One Year and Counting

By Gilmer, Julie, Nhaya, Caleb and Josiah -
"I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth."
Ps. 121:1


I can't help but think of that verse when I look at this picture!

We have officially been back in the Philippines for over a year now and I can honestly say that our help undoubtedly comes from the Lord. Not only has He provided for us through churches and supporters every month, but He has been with us every step of the way. Despite adjustments, hurts, triumphs, changes, troubles, and everything in-between, we are privileged to know that we are where God wants us to be.

Thanks for your prayers and support. I hope that this update explains a little about what we have been doing these last few busy months. Lots going on, and I think it's more fun to see first hand through these pictures.

Please also see the praises and prayer requests to the right. Hope you have a great fall season.



Gilmer's parents came for a visit at the end of July. Along with a nice visit they were able to have medical tests taken to check on their health. All is well.


Our dog had 4 puppies right as the kids went back to school in August. The kids have had so much fun playing with them, ok me too.


Although this is Gilmer's new bike, he lets me ride it sometimes when he's not using it. I'm trying not to look like a white lady here so I can reduce the staring- works pretty good. Having the motorcycle has drastically reduced the travel time for Gilmer, which is great, but please still pray for safety as driving in Manila is always crazy.

We had our first PSC retreat/conference at the beginning of October. It's nice to finally have the whole team here working together.


This is a little blurry but the only picture we have with some students from a Bible school who are going on short term trips this October. There are 5 teams going out to 5 different places here in the Philippines. These students are mission majors, so this is a vital time for them to have first hand experience on the mission field.


Gilmer and the others in the short term department have been busy teaching, training, and setting up these teams. Please pray for them, they leave Saturday the 22nd for 10 days.



Here is the location of one of the teams. This is on the island of Mindoro in a Mangyan (the indigenous peoples from there) settlement area. Gilmer was able to travel there in September to set-up this team. They are very excited to have any help they can get.


As well as the teams from the Bible School going out, there is a team right now in Thailand. This is one of the ladies from our church here in Manila as they send her out on her missions trip. You can click on the PSC website on the side bar to see more updates about that team if you would like. Really neat things are happening there through that small team.


During the kids school break in October we were able to visit some friends of ours who live in Mt. Province, up north. It took us 13 hours to drive there from Manila. Here are the kids with their good friends.

Although we didn't get to go to the famous Banaue Rice Terraces (it used to be one of the 7 natural wonders of the world) because of all the typhoons that we have been having, we still were able to see a lot of similar rice terraces in Mt. Province.


Look closer at the rocks you see there, they are actually coffins placed inside this burial cave. It was really interesting learning about the culture of the Igorot people from the North. No new coffins are placed here but they are still very traditional people.


Gilmer thought it was neat getting pictures of pine trees with rice patties in the back ground. The Igorot people can be compared to the Native Americans of the US. One of the differences though is that they still have most of their traditional land.


Don't try to eat anything when you travel up here! It was the windiest roads ever! Six straight hours of going up, up, up.


Last but not least, I thought that we would show you one of our favorite fruits, Rambutan.



Thanks for reading,

The Paden Family
Gilmer, Julie, Nhaya, Caleb, and Josiah
Serving in the Philippines


Comments

Celia Jimenez said…
Wow! You really ride his bike? I'm impressed...but not really surprised! Awesome to read all that God is doing through and in y'all. I'm sure there is so much more than can fit on one blog post. Praying for you guys!
October 20, 2011 at 12:12 PM
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