Please
pray for Paul this coming Thursday as he has surgery for two hernias. It can’t
come quick enough for Paul as he has been experiencing quite a bit of
discomfort and pain.
About
life here in Ballina, the house feels homey now, we’ve made a garden (got eaten
alive by midges) and done a lot of handy-man jobs. We’ve also been travelling
and speaking and sharing about the great things God is doing in Mindanao.
Paul
is still ‘building’ and just recently, a small but very functional church
building has been built for the little group of believers in Tinongtongan. Through skype and
emails, Paul is able to order the building supplies and to help the team of builders who are on site, so this is a huge blessing!
Paul is recording messages on the
book of Ephesians which he sends to Lapoc. These are used as study helps by the church leaders who are
teaching Ephesians in the churches.
Please pray that they will grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus and
in His Word.
The past four months
have brought so many changes to Jubab’s life that it has almost totally changed
from when we were in Lapoc. He has gone from being introvert to being
extrovert, from not being an upfront person to being on-stage weekly, from
being unsure of himself to being quite confident…
You might ask why all these changes: it is probably partly due to growing up and also to feeling a lot more freedom to express himself. Recently Jubab told us that he had felt a bit repressed and traumatized in the environment we lived in on the field and that he feels a lot more open and happy here. God multiplies His grace and peace to us!
Jubab finds the classroom situation at school fun and motivating and as he makes new friends who are asking him about his background and his faith, he is even learning boldness to speak out about what he believes.
Leadership opportunities like the student council at school and helping with the Youth Group at church are stretching him and encouraging him.
He asks for prayer for consistency in his walk with God.
During
that trip we will be having a 3-day leadership workshop with over 30 church leaders,
a wedding that Paul will be officiating at, a Ladies’ conference of 200 +
ladies where we will be studying the book of 2 Peter, a visit to three
different areas to encourage the believers and speak in the churches, a
training day and fellowship with all the scripture teachers from the schools
and quite a few meetings.
Last Sunday, Paul had a skype meeting with three of the church leaders in Lapoc – Ronnie, Rodil and Duy-duy – and they told him that last Friday there was a baptism in Tinongtongan of 20 new believers and at the end of April, there will be another baptism of 40 new believers in another place, many of them teenagers. Praise God!!visit us next week which is a special
You might ask why all these changes: it is probably partly due to growing up and also to feeling a lot more freedom to express himself. Recently Jubab told us that he had felt a bit repressed and traumatized in the environment we lived in on the field and that he feels a lot more open and happy here. God multiplies His grace and peace to us!
Jubab finds the classroom situation at school fun and motivating and as he makes new friends who are asking him about his background and his faith, he is even learning boldness to speak out about what he believes.
Leadership opportunities like the student council at school and helping with the Youth Group at church are stretching him and encouraging him.
He asks for prayer for consistency in his walk with God.
other family news:
Recently
Jubab auditioned for a part in a production at the local theatre - which he got
- so he now has an outlet for his love of drama.
Dad
and Mum are coming to visit us next week which is a special blessing we can
enjoy and next month, my brother and his wife and four daughters who we haven’t
seen in 11 years, are coming home from the mission field and we are looking
forward very, very much to seeing them!
Our upcoming plans to travel back to the Philippines in June:
June
is coming very quickly and we are looking forward to being reunited with our
beloved fellow-believers in Christ who are especially precious to us because we
labored for them through many dangers and many years and yet we count those
costs as nothing because of the joy of serving Christ and of seeing them
growing in their faith and in their faithfulness to Him.
Last Sunday, Paul had a skype meeting with three of the church leaders in Lapoc – Ronnie, Rodil and Duy-duy – and they told him that last Friday there was a baptism in Tinongtongan of 20 new believers and at the end of April, there will be another baptism of 40 new believers in another place, many of them teenagers. Praise God!!visit us next week which is a special
