Padens in the Philippines

  Merry Christmas 2022 John 1:1-5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  2  He was with God in the beginning.  3  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  4  In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.  5  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. As we reflect on our time these last months in America, we can't help but be encouraged. Yes it has been a busy and sometimes hard trip, as we tried to fit everything into a short time. But... as we traveled around, visited churches, saw supporters, and made new friends, we have been so struck by the faithfulness, sacrifice, and hospitality of so many.  This January we go into our 18th year with SEND International.  We can't even begin to name all the times that we have seen God's faithfulness and pro...

Quick Check-In We are writing this update on the road... Our plan to travel is finally happening. Our goal was to visit our ministry partners and friends on the way to Florida. We have been driving from Tucson, AZ since September 29th. So far so good. We were able to connect with some long time friends and partners in ministry. Fun is also included. We are now in Wilmington, North Carolina and will soon be in Florida. Wilmington has a a lot of fun stuff. We were able to visit their beaches, the Battleship Museum and celebrate their fall festival with fireworks on their downtown riverwalk . We also had a great time connecting with our partner church and individuals here in the city. One of our challenges of this trip is the our kids schooling. Lord willing, our two kids will be able to find time to keep up with all their school work. It is a bit hard doing school in the car traveling. Our old car is doing well and we are all healthy. We will b...

Summer Update 2022 We made it Stateside!  Good things are happening! Obviously there are some not so good things that are happening too, but since we are commanded to look at things in an eternal perspective we will try to be positive. This is not so easy to do especially if we look around us today.  The beginning of the the journey of coming back to the States started years ago. We knew that Caleb (our second) was going back for college, so we decided to come back to the US for an early Home Service. The goal was to be in the US to help Caleb get situated for college and then travel the rest of the time to update our churches and supporters. (Coming into the US is always photo worthy!) Housing! A huge need for this home service was housing. This time we needed to keep our house in the Philippines, so we asked God to provide us someone to watch our house while we are gone. God provided us two missionaries who are living there now. We also nee...

Pressing on....   Isaiah 26:3-4 "You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock."  (NLT) Life these last 2 years during covid have not been easy! This verse has been one that I have gone back to so many times. Now as things seem to be opening up and we get glimpses of life after covid,  we praise God for His peace and provision.  We keep pressing on and we thank you all for your prayers and support that have helped sustain us this far.  One of our big next steps will be a 6th month Home Service (furlough) starting this June.  So many details and plans will go into making this trip happen and honestly it feels overwhelming in our current situation. Like the verse above says, we will keep our thoughts fixed on the One we serve and why we are here. We pray for peace and provision but have confidence that God has always taken care o...