colors, but in truth it was nothing that glorious...his mind was struggling to keep up with directions a little, sort of like what one might expect with someone taking directions in a second language...they speak it, they understand it, but they struggle to keep up with the pace in which it is given at times)
Because of the amazing brain which Winkie has (and we all have amazing brains, but as a child doctors apparently told his mother that he had unusually high brain-wave activity, recommending an especially dark room for him in order to allow him to sleep properly), he is able to comprehend large amounts of data at an impressive pace. This means, that the rehabilitation process involving his relearning of object-word associations should be faster than average. (Sorry if you think this is bragging about my dad...I'm just trying to say we have high hopes for him, because we know how he tends to operate)
I should mention as well: I have been getting phone calls, txts and emails from various people with the resounding sense that God is going to completely restore Winkie's mind to him, 100%. I tend to agree. Already we have seen miraculous improvement. Praise the LORD! Hallelujah!
Please keep believing with us for this wonderful work of God. And thank you again, for your prayers of faith for Winkie.
God bless,
William
Hi all!
Thanks goes out to all the faithful in Christ Jesus that have been praying for Winkie at this time. After seeing some of the many emails that have been pouring in, I don't doubt that there are more than a few.
Good news!
Winkie seems to be making progress daily. Each day we've noticed marked improvement, and his recall seems to be deepening. He has began writing in a notepad we got him, attempting to remember things like peoples names, books he has written, sermon topics he has spoken on, computer operating systems he has used, as well as the categories of the honorary doctorate ("doctor of letters") he received from Ecclesia College in the United States before returning to New Zealand, among others. We are still learning how much of his memory was lost, and how much of his speech & vocabulary were affected. But like I said, each day he gets a little better, showing his ability to recall things he could not the day previous.
This morning I talked with the visiting neurologist/stroke specialist from Auckland hospital. (They decided not to transfer him many days ago - Winkie is still in Middlemore hospital in Otahuhu) They decided against any kind of head surgery. The grounds for this decision (from what I could deduce) were twofold:
1. They do not believe that a pressure relief needle aspiration (piercing the skull to let the blood out) will be helpful, because
a. in cases such as his, both aspirations and non-aspirations have shown similar outcomes, i.e. letting the blood out won't help. Why? Because (I am told) after having tried both aspirations and foregoing them for over 40 years, aspirations have proven no more effective and yet more dangerous - fluid will simply accumulate to take the place of the blood that was relieved...and any kind of head surgery is dangerous.
2. There is far greater danger in doing any kind of head surgery (including the risk of infection) in comparison to the safer alternative (if viable) of allowing the blood to reabsorb into the body and for the body to heal itself.
The neurologist also told me that they have foregone the MRI, and neither an MRI or a CT scan will be helpful at this time because neither (apparently) can see beyond the blood that has spilled in his brain. Another CT scan could be helpful (apparently) AFTER the blood that spilled in his brain has been reabsorbed.
Winkie met with a speech therapist this afternoon. She ran him through a series of tests designed to assess what parts of his brain were affected by the stroke, and how this practically affected his recall and communication skills. He did quite well, but the tests revealed that he is unable, on his own, to recall many basic words in his vocabulary. Words like, "comb", "coin", and "cup" were quite gone from him. Once reminded of the word used to describe a given object, he could usually recall it and continue to use it from that point on, having reintroduced it into his vocabulary (or memorized it). Other words, however, seemed foreign to him, as if he had never learned them before.
When the artery in his brain burst, part of his brain died. The information contained therein (if it was solely contained therein) will probably have to be re-introduced in order for him to function as he once did. The clot of blood we saw on the CT scan was about the size of a walnut. Normally something that large, in the area it is (just over and perhaps a little behind the left ear) impairs motor function on the right side of the body (i.e. right arm, right leg, etc). But Winkie does not seem affected like that at all.
Winkie met with a physical therapist recently for a full evaluation on his motor skills. This included an evaluation on his coordination, balance, and strength. As far as I could deduce, he passed all of the tests they gave him. (I want to say with flying colors, but in truth it was nothing that glorious...his mind was struggling to keep up with directions a little, sort of like what one might expect with someone taking directions in a second language...they speak it, they understand it, but they struggle to keep up with the pace in which it is given at times)
Because of the amazing brain which Winkie has (and we all have amazing brains, but as a child doctors apparently told his mother that he had unusually high brain-wave activity, recommending an especially dark room for him in order to allow him to sleep properly), he is able to comprehend large amounts of data at an impressive pace. This means, that the rehabilitation process involving his relearning of object-word associations should be faster than average. (Sorry if you think this is bragging about my dad...I'm just trying to say we have high hopes for him, because we know how he tends to operate)
I should mention as well: I have been getting phone calls, txts and emails from various people with the resounding sense that God is going to completely restore Winkie's mind to him, 100%. I tend to agree. Already we have seen miraculous improvement. Praise the LORD! Hallelujah!
