Fall Update 2021 -Finally reunited! We were so happy to have our whole family together again after such a long time. -Our travel to the States looked so different this time. There was a lot of room on the plane going to LA though. Face shields and face masks the whole flight was very challenging.  -First stop is always a Tucson classic. Eegee's! Short Trip Back As you might recall, we traveled back to the States for 2 months last May. It was a whirlwind trip and we praise God we were able to do it.  Left just in time before Julie's visa expired.  Finally got to see Nhaya after WAY too long. (we missed so much- High School Graduation, her 18th Birthday, going to college for the first time) Able to spend time with Julie's family in the States. We even got to attend a family reunion.  Visited many of our supporting churches and friends even with limited time. Sent Caleb off to his first overseas short-term missions trip with Royal Servants. Did medical check-ups and got vaccinated.  So much squeezed into a short time. It felt like we were making up for a whole year of being trapped at home in just 2 short months.  Good old Arizona does not disappoint. Boys were in heaven! Family reunion in Colorado was a highlight! That's a lot of cousins, and not even all of them! Cowboys for a day! Family bonding time. ;) Gilmer had the privilege of speaking at our sending church, CCC.  Driving practice. A little hiking time.  Last week I was working on getting my motorcycle fixed so I could ride it for a long-distance trip to visit a team down south. I have an old 2002 motorcycle that needed some lovin’. So, I went to a motorcycle shop to have my wheels replaced. They were out of stock so I asked them to order it for me and call me right away if they could find them. It was a week later and they finally called me to come. It was a very busy for me with all the zoom meetings, so I was in a hurry. When I got to the motorcycle shop, they started installing the wheels. The guys around me kept looking down. I was wondering what the guys were looking at when I was talking to them. Well, I looked down and saw this. (see photo below) I call it my first senior moment in public. But was it though? Partly, yes, but it was actually because I was in a hurry. Things happen when in a hurry. It has been that way lately. I have been so impatient with a lot of things. Since getting back from our two month visit to the US I couldn’t wait to get back to work. But it was slow and to make matters worse it will be slower now that COVID is on the upswing again.   A pastor friend of mine have a pulpit in his church that has the word “RELAX” carved on it in front. You can’t miss it.   I think relaxing is hard to do and that’s probably why God reminds us in His word when He said to be still and know that He is God. Also, he says, not to worry about anything but by prayer and petition make our request to Him. (Phil. 4:6) Well, what is there to pray about? Here’s just some of what’s going on.   -Just this last month, I (Gilmer), have been to two funerals which were not Covid related. The Covid related ones we do online. Also, two of the pastors of our church here in Davao had Covid recently. A lot of our members here have lost loved ones due to Covid. -One of our SEND Davao members just got done from her Covid quarantine and now is having pneumonia. Her name is Siomie and she is in her 70s. Almost all of our people in our Manila office have had Covid or someone in their family has, some of these family members have died. -Our youngest son Luke, 9 years old, has an ear infection. Which actually caused one of his ears to bleed. Now this could have been an easy issue pre Covid but now not many doctors want to do checkups. He did see a couple of doctors and is going through antibiotic treatment and drops. Luke is also the one having the most difficultly with his homeschooling. Julie spends most of her time teaching Luke. We do praise God for so many things. This is what we are thankful for: -Caleb’s mission’s trip this year was a huge adventure for him. We praise God for the generous partners in supporting his summer trip to Morocco. The trip went well and I think he is planning to go on a mission trip again next year, God willing. Click here to see his update. (His trip back to the Philippines was a totally different journey. He got to the Philippines and spent 10 days quarantining in Manila. When he took a Covid test to be released it turned out positive. The poor guy had to spend another 10 days in quarantine, 20 days total! Thank you for praying.) -We praise God for providing our daughter Nhaya with a reliable vehicle that she can use while in school. She is having a great time being in college, just very busy. -Josiah is also doing good with school. -We praise God for allowing us to work even in the pandemic. It still dominates every aspect of life here.    Ministry Update: -Julie is still working with the women’s ministry in our church. She is also now part of the personnel committee of PSC SEND, which is a very important department right now. She is on the school board as acting vice-chair while the chair is in the States and teaches Luke full-time homeschool. -I continue to be involved with the pastors groups in the city to build relationships. We are praying that we can soon launch a missions awareness seminar with these churches when it actually opens up from Covid. I also went to one of our Muslim ministry teams recently to check on our missionaries and to set up future places for our future short-term missions trips in the future. As well as preaching at least twice a month at different branches of our church. -We are also excited with the opportunities that we have right now doing short-term missions work through zoom. One of our team members here in Davao is now teaching English in Malaysia among the Iranian Refugees. -This week one of the Indian medical students in our city wants us to baptize her. So we are excited with the fact that we can use this opportunity to also reach other Indian Medical students through her. We are planning to form an Indian bible study group through zoom.   -Last week, I also had an opportunity to play basketball with 5 Muslim guys in front of our house. So many opportunists. We want to thank you for praying for us!   Click here to see more photos and read about Caleb's trip. You would think traveling back with only 2 kids would be easy! Look at all the bags we still had. haha This was our quarantine home for 10 days. It was a lot harder than we thought it would be! At the airport when we finally got Caleb back from his trip and then 20 days in quarantine in Manila. What an adventure he had!  Such a blessing to get to see each other these days. We miss our old late night bible studies. (there's still a curfew in place) This is how we watch Gilmer preach these days.  Support Online Serving Him, Gilmer and Julie Paden (Nhaya, Caleb, Josiah, Luke)