Padens in the Philippines

Gilmer Luke Paden Luke was born August 1st, at 7:19am. He was 7 pounds and 6 ounces and 20 inches long. Everything went well with the scheduled c-section and we were able to go home last Friday. Julie and the baby are doing well. The rest of the family (Nhaya, Caleb, and Josiah) were ecstatic to meet their new brother and can't seem to hold him enough. Thank you all for your prayers for a healthy pregnancy and safe delivery. God has truly blessed us with another little miracle!! Priceless!  Getting ready to leave the hospital. Josiah enjoying his new brother! Caleb and little Luke Can you tell Nhaya is a little excited :) Blessings, Gilmer, Julie, Nhaya, Caleb, Josiah, and Luke Paden SEND International- Philippines

It is the beginning of the Philippine summer here so it is hot and humid, the sky is clear, and the breeze is nowhere!  It is crazy busy here ministry wise. We are in the middle of our training for our four short-term teams this year.  Two teams are going to assist the ministry of our church planting field among a tribe of Northern Thailand (this is our newest SEND field to open). They will be involved in creative ministry to reach this particular people group. One of the teams getting ready to go. Another team called EVE Team are also going to Thailand and will be doing specialized ministry. They are going to Khon Kaen, and are our Pilot Team working alongside Pathway International Fellowship, teaching conversational English to 100 Department Heads and staff. This team will consist of TESOL (Teaching English as a Second Language) trained teachers and assistants seeking to help build relationships and open doors to the Gospel through English and Values. Th...

Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Ps. 73:25-26 We have some exciting news to share for those who haven't heard yet. This summer we are expecting a new member of the Paden Family to arrive!! Yes, that's right, I'm pregnant!! We are very excited and the kids can't wait until their little brother or sister arrives. I'm 16 weeks along right now and everything so far is going well. We found a good hospital and wonderful doctor who has delivered many other missionary babies born here in the Philippines. It's my job to update the blog, so I apologize for the delay, only recently have I been feeling better as the morning sickness subsides. The due date is August 9th. Family Update: Besides the good news we received in December about the baby, we have had a lot of other milestones in our family. See pictures below. Josiah turned ...

"I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth." Ps. 121:1 I can't help but think of that verse when I look at this picture! We have officially been back in the Philippines for over a year now and I can honestly say that our help undoubtedly comes from the Lord. Not only has He provided for us through churches and supporters every month, but He has been with us every step of the way. Despite adjustments, hurts, triumphs, changes, troubles, and everything in-between, we are privileged to know that we are where God wants us to be. Thanks for your prayers and support. I hope that this update explains a little about what we have been doing these last few busy months. Lots going on, and I think it's more fun to see first hand through these pictures. Please also see the praises and prayer requests to the right. Hope you have a great fall season. Gilmer's parents came for a visit at the end o...

"The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17 Dear Friends, Here are some pictures from this summer. I wish I had more time to write but with the kids home all day these days I can't find much time to sit down and write. Things are going well here in Manila. We had a couple whole weeks of rain, which is hard for this Arizona girl to get use to! The kids will start school again in a couple weeks, Gilmer is hard at work recruiting and training, and I am holding down the fort! Thanks for your prayers and support. We love you all! This is some team members from our short term Baguio team, with the girls from the area, who spent three weeks in Mindanao on their missions trip. They worked with the kids in the area doing day camps, teaching "Values." They also worked with young people from the college that needed some tu...