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Click here to download and hear Dustin Salter’s sermon on God’s Providence at Redeemer PCA just three days before the accident. The sermon covers the Book of Genesis chapter 37 verses 5-11, 18-36 and chapter 50 verses 15-19.
You can also click here to read the text of the sermon to print out and read later.
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Please we ask for prayers for Dustin Salter and his brain swelling to drop. Please pray for God to continue holding up Leigh Anne, Dustin’s wife. Please pray for their children, Jacob, Nathan and Meredith. They truly need support. The hospital has an ecard service that is printed and forwarded daily. You can send Leigh Anne a card at the hospital by going to the hospital website and selecting “Greenville Memorial Hospital”. If you wish to send a card, their home address is 3 Crevasse Lane, Greenville, SC 29617.
RUF has created a fund for donations for Dustin Salter’s care. This also will cover the family’s existing and future needs. I will be donating some myself and want the information available for anyone else who wishes to contribute. I am not in any way begging. Please be clear, at this point, prayers and emotional support are the two most important things you can do. Now, if you are still interested in helping financially, make the checks out to “Reformed University Ministries” and specify “Dustin Salter Care” in the For/Note section of the check. The address is:
Reformed University Ministries
1700 N. Brown Road
Suite 104
Lawrenceville, GA 30043
BEGIN UPDATES
9:00pm ET, 11/21/06: I haven't heard from anyone in SC since Friday (probably because everyone being at our grandfather's funeral in AL). I am hoping to hear from Lance tomorrow morning. I read Grant Beachy's post stating Dustin Salter has the intracranial pressure monitor removed and is being weaned off of the anti-swelling medication. I also read that Dustin is developing mucus in his lungs, a possible early sign of pneumonia. Please continue to pray!
4:00pm ET, 11/20/06: No updates from Lance on Dustin Salter's condition, but I do have some information from Grant Beachey, posted at Redeemer PCA's site:
"There is no significant change in Dustin’s condition.
He is off of the sedative and is breathing on his own. The ventilator is unplugged. They do, however have him on a little bit of Oxygen.
At some point, possibly in the next day or so, Dustin will probably be moved from the ICU to a private room. That will happen once the port monitoring his intracranial pressure is removed and the anti-swelling medication is stopped. While being moved from ICU sounds like it would require an improvement in his condition, that is not necessarily the case. There has been no real change in his condition (positively or negatively) for several days now. It seems that we are just waiting..."
4:00pm ET, 11/17/06: I learned more about Dustin Salter's coma. His arm movement is good, but he still is showing signs of severe brain injury. Comatose patients are scored on the Glasgow Coma Score, a scale of three to fifteen. Dustin is showing now a five, which is only a one point improvement from his best assessment thus far. The rating is made up of eye, verbal and motor responses with the highest number being the best and awake state.
Eye
1 - No eye opening (current score)
2 - Eye opening to pain
3 - Eye opening to verbal command
4 - Eyes open spontaneously
Verbal
1 - No verbal response (current score)
2 - Incomprehensible sounds
3 - Inappropriate words
4 - Confused
5 - Orientated
Motor
1 - No motor response
2 - Extension to pain
3 - Flexion to pain (current score)
4 - Withdrawal from pain
5 - Localizing pain
6 - Obeys Commands
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1:55pm ET, 11/17/06: Great news! Dustin Salter is currently off the ventilator and has motor reflexes. He is still unconscious, but he is not in any medically induced comatose state. With the trach and feeding tube in place, the doctors tested his nerves in his face with promising results. When his face was pinched, Dustin brought his right hand from his side to his face! His mouth (after shaving the bizarre Hitler-esque mustache) is moving on its own. He is also responding when his legs were pinched by moving them.
Dustin's intracranial pressure has dropped to a constant range of the low teens to low twenties. This drop is a good enough sign, assuming it continues, that the drain in his skull will be removed in the next few days. At that point, the doctors will begin weaning him off of the anti-swelling medication. His heart rate is still in the 90s, but that is good for someone in his condition.
The service at the hospital chapel was held last night. Many people came to support the family. Leigh Anne truly feels blessed that she has the support and prayers of so many people. Please continue to pray!
Finally, our grandfather did have a heart attack and passed away Wednesday, so please also say a few thanks and prayers for him as he joins our grandmother and God for his suffering has ended.
