Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

The New Year is breathing down our neck! Whew!!! Where has this year gone? New Year's in Manila is quite a sight! The streets are lined with Fire Work Vendors that set up shop just for the festivities. Some people, like our kids (Luke specifically) are enjoying the ability to legally play with fireoworks. Tonight the city will begin to sound like war has broken out....the sky will become like a festival, and eventually, the fireworks will be obliterated by the smoke from all the display.

We will be having a year-end worship service in our back yard with our friends from the neighboring subdivision Sampalukan and our friends from the Cainta Church of the Nazarene. They will be combining groups and meeting in our backyard so those from Sampalukan won't have to pay for transportation to Cainta. They will be meeting between 6 and 8pm, then we will go up to the kids school where we have full view of Manila from the hills of Antipolo.

We have recently gone through some mission strategy training and it was just superb!!! We are excited to see what God has in store for the coming year. We focussed on the divine appointments that God arranges for us to connect with people who need Jesus in their lives. We focussed on the importance of intentionally connecting with people that God places in your path. It was a great time!

When we returned home, we were trying to make up for being gone and the need to ready for two Christmas parties back to back happening in our back yard, one on Sunday and one on Monday. As I was hanging up Christmas lights in our back yard, one of our neighbors whom we have never met, was at our back gate excitedly saying, "MA'AM, excuse me, I am your neighbor! MA'AM, excuse me, I am your neighbor!" I went to the gate to introduce myself, finding this rather funny, especially concerning the focus of our previous week. After we made proper introductions, he proceeded to tell me that the previous night/morning at about 1:30 AM, there was a big snake (probably a python) about 6-9 feet and the diameter of a mans forearm trying to get into his yard, from our yard. He had shooed it back into our yard and called the neighborhood security. They arrived at our gate and beat on our gate for some time, but were unsuccessful at waking us, so they left us to our sleep, and to our snake. Our neighbor had come to alert us to this new visitor in our yard. He was especially concerned because he knew we had kids in our yard every Sunday. He even asked if he could come sometime :) We decided we better call the security to have our yard searched. Four guys came with big sticks and big bags to hunt for our guest, but they were unsuccessful in finding him. We later learned that there have been four other pythons killed in the surrounding lots recently (I was not able to get the word "recently" defined).

The funny thing in all of this is that through our snake, we were able to meet 5 new people in our neighborhood, plus the four snake hunters :) We later took our new friends Christmas cookies. We are praying for our neighborhood, and are looking forward to knowing the "rest of the story" in regards to meeting people through the "snake" in our backyard.

We think of you all so often, especially during the holidays. As the Lord brings you to our minds, we hold you up in prayer. We are richer people because the Lord has given us the blessing of your friendship. We pray that during this new year, you will come to know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in a new way and that your relationship with Him will strengthen and deepen and you will hunger and thirst for more and more of Him.

Blessing to you all!

100 Years!!!

Just like in 1908, we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Church of the Nazarene by walking around our tent waving our hankies :) The day started with a celebratory service in our church in Taytay. We had a big choir singing the songs written specifically for this celebration. There was a big brass band (about 25 people), the children marched in with all the flags of the countries the church of the Nazarene is in, then we had a presentation by the Color Guard. We had the pleasure of taking in 100 new members in the morning service, 94 as profession of faith, and 6 as member transfers. What an exciting moment! Just the Saturday before, there were 103 people baptized. We were challenged by Dr. Silvernail to live a life of Holiness! And we were reminded that the old fashioned idea of waving the hankie was done in surrender to our Savior and Lord.

After the morning service, we took a lunch break and re-convened on the APNTS campus for a district wide celebration. Just as people were arriving, the rains also arrived. The four tents that had been carefully placed over the desired seating just wasn't enough. Quickly another two tents were raised in order to house all the sound equipment and the expected 1500 plus people. The rain plus all the people made quite an exciting walk through the slippery grass. Some folks just took off their shoes and quit fighting the mud.

There were several presentations by churches from the district. The youth group that meets in our back yard was one of the presenters. It was a real treat for us to watch as the teens did their presentation of "Shout to the Lord" with sign language and choreography. Rather than spending money on gloves for each person, they came up with the idea of taking water base paint and making their hands white. Genius! We also had a 100+ person choir that presented the "One" song created for the occasion, Battle Hymn of the Republic, and the Hallelujah chorus. We were again challenged by Dr. Silvernail. We ended the evening with a wonderful time of prayer for God to move among us and to empower us to be Holy! As we waved our hankies, we walked the muddy, slippery perimeter of one of the tents and sang together "It's a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle, washed in the blood of the Lamb..."

Got him!!!

Here is our house guest. All I can say is by having such a large rat, I feel a bit assured that there isn't a large snake out there eating the rats. However, I hope there aren't little rats attracting the cobras.

(Notice the mouse trap beside him....I just don't think that would have even threatened him)

Floods and Pests

I though I would put up some pictures from our flood last week...we did actually start moving stuff upstairs in case the water actually came in the house. Our home, for those of you who don't know this, is in an old rice patty. Hmmm. Our whole subdivision is. There is a stream that goes by our house...a bit away, but when the sky let's loose, the stream comes for a visit. There is a history of our home (which is owned by the Nazarene Philippine Field) being flooded with three feet of water as the record, but with many times coming inside the house, just not that high. Therefore, surrounding the house is a sealed, cement block wall. There are gates that we can open during dry season, but they are able to be sealed off during rainy season. Our driveway is also equipped with a ramp...somewhat like an oil changing ramp, for our car to rest on dry land when it does flood. There have been some very prudent missionaries living in this house who have gone to a lot of effort to keep the inside of the house dry. We are grateful to them!

(This is the driveway on a normal day...)

(The back yard floods after the front)

(The picture below is inside the wall...starting to get concerned!)

(This is the following day. The water was over the top of this bridge)

(There is a new building being excavated for here and the wall along the street fell due to the flood.)

The morning after the flood, I went to grab a "box" of milk out of the pantry and my finger went right into the milk. Scared me half to death...yes, I'm a little jumpy at times. I looked down at the box and this is what I found. Fortunately, the hole was chewed on the top of the box and not the bottom....

Then the next day I was watering my plants and noticed that one had some strange "dust" on it. I looked closer and noticed on the ledge beside it was a bunch of wood shavings...

I looked up (which was the only direction there was any wood and this is what I found...

(The hole is the size of a golf ball)

It appears that we have a stow-away in our home. Hopefully soon I can tell you the end of the story. In the mean time, I will probably be walking the house with a rather large stick!

I took the dog outside on the lawn to bathe him and discovered he was being the carrier of a family of ticks. I had even put the medicine on the back of his neck so he won't get them. Hmm possibly the medicine didn't work?