Please keep believing with us for this wonderful work of God. And thank you again, for your prayers of faith for Winkie.
God bless,
William
"Yes. It IS a miracle, and it is restoring my faith"
Dec/28/09 12:58 PM
(From Dee Patton)
Fae (Winkie’s wife) just called me...
She is tired. Sounds REALLY tired.
Yet! There is great victory happening there right now. Winkie is having another CAT scan today even though he was supposed to have to wait for some time since he is not considered in a life threatening situation now. A Doctor was overheard saying as he left the room "It's a bloody miracle". A nurse then poked her head in and said "Yes. It IS a miracle and it is restoring my faith." Apparently the miracle is that Winkie is coming back from this a LOT faster than anyone thought he could. He is reading again and writing things down and remembering things - slowly, but fast according to the Docs.
David and Dale Garrett came by and Rob DeLuca and others....and there has been much praying in that room and a lot of speaking in tongues, from what Fae says - so much so that she was afraid they would be asked to stop by hospital staff. And the word that keeps coming seems to be that this is an attack on Winkie's gifting - his brain - and on the Revival Bible project too.
dee
Fae (Winkie’s wife) just called me...
She is tired. Sounds REALLY tired.
Yet! There is great victory happening there right now. Winkie is having another CAT scan today even though he was supposed to have to wait for some time since he is not considered in a life threatening situation now. A Doctor was overheard saying as he left the room "It's a bloody miracle". A nurse then poked her head in and said "Yes. It IS a miracle and it is restoring my faith." Apparently the miracle is that Winkie is coming back from this a LOT faster than anyone thought he could. He is reading again and writing things down and remembering things - slowly, but fast according to the Docs.
David and Dale Garrett came by and Rob DeLuca and others....and there has been much praying in that room and a lot of speaking in tongues, from what Fae says - so much so that she was afraid they would be asked to stop by hospital staff. And the word that keeps coming seems to be that this is an attack on Winkie's gifting - his brain - and on the Revival Bible project too.
dee
Winkie is making progress - keep praying
Dec/28/09 08:31 AM
(From William Pratney, Winkie’s son)
The doctor said that Winkie's making progress. I actually noticed it last night, as well. He referred to me as, "William" today, and Mom as Fae...a marked improvement to a few days ago.
Tomorrow, we are told, he will be visited by a stroke specialist team. The doctor indicated that I should direct more specific questions to them. I am typing these at night. Mom takes the 10:00AM-8:00PM shifts, I take the 8:00PM-10:00AM shifts. I should know more tomorrow as to what has happened this afternoon with him. We were visited by someone gathering information for a possible MRI. Don't know if he's had it or not. Tomorrow, I am told, he will be put on a waiting list for another CT scan. It could be a while, seeing he is out of critical (life or death), and there could be many on the list this holiday season.
Please continue to pray for him. What we are needing is for the swelling to go down in his brain, and for all the blood to be completely reabsorbed into his body. Some, in prayer, have felt this whole ordeal to be a Satanic attack on him. I tend to agree.
Please pray for his and our protection. Specifically for him, for his mind. For us, for our hearts.
God bless,
William
The doctor said that Winkie's making progress. I actually noticed it last night, as well. He referred to me as, "William" today, and Mom as Fae...a marked improvement to a few days ago.
Tomorrow, we are told, he will be visited by a stroke specialist team. The doctor indicated that I should direct more specific questions to them. I am typing these at night. Mom takes the 10:00AM-8:00PM shifts, I take the 8:00PM-10:00AM shifts. I should know more tomorrow as to what has happened this afternoon with him. We were visited by someone gathering information for a possible MRI. Don't know if he's had it or not. Tomorrow, I am told, he will be put on a waiting list for another CT scan. It could be a while, seeing he is out of critical (life or death), and there could be many on the list this holiday season.
Please continue to pray for him. What we are needing is for the swelling to go down in his brain, and for all the blood to be completely reabsorbed into his body. Some, in prayer, have felt this whole ordeal to be a Satanic attack on him. I tend to agree.
Please pray for his and our protection. Specifically for him, for his mind. For us, for our hearts.
God bless,
William
What we know so far about Winkie Pratney
Dec/27/09 06:05 AM
(From William Pratney, Winkie’s son)
Hi all.
Winkie has been transferred to the general ward. I stayed with him last night. They shifted him out of the adult day ward (next to emergency) around 3:00AM last night. Because he has a "superbug" i.e. ESBL, he has been given a room to himself, with two beds. However, because the bathroom is shared between his and the next room, and he has the superbug, he isn't allowed to use the in-room toilet, meaning only the portable cammode and urinal, which makes things a little more difficult, but not impossible. If you google ESBL, you'll see that it's an antibiotic-resistant enzyme, commonly produced by the bacteria E. Coli and K. pneumoniae. After I sent out the last report, however, I learned from the doctor that they have ruled out ESBL as the cause of Winkie's stroke, and that he isn't technically "infected," only "colonized." This means that although he has the superbug, it isn't affecting him.
