We returned home last night from our team's annual field conference and today Mary Ann and I are preparing for our departure tomorrow to Calgary, Alberta for ACTION's International Council meetings. We're unloading some suitcases while packing others as we move from tropical to winter weather for two weeks. Here are a few ministry reports on previous prayer items coupled with more prayer requests:
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1. Working Hands' Wood Technology graduation:
March 7 nine young men graduated from Gary Root's 10 month wood tech class. Eight of the 9 previously graduated from our living skills discipleship home for former street boys called Honest Hands. This was a huge day of celebration and recognition for a job well done for each graduate who are now entering into the six month on-the-job training portion of their learning. Pastors, mothers, siblings, friends, ACTION missionaries and staff along with church mates attended the service but noticeably few fathers came which shows the need in the guys' lives for godly men. Pray for God fearing men to enter the lives of the grads to model and teach what it means to be Christ-like in the family, work place, church and community.
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2. Nathan Hooper's visit:
Nathan Hooper, an ACTION appointee from Toronto, Ontario, has been with us for 13 days seeing our ministries and meeting his future teammates. He's been a joy to get to know and we look forward to meeting his wife Carol and their children Caleb, Miriam and Hannah when they join our street children ministry team hopefully later this year. They have about 30% of their support so pray for God's provision as they continue to share their calling to minister to Filipino children-in-crisis.
*Along this line pray for Praise Goh as she now writes her research paper on how we go about networking with churches both here and abroad after a grueling 2 month visitation and interview schedule. She leaves us Friday and will graduate from Fuller June 13. Lord willing we will see her in Pasadena around that time.
*Continue to pray for Erin Johnson as she studies how our street children ministries function. She's been plagued, however, with a sore throat and fever for several weeks and can't seem to recover from it. Pray for her health. At the end of April she travels to Cambodia to visit friends and the ACTION team so pray that the Lord will make His will clear to her as she determines if she should remain in the Philippines or join the Cambodia team. She is certainly very welcome to stay with us.
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3. Real, Quezon wilderness camp-site development:
Last week several of us toured the wilderness camp-site to see the development thus far and discuss future plans. So far lots of brush has been cleared, land leveled by hand, stairs with 66 steps put in up a steep incline, plants planted to deal with soil erosion and a lavatory started. We have four guys regularly working the land three of which are from the barrio and new believers in Christ and Pastor Benny who is pastor of Real Christian Fellowship the church started as a result of our years of ministry in the area. We'll keep developing the property as funds allow and we're planning to have a discipleship-work camp hopefully in May for older former street boys who would enjoy this type of activity. Pray for funding for this project because many groups are hoping to use wilderness camping as a means to enhance the development of young followers of Christ.
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4. May 15 musical drama:
Thirty five former street kids along with pastors, church workers and para-church workers are continuing their Saturday practices for our May 15 musical drama which we mentioned in our February letter. Pray for needed funds for food, transportation, printing flyers and promotional materials and renting the church we'll use. Everyone is excited, working hard and expecting God to move His people with His compassion for street kids and their families scattered around the Philippines and world.
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5. Our daughter Micah's leave with us in Manila:
Sometime the first few days of April Micah will arrive for her two week leave. For security reasons we don't know when she'll actually arrive and we won't know until she boards her plane in Kuwait. She's looking forward to some R&R, home cooking, fellowship with us and friends as well as look into possible future ministry opportunities in the area of sports training and discipleship. Pray for her as she carries on with her deployment and is seeking the Lord for His future direction.
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6. Our son Amos' graduation:
Amos has asked us to attend his graduation June 12 from CalTech with a Ph.D. in Chemistry so we're looking into buying tickets. His public defense which is the last step to graduation is sometime in May so pray that he prepares well. Amos has been at CalTech for 5.5 years and is eager to to move on in life so he's requested prayer for the Lord's clear guidance as he plans his future and seeks employment.
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7. Field Conference:
Thank-you for praying as our team gathered for our annual field conference. Pastor Tom Crouse's clear, plain speaking and understandable Bible teaching with the theme "honoring God as we serve together" was powerfully challenging. Our well planned worship times lead by ACTION missionary Adam Hussey were Spirit-inspired, Praise Goh our intern from Fuller Theological Seminary along with the help of a few high schoolers provided fun and learning for our little MKs, we had a meaningful communion service, seasons of prayer, some business, lots of free and recreation time and for those who needed some sleep (like me) time for that. Mary Ann did a great job coordinating the entire conference. This was our 20th field conference and Mary Ann has either served on a committee or been the over-all coordinator for all but the first one of those 20 and she continues to serve with a smile.
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8. ACTION's International Council (IC) meetings:
As mentioned we leave tomorrow for our IC meetings at which I'll represent the Philippines and serve as secretary. Mary Ann will join us and will type the minutes since I'm a poor typist and want to be fully engaged in the discussions. Pray for God's wisdom as we tackle several items concerning ACTION's 26 fields of operation and over 250 missionaries. We need to resolve several items in such a way the that God is pleased and will facilitate the spread of the Gospel and building of the church around the world. Pray also for the $1,900 that's needed to cover Mary Ann's travel and on-the-ground expenses.
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9. Conclusion:
Some take-home truths from our field conference are various expectations that you our dear prayer warriors have of us simply because we're missionaries. Some of them are:
* we know and love God
* we love and read our Bible daily
* we pray daily
* we preach and demonstrate the gospel daily to the lost
* if we're married we love and are faithful to our spouses and if we have children we're godly parents
* we get along with our ACTION teammates and Filipino colleagues
* we'll be transparent and accountable with God and others
By God's grace we intend with all our heart, mind, soul and strength to live *up* to God's standards for His followers and not dummy them *down* and make excuses when we fall short. There are many areas of prayer you can pray for us and other missionaries you know and love but John 15:8 is on my mind as I write: "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples." (NASB) Pray that we walk with the Lord daily in humble obedience because there's too much at sake to be lost if we don't and His glory among the nations to gain if we do.
In His service and your friend,
Jeff
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