As he was out on the cement drying (after I had carefully sprayed all the dirt off the patio) I noticed that there were these slug-like, worm-like things heading toward him and he was having a fit! I called my helper to the back yard and asked her what they were. She got a little panicky and stomped on them and say "these are bad, bad! They will suck your blood!" Ewww! They were leeches!

Some days here I am blissfully ignorant to the wild-life that takes place all around me. I think I prefer to not know there are rat's trying to bunk with us. I would prefer to not have my dog providing nourishment for the local tick family, and, I CERTAINLY didn't want to know that the back yard that I let Mari play in, barefooted, is the home of leeches.

Well, despite yucky flood waters and pests, we still are still very grateful to be here. Fortunately, the good things outweigh the bad :)

At least it has been over a year since I have been awarded this orientation to our new home :)

Interceding

Recently, Eric found a great story in The Prayer Shield written by C. Peter Wagner. It has really given me a lot to think about. I want you to experience it as written by Peter Wagner ......

"In the days soon after the Iron Curtain had come down, John Maisel had made another of his frequent trips to the Eastern bloc. This time he lectured on "Is Jesus God?" at Moscow State University, then to a crowd of 20,000 to 30,000 in Bucharest, then home to their base in Vienna. Jane[a personal prayer partner of the author and his wife], in Dallas, was much in prayer for him. The lecture turned out to be excellent and many were saved. Obviously the forces of darkness were greatly upset, not only by Maisel's lecture in Moscow, but by the power channeled through Jane's intercession in Dallas.

On One of those nights at 2:00 A.M., Jane was awakened by the presence of an incredible force of darkness there in her room. She says, "I battled in prayer and still it was more than I could handle. It drained my whole energy and life support system. I couldn't move--I was totally paralyzed." As she communed with the Holy Spirit she was assured that John himself was in no particular danger at that time. She sensed that "this powerful force of darkness had been sent to destroy John, but it had attacked me because I was standing in the gap." At the peak of the battle, Jane cried out for reinforcements, both angels and intercessors. God sent then both.

In the twinkling of an eye, Jane sensed an angel come into the room and usher out the spirit of darkness. The battle was over but Jane felt limp and drained. Then a fever and laryngitis came. But she rejoiced that the victory had been the Lord's.

The next morning the answering machine in Jane's office recorded a call from Cindy Jacobs who, like Jane, is one of my 19 personal prayer partners. Jane returned her call and routinely asked Cindy how she felt. Cindy's response was unforgettable. "I'm fine, Jane," she said, "but the question is how are you? What was that incredible force of darkness in your room at 2:00 A.M.? That was one of the most powerful principalities I have encountered! I was doing battle with you in intercession until its power was broken!"

We really want you to know how grateful we are to those of you who hold us up in prayer!

I hope this is encouraging to those of you who are fiercely doing battle for loved ones, friends or co-workers.

The best part about all of this is that Jesus is interceding to God on behalf of my requests and your requests! He is so great!!!

Our prayers are not in vain!

Umbrella Part 2

Wednesday...It had been pouring since about 11:00 that morning and after the rains the other night, I knew it was going to flood quite easily again. It was about 1:00 pm and I got the message from the school that there would be no after school activities because of flooding in Manila. The kids would all be sent home at 2:00, and if they rode the school service vans (aka school busses), then those would still be running.

Our boys usually arrive at about 2:25 when they ride the service vans, so at about that time I went outside to open the gate to make the delivery easier in the heavy rain. I was greeted with the creek yet again at the gate. Now, having just been driving in the flood waters the day before, I knew how deep the waters had to be between here and the school for it to be at my gate.

There were several men working on the house next door, and had decided to quit working in the deluge. That made me feel a little better since they were standing on some scaffolding. They were seeking shelter next to our gate, and just watching the creek rise. I finally discovered that they were actually waiting for a truck to come pick them up, and not just hanging out.

I moved the car up on the "ramp" to keep it out of the flood waters and went inside to wait for some word from the kids. I knew that they were with the bus driver, but what I didn't know was what exactly he was going to do with them. I knew that there was a significant chance that he would be sitting out on the main road, just waiting for the rains first to quit, then to run off. I knew that it was highly possible that he was just going to tell them to walk (or swim) home. I was not particularly excited about this idea. I phoned Andy (because of the different transportation styles we have, it is not good for kids to be without cell phones here), and discovered that he wasn't with his brothers, but that he was going to a friends house. Hmmm.

3:00 came and went and I hadn't heard anything from the kids. By this time, our driveway was covered in 8 inches of water, at the shallowest point. The other night is wasn't even covering the entire driveway. I know the service vans are taller than my car, so I knew that they could get through deeper water than I could.

I decided that I probably could text the bus driver (send him a note on his cell phone) and at least tell him he won't be able to get to the front gate. We do have a back gate that doesn't flood quite so rapidly. I suggested that he drop the boys at the back gate.

I kept going outside to see the water level and it just kept rising.

3:15 I heard whistling at the back gate...the whistles of two boys :)

I can't even imagine driving through what the driver had to in order to get me my kids.

I am very thankful for the school service vans!

The water receeded by about 5:00 :) It really runs away fast.

The first picture is out our back gate looking toward our street...if you went on down the "river," and turned right, the next right is the front entrance to our house.

Where is your umbrella?

Hi again!

I am always amazed at the amount of water that comes out of the sky here in Manila...especially as it accumulates on the ground and in the streets :) Yesterday we had two really heavy showers within about four hours of each other that rendered some pretty exciting moments.

The first storm started about the time I went up to the school to take Andy to the doctor for a strange rash on his foot/leg. I was a little dismayed that I had gone out in the middle of the sunny day without my umbrella, yet again. As Andy and I slowly climbed the hill from the seminary up to the medical clinic, I was amazed at the amount of water coming down the hill. Along both sides of the road, there is a "ditch" that is about 1 meter by 1 meter, and it had raging white water rushing down the hill. We came to a "Y" in the road and the water was accumulating about 6 inches deep. Many, many people drive a car like ours, so as I watched other cars like mine going through the water, I also proceeded. No problem...whew!

We got to the doctors office, after carefully making our way up the hill and trying diligently not splash all the people on their motorcycles or "tricycles" (motorcycles with a side car...carries anywhere between one to about 8 people, depending on how you stack them). Upon arrival at the doctor's office we were told that we had to return after 5:00, but before 6:00. We ran over to the grocery store in hopes that the rain would stop while we were inside, and it did. When we went back down the hill, there was no white water raging down the sides, and the "Y" had no standing water.