So no worry on the superbug.
The doctor took us to see the ct scan last night - the blood could be seen the in his left temple area, about a 1.5" diameter round. We are told the damage has been done to his left parietal lobe, which has affected his language processing.
What we know...
At about 1:30AM (Boxing Day) Winkie was complaining of upperback pain and a headache. I thought he was acting strange, but chalked it up to extreme tiredness and Winkie weirdness. He had had a headache for about two days prior.
By this time, Mom was already in bed asleep. After giving him a neck/backrub, and some Panadol for the headache, I made him go to bed. I also went to bed. I heard, in the middle of the night something frightening, but thought it to be my mother, having a nightmare. After we brought him in to hospital, we learned from him that he had gotten up in the middle of the night (after I had sent him to bed, apparently) and taken a diluted form of pharmaceutical grade (pure) hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). He apparently had called out in the middle of the night for help, but Mom was fast asleep next to him, and I was in the next room, having waiting for a second sound after the first and heard none. He had had swollen feet (puffy ankles and a puffy right foot) for the last 2 months or so. I now believe that the H202 he took flushed his arteries, because all of the swelling has left his feet - they are back to normal in size. The following morning we received a phone call from the son of a family we were going to be having Boxing Day dinner with- he was asking for a computer recommendation from Dad. Dad was unable to clearly articulate anything to him, and we realized something was quite wrong. We called for an ambulance, and they brought him to Middlemore hospital around 11:00AM. We now know that his stroke was caused not by a clot blockage in his brain, but by a ruptured artery. We don't know if the H202 he took induced it, but the doctors think it very unlikely. Right now, the doctors are basically just trying to control his blood pressure and pain, waiting for his body to reabsorb the blood, and for the swelling to go down.
How is Winkie doing?
We can mostly make sense of what he is saying most of the time, but to try to get him to answer the most basic of questions, Where are you? What is your date of birth? What is my name? these things are severely affected. He is not in a lot of pain. The doctor asked him to give a pain rating for his headache, 1 being the lowest, and 10 being the highest, he finally was able to answer with about a 2-3. He's comfortable, but frustrated. He realizes that he cannot remember certain things, and he has been trying to process using pen and paper as well as by speaking.
I am hoping to gain further clarity from the doctor the next time he visits as to why they have opted out of sending him to the neurosurgeons in Auckland hospital. I think the neuro-surgeons looked at his ct scans, but just need to confirm that.
They have decided against surgery (for pressure relief), ruling it too dangerous. But this, too, I want to ask about.
Thanks for your prayers of faith for Winkie! We are hopeful, and are believing with others that are praying for him that he will think and talk and write normally once again.
Blessings,
William
Hi all.
Winkie has been transferred to the general ward. I stayed with him last night. They shifted him out of the adult day ward (next to emergency) around 3:00AM last night. Because he has a "superbug" i.e. ESBL, he has been given a room to himself, with two beds. However, because the bathroom is shared between his and the next room, and he has the superbug, he isn't allowed to use the in-room toilet, meaning only the portable cammode and urinal, which makes things a little more difficult, but not impossible. If you google ESBL, you'll see that it's an antibiotic-resistant enzyme, commonly produced by the bacteria E. Coli and K. pneumoniae. After I sent out the last report, however, I learned from the doctor that they have ruled out ESBL as the cause of Winkie's stroke, and that he isn't technically "infected," only "colonized." This means that although he has the superbug, it isn't affecting him.
So no worry on the superbug.
The doctor took us to see the ct scan last night - the blood could be seen the in his left temple area, about a 1.5" diameter round. We are told the damage has been done to his left parietal lobe, which has affected his language processing.
What we know...
At about 1:30AM (Boxing Day) Winkie was complaining of upperback pain and a headache. I thought he was acting strange, but chalked it up to extreme tiredness and Winkie weirdness. He had had a headache for about two days prior.
By this time, Mom was already in bed asleep. After giving him a neck/backrub, and some Panadol for the headache, I made him go to bed. I also went to bed. I heard, in the middle of the night something frightening, but thought it to be my mother, having a nightmare. After we brought him in to hospital, we learned from him that he had gotten up in the middle of the night (after I had sent him to bed, apparently) and taken a diluted form of pharmaceutical grade (pure) hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). He apparently had called out in the middle of the night for help, but Mom was fast asleep next to him, and I was in the next room, having waiting for a second sound after the first and heard none. He had had swollen feet (puffy ankles and a puffy right foot) for the last 2 months or so. I now believe that the H202 he took flushed his arteries, because all of the swelling has left his feet - they are back to normal in size. The following morning we received a phone call from the son of a family we were going to be having Boxing Day dinner with- he was asking for a computer recommendation from Dad. Dad was unable to clearly articulate anything to him, and we realized something was quite wrong. We called for an ambulance, and they brought him to Middlemore hospital around 11:00AM. We now know that his stroke was caused not by a clot blockage in his brain, but by a ruptured artery. We don't know if the H202 he took induced it, but the doctors think it very unlikely. Right now, the doctors are basically just trying to control his blood pressure and pain, waiting for his body to reabsorb the blood, and for the swelling to go down.
