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 needed a house in the US  that could accommodate 6 of us. (We asked Nhaya if she could stay with us  during her school break while we are in the US, so we needed a big space.) We had a hard time looking for the right housing. Well, we had a hard time looking but it was easy for God. He provided us a beautiful place to stay that is big enough for all of us! Praise God for one of our partners who is letting us live in their house.                            (So happy to arrive at our new home.)   (This is outside our house in Tucson!) Vehicles! Next up was vehicles. We needed two vehicles. God provided those cars too. We have cars that we can use to go around town and we have a car to be used for traveling around the country later on. The car that we bought for traveling needed some repairs but God provided someone to cover the cost of the much needed repairs like the aircon, shocks, and brake replacement.  Much needed family vacation!    We even had the chance to go to Grand Canyon for vacation. On the way there we stopped by an old town called Williams and stayed in the oldest hotel.  We had a blast. All our kids are old enough now so we even got to hike down into the canyon. As we were hiking back up the canyon a hailstorm hit us out of nowhere. It was awesome but freaked our son Luke out.  In the middle of our trip Luke had a fever so when we got home we found out he had Covid. A couple of days later Josiah had it too. Needless to say we were all quarantined for awhile. We are all good now, in time for our next trip. We praise God for healing and rest.  Other side of the border! Nhaya needed her her wisdom teeth out, so we decided to go to Mexico to do it. We haven’t been there in forever. We had our youngest son Luke with us. It was his first time to go to Mexico. Nhaya had all her wisdom teeth out in less than an hour. That’s crazy. She is recovering well.  School! Caleb is going to Grand Canyon University, same college where Nhaya is. Praise the Lord for answering our prayers. We will have a chance to go with both of them when they move in the fall. We are excited to see what God has for him. Nhaya is in her junior year.  Josiah and Luke will be doing their school online while we travel around the US.  Traveling!  We will be flying out tomorrow to travel north and attend training with SEND Int'l. With this trip we will also visit a few friends in Chicago, Michigan and Canada.  Next trip will be in the fall where we will only have two of our kids driving with us around the country. We will be visiting our partners and also raise more financial supporters. We will post a schedule of speaking when we have it ready.

Family reunited!  Unfortunately my parents had a devastating fire back in the beginning of May. They lost everything! Thankfully we already had plans to return and many people have helped them in the last few months. Please keep them in your prayers it will be a long road to healing and recovery. This makes us doubly happy to spend time with them while we are here.  Photos above: Julie, her dad, and her brother on Father's Day. Gilmer with his kids on Father's Dad. We made it back in time to celebrate Julie's mom on her birthday.

We can't forget Caleb graduating last May!  So thankful we were able to have an "in person" graduation. Many in the Philippines were not able to do so.

Small but mighty!

Gilmer's dad turned 80 years old in May! We were able to travel right after Caleb's graduation to visit them before we left. All his 6 kids were able to be there to celebrate his life. Even Gilmer's sister traveled from Thailand to join (she recently lost her husband, so it was so good she could be with her family). They had so much fun together again, as you can see! Praise God for his godly example and sacrifices. So many kids but still not all the grandchildren could come, God has truly blessed them.

Last but not least! Josiah also graduated 8th grade and will be starting High School soon.  Just a few of his crazy classmates.

Support Online

We are so thankful for your prayers, support and partnership. "Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." I Cor. 15:58 Serving Him, Gilmer and Julie Paden (Nhaya, Caleb, Josiah, and Luke)