We returned to the doctor, and after a quick visit, headed into the pharmacy next door. While we were inside the pharmacy, the sky opened up again. Once again, I had not brought my umbrella with me...it was in the car. We made our purchase of some topical medicine and some antibiotics and headed back down the hill.

We got to the same "Y" and the traffic was stopped...there were cars that were not going through. Slowly, the traffic director was guiding certain cars through...my car was allowed through. The traffic worked it's way slowly down the hill and as I passed the seminary, I looked at the "water fall" that was rushing out the gate. We worked our way down the main road to our house and traffic slowed way down. Again, we hit an area where the water was accumulating and traffic was going one car at a time through. Occasionally, there was a Jeepney that would just gun it and go like a motorboat right down the street. At one of the three really bad spots on this main street, Andy noticed the Barber shop had about 6 inches of water standing inside their shop. The peculiar thing was that there were still hair-cuts being given. The barbers were just standing in the water cutting hair just as though nothing were out of the ordinary.

Finally, we turned into our subdivision and worked our way around the car that had either stalled, or decided it was going to wait out the rain. Down the road just a bit, we could see there was some cross flow of water going across our main street. As the cars in front of us cleared and proceeded through, I could see that there was a large gate that had been opened and water was rushing out, just like the dam had been opened. Down the way just a little further, there is a sidewalk with about 5 feet walls on both sides...that gate was also opened and it looked like someone had opened up a fire-hydrant and it was shooting white water into the street.

The worst "puddle" we went through was one of the intersections in our subdivision and I found that my knuckles were getting about as white as some of the water I had seen rushing about in our excursion. I am certain that if we had been even 10 more minutes we would have not gotten home until late into the night. As we approached our street, we were greeted with the "creek." It must have wanted to come up for a visit. Andy climbed on top of the car and opened the gate from a top of the car...then I pulled forward as he closed the gate from the top of the car also. The creek hadn't come all the way into our driveway, for which I was grateful. We were home by 7:30, safe and praising God for yet another safe journey.

One of my friends was coming from the opposite direction at about 7:30. She and her husband ended up completely stopped on the main road until 1:30 am ... waiting for the rain to run off so that the cars could get through. Again I am so grateful that that is not our story.

This morning, as I was driving up to the seminary, I was amazed at the way the streets were already cleaned up. Unfortunately, there is a lot of rubbish that flows in the waters when they rise. However, the streets were already swept clean, and many individuals were sweeping up whatever gifts the flowing rivers brought to their door. Just like the barbers, it was just no big deal... It is really amazing to me the way we adapt :) Thanks God for making us like that!

Time Flies

Thank you to all who have prayed for Eric and Nathan while they were in PNG. They arrived back in Manila safe and sound. God was definitely working ahead of them. The greatest thing is that now it is possible to help remotely. We can help their computers in PNG, from our tech room here in Manila. Technology really is amazing. Eric got to connect with so many of our dear friends! It was great water to his soul.

While Eric was there, he was sitting in front of his computer, stumped as to how to fix a problem. His Skype phone rang and it was one of his friends from home who happens to also be in the same line of work, Rai. Rai asked Eric what he was doing and Eric relayed the problem he was stumped on. They tossed around a few ideas, and then Rai picked up his cell phone and called another friend Mike (who actually went to PNG last year to work on their computers). Rai put Mike on speaker phone, and placed it close to the microphone on his computer. This way, Eric could hear what Mike was saying, and also talk with Mike. They had a conference call using Skype and cell phones. If you are not terribly impressed with this, you have to understand that when we lived in PNG, we couldn't even get email files that were over 500k, sometimes over 300k. As they dug into the problem, they realized that some of the programming was in German. Rai speaks German. The three of them together were able to solve the problem. It is so fun to see the way the Lord goes before us :)

Another great story from PNG...Eric wanted to connect with our friend Pastor Jerry. It was quite a journey, but Eric, Nathan and Dr. Becky went to Pastor Jerry's church on Sunday. When they got there, they were told Pastor was speaking in another church. After going to a couple different churches, they found him. He was being a guest speaker for a brand new church, six weeks old. There was a young boy in that village who got very ill. He went to Kudjip Hospital and there found Jesus Christ. His parents also found Jesus Christ while there. The boy got well, and the family returned to their village, on fire for Christ. In their enthusiasm, they asked to start a church. When Eric was there, it was running 40 some people. It was great to see how the whole picture works. The seed was planted in a time of crisis. God grew that seed, now the family is scattering and watering seeds in their village. Now the village has started a church and they are having guest speakers until they can get their own pastor. Please pray for the new pastor for that church! Praise God!!!

Our kids have started back to school, and actually are having their first "full" week of school this week. They have had holidays or in-service days and so even though they started school Aug 12, this is their first full week. I suppose they might feel a little tired by the time Friday is over. Andy is playing on the JV Volleyball team. He is enjoying learning a new sport. They have done really well so far, winning 3 out of 4 games they have played so far. He has started his Sophomore year in high school, and is enjoying this year. He has a busy, busy calendar. Luke has started his 8th grade. Whew! They grow so very fast! He has decided to learn how to juggle. One of the teachers is teaching a group of kids after school. It will be fun to watch him master that. He also is enjoying his art class. He is really a good artist! Jon has started his 3rd grade and is class this year is only 13 (as compared to 27 last year). He is also playing soccer with some of his buddies on the elementary soccer team. They have Saturday "tournament" type competitions. They play six games that are 12 minutes each. He will participate in four Saturdays like this. He is enjoying it. Mari is adjusting to playing by herself again, since her favorite play-mates had to return to school. She is continuing to speak, more and more...I think that one of these days she will be consuming the talk space...that will be a praise!!!

We are planning to start up a bible study for adults in our home soon. We found the leaders who are Filipino, who will come to our house and lead the study. We were specifically trying to start this for the traffic enforcer who works outside of our subdivision gate. His name is Levy. Eric has been building relationship with him over the last several months. Levy is asking a lot of questions and really wanting information. Eric was able to give him a Bible some time ago, and now Levy specifically asked to go to a Bible study. When Eric went to invite him to our home for the Bible study, Levy's co-worker told Eric that "yesterday was his last day, he resigned." Eric is really discouraged about this, but we know that God will work all things together for His perfect plan. Eric has no contact information to contact Levy, except for there at the intersection. Please pray for Levy as he is searching. Also, please pray for Eric to get another opportunity to connect with Levy to invite him to the Bible Study.

Please be praying for the people in the Philippines. We don't really watch any news here, and only occasionally get tid-bits from the Internet. There is fighting down south, but we are safe here in the northern part. Please be praying for our pastors and church members down in the southern parts. We have several students and workers who have family down there who are being greatly effected by the fighting.

