Our last days with Dad.....

This was our last photo with Dad. Taken about 2 hours after we arrived. We had long delays with our flights and a frantic message as we were driving from the airport saying, “Sis, how far away are you? Please hurry…..” We were wondering what God’s plan was for us and if we would arrive too late, but God gave us the beautiful gift of 2 hours with Dad where he was able to respond to us before he lapsed into unconsciousness. All that night and the whole next day our family was at Dad’s bedside, holding his hands, talking to him, keeping him as comfortable as we could. His breathing was very labored which was heartbreaking to listen to.

At 10:50pm on Sunday evening, July 23^rd, 30 hours after we arrived, our Lord Jesus took Dad and brought him into His own presence. Dad died very peacefully with our arms around him, and we give glory to God and are so thankful for His plan for Dad’s last days. During Dad’s last week on earth, he was still able to have his weekly bible study and drive Mom to the grocery store for their weekly outing which was amazing. Only for his last 3 days was he confined to bed, and in his own home as he wanted it to be.

Since Dad passed into glory, our family has just clung together, sharing our grief, our memories of Dad, and working through all the things together that we face now that Dad is no longer here with us. Mom is very tired but is doing okay and keeping strong. 

We have been cushioned on all sides by the outpouring of love and prayers from all of you! Thank you so, so much!  All I can say is that there has been so, so much LOVE.

Paul and I plan to return to the Philippines on August 4 (1 week after the funeral). We praise God that we were able to be here with Dad and our family during this time. Mom will probably be going to WA with Bobby at about the same time we go to the Philippines. I wonder what God’s next chapter is for us all.

For those of you who can attend, Dad’s funeral is on Friday, July 28. We are having a memorial service at Kingsridge Baptist Church, at 11:30 am at 12 Portia St, Kingston. At 3:00 pm there will be a viewing at the Mt Gravatt Cemetery Chapel which is at 582 Mains Road, Macgregor followed by the burial at 3:30.

About my Dad....

My Mom just called this morning as Paul was on his way up to Lapoc. She said that Dad is not responsive this morning, and is not waking up. Dad has been progressively getting weaker and weaker with his cancer the past weeks and his pain has been increasing terribly. Thankfully I was able to contact Paul and he turned around straight away and arrived back home a few minutes ago.

Right now we are trying to book tickets to get to Brisbane as quickly as possible. The palliative care doctor said we should return home as soon as we can and encouraged us to talk to Dad on the phone which we did and we heard his voice although it was very weak.

Just wanted to let you know. Our hearts are very heavy right now, tears falling as we write this. Please pray for our family and pray for all the travel details. It is so comforting to know that Our God is not taken by surprise and has a plan.

Like FAMILY.....

Many of the people in this photo were part of the very first group of believers in Cauyunan that put their faith in the Lord about 26 years ago!!! The bond that binds our hearts together with theirs is so deep and so special, we can’t even begin to describe it to you. They know stories about us and we know stories about them that could fill book after book. It is no wonder that when we are with them, the only way to describe it is that we are FAMILY.

Our time with them last Sunday was so, so amazing and so joyous. A commissioning service was held for one of the ‘little girls’ of Cauyunan (not so little anymore) and her husband, who the churches there sent out this week as their newest missionary family. Please pray for them – Aybi and Jerrum and their little daughter Shine: for safety, for good relationships with their new team, and that they will stay close to the Lord.

Praise the Lord with us for one of our brothers Kikì, who has recovered from leprosy after 4 or 5 years of suffering terribly from this disease. He and his wife sang during the church service and brought many of us to tears.

The progress on the translation work is going awesomely – THANK YOU FOR PRAYING!!!!!

We reached our translation goals last month and please pray that we will reach our goal for the month of July of finishing up to and including John chapter 17.

Just in closing, we had a real experience of ‘cops and robbers’ here last night. Just as we were boiling the kettle and getting ready to have a quiet cup of tea before bed, the place erupted into gunfire so loud and close we thought at first it must be fireworks just outside our home. It turned out it was the police chasing a highway robber, peppering his escape route with bullets. He didn’t get away it turns out, but ended up being shot in the foot and then arrested.