Changes

I just returned from the airport, where Martha is flying to Manila, then on to Indonesia where she will be attending a youth camp with nearly 100 other missionary kids and staffers. She excitedly said, “Gee dad, kids in the States attend camp outside of town in a nearby county. I get to attend camp in another country in a tropical forest on the side of an active volcano!” (The volcano blew last year but has since been dormant. Pray it stays that way.)

After camp, Martha will fly to the location of our annual mission meeting where Jonathan and I will join her along with other missionaries from southeast Asia. We will fellowship together, pray, worship, share strategy, and hear reports of how God is at work in various places. We’ll fly back to the Philippines before the end of the month. Martha will then have just 3 weeks before she leaves for a gathering in Thailand of graduating senior MKs. From there, she flies to the States for college.

I’m already grieving her absence. It’s the life of parenting – raising them up then letting them go. But I’m so grateful for the godly lady she has become. Now I have one birdie left in the nest, and he’s a big one. Pray that he, too, will grow in his relationship with God and that the Lord will become his source of comfort and joy. It will be a big adjustment for both Jonathan and I when Martha leaves.

We had our team meeting this morning. It’s the highlight of my week when I hear reports of what God is doing through our ‘simbalays’ (house churches). Some share reports of church members who have baptized new converts. Some share stories of physical healings or incredible provisions. There are reports of spiritual growth, renewed faith, and mended relationships.

Last week, Martha and I helped lead an overnight retreat of 50 plus young people from our house churches. One teenager shared how isolated she used to feel in her remote mountain nepa home, where her parents argued and fought nearly every night. Then one of our house church leaders came to their house and shared the gospel to them. She baptized the teenager and shared with her the love of Jesus. Now the teenager has found a new purpose in life as she grows in her relationship with God.

God continues to work, and it has been the joy of my life to have front row seats in this part of the world to see His Spirit change the lives of those who yield to Him. Please partner with us in prayer that the flood gates of heaven would open even wider for God’s Holy Spirit to bring conviction and change in the hearts of many, many more.