Season of Building!

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 speaks of different seasons we have in our lives and this particular season of our lives right now is a season of building.

Building better infrastructure for people to meet in. Here you see the hive of activity as the church building in Tagbak is taking shape even right now as you read this.  

Building up the workers here who are involved in spreading the Gospel. This takes place in many ways like fellowship over meals and coffees, time together in the Word, discipleship, passing on of information, working together for a common goal, loving each other in spite of personal differences, encouraging one another....... 

 

Building up the confidence and abilities of the church leaders through workshop-seminars and by availing them of helpful technology like computers.  Here you see Ann-ann preparing the first of the computers which are for church leaders in the various churches. They will be having a workshop to learn how to operate and use these computers early next month. This computer workshop will be fully conducted by ladies from the church here in Lapoc, who have become adept in the use of computers through their years of helping us on the translation and through their own hard work and study. 

So.....all sorts of building is going on during this season of our lives. Please pray for us that we will be skilled workers and that we have wisdom to keep our hands inside of our Lord’s so that the building we do lasts.  

Psalm 127:1  Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build......

Baby Lloyd!

Jen and Udi are proud parents of their fourth baby and second son!!!

Baby Lloyd arrived safely on April 5^th at around 8:30 pm!!!

He weighed 6.6 lbs. and is quite a tiny little man but very strong and very alert. He arrived 15 days early but we praise the Lord that he is healthy and doing well.

Lloyd is the only one of our four grandchildren to be born in a hospital but it was God’s leading as Jen’s blood pressure shot up during the delivery and she had to be given anti-convulsent meds intravenously. Baby Lloyd was in distress and inhaled meconium during the delivery so both he had his Mummy are on antibiotics.

Udi, Jen and bubs arrived here Monday the 8th, and the family stayed here until this last Tuesday and then went home for a short time to Cauyunan. Jen and the children will be coming back on the first of next month to stay with us for a further 2 weeks. Jen’s blood pressure is still high and she is still on the meds that she was discharged with from the hospital. 

While we were waiting for baby Lloyd’s arrival, the other three grandchildren were staying with us and the youngest - 22 month old Jhamaica - was busy clowning it up around here. She is just a doll and is constantly inventing funny things to say and to do!  

The arrival of her Mummy, Daddy and little brother however rocked baby Jhamaica’s little world for awhile. Her first reaction was excitement and joy at seeing her Mummy and Daddy but as the evening went on she was just devastated to see her Mummy holding another baby and she cried like she was broken-hearted. There were a lot of tears during the first 24 hours or so.

But being the joyful little person that she is, she bounced back pretty quickly, is getting pretty proud of herself for being a ‘big sister’ now and likes giving her baby brother cuddles!

So this is our big, BIG news and joy – another baby added to our family!

Our Missionary Team

This is a picture of our Lapoc missionary team last week. From the left there are the Ben and Leonie and their bubs, then there is James and JingJing and their two boys, then there is Rodil and Annie and their two children and at the end Wingwing and Hazel and their three children and you would have recognized the three of us.

This team the dynamics have changed because James and JingJing are now back in their home church of Tumpagon and a new family have come for missionary experience and exposure who we don’t have a picture of yet.

The transition between the two families went smoothly which is a praise point and our new team members seem to be settling in well.

Please Pray This Week For........

• Hazel and Wingwing who are in the midst of a family heartbreak because of the death of Hazel’s oldest brother who died of dengue fever last week. The funeral was last week and it was very difficult for all of them as the brothers and sisters were all very close to each other.  Also, Hazel and their daughter Gwen both have health concerns they need to see a doctor about soon.
• Roldan and Inday and their children Jelo, Jannie and Faith, newly arrived on the team, that they will feel at home and that they will be strong in the Lord and shine as lights during their sojourn here.
• Annie had a scare with some high blood pressure last week but this week she is doing better. It must have been because of the hugely busy week they had and the stress. She and Rodil are praising the Lord today for their daughter Ching’s 8^th birthday. They need much wisdom as they are on the leadership team of the church here in Lapoc and also in San Aquino.
• Leonie just had a bad bought of flu but is getting better today. Pray for a full recovery and for them to feel a freshness even though it has been a hard slog of recent times.
• Us, that we can enjoy our brimming household and have special family time with our three grandies - Charly, Clint and Jhamaica - and with inay Bungguy (the mother who took Paul under her wing when we first arrived in Cauyunan 24 years ago), even though Jhamaica is teething and a bit out of sorts and even though we have had an additional 23 people this past week for a seminar.  
• Jenita, who is a tiny 12 year old girl we have taken into our hearts and also into our home for awhile. She comes from a very difficult home life and she became a part of our hearts over the past few years as we helped her to get surgery to correct a twisted foot she had from cerebral palsy.   

Thanks for your prayers for our team!