We love you all and love hearing from you!!! Keep up the great communication :)

Hugs to you all!

God is Making the Way in PNG

Many of you know that Eric is currently in PNG with our volunteer Nathan (from MVNU), working out some bugs (haha) in the computer system there. I wanted to share with you the message that Eric sent out this morning :) He and Nathan return to Manila on Aug 12, and Nathan returns to the states on Aug 18. Please keep them in your prayers.

Greetings to all of you,

Linda gave me a verse in Isaiah 45:2 "I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron."

God did that yesterday and is doing it again today. Papua New Guinea is a spiritual battle zone and our enemy is bold here. Our God is bolder!

We accomplished yesterday (our first day) what I thought would take 3 days or not be possible at all. We now have installed a new Firewall (Internet protection) and the ability to remotely access the Kudjip Hospital network in Papua New Guinea (PNG) from the APRC office in Manila. Wow!

We can access even a missionary or hospital workers local computer and help them fix the problems. We see what is on their screen and share keyboard and mouse control of their computer with them. Obviously they have to know we are doing it and allow us access. Wow! again.

God is really allowing APRC to have a long technology assistance reach. Praise His Name!

Another miracle this morning. I am only aware of one man from PNG whom I would trust to provide contract support for the Kudjip Hospital network. His name is Timothy Kapak. I trained him to install computer cabling in May 2004 before my family left PNG. He now owns a large Electrical Engineering company headquartered in Mt. Hagen near Kudjip Hospital. He also owns a computer support business. I have had no contact with him since I left PNG in 2004. This morning I called his office from Kudjip and reached him. Amazing. There is a long list of miracles here:

Kudjip only has one working phone line at the moment, I found it and it was not in use by someone else.
Timothy has been gone for 4 months doing contract work on the coasts of PNG, he is just back in Mt. Hagen this week
This is the only week I will be here, he is available this week to meet.
His company has a new technician that appears to have a skill set that meets the Kudjip needs.
God's timing is perfect, what a miracle.
Praise God for the way He has been leveling the mountains before us!

We have 7 more days and lots more miracles needed so please keep praying.

Blessings,
eric zane

Princess and the Bubbles

Mari was invited to a Princess Birthday Party last Saturday. She and two other girls got to dress up like princesses, dine in the princesses palace and of course, blow bubbles...







Thank you Jesus for our beautiful angel, Mari the Princess :)

Thank you Brian for the great pictures!

Church

The room was 16 feet by 25 feet. The air was only moving due to the fans gentle hum. The room was a patio area in-between two homes. The chairs were set up with a dividing aisle down the middle, three chairs on each side, and about 15 rows. The podium stood, accompanied by a table with the elements for communion. Delicately hung behind was a simple curtain and a banner stating Cainta Church of the Nazarene Anniversary Celebration.

The house could be found after making several jig's and jag's through the brightly colored neighborhood and fortunately for us the neighborhood guards knew the way and were happy to escort us (on their bicycles, and armed with their usual artillery).

The church gradually filled up with laughter and smiles and kisses. Very few seats remained empty, and several people chose to stand in the back. Occasionally the loud roar of a motorcycle would join in our worship, as they passed by on the street.

The music started with a guitar and tambourine, and then was joined by the humble voices of the people. As we stood singing, the words to the song invited a precious spirit that made me unaware of my own comfort level. I was able to forget about the chair in front of me pushing against the front of my thigh. I was able to forget about the chair behind me pushing on the back of my calve. My breathing was calm and peaceful, rather than the anxious pull of the heavily humidified air. My body was perspiring and sending droplets of water down the back of my legs, back, stomach and face at a rapid pace. And yet, God was there! He was speaking directly to me, reminding me that no matter the circumstance or comfort level I live in, He will ALWAYS be God. He is LORD! He refocussed my vision, turning my uncomfortable moment into a beautiful time with Him.

Here are the words to the song "Here I Am" written by Reuben Morgan...

In to Your hands I commit again
All I am For You Lord
You hold my world in the palm of Your Hands
And I am Yours, Forever

Jesus I believe in You
Jesus I belong to You
You're the reason that I live
You're the reason that I sing
With all I am
I'll walk with You
Wherever You go
Through tears and Joys
I'll trust in You
And I will live in all of Your ways
Your promises, Forever

Here is a link to hear it sung by Hillsong on youtube...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMrAafe7Mns

The church celebrated their 19 anniversary and it was an honor to be part of it. We feel somewhat attached to this church, simply because the meeting place of this particular church used to be in our back yard.

Three hours later, after worshiping together and feasting together, we piled in our car and turned the air-con on high :)

I pray that you are met by Our Savior today, in whatever circumstance you are in...comfortable or uncomfortable! Our God is capable of breaking through...I LOVE it!!!

How do I process?

How do you process the realization that you spent as much in one trip to the grocery store for your family of six as your friend makes in one month for a family of 5? Then, add to that the knowledge that your electricity bill is equally as much. How do you process feeling like you sacrifice so much financially, and then make that kind of discovery?

In my passport country I live at "poverty" level. Now, I am "wealthy" and don't even see it, and yet, I struggle regularly trying to stretch the money.

How do I rationalize spending approximately 30% less on a cup of coffee from Starbucks (here vs the States), and at the same time spend one half of the daily wage being made by the people serving me the cup of coffee? In California the Minimum Wage is $8.00/hour. I certainly wouldn't spend $32.00 on a Mocha.

In the old days (before we became missionaries) I didn't have this perspective. Sometimes I wish I still didn't have it. The past 5 years have been as though the Lord has had me on his potters wheel and made a whole new me.

All I know is that I am a work in process. I know that God is always working on me. I am easily consumed with my selfish desire for comfort...my coffee, the temperature, having my family at my side.

I don't know how to process some things. I would just rather turn my head and not have to process it. There is no where I can go to get away from this.

"He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6

I am claiming that promise!!!

Some lessons are fun...others, not so.

Some lessons are fun.

Lesson 1: We got the opportunity to participate in two special occasions in one day. We started our morning at 9:00 am attending a Filipino Wedding. It was very similar to a Western, Christian wedding. However, there were a few additional elements that we really enjoyed. The couple kneeled on a bench together and there was a "veil" placed over and around them to signify the relationship that only they would share. Then there was a chord in the shape of an eight that was looped around each person, one loop of the figure 8 on the groom and one loop of the figure 8 on the bride. In the center where the chord crossed was a large emblem. This signified that they were tied together with a chord, with God in the center of them. All of the events that took place in the wedding, and the reception, were explained, with the significant symbolism. We enjoyed it. We ate a full Filipino buffet and it was delicious. Then as we left, we were given a souvenir in remembrance of their day.