How is Winkie doing?
We can mostly make sense of what he is saying most of the time, but to try to get him to answer the most basic of questions, Where are you? What is your date of birth? What is my name? these things are severely affected. He is not in a lot of pain. The doctor asked him to give a pain rating for his headache, 1 being the lowest, and 10 being the highest, he finally was able to answer with about a 2-3. He's comfortable, but frustrated. He realizes that he cannot remember certain things, and he has been trying to process using pen and paper as well as by speaking.
I am hoping to gain further clarity from the doctor the next time he visits as to why they have opted out of sending him to the neurosurgeons in Auckland hospital. I think the neuro-surgeons looked at his ct scans, but just need to confirm that.
They have decided against surgery (for pressure relief), ruling it too dangerous. But this, too, I want to ask about.
Thanks for your prayers of faith for Winkie! We are hopeful, and are believing with others that are praying for him that he will think and talk and write normally once again.
Blessings,
William
Winkie Pratney doing well after aneurysm!
Dec/25/09 11:15 PM
Update from
William Pratney, Winkie’s son.
Doctors have decided not to take him to Auckland hospital.
No surgery seems to be needed.
He has just eaten a meal and they said his brain will probably fix itself.
He will be kept in observation for 3 days.
He contracted a superbug, so has been moved to a private room.
Praise God and thank you everyone for your prayers and messages.
Your prayers are coveted at this time.
Please share this with all your prayer networks as urgently as possible.
Updates will be posted to this blog http://winkiepratney.com/winkie_pratney_blog/ as we know more.
Doctors have decided not to take him to Auckland hospital.
No surgery seems to be needed.
He has just eaten a meal and they said his brain will probably fix itself.
He will be kept in observation for 3 days.
He contracted a superbug, so has been moved to a private room.
Praise God and thank you everyone for your prayers and messages.
Your prayers are coveted at this time.
Please share this with all your prayer networks as urgently as possible.
Updates will be posted to this blog http://winkiepratney.com/winkie_pratney_blog/ as we know more.
Winkie Pratney hospitalized with aneurysm on the brain
Dec/25/09 09:21 PM
Update from
William Pratney, Winkie’s son.
CT scan results have confirmed an aneurysm on the brain.
Part of the brain has bled and affected his memory.
He is being transferred to Auckland Hospital neurophyiology unit.
Your prayers are coveted at this time.
Please share this with all your prayer networks as urgently as possible.
Updates will be posted to this blog http://winkiepratney.com/winkie_pratney_blog/ as we know more.
CT scan results have confirmed an aneurysm on the brain.
Part of the brain has bled and affected his memory.
He is being transferred to Auckland Hospital neurophyiology unit.
Your prayers are coveted at this time.
Please share this with all your prayer networks as urgently as possible.
Updates will be posted to this blog http://winkiepratney.com/winkie_pratney_blog/ as we know more.
Winkie Pratney in Hospital - Dec 25th 2009
Dec/25/09 08:28 PM
Winkie
Pratney is in hospital in NZ.
And we're not sure what the problem is.
Possibly a stroke or spinal infection.
He is in a bad way.
Your prayers are coveted at this time.
Please share this with all your prayer networks as urgently as possible.
Updates will be posted to this blog http://winkiepratney.com/winkie_pratney_blog/ as we know more.
And we're not sure what the problem is.
Possibly a stroke or spinal infection.
He is in a bad way.
Your prayers are coveted at this time.
Please share this with all your prayer networks as urgently as possible.
Updates will be posted to this blog http://winkiepratney.com/winkie_pratney_blog/ as we know more.
09 Odyssey Part 1
Dec/22/09 09:36 PM
2009 - US Odyssey Part 1 - California
Roaming
Our visit to the U.S. this year began when we entered Los Angeles in June at Harvest Rock, with many friends in this great church. I was embarrassed but deeply honored when visiting as a family to be asked by our friend Che Ahn if I would speak for them that morning. A sad event had taken place in Hollywood, and many of Che’s congregation are in some way involved in the music, film and theatre industry.
