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May 24, 2007
A packed and productive two weeks
We’ve had a packed and productive two weeks since last writing. The time at the OMF Mobilization Conference was stimulating, refreshing, and encouraging. We will go into more detail on that in our June prayer bulletin. We got back on Friday night and spent Saturday helping Wil with his wildflower notebook, a project for his biology class. He had taken more than 100 photos and had to get them all correctly labeled and arranged to hand in on Monday. On Sunday, he was part of the group prayed for who will be going to help at the camp in Maine this summer. This weekend they are having a garage sale to help raise funds for their trip. Wil will leave for Maine on June 7 th and we’ve been able to get him a return ticket for July 12th, in time to do laundry and repack for Water Ski Camp on the 14th!
Sunday evening Dave and Doris Nichols arrived. They have been based in Houston, Texas during their home assignment and will return to the Philippines in August to take up the personnel role in OMF we had been asked to fill before having to leave. They are good friends and we thoroughly enjoyed having a few days with them. Do pray for Doris as she has gall bladder surgery on June 5th. The Nichols left on Tuesday evening, just before I took part in the elementary/middle school band concert and Dave hosted our Care Group. Wed. I had chemo and didn’t have the energy to do much else afterwards. I’ve been on a different steroid as a pre-med the last two times I’ve had chemo and this one seems to be less detrimental to sleep. I wondered whether it was the cause of a skin rash on my hands, but Dr. P assures me that prednisone is more likely to cure than cause such a rash.
This morning we had a phone call from the chairman of the Missions Council at Gold Hill. We realize now that the decision to drop our financial support was based on some misunderstandings, and in fact has not been implemented. We apologize for writing prematurely and before talking directly to the Missions Council. We are in no doubt that we are loved and valued by many at Gold Hill. And God kept our hearts at peace with regard to our financial needs when we thought their financial support was stopping. It was a good reminder that He is our provider and He can provide through whatever means He chooses.
Posted by David at 9:38 AM
May 11, 2007
From Pennsylvania to Oregon to Colorado
I enjoyed my trip to Pennsylvania last weekend to attend my cousin Kathy's daughter's wedding. Chellee was a beautiful bride and the wedding a lovely, God-honoring event. I appreciated having time with my aunt, cousins and their kids. It’s eleven years since we were last all together. One lovely surprise was discovering that I knew another student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania besides Chellee. Hannah is an MK from the Philippines and I’ve known her since she was a few months old, but didn’t realize she was now studying there.
Thanks for praying for Wil as he made decisions on classes for next year, and committed himself to helping at a camp in Maine for a month. He will help to prepare the camp grounds and be a counselor for a week before returning to Oregon for his youth group water ski camp. Then he will probably work as a caddy until soccer practice begins.
The results of my Muga scan were good and my blood counts have been good as well. I’m also rejoicing that God has answered prayer for Linda. She has been an out-patient for about two weeks and hopes to return to her own home today! I saw my oncologist and he looks good, his blood is now clear of multiple myeloma, and he is regularly working two days a week. Unfortunately his leg is still very stiff and painful and he isn’t able to bend his knee very much. Both are grateful for our prayers.
No response yet from our church in England. We leave on Sunday for OMF meetings in Colorado.
Posted by David at 8:33 PM
May 2, 2007
May Update on the Three of us
Dear Team,
Dave found his time at the Ethnic Workers Summit in Seattle helpful. He was able to connect with Filipino pastors there as well as other missions mobilizers who are focusing on Asia and Asian American churches. There will be a follow-up meeting for those from the Portland area who attended this summit on Sat. May 12. That is also the date for the monthly prayer fellowship of Filipino pastors here in Portland, so it should be a busy day. On Mother’s Day afternoon, we both fly to Littleton, CO for a weeklong conference of OMF missions mobilizers. Pray that this will be a good time of connecting with colleagues and setting goals and strategies for our involvement in representing OMF here in Oregon.
Besides producing an extraordinary roar, Wil did an amazing job of keeping in character and portraying Aslan as a strong, yet compassionate character in his school play, “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” for six performances. He’s tired now and thinks he’s coming down with a cold, but has his youth group retreat this weekend. He has to make decisions in the next few days on courses for the next academic year and how he spends the summer. Pray God will guide him in these important decisions.
Tomorrow I leave to attend the wedding of my cousin Kathy’s daughter Chellee on May 5th in Indiana, Pennsylvania. Chellee and her fiance met in college and were both active in Campus Crusade. In fact, I understand that they became engaged during a beach mission in Florida! Since I wasn’t able to attend the funeral of my uncle last year, this will be the first time to be together with all of my cousins in more than ten years. We will all be staying in the same hotel for three nights. I’m praying for good interaction with many of them since, apart from my brother and nephew, they are all of the relatives I have.
While blood relatives on my side of the family are few, ever since I joined Gold Hill Baptist Church in 1975, after my parents died, that church has been like family to me. For thirty years, they have provided faithful and generous financial support, and I know that so many at Gold Hill continue to love us and pray for us. However, we learned two weeks ago that the Mission Board of Gold Hill has decided to discontinue our financial support, support which is 1/3 of our total. We believe God, who is ever faithful, will provide for us. We really would value your prayers for the needed finances and for our ongoing relationship with Gold Hill.
Thank you for your faithful partnership in prayer,
Dave and Karen
Posted by David at 6:23 PM