March Update

"God isn't looking for people of great faith, but for individuals ready to follow Him"
Hudson Taylor

From the Philippines to China

“I think one of the advantages of having an Asian face is that Chinese people are not intimidated by me. I think this is generally true for all Asians -- we tend to be quite easily intimidated by Westerners. Because I am not intimidating, women tend to open up more easily and express themselves freely which leads to deep friendships.”

http://us3.campaign-archive1.com/?u=38a9985a32fa0ede754b4a2b7&id=f6c79f7e1f&e=467d5fb377
Read the rest of her story on the link above.

This is what we are all about! This is why we are here. To answer these questions. Why is it important to send out Filipinos?

We talked a lot about this when we were in the States during home service. We told stories of places Gilmer could go, being Filipino, that me or our other western works could not. We told about how the Philippines has been discipled and trained (by many foreign missionaries) for more than 50 years, how they are now ready to go. We told about the availability of Bible Schools, Seminaries, church networks, etc.

The only problem? Most Christian Filipinos themselves don't know these things.

Our first official weekly meeting in Gilmer's finished office.
This is Ate Siomie, she's our coworker here. There's only
3 of us right now. 

They don't know that God can use them! Think about it, if you are only taught that missionaries are white people with a lot of money, then would you really be open to the idea that you could be a missionary too? What if you didn't know that, when you travel to other Asian countries, you blend in and are accepted without even having opened your mouth. What about the fact that Filipinos have something most other Asian countries want- English. Most Filipinos speak English very well because they learn it from kindergarden. There are many more examples, I could make this blog very long, but you get the idea. There needs to be training, there needs to be awareness. Then, if some are called, there needs to be the means to send them. That's the reason we are in Davao. It's so neat to see the look on their faces, as I tell them that Filipinos are needed. Tell them the stories of others who have gone and are making a great impact, like the story of lady in the above. Tell them God wants to use all of us.

There are many churches here that are now asking for help to teach their congregations. We are able to answer that call. There are also some that feel called to short term trips. So we are also helping process and train them, connect them to the field and get them sent out. In short, we are reaching the unreached by mobilizing many more to go to the unreached. Showing them the need, believing that God did not just send westerners to reach the whole world, but all of us! Everyone can be a part.

We thank you for being a part too. Just reading this blog, I know that you are concerned and even praying for something dear to God's heart. Reaching the lost, His people.

At first we found it hard to know where to start. We've been praying for doors to be open and clear direction given. Right now we feel He has answered those prayers and now we are starting to teach. Here's a note from Gilmer, as he explains it.

The group we are teaching Sunday nights.

"It is finally happening. We asked you to pray that God will open doors for us to start working with the churches and assisting them about missions. Well, we are finally connecting. Three weeks ago we started doing a mission training in one of the churches here. This is an 11 session training that will last for 5 Sundays. We are on our 3rd Sunday. There are about 25 people attending this one. The training is called HARVEST CONNECTION.

Gilmer teaching Harvest Connection

Another church is asking us to do the same training with maybe 120 participants. This one is a challenge because they have asked us to do it in two settings. We will be staring this one today. Please pray it goes well and we can explain everything clearly in the shortened time frame. 

What we are trying to accomplish is to partner with churches in not only learning about missions but also in doing it. Lord willing we will be able to have some short term missions teams out of these two churches and also carrier missionaries. We are just thankful to the Lord for the opportunity to walk alongside these churches.

Basketball

This is one group of basketball buddies.

You might wonder how we manage to get connected with these pastors and churches. Well, I found out that a lot of pastors here love basketball. So I decided to join in. I have a couple of mornings a week to play basketball with two different pastor’s group. After we play we usually go out to eat.  It is fun and also healthy,well, it depends on the choices we have for food after the game! I do business this way instead of golf:). Out of these fellowships, are the meetings we set up and also getting to know the pastors on a different level."

Now we tell you through pictures, about how we are doing personally, what we have been up to, and the milestones we have passed :)

Christmas dinner 2014!

Look down in the valley behind us and you can see our city. 

Birthday Boy, can you tell he's kinda happy! Josiah
turned 7 years old on December 20th.

We got to visit Gilmer's family for a "almost"
reunion(not everyone could make it) after Christmas. 
It's about an 8 hour trip but only 185 miles.

This goes with the picture in my last post about the people that come
 to the city to beg during the month of December. Well, here's the groups
being shipped back to their small towns.
Can't believe how many they can fit in that one truck. 

We have bible study groups for those interested in learning more
about missions. They are called Go Groups. When my friends were
here they were able to share with this group about their experience
in missions.  

Too cute not to share :)

These lovely ladies came for a visit at the end of January. How blessed am I to have friends like these! Kate and Amanda are friends of mine from back in my bible school days :)

Nhaya went on her first airplane trip without her
parents! She was so excited to go on a outdoor
 education trip with the middle school.

Guess who turned 11 years old!! They are all growing so fast.

We celebrated 14 years of marriage on January 6th. 

Thanks for reading our update and your part in what is happening here in the Philippines. May God continue to bless each of you. Please let us know how we can pray for you as well. We would love to hear from you. Our email address is gilmerandjulie@gmail.com

The Paden Family,

Gilmer, Julie, Nhaya, Caleb, Josiah, Luke

Praises:

- That we are all healthy and the kids are doing well in school.

- Things have been going well as we are starting to teach and get connected with some more churches. Praise God for more open doors.

-A visit from friends! It was such a blessing and encouragement to be able to share with others, first hand, what we are doing and what our lives here are like.  

Prayer Requests:

- Please pray for tonights seminar we are teaching. We are also teaching it again on Thursday, March 19th and the next 3 Sundays in a row. 

-We have 2 ladies interested in short term trip this summer. One to China and one to Thailand. Please pray for all the details and support raising that needs to come together and work out for these to be made possible.

- Gilmer leave for about a week this coming March 27th. PSC has a retreat outside Manila and there are other business items to attend to while he's there. Please pray for Julie and the kids while he is gone.

-A few of our supports have had to stop giving, so please pray for God's provision and others who might be interested to partner with us.