ON THE DEATH OFA KNIGHT, A KING AND AN ANGEL:
That Thursday the 25th began reports of the deaths of two of three major figures, each icons in the media world. Michael Jackson, the ”King of Pop” at 50, died after suffering a heart attack. While people will remember his Thriller as the highest-selling album of all time, Michael’s hit single We Are The World co-written with Quincy Jones raised hundreds of millions for the starving in Africa. Before him was Farrah Fawcett, the gorgeous Charlie’s Angel of the 70’s and 85 million best-selling poster child of all time who battled cancer for three years before succumbing to it at 62. Farrah’s dramatic stint in TV-movies drew attention to real-life situations like the plight of the battered wife in The Burning Bed. Ed McMahon who died two days before them lived most of his adult life in commercials and late-night television as Johnny Carson’s sidekick, was 86. Each of these much-loved personalities lived his or her life in limelight. Each of them affected the world and each of them lived as some of the best-known entertainers of all time.
What can you say about the death of legends? Heath Ledger, the fast-rising new young star of blockbuster hits like A Knights Tale and The Dark Knight had sent the media world into shock by his accidental overdose death only the year before. When someone has become world-renown in any field, their deaths may affect millions. When it happens in the field of entertainment it may become remarkable.
Some still remember where they were and what they were doing when they first heard the news of the princely President John F. Kennedy’s shocking assassination. His last speech, written but never delivered, ends like this “We, in this country, in this generation, are -- by destiny rather than by choice -- the watchmen on the walls of world freedom. We ask, therefore, that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility, that we may exercise our strength with wisdom and restraint, and that we may achieve in our time and for all time the ancient vision of "peace on earth, good will toward men." That must always be our goal, and the righteousness of our cause must always underlie our strength. For as was written long ago: "except the Lord keep the city, the watchmen wakes but in vain."
Few may remember that the best-loved Christian apologetics writer of the last century, C.S. Lewis of Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters and the Narnia series died on the very same day. When two celebrities die in one day, the passing of one less known may be overshadowed by the death of one who made more headlines before their deadline. Yet the significance of a major celebrity in our newspapers are not necessarily the same as those published in the other worlds. Remember this however; celebrity death is always significant, and always has spiritual implications. While God comes to the funeral of every little sparrow, when Kings, Angels and Knights and Princesses die, something is being said also in heaven.
Decades later the jaded world was shocked again by the terrible car crash death of the beautiful British princess Diana who used her royalty, her wealth and status to go to places where people were hurting; to visit orphaned children and AIDS victims. The massive national and international mourning that followed her death for weeks overshadowed the quiet passing of a wrinkled old Albanian nun at the same time who lived with the starving, the poor and the dying in Calcutta to bring to their funerals a lovely shred of dignity and love for those tabbed as truly unlovely. Malcolm Muggeridge, the famed British journalist and television celebrity who met Christ in his seventies and so shocked his fellow-cynics of the world by his bold and penetrating witness wrote a book about her life; he called it “Something Beautiful For God.” She was no stunning model. She was not young. She did not live at all in the life-style of the rich and famous. Almost nobody even knew her last name. Most simply called her “Mother Teresa” Few knew that the nation she came from was one in which claiming Christian conversion was an automatic death sentence. When a young man wrote her to ask what he might do to also affect the world, he waited months before he got her four-word reply: “Find your own Calcutta.”
Paul Bruton, a friend of mine who helped me so much by asking me to speak in my early days as an almost unknown young evangelist in his Northern and Southern California Assembly of God youth camps from the late 60’s on into the 70’s, told me a story. I think it was probably about him as a little boy when he and his missionary parents returned on furlough after many years serving in Africa. With them on the boat was a celebrity porn star? returning from a cruise to the accolade of many fans and press gathered to welcome her dockside. Through some mix-up those who were supposed to be there to greet and to pick up their little family did not even arrive. They stood forlorn in the trash aftermath of the celebrity welcome with their so few belongings in cardboard boxes, unknown, un-welcomed and alone.
“It isn’t fair” said young Paul. “It just isn’t fair. We have spent all these years serving Jesus and helping people. She didn’t. She had this great welcome. But when we come home there isn’t even anybody here to pick us up.” He said: “I can never forget my Dad’s reply. He looked at me with tears in his eyes and he said: “Son. We’re not home yet.”
What do you think is on God’s heart when someone loved, sometimes worshipped and mourned by millions passes into eternity? We know that people who loved Christ are now finally home at last. We know that their relatively short life on earth, whether known or unknown by the multitudes however beautifully or terribly they died is only the beginning of a grand adventure with their Maker that will never end. As Ray Hildebrand sung in the seventies - “Good news! Children of God never die” and followed with a second song, the happy abandonment of “If I live, well praise the Lord - If I die, well praise the Lord - If I live or die, my only cry will be - Jesus in me, Praise the Lord.”
What we may not know about the Lord is His often hidden and usually private dealings with people that while you knew them as celebrity you would never know or suspect had from their very birth a Divine calling to do something special for Him in His world. We all know, for it is obvious, that they were gifted. We also may know there was something special about them, right from their very early days.
