December Update 2023

As this new year starts, we want to make sure that we look back at God's faithfulness and say a big THANK YOU! You partnership has enabled us to continue working with Filipino churches to send out missionaries to the unreached.  Big News! We praise God for such a special time to celebrate the wedding of Jake and Nhaya! We traveled back to the States this summer and were grateful to be with so many friends and family who came to support this couple as they begin their lives together.

TEAM 4:5 Update One of the ways we develop a vision for missions is through short-term missions trips. For years we have been trying to launch a team but covid and other issues have delayed this. One of the new challenges we have now are the dates. Our school system here in the Philippine can not decide what dates they want to follow. Each school and area choses different schedules. So it is getting harder to recruit or set up a team.  Another challenge we face is the government making it hard for our youth to go out of the country due to human trafficking. Only 18 and above can leave without a parent traveling with them. If we want to be honest, we would say that externally it is hard to see where this ministry is going. We have plans (like this last summer going to Thailand) but things don't always work out like we want. We are grateful that we serve God not by sight but by faith, and through faith we will move forward. Even though we were not able to send a team the last few summers, we continue to pray and plan for teams this coming year. Like we have mentioned before, we will be partnering with Royal Servants. Please pray for these upcoming plans. Church Ministry Update One day we were having a prayer meeting at our church (picture above). After the message we split into groups. There were 4 medical students from India attending so I joined their group. We were about to pray so I assigned a prayer request to each one. Three out of the four students said they can’t pray. So I asked why. Two of the guys said they were Hindus and the other one was a Muslim. I ended up sharing the gospel with them. They did not accept Christ as savior but asked a lot of questions. My heart is broken because I know that we have about 8000 Indian medical students, like them, here in our city alone. Of which 95-98% have not heard of Jesus as a savior. The sad thing is they are surrounded by hundreds of churches in our city. This is a burden that we have right now. We want to do something intentional and to do it in partnership with the Filipino churches.  Julie's bible study group continues to go well. They even spearheaded a relief trip to nearby earthquake victims. It was an awesome trip and Luke was super happy to join his first ever missions trip- he said. Here's a great short video with Julie narrating. Please continue to pray for spiritual growth and encouragement in their faith and daily lives.  I still enjoy preaching when I get the chance and pictured next are the pastors being prayed for on Pastor Appreciation Day. VBS this year was a blast. Here Julie is praying with her group of kids. This year our church was able to minister to more than 200 kids and their families in 3 different locations. Please watch this cool video summery our church made.    We've been on a lot of planes this year (25 flights for me and 30 for Gilmer). This was one trip where we got to visit and have a retreat with our SEND Philippines co-workers.  Family Update Josiah had a great trip to Ireland this summer with Royal Servants. Here's his update and photos in a separate link.  Lots of things happening for Josiah these days! Not only did he get to go on a Royal Servants trip (which he's been waiting for years to do- he's the 3rd of our kids to do a team), he also turned 16 years old, got his permit, plays and traveled with his sports team, he's also doing great in school. He's in 10th grade this year.  Caleb got to come "home" in May for a month after his first year of college. We enjoyed having him home for a while and then he helped travel back with Josiah so he could get him to his Royal Servants team. Caleb stays busy working and lives in Tucson currently.  Luke turned 11 years old in August and got to celebrate in the States with family and friends having a "Arizona Desert Birthday" complete with quad riding. He's in 5th grade and is also doing well in school. His favorite class is recess.  Jake and Nhaya are doing well as a newly married couple. They stay very busy with their full-time jobs and local family and friends.  Gilmer and I are doing well. Our 23rd anniversary is coming up next week. Can't believe it's been so long! Gilmer, unfortunately broke his knee last June and has had months of pain and 2 recent surgeries. He's feeling better now but still needs to go to physical therapy.  Praises - Good health for family and healing for Gilmer's knee. -Provision for this year, especially with an extra trip to the States for Nhaya's wedding. -Faithfulness of our partners. Prayer Requests  -Upcoming trip to Thailand as a family in January.  -Summer ministry plans and all the many details that need to come together. -Continued provision. Support Online Serving Him, Gilmer, Julie, Josiah, and Luke