August 7 '08 Update

Dear "fellowhelpers to the truth",

I love this KJV rendering of 3 John 8 because this truly describes our experience while we've been Stateside. Many folks have helped us along the way by providing delicious hospitality, rich fellowship, prayer, opportunities to speak, cards, letters, funds and put simply encouragement. We bare "witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well". Thank-you dear friends for being a modern day embodiment of 3 John 5-8.

The following are answers to prayer and requests for more prayer. Be encouraged, your bold fervent intercession is effective before God's throne of grace.

1. June 10-13 street children camp: We had 50 campers with 42 boys and girls indicating they turned from sin and trusted Christ as Savior. The camp theme was "You are special to the Lord" and the key verse was John 14:6. Six churches and agencies recruited the campers, sent workers to camp and are now following up their recruits.

2. July 15-18 street children camp: We had 46 campers with all indicating they trusted Christ as Savior. The camp theme was "A changed life" with the key verse being Romans 12:2. Seven churches and agencies participated and are doing the follow-up.

*Pray for the workers as they diligently minister the Word of God to their campers and the participating churches as they receive campers into their fellowship. Some kids are being prepared to enter discipleship-vocational training centers so pray also that they'll desire to make a total break from the street. It's one thing to get kids off the street it's entirely another to get the street out of the kids. It's a spiritual battle for their hearts and minds.

3. August 26-29 street children camp: We're preparing for this month's camp which will focus on discipleship for previous campers. Pray for wisdom as we select campers who are showing growth in Christ, the participating churches and agencies as well as the workers who are getting together now for prayer and planning.

*We thank the Lord for our hard working faithful partners who join us in these fruitful camps. We also give thanks for the funds to carry out our camping ministry. Each camp costs approximately $3,500 which is an increase from last year's cost of $2,840. This jump is due to the increased cost of transportation and food. After this month's camp we have one scheduled for September 9-12 at Camp Jabez, where all the others have been held, and another tentatively scheduled due to weather for October 14-17 in Bicol.

Dave and Becky Majam, Luv Zacal and Elna Serbo have done a marvelous job coordinating these camps. I give thanks to God for their fellowship and faithfulness in ministry.

4. Literacy training for street children update: There are 123 young people studying basic reading, writing and math using the Philippine Department of Education's Alternative Learning System (ALS). They're being supervised by 18 volunteer tutors from our network of churches and agencies who've been trained by the the Department of Education. In February, 33 students from our network took the ALS final exam of which 4 passed.

*Sometime in October the next ALS exam will be given so pray for the students as they prepare for it. When a student passes the exam they receive from the Department of Education a high school diploma and can go on for further education if they wish.

5. Relief operation in Kalibo, Aklan: On June 21 Typhoon Frank battered the Visayan region of the Philippines causing lots of damage and death. You may recall that at the height of the storm the ferry M/V Princess sank off the coast of Romblon province with 200 passengers and crew confirmed dead with 600 still missing. A few days following the storm we received a request for relief aid from the Pastoral Movement of Kalibo the capital city of Aklan province. A few days later the Lord provided almost $11,000 so on July 25 our relief team, lead by Luv Zacal, provided items to 400 families at the Kalibo city hall. 100 people indicated trusting Christ as Savior during the distribution which was hosted and facilitated by the NW Visayas District Council of the Assembly of God. 57 churches of various denominations joined together to make this compassionate ministry possible.

*Church leaders also requested ACTION to assist by providing elementary text books for schools because many books were destroyed and the Department of Eduacation cannot meet all the needs throughout the province. We'd like to help with this need so we're trusting the Lord to provide funds for the needed school books. The school year in the Philippines runs from June-March so classes are severely disrupted without books. Bring this to the Lord please.

6. Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) update: Mary Ann and I recently established contact with Jerry Krosnowski of Risen Savior Missions, a Minnesota based organization, which sends FMSC food to the Philippines on a regular basis. We've also met with Pastor Ernie Gafkjen, a long-time friend serving at the Rochester Assembly of God Church, to work out an arrangement with his church, FMSC, Risen Savior Missions and ACTION so we can receive food on a regular basis. When we met together at FMSC we actually packed two 216lb boxes each containing 1,296 meals which were shipped to the ACTION office. They'll arrive sometime this month and we praise God for this cooperative effort to alleviate malnutrition of Filipino children and their families during these very difficult days.

*Pray that we can continue to work out the process in getting FMSC food from their warehouse in Minnesota into the mouths of hungry people.

7. Micah's send-off: Micah's year long deployment began Sunday. Monday an emotional and patriotic send-off for her Charlie Company, an air ambulance unit, was held at St. Paul's Holman airfield with many friends, family and dignitaries expressing appreciation to the soldiers. Micah was promoted to Staff Sergeant during the ceremony and they're now at Ft. Sill in Oklahoma for further training before they go to Iraq.

8. Amos' studies: Amos continues with his research and requests prayer that he'll finish well and for God's guidance after graduation. He's considering doing a post-doc in another country.

*Pray for clear thinking, breakthroughs in his work and that he'll walk steadily with the Lord. Amos continues to attend Trinity Baptist in Pasadena and have good fellowship with his Caltech grad group.

9. Our return to Manila: This week Mary Ann and I are busy packing our stuff, preparing our apartment for Mike and Rebecca Watters ACTION missionaries who'll stay in it while they prepare for their ministry in Africa and get our heads together before we leave August 11.

*As soon as we arrive, we will be receiving Tracy, an intern from Moody Bible Institute and Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis. Mary Ann will be her mentor for her 6 weeks in the Philippines. We want to make special mention of Jim Craig, for his excellent work in putting Tracy's schedule together as well as other short termers who have served with us in recent months. Pray for Tracy and Mary Ann as they learn many things together.

**You'd think that after almost 23 years of service in the Philippines leaving would get easier but it doesn't. Pray for us because our hearts are torn with family, friends and colleagues scattered throughout the world. However, we wouldn't want our lives to be any other way. We joyfully obey His calling as missionaries in the Philippines.

10. "I seek not yours, but you". (2 Corinthians 12:14 KJV) We have desired to serve and encourage all we've encountered during our Stateside sojourn and we trust we did in a godly way. We're glad to return to our beloved ACTION Philippines team and resume our fellowship and work with them even though travel and getting set-up again presents many challenges. Mike Gingerich served as Officer- In-Charge while I was away and is doing a good job. His wife Cindy continues to fill in as our Business Administrator even though she is busy at our birthing clinic. We thank the Lord for their willingness go the extra mile in serving the team.

As we return to the field, we have a few extra concerns. I have a painful hip with a bone spur and the beginning stage of arthritis but I've been able to see a chiropractor who said to me "we like to take care of the missionaries". Mary Ann will need to see her doctor upon our arrival (I brought her to urgent care recently due to heart palpitations and her heart checked out normal). In addition, we're short about $400 of personal support. As you're able lift us up to the Lord's care because we're in great need of His mercy and grace at this time as always.