April Prayer Update

Baguio - our new city!


As you can see Baguio City has a lot of people. It is always very crowed here.


We dressed up in traditional dress with friends when we went sight seeing one day.


In A New City

“There is no way!” said Gilmer when one of the church members at our new church told him he would be wearing the tribal dress called a “bahag.”

Traditionally this clothing is worn by the mountain peoples. One group being the Ifugao. It is just a small piece clothing worn around the waist, almost like a loin cloth, and is to be worn with nothing else underneath!

We had a great time last month as our new church named Cordillera Bible Christian Fellowship welcomed us - complete with a tribal dance, (see pictures below)also when they asked Gilmer to wear the bahag. They made us get up and try the dance too! Even though we looked rather silly, it was fun.


The church members show us part of their culture.


We are glad to be here at our assignment and are excited to see how God will use us to reach these people. There is such a need for Christ here and it is so evident. Every time you turn around you see an idol or a small trinket (necklace, pendant, ornament, etc) in which people worship and honor in hopes of healing from sickness, good fortune, solutions to problems, protection from evil spirits or just for the fact that if they don’t they believe that something bad will happen to them.

There is a perfect example of this right on our street. When we used to walk the kids to school in the mornings and afternoons we would see this life size statue at the start of our street and almost every day there are fresh flowers in front of it as an offering. You can also see from our house the steps up one of the mountains to a famous “grotto” (as they call it here) or statue of Mary. Here is a web site where you can see pictures and read a little bit about it if you want - http://www.cityofpines.com/lourdesgrotto.html. These are evident reminders of why we are here.

Complications to Trip Home

These last months have been ones filled to overflowing as we moved and have been trying to get settled. Some of you might be wonder why we are not in the States yet as we had wanted to be there by now and even set up many speaking engagements at different supporting churches. Well… there are a few different reasons.

One being that it took a very long time to get Josiah’s birth certificate from the Philippine National Statistics Offices. After Gilmer made numerous trips back and forth (having to take an overnight bus to get to Manila), waiting in huge lines all day, being tossed back and forth between different offices, praise the Lord we were able to get it the day before our interview at the US Embassy. Without that we would not have been able to apply for Josiah’s passport, which we were able to do last week and now just wait for it to be sent to our house.

So one problem down, now there’s another one. We are missing a very important piece of paper that allows Gilmer to enter the US (called a reentry permit). We had thought that my Mom had it this whole time, but come to find out it is not the right one (we had to apply for two different ones before we left). She has one but the other one was missing. This is posing a big problem and we have been on the phone to the Homeland Security and the Embassy many different times. Now we wait for an answer. Which they said will take until the end of April.

He needs this paperwork because if he is out of the country for more than a year they cancel his green card – thinking that he no longer wants to be a permanent resident. We knew this and did everything correct but after further discussion with Homeland Security we were able to find out that it was sent to the wrong address, returned, and then- in their words “destroyed.” Since it was sent to the wrong address we were able to talk to one immigration officer that said he would request that it be reissued. It is valid until August so will you pray with us that they reissue it and quickly. If they do not reissue it we are not yet sure what it means for us but it would be very bad. They said we would need to reapply for a new green card (which took 3 years and thousands of dollars to get in the first place but since we are here means that he can’t go back to the US until it goes through).

It just seems to be one thing after another with this trip and we are getting very discouraged about it. We know that God is in control so we will trust that there is a purpose even if we can’t see it now. Please keep us and these things in your prayers though. We need a big miracle to get back any time soon.

You might be asking why we want to come now and not later. Well mostly for the kids school. Their break is from the beginning of April to the beginning of June, if we leave for the American summer (June – August) that could mean the kids missing two months of school. If at all possible we would like it to be a normal school season for them. There is also a family reunion that we were trying to get back for, that can’t be rescheduled, at the end of April. These things are all not really life or death issues but important to us none-the-less. The biggest thing now though, is Gilmer’s paperwork for his Green Card.

Thanks again for your continued prayers,

Julie – for all of us


Nhaya loves being a big sister and helping with her baby brother.

Praises

-For getting settled in our new house, school (which is finished now though until June), church, and ministry team.

-Gilmer’s had the opportunity to do many things with the team here including, teaching Bible studies, preaching, youth ministry, being trained to teach the Bible in public schools next school year, and many others. I was also able to have a preliminary meeting with some of the women of the church about starting a woman’s ministry- my area being starting a Mom’s type Bible Study/ Support Group.


Gilmer's in front playing for the Baptism service last Saturday.


Mike Ballast - our team leader- baptizes new christians from our church.

-The kids are behaving better – thanks for your prayers for them. Maybe all of this is happening just so they might have a chance to get settled a little more before we embark on yet another stressful time of change and travel. Right now they are at VBS (vacation bible school) which is the only reason I have the chance to write this update. :)

-That Josiah is growing, healthy, and SO cute! Also, that we were approved to get his passport and able to get his birth certificate in time (a real miracle!).

-Everyone has been healthy even though there have been some viruses going around.

-For you- our supporters and prayer partners. Without which we would not be able to be here. Thank you all!

-For Nhaya's 6th Birthday coming up this Saturday! She's very excited.


Josiah is 4 months old now and so cute!

Prayer

-Gilmer’s Reentry Permit to be approved quickly and without further problems or complications.

-For travel plans once we do get all the paperwork needed, setting up speaking engagements, plane tickets, a car to use, and someone to stay in our house and take care of our animals while we are gone.

-For Gilmer as he decides about what permanent ministry to be involved in. For open doors in starting new types of ministries if that is where he feels God is leading him.

-For me as I try to balance everything that needs to be done in a day (all of which is harder living here- from cooking to shopping) and three kids. As you can see this prayer letter is way overdue and it’s because of the above reasons. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed.

-The SEND office in Michigan has told us that due to the raising cost of medical insurance Stateside, a new member of the family (Josiah), some previous supporters that can not support anymore, and the fall of the dollar in exchange to peso’s- we are in need of raising more support. Please pray that God will provide those that wish to partner in His work here in the Philippines through us.