Two Family Prayer Requests

Yesterday Dad had to go to the emergency room of the hospital as he was experiencing terrible pain: 10 out of 10 level pain. He was admitted to the hospital as the doctors found a cancer growth pressing in on his spinal cord and they are very concerned that within days or weeks Dad could be paralyzed if it continues to grow. They prepped him yesterday for more radiation treatment which is to start Monday. Even the radiation could damage his spinal cord so it is a very difficult procedure.

Dad's blood count is also very low and he had to have a blood transfusion and there are other issues with his bowel being addressed.

The palliative pain management team at the hospital are working with Dad and it is a blessing that he was able to get some relief yesterday from that terrible pain.

We don't know how many days Dad will have to be in hospital or what other things will develop from day to day but we do want to thank you for your prayers and ask you to pray in a special way for Dad and Mom and our family today and the next few days if you please could.

Also our Mom in the US, (Paul’s stepmom) who was just over visiting us recently and who loves Aussie meat pies like Paul does, suddenly developed strange symptoms a couple of weeks ago and took herself to the emergency room and scans showed that she has two lesions on her brain. This news has been a big shock to us and it is quite a helpless feeling to be far away from her at this time although we are so thankful that she has a strong support team around her.

Please also pray for her as she undergoes brain surgery on Monday the 18th. This Monday holds big things for two of our parents and we commit them both to our Lord’s wonderful and unfailing hands.

Next steps....!

How many steps do we have left to take in this world? I don’t know, maybe quite a few more yet! “You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip;” (2 Samuel 22:37, ESV)

So here is the next step with our translation of the Tala-Andig New Testament:  by the end of July, our goal is to be finished up to and including Revelation 22:9!  Last months’ goal of finishing up to Revelation 16:21 by the end of June was met through God’s grace to us and through your prayers!  It has been hugely exciting to translate the book of Revelation!! (If you want a blessing, read this book out loud together with your friends or family.)

The believers in Rogongon (also known as Ricodo and Kalamalamahan) just received the gift of this beautiful new church building last month and the next step for them is to broaden their areas of Gospel outreach and to keep raising support for their new trainee missionary, Jovanie Cole who is currently being trained in Lapoc. 

The immediate next step for Jubab is his trial exams which begin August 1^st and then his final exams (HSC) begin October 13^th. He has been working hard at his studies and he would really love your prayers for him these next few months: that he won’t get stressed by deadlines or exams and that his relationship with the Lord will be his anchor through these last months of high school.

The countdown is on for our next big step of closing up life as it has been this past 3 years here in Australia and moving to a new location back on the field. So with school holidays on, we took a whirl wind family trip to Sydney and had lots of poignant moments: we had a wonderful time with my sister and her family, saw the places we went when we were just newlyweds in missionary training, wondered at how many family trips we’ll be able to have like that with Jubab……experienced the mixed up emotions of sadness mixed with excitement. 

While we were in Sydney, Jubab also had his interview with the US embassy for his student visa which was granted!!!! Another step towards Bible College - God is just so good!!! 

Annual Report From The Women Scripture Teachers! This is Amazing!!

Picture taken of the children at the Basac school.
Scripture teachers are sitting at the front.

ACCOUNT OF THE WORK OF THE WOMEN SCRIPTURE TEACHERS FROM LAPOC MISSION CHURCH  FOR THE 2015-2016 SCHOOL YEAR

All of us ladies were able to keep to the lesson plans and complete all the lessons except in the Basak school, as we only started teaching there in October 2015 so we have not completed the year of lesson plans there and have not reached the Gospel Lessons yet but we are sure that many of these children will be saved in the future.

The children from all the other schools have all heard the Gospel and there are children who are now saved and we have verified this by interviewing them personally and also by giving them questions to answer in writing.

