Padens in the Philippines

Dear Prayer Partners , These last couple months have been overwhelming for us. Well… as I think about it, this last year and a half while we have been here in language school has been overwhelming. We want to thank you for your part in helping us get through with your prayers. We are only here because we know that this is where God wants us, not because it’s easy. Sometime we have to keep reminding ourselves of this on a particularly hard day. So much has happened this last month or so that it is hard to recap for you. We had Josiah, got a different car, had our second Christmas away from home, my Mom came to help for a month, we traveled to Baguio looking for a house, Gilmer’s brother left, we started packing to move, went to a team planning retreat, and so many little things I can’t even say. Needless to say, you get the picture – we have been busy! That is also why we have not been able to update more like we wanted to. We do want to make sure that we say thank you to all who respon...

Announcing the long awaited arrival of Josiah Seth Paden! He was born by c-section on December 20th at 9:35am and was 6 pounds and 18.9 inches long. Everything went well and we were able to go home on the 23rd to spend Christmas at home. Thank you all for your prayers, we know many of you were concerned. I am up and able to get around just fine (despite a little pain). The kids did well with my Mom (Nana) at our SEND guest house in Manila while we were in the hospital. They are very excited to have a baby brother. Caleb asked yesterday if we get to keep him forever! We have a busy month ahead of getting ready to move, finding a house, and getting well and rested. We would apriciate your continued prayers for this and will write another prayer update soon. Blessings, Gilmer, Julie, Nhaya, Caleb, and Josiah Paden

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! We hope that this finds each of you well and thankful for what God has given each of you. We are so thankful for how God has, not only provided all that we need, but blessed us and answered so many of our prayers. It seems as I read back on our prayer request list that all have been answered above and beyond what we even knew how to ask. Pregnancy Update We had a great doctor’s appointment this week! I am now able to be normal again (whatever that means for an 8 month pregnant lady). The baby is growing just fine, and the contractions that I do still have are not affecting anything since I am so far along now. We were even able to get a day for the c-section – December 20th- making it possible for us to be home for Christmas (that is, if there are no complications). Which I’m sure will be so much better for all of us, especially Nhaya and Caleb. Ministry Update Bagiuo! That is were we are going to be moving after the baby is born. Praise God for the great trip that ...

Dear Prayer Partners, We wanted to send a quick update and tell you how we are doing. Thanks so much for your prayers! We are doing a lot better this month and have felt very supported in prayer for all the things that we are going through as a family. Pregnancy Update As of now, after a new doctor and some new medication- I am doing much better! Praise the Lord. I am still having contractions on and off but the new medication is much stronger and has helped so much with making it possible for me to be mobile. I am able to go downstairs a couple times a day and even make dinner most of the time. After being on bed rest for so long even cooking dinner is something to look forward to. Don’t all you busy Mom’s wish you could feel that way! We were also able to have a very in depth ultra sound, and after being almost positive that we were having a girl, we were so surprised to find out that it’s a BOY! So now all you curious ones can be at rest. So far no names picked out but if you have s...

Dear Prayer Partners, Hope all of you have had a great month! I’m sure that many of you are busy preparing for school to start and other things that begin at the start of a new school year. It is the start of something new for us too. We have officially been here for one full year and this is the start of our second. We are excited about all the new things that are going to take place this year and we praise God for helping us through this first year on the field. We know that we could not have made it without all of your continued prayers, so again, thank you for your part in what God is doing with us here in the Philippines. I’ve been thinking back about one of our first prayer letters when we arrived here and what I quoted in it. I said “When interviewing retired missionaries and those still on the field, almost all said the first year on the field was the hardest of their lives!” I think that we can honestly say that it has been true for us too. We still have so much to learn and a...

Hi Everyone, It has been a while since you have heard from us and we apologize for that. The last two months have been hard ones for us, hardly an excuse, we probably needed your prayers more than anything. This is why we want to thank you for your continued prayers and support even when we don’t have the time, or energy to send you an update. I (Julie) have been having a lot harder time with this pregnancy than the other two. (If you are surprised that I am pregnant you maybe didn ’t read the last update!) Since we found out that we were going to have another baby, I have been in bed much of the time. After an initial one week of bed rest, then back and fourth to the doctor, and back in bed… some more, I still continue to have problems. That currently has me, as I write, back in bed yet again. As you can guess this has been hard on all of us. Gilmer has had to do so much more above and beyond (which he is doing a great job of, I might add!) and the kids keep wondering why Mommy has t...

Dear Family, Friends, and Partners, Greetings from a very, very hot Philippines. I just talked to my parents last night who live up in the mountains, they said it is very hot up there too. They’ve never been that hot before so I guess we are not alone. But the Lord is still good. We praise God for a swimming pool nearby. The kids spend much of their time swimming lately. They love to swim. LANGUAGE STUDY Julie is doing great. She has been writing a lot of sentences and stories. Conversation in Tagalog is still a challenge but she is understanding a lot of words now and is using them frequently. In fact, Julie is even correcting me of my usage of words since I only speak and understand simple tagalong. Not understanding and speaking the language is quite frustrating for her but she is making a lot of progress. MINISTRY I am still involved with the church planting ministry of the church we go to. It has been hard to find a Bible study contact lately (someone that is interested in studyin...