Lesson 2: At 3:00 pm, we packed ourselves off, just a couple blocks away from our home to the 7th birthday party of our neighbor, A.M. (short for Aaron Michael). Here in the Philippines, there are certain birthdays that render a birthday party. Other birthdays are met with a "happy birthday" and possibly a gift from parents, grandparents and godparents. For the boys, their 1st birthday, their 7th birthday and their 21st birthday render these large celebrations. For the girls, their 1st, 7th, and 18th birthday's are celebrated. We have now been to both a 1st birthday and now to the 7th birthday party. They were both fully catered meals with hired clowns, cake, prizes and games. After much fun, the birthday party ended at 6:00. It was quite a fun day!

Lesson 3: Andy and Luke just went to summer camp. This is the same summer camp they went to last year. They participated in a "fear factor" type event. One of the tasks they had to do was to eat balut. Now, this is a delicacy here in the Philippines. It's typically the standing joke for foreigners..."have you eaten balut yet?" What is it? Well, it is a cooked duck embryo. Andy got to experience his first balut. He said it was actually good, once you got your brain to stop gagging about the idea of it :)

Some lessons are not so fun.

Lesson 4: Eric was driving to the Seminary last Thursday and slowed to turn right into the seminary. As he made his turn, a motorcycle tried to pass him on the right. These are the times we are acutely aware that you are praying for us. The motorcycle driver got up without a scratch. At exactly the right moment, God arranged for the perfect people to walk up to the seminary gate. Getting in an accident in a foreign country can be really scary. The security guard (who happens to be our helpers husband) was immediately there. Three pastors arrived (one who used to work in the government, and went to law school), Eric's co-worker Danny arrived, and two other co-workers in WMC, Jay and Calm. Our dear Filipino friends basically grabbed Eric and sent him off to the office, so that he would not get in the way of the negotiations. It was decided that there would be no contact with the police, and negotiations were made. We had the motorcycle repaired by the end of the day, and now it is a part of our educational history. We are so thankful that God prevented any bodily injury to the motorcycle driver. We pray that he was able to see Jesus through the wonderful people God orchestrated to help in the whole process.

Lesson 5: The regional team in Singapore and here all use a type of cell phone that is actually more of a computer than a cell phone. These phones have enabled the leaders to drastically cut down on their international calling bills. These phones are equipped to utilize the Internet (Voice Over Internet Phones) to make calls. Eric and his co-worker (being the regional computer people) have these phones, specifically, so that they can do proper technical support. Well, I guess I have to say Eric "had" one of these phones. Here in Manila, it is not a matter of "if" you get pick-pocketed, but "WHEN." This morning, Eric's phone went to a new home, to an owner with a skill of slipping things right out of their hiding places. There is a standard trick...a group of guys work together (named "lag lag baria gang"). Two of the guys cause some sort of drama. The third guy drops coins right by the targeted individual. The unsuspecting "nice guy" bends down to help pick up the coins, and whammo, you get pick-pocketed by the other two guys causing the commotion. So, Eric being the nice guy, bent over and there went his phone. The sad thing about it is that he carries his phone in his bag, about 95% of the time. Bummer, this day was one of those 5%.

Lesson for all of us.....

Lesson 6: Whatever you do, don't stop praying! We covet your prayers :) We truly believe that we have been bathed with your prayers and without them, there is no telling how different things could have turned out.

We love you!!!

The Eye

Typhoon, Cyclone, Hurricane...they are all the same thing, just in a different part of the world.

Typhoon Frank was noted to be heading towards the Philippines, but it appeared it would go North, before it got to the Phillipines. Somewhere along the line, it shifted and came right through the middle of the Philippines, and passing right over Manila.

The wind really started whipping around 4:00 am at about the same time, our power went out. There were treas swaying, windows rattly-banging, strange thumps and bumps. We weren't really sure what was trying to blow off the house, but couldn't find anything. Then about four hours later, power was restored, and the sky's were blue and all was calm. We were looking right into the eye of the storm! WOW! Then, the winds picked up again and the rains really started pelting the ground. Water was beginning to accumulate rather deep in the back yard. The front yard was still OK, but we knew that if it kept up, we would be looking at the creek overflowing it's banks and coming down our road.

At about 12:00 noon, the creek toppled over her edges and the brown water flowed into our driveway. As the level was quickly rising, Eric and Andy pulled in from church, just in time! Within about 15 minutes after they got home, we had about 8 inches of water in our driveway and the street we turn off of was looking somewhat like a fun river to go down with an inner tube. The rain stopped and as quickly as the water rose, the water receded.

There were many, many people effected by this typhoon (hurricane). We were safe and dry and very comfortable. However, hundreds of thousands of people here in the Philippines do not have that same story to tell. There are unknown numbers of people who weathered this storm very wet and very cold. Many of them don't have a home to return to. The waters rise so very fast that there is no way to escape in time.

Please be praying for our people in this country. Praise the Lord the numbers are no where near what has happened in Myanmar and in China, but every life is precious! There are families who are grieving today. There are people still waiting to hear if their loved one was recovered from the Ferry Boat that capsized carrying 700 people. There are people wondering how they will rebuild their homes and their lives. There are people who are wondering why they should rebuild their lives and their homes. There are people who have no hope. Yet, there are people who do have hope, who are reaching out to those around them.

Casting Crowns
And I'll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I know there is so many natural disasters happening all over the world. There are people all over the world trying to figure out how to face this new day. They are facing thoughts and emotions many of us have been blessed to not endure.

Oswald Chambers says, "Sorrow is one of the biggest facts in life, and there is no use in saying it should not be. Sin, sorrow, and suffering are, and it is not for us to say that God has made a mistake in allowing them...Sorrow removes a great deal of a person’s shallowness, but it does not always make that person better. Suffering either gives me to myself or it destroys me." We need to be praying for people who are enduring any kind of "storm" in their life to be "saved not from the hour, but out of the hour." God has so much to teach us, and so much of the time we just won't listen. I wouldn't wish sorrow on anyone, but at the same time I wouldn't ever trade the personal sorrow I have experienced. It was through those times I have grown closer to my Savior.

The storm we just experienced on Sunday didn't have horribly high winds, but they were strong. I keep remembering how strange it was when the eye of the storm passed over us, and how peacefull and calm it was. I understand all of those analogies about storms much better today. I want to keep my eyes on Jesus, no matter what is happening around me. He is my peace!

Psalm 107:29

He stilled the storm to a whisper, the waves of the sea were hushed.

Thank you so much for your prayers and your inquiries to our safety. Please know that we are also praying for you all in the states being effected by the flooding. Keep your eyes on Jesus! He is in the storm!