We all now know that whatever happened to them along their journey, they did indeed affect their world. What we may forget is where that gifting came from and Who it was that gave them those gifts. And what we may not know or realize is that there are sacred callings rooted in the very nature and character of God that are not in the slightest bit religious, but as utterly needed and wanted in our world as those with a Levitical callings of evangelists, pastors, prophets and teachers with apostolic, prophetic, wisdom and knowledge or healing gifts.
This, as previously mentioned, has been for me one of the most surprising discoveries in the beauty and wonder of God that I have ever seen. Working on the second volume of Divinity, the focus here will be on His nature and character as revealed in Creation. What He makes and does, what He created and called to live and flourish on Earth are evidences of His wise, loving and caring Reality. I found so far, that there are in the Bible at least 35 major vocations that find their genesis in Who He really is. And the same God Who calls people to professional religious ministry can and does also call people to a sacred vocation that may not be religious at all.
This is not just what we now call “market-place ministry” where we have recently seen more and more evidences of God working in the business world with men and women who have dedicated their lives and fortunes to the advancement of His Kingdom. This is not just God offering to help out some earnest Christians who want to use their skills or talents to influence those who don’t really come to church. This is deeper, even more basic. Martin Luther found out four hundred years ago that you don’t have to be a monk or a nun to be a real Christian. I found out for the first time for me, that you don’t have to be called to a religious work to have a genuine sacred calling, and you don’t have to be a religious person to have real Divine call on your life to do something of destiny.
I think God can call people long before they become Christians to do something for Him. I believe He can and does call people, even from the very womb to be His representative in some way in the world. I also believe the “gifts and callings of God are without repentance”. I believe these gifts and callings are quite distinct from salvation and do not in themselves guarantee an entrance to heaven. But they are real gifts from God, and carry with them glories and dangers, as deep and serious as any religious vocation will.
The one most surprising to me of all these “sacred vocations” is by far the largest Biblically-documented non-religious calling. It reflects what John Wesley, founder of the Methodists said in effect more than three hundred years ago: “If you want to understand a nation, study its entertainment. It is the one thing they pay money for that they don’t need.” What almost shocked me is that the greatest amount of space is given to it.
When Harvest Rock asked me what I was going to speak on that morning of mourning, I told them my topic was going to be called “The God Of The Entertainment World.” I simply shared condolences with them on the loss of two wonderfully gifted icons and how much they affected the world before they were side-swiped by the mortality we all have to face, expected or unexpected. Death wears a T-Shirt: Coming ready or not.
Then I shared with them what God’s calling is for the Entertainer. Here is a small part:
“The entertainer is always caught between two currents in a culture; the desire to do what is right, and be both real before God and true to ones own calling; and the desire to please others by the performance of their gift. In such a sea it is easy to drown. Many who diligently train to shape their ship to carry them on the crest of the wave do not take the time to forge the steel of a character strong enough to sustain them in that rushing tide.
There is no “balance” to this; the very calling itself implies a dynamic tension that can only be sustained, like the prophet’s calling, in truth and love. To understand that this gift represents the very purpose of the Maker ought to bring a reverential fear to the performer, and that the trust involved in the carrying out of such a mission is great. He or she who is called to the ministry of entertainment is to represent God’s own heart.
The sacred calling of an entertainer then is to live a life that brings genuine pleasure to others by the constant reminder of the reality of what life ought to be as it was designed in its original fullness. To do this by humor, drama, dress, parable, song and story or some form of grand celebration, demonstration or loving provision is the province of the actor, model, comedian, athlete, host or hostess, M.C. or festivities director. We were designed to bring pleasure to God and to the rest of His creation. To help celebrate that truth is Divine” (Divinity II - The Nature & Character of God As Revealed in Creation © 2012 W.A. Pratney)
The response to this message was a profound stillness; a large portion of Che’s congregation in that beautiful building with its proximity to Hollywood and itself a landmark in the area are in that very industry. I believe God has something deeply significant to say to those who are involved in such a calling and yet have to struggle with the legitimacy of their own lives and ministries to a field become so very fallen. We must not abandon as hopeless and worthless those areas first given by God to glorify His Son that have become in so many ways degraded, defiled and sometimes even demonized. The arts were once the voice of the Church to the culture; we must not stop speaking even if we did long ago give these platforms of worship over to darkness. While the voice of the tempter whispers “All of this can be yours” we don’t have to listen. If the world is laid before me as I reach the top of the mountain, when we are shown by the devil all the kingdoms of the world, we can remember Who first gave us them to bring glory to His Son. And as Bono said in U2’s blockbuster Vertigo = “I can kneel”.
Our visit to the U.S. this year began when we entered Los Angeles in June at Harvest Rock, with many friends in this great church. I was embarrassed but deeply honored when visiting as a family to be asked by our friend Che Ahn if I would speak for them that morning. A sad event had taken place in Hollywood, and many of Che’s congregation are in some way involved in the music, film and theatre industry.