These Are The Numbers Of Children Who We Teach Each Week (2015-2016):

• Lapoc --------------------510
• Miarayon ----------------840
• Lirongan -----------------303
• Tinaytayan --------------620
• Masimag -----------------535
• San Rafael --------------745
• Basac---------------------835
• Migpait---------------310

                           Total (4,698)

                           Total of those who are now professing to be saved: (2,025)

Some of these young people who have heard the teaching at school are now attending youth fellowship here in Lapoc Mission Church and they come from the Lapoc, Miarayon, Tinaytayan and Masimag schools.

The young people’s group keeps increasing in numbers and sometimes there are 120 young people attending the youth fellowship here in the Lapoc Mission Church twice a month on every first Friday and last Friday of the month.

Some of these children who have been saved at their school are now attending church in their respective villages:

• San Aquino 
• Santa Victoria 
• San Rafael 
• Awang 
• Miarayon  
• Tinaytayan 
• Anlagan 
• Tagbak 

The children who have gone on to high school continue to hold bible studies. Young people from Lapoc Mission Church are the ones who are leading and facilitating these bible studies, namely Rere, Elgen and Jecel, as the director of the high school has given them freedom to do this.

(Below is the original version of this accounting before it was translated into the English version above by our co-translator Ryan.)

SUMADA BAHIN HU MGA TRABAHU HU MGA PALAGBATBAT HA MGA BAHI TA LAPOC MISSION CHURCH 2015-2016

Sa bahin hu mga Lesson Plan, nakatuman gayod sa alan, ba sa diyà ta Basac Elementary School hurà pa hinuun makabatbat ta kandan sa Paagi hu kaluwasan ta October on man sidan nasugudi hu pagbatbati. Daw nakasiguru kay ha madakol gayod kandan sa mangaluwas hu unahan.

Daw sa duun hu duma ha mga iskwilahan nabatbatan on sidan hu Paagi hu kaluwasan daw amin gayod nangaluwas duun.  Nasusi pinaagi hu pag-interview kandan daw sa duma pinaagi hu pag-ila hu test ta kandan daw nangatubag dan pandayà.

Kagkadakol Hu Mga Batà 2015-2016:

• Lapoc --------------------510
• Miarayon ----------------840
• Lirongan -----------------303
• Tinaytayan --------------620
• Masimag -----------------535
• San Rafael --------------745
• Basac---------------------835
• Migpait---------------310

                                                        Total hu alan (4,698)

                                                        Sa naluwas: (2,025 )

Amin mga batan-on ha tag-apil on hu Amul-amul Hu Batan-on dini dà ta Lapoc puun dini ta Lapoc, ta Miarayon, ta Anlagan, ta Tinaytayan daw ta Masimag.

Ku ting-amul-amul gani iman hu mga batan-on usahay ig-uma sidan hu 120 ha buuk daw sa ting-amul-amul dan kadaruwa iman hu nangkabulan kada permiro daw katapusan ha Bernis.

Daw sa duma tai ha mga batà ha nangaluwas tagsimba on sidan hu simbahan diyà ta kandan ha banuwa or Iglesia diyà ta kandan:

• San Aquino
• Santa Victoria
• San Rafael 
• Awang
• Miarayon 
• Tinaytayan
• Anlagan
• Tagbak 

Daw sa mga nangakahighchool on ganì tagpadayun sidan hu pagbible study diyà St. Therese daw iyan tagpacilitate ta kandan sa mga batan-on taw dini la Lapok, angay ki Rere, ki Elgen daw si Jecel ta inilahan man sidan hu kagawasan hu Director ta Highchool hu pagBible study.

Awards presented by the Basac school to the RI teachers.
Even Wing-Wing, their faithful driver was given an award.

A sample of one of the awards presented

Translation Progress Update May 31, 2016 + Plotting the Course Ahead

Well another month has flown by so quickly and God enabled us to exceed our goals and to get up to and including Revelation 5:5 completed. What an encouragement to see the Lord giving us such progress!!!

This month of June we are increasing our goals a little and by the end of June we are working towards having up to and including Rev 14:10 completed.

Where to from here (Left to do still):

-By early August this year we are hoping to have Revelation completed.