Wakes and Revival

There is a time for everything here on this earth. We were given the opportunity to celebrate the journey into Heaven for the father of one of Eric's co-workers. There was a week long opportunity to view the body and say farewell. This family also chose to have nightly revival/evangelistic services for loved ones. Then, after one week, the body was transferred to the cemetery via hearse, while all the family and friends followed along behind, walking. It was a wonderful time of reflection on this particular man's diligent journey, leaving for his children a wonderful legacy of faith in God. It was also a wonderful opportunity to share the gospel with many, many people.

Please pray for Judy and her family while they mourn the passing of their beloved father.

Good Reading!

There is a great new magazine being published here. I really want you to read it. It is a "street" magazine. It is a magazine written to give those without a voice an opportunity to be heard. Some of the people who are natives to this country are being made aware of a lifestyle that they don't even know about. The magazine is called "The Jeepney." I have put a link to their web-site in the side margin of the blog. You can go look at the first edition of the magazine on-line. I do not know if they will put their other editions on-line.

Here is the link http://www.thejeepney.com

If you really want to know how to pray for our country and the things going on here, this is a perfect place to start.

Thanks for being on our team :)

Vacation Bible School

Vacation Bible School! One neighborhood over from ours, there is a group of young Nazarenes who are doing the groundwork for starting a church. The neighborhood is called Sampalucan. They regularly have Sunday School in the afternoons on Sundays, for elementary and for youth. Then there is a small gathering in one of the leaders homes on Sunday evenings. This summer, they hosted a Vacation Bible School for the kids in the neighborhood (or barangay as we refer to them here). We got to attend the graduation/closing ceremony for the VBS. The ceremony was held on the basketball court in the middle of the barangay. They brought out a sound system and chairs and hung the VBS sign on the wall behind them.There were about 75 kids who came to VBS. They met in a very small area, one that you might decide was too small to conduct such an activity. These kind people are used to being in very close proximity to one another, and it didn't stop them when they realized that they would have about 40 kids inside the pastors home for their individual classes.

On Sunday, there was a graduation ceremony, where most of the kids recited scripture they put to memory during the week, both in English and Tagalog. Then they all performed some sort of song. It was delightful. We looked around the basketball court and took note that there were approximately 250 people listening to God's word emanating forth from the mouths of beautiful innocent children.

Eric was excited to see some of his "tri-cycle" driver relationships get closer. He discovered, during the VBS events, that two of the drivers live in this small neighborhood. Praise God the two men are some of the most open to Eric's relationship with them. They are Nok and Eddie. Pictured here is Nok washing his "tri-cycle". You can see the VBS assembly in the background. Please pray for them and for Eric as God leads him in discipling these men.

Please be praying for these children as they take the lead in finding friendship and relationship with Jesus Christ. Planting a new church from the children up is not usually the perfect strategy, but that is what God is doing here and we are striving to help in anyway we can. Our prayer is that the hearts of the parents and families will be softened as they watch the faith of their Children grow and strengthen. Pray with us that a complete, kids up to adults, Nazarene Church will grow and prosper in this neighborhood.

TWO Teenagers!

We have reached yet another milestone in our family :) Luke has reached those eagerly anticipated years...his teens. May 11 we celebrated Luke turning 13! We are so blessed to have the opportunity to love and be loved by Luke. He is such a joy in our lives. He took some of his buddies and played paint ball at a place called "Gotcha." They had a really great time. Imagine playing paint ball in the jungle! That's what they did. They only came home with a few welts too. I am fairly confident in saying that the highlight in the whole experience for Luke was getting his father in the mouth.

April Days

Hi friends,

I seem to be slowing down on my writing...could it possibly be because we have a busy toddler in the house? Or is that just an excuse :) Whatever the case, here I am, sitting at my computer.

April has brought yet another birthday for me (Linda). The fun thing about this time was that my neighbor Merly has her birthday a week after mine. We figured this out in the beginning of April, so we made plans to celebrate together. Merly and I had planned on having a Bible study on the afternoon of my birthday. I didn't know she had some plans up her sleeve. She showed up with a plate of "pancit" which I just love. It is a noodle dish with vegetables and meat. Also, along with her came another neighbor, Mia. We had a great time eating noodles and drinking soda together in our house. I had my helper, Celia, take a break and celebrate with us. After we finished with our feast, we sat down and looked in the Word together. Mia has been a mystery to me. Now I know that she really knows scripture. She told me that she grew up as a Catholic, and has been schooled in Catholicism. It was a real treat to get to know Mia a little better. Please add Mia to your prayers, along with Merly, as we share with Mia the love of Jesus. Please specifically pray that she will learn and understand that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. (In the picture, left to right, Merly, Bitoy, Mia, Celia, AM, Jon and myself).

On Merly's birthday, I made her a big birthday chocolate chip cookie and went to her house. We ate spaghetti together and cookies. The fun about her house was that her family all trickled in and out. Unfortunately I didn't think to take all of their pictures in time. I could have gotten most of them, but was a bit slow on the draw. Merly is a joy to have as a friend. She has a whole household of people who need Jesus.

Luke and Eric and I have had the wonderful pleasure of getting scuba certified. One of the teachers at Faith offers training, and equipment for the people in the class to use. Andy was supposed to take the class, but because he ruptured his eardrum back in February, he cannot go diving until next February (provided it has all healed up fine). We went this weekend to the beach to finish up our training. It was beautiful! We are now in our second country where there are incredible coral reefs available to view, and we have been blessed with the opportunity to learn to scuba dive. Eric and Luke both seem to be part fish. It has been a bit more difficult for me to gain that fish mentality, but I think the more beautiful things we get to see, the more fish-like I might become.
We got to do this dive with a bunch of jelly fish. They were about 6 inches in diameter and a pretty pink in color. Eric found a large piece, about 18 inches square, of a squid on the ocean bottom. The whole squid must have been really big. We saw beautiful coral, beautiful starfish, and beautiful fish. We played with sea cucumbers and just had a great time...aside from having to purposely fill our masks with water and then clear them (fill them back with air) underwater everytime we went down :)

I had the opportunity of talking to two of the 7th grade Bible classes on the subject of Situational Ethics, specifically in regards to Down Syndrome and the argument that children with Down Syndrome should be aborted. It was a wonderful experience. The kids were all ears, and they even had lots of questions. It was a pleasure to help them understand that Down Syndrome and other disabilities are truly a gift to our world. I got rather specific with them in regards to dna and the way that chromosomes are formed. It was a great gift to me because, as usual, I am sure I learned more than I was able to teach to the kids. With all the detail the Lord puts into pairing up our base pairs, which make our dna, I think there was a definite plan for repeating the sequence (Down Syndrome) once in every 800 births. It was really a fun experience.

