Fall Update 2026

TEAM 4:5 II Corinthians 4:5 “For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.”

Exciting things are happening!!! In the last few months we have been quite busy.  SEND INTERNATIONAL'S vision is to Mobilize Gods people to Engage the Unreached and Plant Reproducing churches.  In line with this goal we have been busy trying to set up a new program that will happen this summer.  We believe that in order to have a massive missionary heart in the future we need to have a strong missionary movement among our children and youth.  So we are launching a summer short- term missions program called TEAM 4:5. We are looking at sending two teams. These teams will be filled with youth ages 15-18. The disciple group leaders will be ages 19-26.They will go through one week of  intensive training, living in tents and learning skills they need to minister. After a week of training they go to their respective ministry areas and will be ministering for four weeks. Then the team will come back to Davao City for one week of debriefing. One team will be going to Malaysia. This team will have 20 members and 5 leaders. They will be ministering to the Muslim refugees especially to the children, teaching English. I (Gilmer) went to Malaysia for three days in November to set up the team. I was able to see the area and children we will be ministering to. They are stateless (no legal papers) and because of this the kids are not allowed to avail the government education and their parents can’t work legally . My heart aches for these families. Our team will be partnering with a local ministry who are providing education for these children.  The other team will have 30 members and 6 leaders. They will be going to a tribal area about 4 hours bus drive. They will be ministering to the tribal communities through evangelism using music and drama. They will also set up a week of missions training camp for the tribal youth in the area and run a VBS for the tribal kids. Julie and I went to this area to set up the team a few months ago. We were able to get to know the tribal pastors. It was a great time to envision with the community how we can help them and their specific needs as a marginalized people.   To make this dream a reality we have the privilege of partnering with a ministry called ROYAL SERVANTS from the US. This ministry has been around for 38 years, training and sending thousands of teenagers to do summer missions. Our daughter, Nhaya, was able to join this ministry for a couple summers and we have seen a great change in her life.  We want to see the same thing happen here in the Philippines. We want to see teens being discipled, sent to minister to the unreached, and grow in their love for God and the lost. Their director and one of their staff members came to the Philippines in December for 3 weeks to help launch our ministry here. We have been very busy promoting and recruiting by speaking in churches, bible schools, international and local schools to get the word out. We are grateful the partnership of Royal Servants! -Please pray specifically for the Malaysia team. The youth will have to get their passports and raise a large amount of money. -The Lord has also provided a beautiful training ground for us to use for the summer (thanks to one of the elders of our Filipino church). Our church here have been very helpful and we will need to continue to rely on their partnership. -Pray for us as we recruit enough teens and leaders to fill up these two teams. -Pray for Julie and I as we continue to prepare the training area, training materials and raise the start up cost of this summer. So it has been exciting! Can't wait to see what God has in store for this year 2020.

Family Update Finally all together again for Christmas! We had a lovely time having Nhaya here with us, although it was way too short!  In the last few months: -Nhaya chose a college!! She's decided to go to Grand Canyon University (GCU) in Phoenix. She is doing well in Arizona and we thank all of you who help encourage her while we are far away! -Josiah turned 12 last December and is playing sports and doing great. - Caleb turned 16 last January and is also playing sports and doing really well in school. Everyone comments on how tall he is now! - Luke in his Christmas musical attire. He could use some prayers as he's having a hard time in school. We are meeting almost daily with his teacher. -Here's a group shot of Gilmer and I in Thailand last November with fellow SEND missionaries. We attended a training on ministering to youth. We had a very encouraging and informative time. -Thank you for those who were praying for Julie's back. It's not 100% but there is progress and no more sharp pain like before. Please keep praying for wisdom, as we feel like physical therapy is no longer helping and we seem to have exhausted all our options.  Give Online Blessings from the Paden Family Gilmer, Julie, Nhaya, Caleb, Josiah, and Luke