Africa??

Same title 5 1/2 months later. We have an opportunity to go with our own church to Kenya, Africa next June. We have been and continue to pray whether or not this a trip God wants us to be a part of. We are still very open to the field of Africa and have looked at works, schools, etc in Kenya and Tanzania. The Philippines has taught us that we are developing a passion for the impoverished, especially children who appear to have no hope without the love of Jesus Christ through missionaries. The recent flooding in the Philippines has really made us evaluate Manila in regards to full time service and it is definitely a possibility. At this time, however, we sense God's calling to survey Africa. We will have the opportunity to speak with a missionary from Mombasa, Kenya in the coming months who would be a prospect for us to work with. We are also very interested in visiting Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Many areas of Africa are beautiful and the little children will break your heart. Please continue with us in prayer as we seek God's calling.

Back Home

We are sorry that we were unable to post frequently while overseas. We really had limited access to the internet and we were out doing something or traveling most of the time. This will be a little lengthy to catch you up.

Since our last blog we visited Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia. It was a great day of sightseeing and learning but a VERY sad day as we met the first people in our life that truly had never heard the name of Jesus. Just breaks your heart. Our nation has opportunity after opportunity to accept Him and we continually reject Him. These people have never even heard! WOW!!

We flew back to Phnom Penh and visited Tuol Sleng museum. If you have never read much about Pul Pot and the Khmer regime you should look it up and Google Tuol Sleng while you are at it. It is hard to believe this happened during our lifetime and many people know nothing about it. That evening we spent at a MANNA feeding center, playing with and feeding kids. We also did a medical clinical. We saw approximately 240 patients in less than four hours and distributed a lot of medication. Unfortunately one the most common meds distributed was for parasites. That night we enjoyed another service as Brian Moore (Calvary Baptist Church, Yorba Linda, CA) challenged us to start a revolution for Christ.

The next day we boarded a plane for Manila with a stop in the Singapore airport. We had a great time on our four hour layover. The youth Olympics are coming up in Singapore and they had a booth with free activities to promote it. The best was racing each other on the bouncing horses. Janelle got the gold in her race and I took the silver (Congratulations Lance!). They were real metal too, not plastic.

That night was short as we made it home about 10 pm, talked with Lance and Melanie until about 11 pm, and then packed and got some rest before our 5 am alarm to head to the Manila airport for our trek home. 32 hours later and a slight delay at LAX and we were home. We went back to the airport to get the kids this morning. It is great to be back together as a family, however, we thank God for the opportunity to go and spread the gospel. We look forward to the place He takes us next. Thank you all for your prayers and support as we continue on our journey to the mission field!

In Cambodia

We traveled most of the day from Manila to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We had a four hour lay over in Singapore which gave us enough time to go into the city. We almost missed the plane though as the last of our group boarded the plane about 3 minutes before take off. The plane was already moving as they were still getting seated. We enjoyed a worship service in a Cambodia church this evening at the home of a Filipino missionary. Lance Gotcher preached a simple message on John 3:16 to about 25 Cambodians and one prayed to accept Jesus Christ as her savior. Praise God for the small things. This service was an extra service this week because we were in town and someone gets saved. Awesome!! We are playing tourist tomorrow at the ancient temples of Angor Wat before visiting a feeding center and another service on Thursday. Thank you all for your prayers.

Monday in Manila

We have had a great couple of days! Preaching went well yesterday.

Thank you all for your prayers.

Yesterday afternoon we spent time with the group from Yorba Linda, CA in downtown Manila at some shops and then spent the evening with Lance and Melanie. They took us down to old town to show us some history and take in more of the culture. We had a great time with them just talking and laughing. Today has been quite the day. We started out at 5:30 am (4:30 am alarm) and headed to meet the group before going to a local high school to do some evangelism. Lance and I spoke in two classrooms of about 25 each and 16 prayed to accept Jesus as their savior. WOW!! The rain could not keep God from showing his power and there were many more classrooms like the ones we went in.

We then went to a MANNA feeding center to play with some children after their lunch. Then off to a high school to help serve a snack (really a meal) to high school students in another MANNA feeding center. After the snack three of us played a game of basketball with the youth at the school. Jeans, a collared shirt, 90 degrees and 80% humidity! Not the best for basketball but we had a blast. Then off to an elementary school to visit the principal to discuss a values class that Lance will be starting and a possible sight for a new MANNA center. We then walked down to the Pasig River through a squatter village. The poverty is overwhelming. We are now at another MANNA feeding center and then will finish the day off with dinner.

This has been an amazing trip already. We love the group from California that we are working with and Lance, Melanie, and Bruce have been awesome! We look forward to seeing you all soon.

From the Philippines

30 hours after leaving our house we are here!! Lance and Melanie Gotcher and Bruce have been great. We are staying with them in their house. We visited Faith Academy yesterday and Sean had the opportunity to share a brief testimony with the Bible College students. We slept pretty good after hitting the jet lag wall about 7:00 pm. Got to bed about 8 pm and up about 6 am. We are meeting a group from Yorba Linda at the airport soon and will be attending a youth service later today. We are excited to see what God has planned for us this week. We appreciate all your prayers and support.

It has been almost two months since we last posted on this blog. Our transition to our rental home is going well and we are used to living here now. We are enjoying summer and getting to the pool quite a bit in the 100+ degree weather. This week we met a wonderful family (napperministry.com) from Mississippi that is on deputation raising their support to serve in Burkina Faso, Africa. WHERE? That's what we first said when we saw it. It is a small land locked country of 15 million in Western Africa. We really enjoyed learning from them, the frog peeing on the couch (thanks Kelsey, we love you!), pizza and swimming, three hour lunch on Father's Day along with Chad and Stephanie, etc. What a busy week. Janelle and I just try to absorb as much information as possible. We are gearing up for four days at youth camp, including our 10th anniversary, a trip to California to celebrate our 10th, visit family, and attend Family Camp at Campus by the Sea on Catalina Island, hopefully the whole week this time.

Please continue to be in prayer for us as we are praying for our trip to the Philippines and Cambodia in August. We are praying that God will use us for His purpose and that He will make it clear whether that area is where He has planned for us to serve in full time ministry.

The Move

Last Thursday and Friday we made the big move from home owners to renters. It was only a 1/2 mile but it was huge in following God's will for our lives. We were so blessed to have six guys from church show up to help us move. Janelle's mom was here and Dawn and the girls came with Dave to help with the packing and cleaning. What an awesome crew! We have an awesome church full of wonderful, giving people. They all showed up at 10 am and we had everything moved by 1:45 pm. The Wengers stayed for a while to help with some organization and emptying of boxes. By the end of Friday we were pretty much settled into our new place.

Satan attacked, or at least tried, on Wednesday night. When we woke up Thursday and began moving we noticed our roof had leaked from the storm the night before. Not what we needed at the time! However, one of our church members and a member of our Sunday School class, Eric, owns a roofing company. He had a guy out the next morning to fix it. Another church member, Michael, is a painter and does dry wall patching. He was going out of town but knew a guy that was free. By Saturday at 1 pm it was all fixed, textured, and painted for only $85. Satan only provided a way for God to show his power and glory. Take that one Satan!