Eric had his first opportunity to preach since we've been here. He reminded us that God has called all of us to be strong and courageous and do the work that God has called us to. For some that is going overseas. For others that is staying where they are. However, we are all called to do one thing...that is to pray for souls to be won for Christ.

God did his part two days before Eric's sermon. One month ago Eric had asked our home prayer group to pray "that spiritually hungry people would seek him out." They had been praying. On Friday Eric was standing on the sidewalk waiting for a jeepney. All of a sudden a policeman strides right up to Eric and says, "Sir, are you a missionary." Eric said yes thinking he was in trouble. Then the man said, "Sir, will you help me get a Bible." Eric was awestruck, but managed to ask the man if he wanted an English or Tagalog language Bible. It was the perfect example for the sermon and for us to realize God wants us to pray and He wants to answer those prayers to increase worship of Himself. On the following Monday Eric found the policeman again and gave Him his Bible. Just today Eric and the Policeman, name Levy, stood on the sidewalk and talked about the Bible and how Levy is enjoying reading it. Levy is asking for wisdom so he will know what the Bible means. Please pray God will reveal Himself through His Word to Levy.

APRC has started burning the midnight oil again. For any of you who sponsor children through Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, be anticipating a phone call from our crew. They are heading into the call center at 3:30am and using the internet to phone all 10,000 plus people in the USA who sponsor children. The call campaign is called "One to One". The goal is for each child sponsor to take the challenge of finding another sponsor. Two of the call-center agents were sponsored children. Now they are wonderfully strong young Christian disciples.

We thank God for the safety He provides for us all the time, and we don't even know it. There is a very busy intersection just outside the seminary gate, where 5 roads come together. Last Sunday while we were in church there was a horrible accident in that intersection. Two of the roads go up a very steep hill where there is cement factory (they go up different sides of the hill). There are a lot of big semi-trucks that go up and down that hill with loads of cement, and loads of large rocks. Unfortunately, sometimes they don't pay strict attention to the maintenance of the trucks, and the trucks end up going down the hill out of control. Since we came here last June, there have been three serious accidents in that intersection. This most recent has been the worst. Three people were killed, and 13 reported injured. One of the fatalities was the cousin of Eric's co-worker Danny. Please be praying for Danny and his family as they grieve the loss of this young life. One of the miracles of this story deals with four of the summer school Seminary students. Four of them had just stepped off their jeepney and as the jeepney pulled back into the road, the runaway truck passed between them and the jeepney. We are praising God for his protection on those four students, and for the continued protection he covers us with everytime we are in that intersection. Please know that we appreciate your prayers for safety, and are convinced that there are many times we just have no idea God has intervened for our safety.

March

March has been a great month! I always love March at home. Everything is turning green. The flowers are waking up. The days are warming up. March here is proving to be very similar, just in a slightly different perspective :) The flowers are getting more plentiful. The birds seem to be waking up. And yes, the days are indeed getting warmer. Each day is a little warmer than the one before. The good side of this is that no matter how grumpy I might be feeling inside due to the "warmer" weather, my face is ALWAYS sparkling :)

We had a real fun evening of bonding with our team from APRC. We went out bowling and then shared a meal together. It is so great to be together in a celebratory occasion. It is too easy to just "work" together and not really share life. We are striving to share life with our team, and we are honored and privileged to do so with them. They are a gift to us!

We had the wonderful opportunity this month to have family come visit us. Eric's parents and one niece and one nephew came and spent 10 wonderful days with us.
We initiated them into life in Manila. We didn't make it a sightseeing visit, or a "vacation." They wanted to experience life like we experience it day in and day out. So, that's what we did. It was really fun showing them our places of work, the kids school, the places we drive to for groceries, our church, and our neighborhood. It was just a wonderful time. Eric and his dad worked on some projects around the house that was begging for some attention. Eric's Dad, Glenn, made our house his focus for his mini Work and Witness project. It was awesome to have his help. Trying to get the appropriate parts and pieces to fix the leaky sink fixtures was a cultural experience in and of itself. It actually took longer finding the parts than it did to fix the leak. In the end they heated up a pipe to make the final connection. It worked and still is. NO MORE LEAK!

We also took them to a youth function for a new church plant. They got to be with the young people, and then we took them to the home that some of the church planters are living in. We were able to have a time of prayer there in their home, where they are currently having a Sunday night service. What a blessing it was to be with them and for the family to meet some of the people they have been praying for.

We also experienced "Alay Lakad", which means "walk offering", together for the first time with them. Wow! What an event that was. If you didn't read my last post, I directed you to a co-workers site to read his blog and see his pictures...I can't compete :) Here is the link http://www.sendusout.com/god/alay-lakad-the-gift-walk/

It was great to have Eric's family here. We had a wonderful time of reunion with them, and our kids had so much fun with their cousins. What a fabulous blessing they all are to us. Of course, it was difficult when we had to say "goodbye."

Our sweet little Mari turned three on the 18th. It is really an amazing thing looking at her and realizing that we have had her that long! In some ways, it has been a long three years, but in other ways, it seems like just yesterday when I felt that initial labor pang. She has really bloomed in the last 9 months since we have been here. She is such a little girl...no longer a baby. We are truly blessed to have her as part of our family. She is a blessing to everyone she meets :) Unless they ask to hold her and she says "NO!"

Mari got a special gift for her birthday from her dear Aunt Elaina and Uncle Ric. Mari got a cute little puppy named Casanova. He is the perfect dog for her. He is just the right size for her to walk, and she is just the perfect size for him to walk. It is really cute the way she walks him around the house and talks to him.

We were able to attend the Seminary Graduation. There were only 17 graduates this year out of 100 students. Our General Superintendent Dr. Jesse Middendorf addressed the graduates and it was a wonderful challenge to do what God calls you to, with passion. It was powerful not only to the graduates, but to the rest of us in attendance.

God is good to us! We are blessed to be serving here. Thank you for partnering with us! We cherish your involvement! May God bless you today!

If you don't go to the actual blog site and you want to see more pictures, you can click on this link and you will see our photo albums! http://picasaweb.google.com/zaneyconnections

Alay Lakad

We have had the priveledge of observing the Maunday Thursday tradition here in Manila. I am going to point you to one of our co-workers site to read his write-up about it. Click here to go to his site http://www.sendusout.com/god/alay-lakad-the-gift-walk/

I hope you'll go see these pictures and the story behind it :)

Life

Hi dear friends,

I have been just about everywhere except at the computer...

Today it is drizzly outside, and it feels a bit like winter, just a bit :) It is very pleasant.