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2:17pm ET, 11/16/06: Dustin Salter is having his tracheotomy done right now. He is still experiencing brain swelling, but the doctors believe he is stable enough for surgery. They plan to insert a feeding tube directly into his stomach tomorrow. I did learn from Lance Salter, Dustin’s youngest brother, that his intracranial pressure spiked into the 50s last night, but came back down into the lower twenties at one point (normal is about 5, higher numbers are dangerous). His hand began swelling yesterday for an unknown reason, but the swelling has subsided today.
There will be a service for Dustin Salter tonight at the hospital chapel. This will be the first time the children have been at the hospital and are extremely afraid. Please pray that God gives them all strength, especially Jacob. He seems to be the only one with a full grasp of what is happening.
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I can write a summary of what I know up through today, but Grant Beachy, Assistant Pastor of Reedemer Church, has been updating the church website with information since the accident. Please pray also for Grant, as he has been a tremendous support for Dustin Salter and his family.
From Eric’s website: John Ferguson, a former RUF minister and a friend of the Salter family wrote this prayer from Peru.
Being in Peru, I feel a world away from everything and I long to gather all of us who had the privilege of working with RUF & Dustin in TX for the last 7 years and pray together. But this is the next best thing. I offer this prayer and encourage you all to add your Amen.
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Our God & Heavenly Father, You are the Sovereign Lord & Only King of the Universe.
We cry out to You, our God, for help. We cry out to You, our God, to hear us. We are in distress; therefore we seek You. At night we stretch out untiring hands because our souls refuse to be comforted.
We come before You with heavy hearts filled with sadness & tired eyes filled with tears. Our dear brother, Dustin, has suffered a severe life-threatening injury while riding bikes with his children. We are struck anew with the brokenness of this world. Surely such an accident is violence against shalom. O Lord, this is not the way things are supposed to be.
Yet, You, O God, are our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. When we are afraid, we will trust in You.
We pray specifically for our dear brother. You who are the Great Physician, would you awe us by Your great power? Would You give us even more reasons to praise You by healing Dustin and restoring him to Your service, to his family, and to us? Surely nothing is too hard for You! Please awaken him! Restore him, we pray!
We know that one day, you will make everything the way its supposed to be. Your Kingdom will have come in all its fullness. Then there will be no more brokenness, sadness, tears or death. We long for that day, and we would ask that in this instance of our friend's brokenness that Your long-awaited Kingdom would break into the present. Please awaken him! Restore him, we pray!
We pray for Leigh Anne, Your precious daughter. Terror constantly assaults her soul. The enemy would destroy her confidence in You as good and as loving. During this time of severe testing, would You support her by Your strong right hand. May she come to understand You in a new and fresh way as the Rock of her salvation. Remind her through the testimony of your people that You will never leave her nor forsake her. Even though she is passing through the waters, they will not overwhelm her. Though she is passing through the fire, she will not be burned because You, O Lord, are Holy One of Israel, and you have her inscribed on the palms of Your hands. May she dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings. May her soul find rest in You alone, for You alone are her rock and her salvation. Be to her a mighty fortress in which she can never be shaken. O Lord, she needs more of You at this very moment. Comfort her with the indescribable peace of Your presence.
And Lord, we pray for their children who must be scared and confused not understanding what is happening, nor all the implications. Protect them, O Lord. Even in these tender years, enable them to trust in You at all times and to pour our their hearts to You. Lead Leigh Ann and the children to the Rock that is higher than they. Put their feet upon the Rock and make their footsteps firm.
And Father, we pray for Your church which in so many countless ways is rising to the occasion. We pray for Jeff Wilkins and for Rob Hamby and for their wives who are involved in ministering in very difficult circumstances. Give them words to say, and the wisdom to say nothing at times and simply cry with Leigh Ann and others affected in deep ways by this tragedy. Strengthen them as they seek to minister to so many people who are looking to them for answers to unanswerable questions. Enable them to point to Christ—the Resurrection and the Life—the One in Whom our hope rests. May Leigh Anne find strength in the comfort of Your people who are only able to comfort through the power of Your Holy Spirit. Cause her to shine in this dark moment that others may see here and glorify the Lord Jesus.
"One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard:
that You, O God, are strong,
and that You, O Lord, are loving." (Ps. 62:11)
Hear our prayer. From the ends of the earth we call to you even as our heart faints. Hear us, through Jesus Christ in whom we live and breathe and have our being. Amen.
