Merry Christmas!
We are in awe at “Christ”mas at the wonder that God would send His only Son, Jesus, as a baby to be the “Christ” that would save the world. And to think that all we have to do is accept this gift which was given freely to us.
We’ve spent the past year in the Philippines sharing with people about the gift of Jesus. We’ve had the opportunity to watch the miraculous power of God work in so many people’s lives. We saw blind eyes see again, deaf ears open to hear, the lame walk, cancer completely gone and many others. Part of the time, we’ve been working with an area where the poverty level is so high that most people here could not fathom it. We’ve started a school there for 30 children where they are receiving an education and are being fed one meal a day. The cost to do this is approximately $20 a month per child. We are looking for businesses or individuals who would be willing to commit to supporting this venture with any amount on a monthly basis. If you know of anyone who you think would like to help us with this, please let us know. We anticipate this school growing by a grade each year. The children that are attending would most likely never get an education otherwise. The results of the school are already being seen in a positive way. The parents of the children are now attending the local church where the school is housed. Also, the community is seeing the good that is happening there because of Ptr. Tony and the church and are also starting to attend. The church has grown from 30 to over 100 since the beginning of the school. Needless to say, this has been a rewarding year for us. We are so thankful to so many of you who support us. Because of your commitment, the Gospel truly is being preached to the Nations. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. I know the Filipino people are so thankful to you also.
We’ve also had some exciting times back in the States as we’ve gotten to enjoy our son, Greg’s last season of football with EWU. He has had a stellar year. He broke his school’s career and season records for sacks. He ended the year #1 in the nation for “sacks” and for “tackles for loss” for his division. He’s been named the Defensive MVP for the Big Sky League. He’s also been named to a few All-American lists as well. WOW. And to top it all off…we are very excited to announce that Greg has received the “Buck Buchanan” award. This is a national award given to the defensive player of the year for FCS. We gathered all of our air miles and traveled to Chattanooga, TN to witness the event. We are very proud of our son both in the accomplishments on the field and the way he handles himself off of the field. There were many compliments given to us because of the humble way Greg has handled the accolades he has been given.
Our youngest son, Jayson, is doing very well. We’ve decided to “home school” him now in order to make school successful for him. He was struggling in the Philippine school that he was attending and we want to make sure that education is something that he enjoys. We are also using a language course together so that we can be proficient in the Philippine language. He is really enjoying competing with mom. In the Philippines, Jayson has been taking Karate-do classes. That seems to be the only organized sport that he’s going to be able to do there. He does practice basketball daily. He has made quite a few friends both in our neighborhood and at the church. When asked how he enjoys the Philippines, he gives one thumb up and one thumb down. It is definitely a different world than what we’re used to here. We just focus on the exciting adventure that he has the privilege to be a part of.
We are getting ready to pack up and go back in just over a week. We’ve committed to 2 more years there. Please keep us in your prayers. We also enjoy receiving emails. You can email us via the link on the home page.
God bless you this New Year.
We are back in The Philippines! We arrived just in time to watch the inauguration of President Obama. Anna-Lisa is actually the only one who stayed up to watch. It was broadcast live and so she didn't go to bed until 2:30am. The next day we went to our church here and visited with a lot of our friends. We got to see Ptr. Paul and Rucelle's newest addition, Josiah. He's so cute! Such a happy baby. On Saturday, we spent awhile in Purok Sais and visited with people there. At church on Sunday we listened to Ptr. Sonny who is our Philippine church's missionary to Thailand. The rest of the time we've spent killing ants and putting our house back in order. We're very thankful that we haven't seen any evidence of cockroaches taking up residence here too. The weather has been beautiful with highs in the mid to high 80's. We'd love to hear from you, send a note via the email 
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