I had asked you to pray for my neighbor, Merly. She and I started a Bible study together. She has been very willing to come and study together. We are reading through John in both English and Tagalog. We are using the time together to study God's word, and to help each other with our language learning. God is doing wonderful things in her life, in the midst of some very difficult things. Merly recently re-committed her life to serving God. She lives in a house with no other evangelical Christians, and meets some resistance from the other family members. However, she has found a wonderful relationship with Jesus Christ, and is pursuing that. Merly was 6 1/2 months pregnant, and went into labor, delivered a beautiful little girl, who only survived for 30 minutes. Please pray for Merly as she mourns the death of her daughter. She has had some very difficult questions, ones that I couldn't even begin to address in Tagalog, so I was able to get our Pastor, who is a widow, to come and pray with her, and talk with her. I know that God will continue to work in her life. Filipino people are amazingly resilient, and seem to always put a smile on their face. Please continue to pray for Merly as she journeys with God. Please pray for me as I try to walk along with her, and encourage her.

There is an annual event at Faith Academy for the Middle School, called Outdoor Ed. It is an opportunity for all of the Middle School to go out and experience some Science and life learning first hand. Eric and Luke both got to go. Eric went as a squad leader or 12 boys, including Luke. There were three schools combined for the experience, and it totaled approximately 300 kids. WHEW! They spent the week at the Taal Volcano area. The first night, all of the kids were together, then each night, they divided up into three different locations, and all rotated through those spots. One night they slept on the volcano, after a hike and a swim in a sulphur lake. They went for a discovery dive in the ocean (shallow scuba dive), and slept on the beach. They cooked for themselves, chicken, potatoes and biscuits in a fire. Did I mention, that the chicken's were live to begin with. They had an outreach project for some of the kids in the area. Our boys designed their own tattoo, that had a gospel presentation involved with it, and got to draw tattoos on the kids in the area (just with gel pens). They had a wonderful time, and many of the kids had some wonderful growth experiences.

I was able to go with 69 other women to a Ladies Retreat up in the mountains last weekend. It was put on by a group of ladies from the Chicago area. They came over here with the sole purpose of doing two separate Ladies Retreats for missionaries. The first one was in our area, and the second one was down south. It was a great time of fellowship, worship, and pampering :) They brought supplies for all of us to have pedicures, manicures, facials, and neck/head massages. Imagine 69 ladies with goop on their faces!!! Hilarious! God's presence was with us! It was a wonderful break.

Our backyard was the venue for an Outreach Valentine party. It is the beginnings of a new church plant, a "baby" from another church that began in our backyard, before we were here. It was really fun to be a part of their outreach. They are targeting an area between our home and the kids school. Please pray for this group as they follow God's leading.

These past six weeks have been full of appointments of several types. We've had Dentist appointments, for cleanings, two cavities, another broken tooth, and Mari got her first experience sitting in the dentist chair. She was hardly cooperative, but she got to ride up and down in the chair :) We have also experienced our first ruptured eardrum. Andy had a slight collision in basketball, and popped his eardrum just like a rose petal in your hand. That has taken us back and forth to town a couple times(and one more to come). Mari has also had standard appointments for her thyroid checks, but that is two different trips downtown, which can be a two hour drive one way. However, we are so thankful that we have found wonderful medical care here, and feel very confident in it.

Eric and the crew have been very busy with training for a new piece of software. They will be supporting this as it will be used in all six regions of the world. God provided two new people with the perfect skill set and disposition and Eric was able to bring both of them onto the team. We are praising God for his perfect timing, and his faithfulness at seeing things to completion. Please pray for the crew as they are taking on this new task, and learning new things.

We have had a lot of visitors on the Seminary Campus this last six weeks. It has been very wonderful to meet these people, and have them in our home for fellowship. There have been people here from Texas, Florida, Maryland, Korea, Australia, and I'm sure I've missed someone. One of the visitors is a developmental therapist and I was able to spend some time with her brainstorming on new things to do with Mari. It is really great the way God puts people in our path.

We had a Work and Witness Team here from the Washington DC area for two weeks. They worked on the new Library , and we had a wonderful time with them. We each had meals with them at the Seminary campus, and we also had them out in our homes for meals. They were here over Superbowl Sunday, and so we had a Superbowl party with them. They had a great trip, and God was definitely with them as they worked together and got to go out ministering with some of the outreaches in our area. Upon arrival back in the states, one of the couples were in a tragic car accident, and the wife was taken home to be with her Savior. Please pray for Paul, her husband who is in critical condition still and will be grieving his wife. Please pray for the other team members who are also grieving.

There are exciting things going on at the Seminary campus. There is a renovation taking place on the cafeteria, and that will make it a much more useable space. The Volunteer Missions Center is underway, with walls continuing to go up and progress continuing on. It will be a great building to have available to the many of volunteers we see come in and out of this area. It is exciting.

We are so blessed to be here, involved with these wonderful people. Thank you so much for allowing us to be here :)

Turn to Page "x"

I remember reading a certain type of book as a kid, and now my kids read these same books. I don't know what they are called, but it sets the stage of the story for you, and then puts you in a place where you have to make a decision. Then, you turn to page "x" for decision "a" or turn to page "y" for decision "b." I always thought it was cool to be able to know either way, what would happen. There have been many times in my life when I wished I could know which page to turn to so I could read the consequences of my choices.

A lot of times God asks me to do something and I find myself discussing with him what my options are. I turn to the Bible, hoping to find "turn to page 'x'." God simply waits for me to come around and make a decision. I always know which way I am supposed to go, but I don't always go or do the things I am supposed to do.

Then sometimes I am reminded of the grave consequences of my choosing to either obey or to disobey. This morning, I received this email...

" I wanted to let you know of the tragic death of 6-year-old Nicole who lives near the front of our seminary. Nicole is one of our kids who has regularly been attending our Sunday School/Children’s worship on the seminary campus. Her two brothers also regularly attend. Nicole was hit by a motorcyclist and most likely died instantly. Today her body was brought to her home where it rests in a casket. Nicole loved to help in our Sunday School. Lot Hallig said that yesterday at church she did not want to leave but instead she stayed to help clean up. The kids have been learning about Moses. Lot felt led to share about Jesus and ask the kids if they would like to ask Jesus into their hearts. Nicole was one of the kids that morning who chose to ask Jesus into her heart. That afternoon at 4pm, about 12 feet from our Seminary entrance, Nicole went home to be with Jesus. Please pray with us for Nicole’s 2 brothers, mother, family, and many friends. "

Yesterday I wrote to you about praying for the workers for the harvest. This is what I am talking about. We need to be praying for each other to be diligent, hard working, eager listening, and best of all, eager to obey and do what God asks of us. Praise God for his workers!!!

Listen...He is there! Praise God!