ON THE DEATH OFA KNIGHT, A KING AND AN ANGEL:
That Thursday the 25th began reports of the deaths of two of three major figures, each icons in the media world. Michael Jackson, the ”King of Pop” at 50, died after suffering a heart attack. While people will remember his Thriller as the highest-selling album of all time, Michael’s hit single We Are The World co-written with Quincy Jones raised hundreds of millions for the starving in Africa. Before him was Farrah Fawcett, the gorgeous Charlie’s Angel of the 70’s and 85 million best-selling poster child of all time who battled cancer for three years before succumbing to it at 62. Farrah’s dramatic stint in TV-movies drew attention to real-life situations like the plight of the battered wife in The Burning Bed. Ed McMahon who died two days before them lived most of his adult life in commercials and late-night television as Johnny Carson’s sidekick, was 86. Each of these much-loved personalities lived his or her life in limelight. Each of them affected the world and each of them lived as some of the best-known entertainers of all time.
What can you say about the death of legends? Heath Ledger, the fast-rising new young star of blockbuster hits like A Knights Tale and The Dark Knight had sent the media world into shock by his accidental overdose death only the year before. When someone has become world-renown in any field, their deaths may affect millions. When it happens in the field of entertainment it may become remarkable.
Some still remember where they were and what they were doing when they first heard the news of the princely President John F. Kennedy’s shocking assassination. His last speech, written but never delivered, ends like this “We, in this country, in this generation, are -- by destiny rather than by choice -- the watchmen on the walls of world freedom. We ask, therefore, that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility, that we may exercise our strength with wisdom and restraint, and that we may achieve in our time and for all time the ancient vision of "peace on earth, good will toward men." That must always be our goal, and the righteousness of our cause must always underlie our strength. For as was written long ago: "except the Lord keep the city, the watchmen wakes but in vain."
Few may remember that the best-loved Christian apologetics writer of the last century, C.S. Lewis of Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters and the Narnia series died on the very same day. When two celebrities die in one day, the passing of one less known may be overshadowed by the death of one who made more headlines before their deadline. Yet the significance of a major celebrity in our newspapers are not necessarily the same as those published in the other worlds. Remember this however; celebrity death is always significant, and always has spiritual implications. While God comes to the funeral of every little sparrow, when Kings, Angels and Knights and Princesses die, something is being said also in heaven.
Decades later the jaded world was shocked again by the terrible car crash death of the beautiful British princess Diana who used her royalty, her wealth and status to go to places where people were hurting; to visit orphaned children and AIDS victims. The massive national and international mourning that followed her death for weeks overshadowed the quiet passing of a wrinkled old Albanian nun at the same time who lived with the starving, the poor and the dying in Calcutta to bring to their funerals a lovely shred of dignity and love for those tabbed as truly unlovely. Malcolm Muggeridge, the famed British journalist and television celebrity who met Christ in his seventies and so shocked his fellow-cynics of the world by his bold and penetrating witness wrote a book about her life; he called it “Something Beautiful For God.” She was no stunning model. She was not young. She did not live at all in the life-style of the rich and famous. Almost nobody even knew her last name. Most simply called her “Mother Teresa” Few knew that the nation she came from was one in which claiming Christian conversion was an automatic death sentence. When a young man wrote her to ask what he might do to also affect the world, he waited months before he got her four-word reply: “Find your own Calcutta.”
Paul Bruton, a friend of mine who helped me so much by asking me to speak in my early days as an almost unknown young evangelist in his Northern and Southern California Assembly of God youth camps from the late 60’s on into the 70’s, told me a story. I think it was probably about him as a little boy when he and his missionary parents returned on furlough after many years serving in Africa. With them on the boat was a celebrity porn star? returning from a cruise to the accolade of many fans and press gathered to welcome her dockside. Through some mix-up those who were supposed to be there to greet and to pick up their little family did not even arrive. They stood forlorn in the trash aftermath of the celebrity welcome with their so few belongings in cardboard boxes, unknown, un-welcomed and alone.
“It isn’t fair” said young Paul. “It just isn’t fair. We have spent all these years serving Jesus and helping people. She didn’t. She had this great welcome. But when we come home there isn’t even anybody here to pick us up.” He said: “I can never forget my Dad’s reply. He looked at me with tears in his eyes and he said: “Son. We’re not home yet.”
What do you think is on God’s heart when someone loved, sometimes worshipped and mourned by millions passes into eternity? We know that people who loved Christ are now finally home at last. We know that their relatively short life on earth, whether known or unknown by the multitudes however beautifully or terribly they died is only the beginning of a grand adventure with their Maker that will never end. As Ray Hildebrand sung in the seventies - “Good news! Children of God never die” and followed with a second song, the happy abandonment of “If I live, well praise the Lord - If I die, well praise the Lord - If I live or die, my only cry will be - Jesus in me, Praise the Lord.”
