Have A Beautiful Christmas!

Praise God this Christmas for providing us with a perfect Lamb who died for us so that He could take away our sin!

This year is almost finished and we have seen God’s grace overflow in every way as we adjusted to a new home (with beaches around us – not mountains) and a new season in the ministry.

Jubab finished Yr 10 last week with honours and he is now off on a six week missions trip to Hungary and we await the new year of 2015 with anticipation of all that the Lord has planned for us:  welcoming our son back home from Hungary on Jan 24^th(!!!!!!!!!!), growing spiritually and in His Word, a trip back to the Philippines in April, huge progress (we pray for) on the translation of the Tala-Andig New Testament, Jubab doing Year 11…….and many other adventures in the faith and in life that God has in store for us!

We are thankful this year for the opportunity to share Jesus with our new friend Olivier from France and to see him trust Jesus……and we are thankful for the many times God has refreshed us in His Word and allowed us to sit under teaching rather than be the teachers. We have loved this and it has refreshed our souls!

We are also thankful that we have gotten to be with our families and have seen almost all of our family – even extended family. It is so precious to sit and talk with parents, brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces……

It has also been a blessing to cover a lot of miles here in Australia and catch up with friends and partners in the work of the Gospel who are so dear, many who have been part of our missionary journey since the very first step we took. We can’t describe how special the times have been as we’ve sat at meal tables, around coffees, in meetings, in prayer……..God has blessed us far beyond what we could even have imagined.

So now we are going into 2015!!!!!!! May God be near to us, may we walk with Him and hope in Him and always be THANKFUL…especially for JESUS!

Memories of Dizon

Just recently, we got a letter from a young lady named Flor who loves serving the Lord and it brought back memories of her Dad:  a guy called Dizon. 

Twenty-six years ago, as Paul was surveying where we would locate, Dizon, a datu (chief) of Tumpagon, stuck the muzzle of his M16 assault rifle into Paul’s chest intending to kill him. God intervened and Paul wasn’t harmed and in the years to come, Dizon became a brother in the Lord and a friend to Paul.  

God took Dizon home to heaven some years ago and his widow and five children have continued on for the Lord. One of his daughters, Flor (not even born when we first moved in) wrote to us this month and sent us the photo below of the group of children she teaches about Jesus every Saturday morning. 

She said in her letter, “I’m continually thankful to our Lord for all He is doing here. There are always going to be the dry times and the times of discouragement but the Lord is constantly here, encouraging me and giving me joy….I love serving Him and I love going from village to village spreading the gospel and I love teaching children…. I miss you both and thank you so much for being my spiritual father and mother…..”   Love Flor

Dizon had no idea that the outsider he wanted to rid his village of was God’s messenger. He had no idea that in a few short years from then, they would be part of the same family – God’s family.

Today Dizon is with Jesus and his family continue in the work of the Gospel. The next missionary sent out from the Tumpagon church may even be his daughter Flor. 

Newlyweds and New Missionaries!

This is Ayan and Sarah, arriving a couple nights ago in Lapoc to join our Lapoc missionary team. Ayan has actually been part of the Lapoc work since he was 12 years as he is the son of Bugs and Elsa, our co-workers there from the start of the work until recently when they returned home to Cauyunan.

This was their wedding day which Paul was thrilled to officiate at during our last trip there in June. We didn’t know on their wedding day that come September, we’d get a skype call from Ayan and Sarah wanting to talk to us about their joining the Lapoc missionary team as this is the direction the Lord has been leading them. Their elders in Cauyunan had already given Ayan and Sarah the go-ahead to talk to Rodil who is now the team leader in Lapoc, and also to us, to see if we would want them to join our team.

Rodil told us he would welcome Ryan’s help and as for us, we were THRILLED!!! We saw this as God ramping up the translation team so that we can GET THE JOB DONE and finally complete the Tala-Andig New Testament. As a young teenager, Ayan wanted to be a Bible Translator, and after finishing high school in Lapoc, he went on to complete a University Degree and also Bible Translator’s training in Manila. So Ayan will be a big help to us as we go into over-drive to complete the remaining 45% of the Tala-Andig New Testament that is still before us.

Please pray for Ayan and for Sarah as they settle in to missionary life as newlyweds and as they make the many adjustments that are ahead of them. Especially for Sarah as she is still very young and she will need courage and strength in the Lord to endure the hardships that life in Lapoc will hold for them. 

 Last night she was exhausted after the emotional roller-coaster of leaving their home and families and making the long trip. The ladies gave Sarah a wonderful, warm welcome when she arrived but it wasn’t long after this photo and she had to go to bed as the day had already held enough for her.

We ask you to pray for our whole translation team as we prepare for this new stage of translation. We are excited! We are ready! We need your prayers!!!!

Please pray for each member of the translation team – ourselves, Nanah, and now also Ayan are the primary translators. Ann-Ann, Jie-Jie, Lalyn, Hazel and Yeng-Yeng and sometimes others also help with various aspects of the translation.

Please pray also for my Dad, Bob Bagley, as he begins radiation treatments tomorrow for his cancer. Please pray that it will not damage any of his organs and that the Lord will use the radiation to extend Dad’s life on earth for many years if this is part of His plan. We would love to have Dad with us still on this journey.