-We need to spend a few weeks reviewing the book of James which we will do towards the end of this year.

-We then need to complete Matthew and John – We will (Lord Willing) begin John later this year and then we are praying that we can complete these 2 gospels in 2017.

-Then our translation of the NT will be complete – Thanks Lord!

-Once the translation is complete we need to spend time making up book introductions, a glossary, maps, formatting etc. in preparation for printing. We hope that this will all be completed and that we will be able to print in 2018. The time will come quickly. Pray with us that this will be a reality in the first ½ of 2018.

-Deb, Jubab and I are going to leave Australia on Jan 1, 2017 (at least that is our plan) to take Jubab to Bible College in the USA, and while there to visit Deb’s Grandpa who is not doing too well these days – he is 95, and also to visit other relatives and friends and then we will return to serve full time in Mindanao. We are excited about the direction the Lord is giving us.

We have a missionary!!

We have a missionary!!!!!!  This is what the church at Ricodo exclaimed in excitement as their leaders announced that one of their young men, Jovanie Cole, wanted to give his life for missions and that after one year of serving in the church under his elders, they were ready to send him out for further training in Lapoc!!

So we now have a new missionary trainee in Lapoc! Pray for him! Our Lord told us to pray for more labourers as the fields are white unto harvest and here is one more labourer who has raised his hand and has said,  “I’ll go.” Please also pray for his dear mother and father as they endure this separation from their beloved son who they have raised since childhood to follow Jesus.

These are Jovanie’s elders arriving with Jovanie on May 23rd in Lapoc. They honoured him and showed them their full support by not sending him off on the trip by himself but by giving up a couple of day’s work to bring him all the way to Lapoc and entrust him safely into the hands of his new co-workers and teachers. They are so happy and excited as Jovanie is the first missionary to be sent out from their church!

Today is Jovanie’s first day of training and he is going to have a packed weekly schedule of going out on outreaches with the bible teachers from Lapoc, formal classes two or three times a week taught by Rodil and others from the Lapoc church leadership team, a couple of mornings a week with the translation team to deepen his understanding of the Word, physical work that will be assigned to him…… prayer times, work with the Youth Group…… all this to prepare him to go out and open up a new area of missionary work as part of a new missionary team. 

Yesterday Jovanie (in the center wearing a blue tshirt) said goodbye to his elders as they left to head back to Ricodo. We can imagine the sudden hole they left in his heart as they drove away. One of the costs of being a missionary is the sometimes overwhelming feeling of isolation from loved ones. Jovanie will be working through these feelings right now so please pray for him that he will endure the hardships and count it all joy for the sake of Jesus and for the Gospel.

Translation Update for April!

This is our team today (picture taken a few minutes ago), hard at work back in our office in Lapoc while we work on the ‘other side of the screen’ over here in our Ballina office!

Today we are laboring over the book of Jude, up to verse 12 right at this very moment as we write this while we wait for the team over in Lapoc to talk about their corrections on the draft.

PRAISE the Lord with us for enabling us and strengthening us to reach the April goals for the translation!!!!!  During the month of April, our goals were to finish 2 Peter 3, and translate the books of 1 John and 2 John up to verse 11. These goals were reached and even more!!!!

PLEASE PRAY WITH US FOR THIS MONTH OF MAY!  Our goals for this month are:

·       To finish 2 John (already finished as we’re ahead!)

·       To finish 3 John (already finished as we’re ahead!)

·       To finish Jude (already finished as we’re ahead!)

·       To start the book of Revelation and finish up to Rev 4:11.

Many prayers must have been pouring up to our Lord’s throne for us during the month of April, because in spite of many other things that the Lord brought our way - including a huge amount of work in helping with the food crisis – we were able to stick on schedule and even get ahead.

Thank you soooooo much for partnering with us in this way and keeping the Tala-Andig New Testament translation team in your prayers.

Next week – May 9^th – please pray for national elections in the Philippines, and especially for our brothers and sisters, that they will be kept safe during this sometimes volatile time.