What we may not know about the Lord is His often hidden and usually private dealings with people that while you knew them as celebrity you would never know or suspect had from their very birth a Divine calling to do something special for Him in His world. We all know, for it is obvious, that they were gifted. We also may know there was something special about them, right from their very early days.
We all now know that whatever happened to them along their journey, they did indeed affect their world. What we may forget is where that gifting came from and Who it was that gave them those gifts. And what we may not know or realize is that there are sacred callings rooted in the very nature and character of God that are not in the slightest bit religious, but as utterly needed and wanted in our world as those with a Levitical callings of evangelists, pastors, prophets and teachers with apostolic, prophetic, wisdom and knowledge or healing gifts.
This, as previously mentioned, has been for me one of the most surprising discoveries in the beauty and wonder of God that I have ever seen. Working on the second volume of Divinity, the focus here will be on His nature and character as revealed in Creation. What He makes and does, what He created and called to live and flourish on Earth are evidences of His wise, loving and caring Reality. I found so far, that there are in the Bible at least 35 major vocations that find their genesis in Who He really is. And the same God Who calls people to professional religious ministry can and does also call people to a sacred vocation that may not be religious at all.
This is not just what we now call “market-place ministry” where we have recently seen more and more evidences of God working in the business world with men and women who have dedicated their lives and fortunes to the advancement of His Kingdom. This is not just God offering to help out some earnest Christians who want to use their skills or talents to influence those who don’t really come to church. This is deeper, even more basic. Martin Luther found out four hundred years ago that you don’t have to be a monk or a nun to be a real Christian. I found out for the first time for me, that you don’t have to be called to a religious work to have a genuine sacred calling, and you don’t have to be a religious person to have real Divine call on your life to do something of destiny.
I think God can call people long before they become Christians to do something for Him. I believe He can and does call people, even from the very womb to be His representative in some way in the world. I also believe the “gifts and callings of God are without repentance”. I believe these gifts and callings are quite distinct from salvation and do not in themselves guarantee an entrance to heaven. But they are real gifts from God, and carry with them glories and dangers, as deep and serious as any religious vocation will.
The one most surprising to me of all these “sacred vocations” is by far the largest Biblically-documented non-religious calling. It reflects what John Wesley, founder of the Methodists said in effect more than three hundred years ago: “If you want to understand a nation, study its entertainment. It is the one thing they pay money for that they don’t need.” What almost shocked me is that the greatest amount of space is given to it.
When Harvest Rock asked me what I was going to speak on that morning of mourning, I told them my topic was going to be called “The God Of The Entertainment World.” I simply shared condolences with them on the loss of two wonderfully gifted icons and how much they affected the world before they were side-swiped by the mortality we all have to face, expected or unexpected. Death wears a T-Shirt: Coming ready or not.
Then I shared with them what God’s calling is for the Entertainer. Here is a small part:
“The entertainer is always caught between two currents in a culture; the desire to do what is right, and be both real before God and true to ones own calling; and the desire to please others by the performance of their gift. In such a sea it is easy to drown. Many who diligently train to shape their ship to carry them on the crest of the wave do not take the time to forge the steel of a character strong enough to sustain them in that rushing tide.
There is no “balance” to this; the very calling itself implies a dynamic tension that can only be sustained, like the prophet’s calling, in truth and love. To understand that this gift represents the very purpose of the Maker ought to bring a reverential fear to the performer, and that the trust involved in the carrying out of such a mission is great. He or she who is called to the ministry of entertainment is to represent God’s own heart.
The sacred calling of an entertainer then is to live a life that brings genuine pleasure to others by the constant reminder of the reality of what life ought to be as it was designed in its original fullness. To do this by humor, drama, dress, parable, song and story or some form of grand celebration, demonstration or loving provision is the province of the actor, model, comedian, athlete, host or hostess, M.C. or festivities director. We were designed to bring pleasure to God and to the rest of His creation. To help celebrate that truth is Divine” (Divinity II - The Nature & Character of God As Revealed in Creation © 2012 W.A. Pratney)
The response to this message was a profound stillness; a large portion of Che’s congregation in that beautiful building with its proximity to Hollywood and itself a landmark in the area are in that very industry. I believe God has something deeply significant to say to those who are involved in such a calling and yet have to struggle with the legitimacy of their own lives and ministries to a field become so very fallen. We must not abandon as hopeless and worthless those areas first given by God to glorify His Son that have become in so many ways degraded, defiled and sometimes even demonized. The arts were once the voice of the Church to the culture; we must not stop speaking even if we did long ago give these platforms of worship over to darkness. While the voice of the tempter whispers “All of this can be yours” we don’t have to listen. If the world is laid before me as I reach the top of the mountain, when we are shown by the devil all the kingdoms of the world, we can remember Who first gave us them to bring glory to His Son. And as Bono said in U2’s blockbuster Vertigo = “I can kneel”.