Lampinen Log

June 23, 2009

June 23, 2009
Dear Friends,
For me right now life is a lot like stepping out onto my front porch on a foggy autumn morning where I can see a short distance into my yard and nearby trees but further on things are hazy and indistinct. Right now I can see the immediate, the current activities that take up my time and energies. But what about further into the future? What am I to be doing and where? What about next year? What about the rest of my life? Where do I belong? Should I stay in OMF? Do I carry on with my present ministry, or do something else? Could I return to the Philippines? If so, what would I do there? If not OMF, then what? Do I stay in “the ministry” of look for “secular employment”? At age 63 what would I do?

Losing Karen has resulted in much more than losing my wife. I have lost my co-worker as well. We were a ministry team. Our gifts, talents, temperaments, and personalities blended in such a way as to make us effective servants of the Lord. Now half of me is gone and I am having to rediscover who I am. What can the single David Lampinen do? What should the single David Lampinen do? With the help of an experienced career counselor I have taken the time to access my gifts, talents, and work experiences in an effort to discover where I would best fit in a ministry or work situation.

I have been seeking the Lord and asking him to guide me into the next chapter of my life. I am talking with OMF leadership about various options within OMF. Several others have been praying with me as well. Psalm 25 has been a real source of encouragement the past two months. In it, King David is asking God for guidance for his life and future. “Show me your ways, O Lord, and teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” (v.5)
“Who then is the man who fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him.” (v.12) What is God’s chosen way for me? So far it still remains out there in the fog beyond my sight. But what I am hearing the Lord say is this: “Be still and know that I am God.” “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him.” God is still doing a work of healing and restoration in my life and in Wil’s life as well. We need time to heal from the hurt and losses we have experienced. I am confident that in his time God will make plain to me what it is he has for me to do, and where. So do pray for this waiting, healing and restoring time for us, as well as for God to make his will and way known in his good time.

What happened last month? Wil graduated from Damascus Christian High School on June 5. On June 6, my sister JoAnn, age 58, passed away quite suddenly. I went to Upper Michigan for her funeral and time with her family. My birthday (63) was the day of her funeral service. What can I see in front of me? Speaking, teaching and counseling opportunities, time with potential candidates for OMF, a possible Perspectives* course for our home church here in Damascus, and possibly leading a GriefShare** support group here as well.

Waiting in faith on a faithful God, Dave & Wil

*Perspectives on the World Christian Movement –a 15 week course on discovering God’s heart for the nations www.perspectives.org
**GriefShare –a 13 week church based support group for those who have lost a loved one www.griefshare.org

Posted by David at 2:08 PM

April 2, 2009

A Silver Lining

Lampinen Prayer Bulletin

April 2, 2009
Dear Friends,

This morning’s reading in “Streams in the Desert” talked about looking for the silver lining in the clouds that come into our lives. Almost laughingly I said to myself, “How could there possibly be a silver lining to my ‘cloud’ of losing Karen?” There just isn’t one. How could there be any good, any silver lining, in losing a spouse? Then I read Psalm 145. Here are the verses that stood out to me.

“The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all that he has made.” (v.9)
“The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made.” (v.13)
“The Lord is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made.” (v.17)

There is nothing like a good psalm to take one’s mind off oneself and onto the Lord. His goodness, compassion, faithfulness and righteousness were getting lost in the cloud of grief.
Then my mind turned to John 11 where Jesus met with Martha and Mary after their brother had died. They both came with the same thought, “Why didn’t you come and do something? How many times have I asked that same question? Jesus response was different for each of them. To Martha he spoke of the hope of resurrection. With Mary he just wept. For me this morning he did both. So is there a silver lining in my cloud? Yes! My silver lining is that Karen (and Ben) are walking with Jesus on streets of gold. The compassion of Jesus is real; as is the hope of the resurrection that we celebrating this month.

I am looking forward my church’s Easter celebrations this month. I am continuing the Grief Share support group and finding it very helpful. We meet on Sunday afternoons. April also has appointments with missions profs at nearby Bible schools and seminaries. I am wanting to give them a copies of OMF’s new video, “Breakthrough.” It’s a half hour docu-drama about the life and ministry of J.O. Fraser, a C.I.M. missionary to the Lisu peoples of China. It speaks powerfully of the need for prayer and faith in God, who is able to, “open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God.” If you haven’t seen this video I would urge you to get a copy and share it with others who pray. They are available through the nearest OMF center or on our website, www.omf.org .

April is a busy month for Wil too. He is waiting to hear from Moody Bible Institute as to whether he is accepted there or not. If not he is looking at two other colleges here in Oregon. He has daily rehearsals for the school play as well as his studies and homework assignments during this final quarter of his senior year. Pray for him as he looks forward to the future and makes important decisions at this time.

Thank you for your prayers. The Lord is answering and upholds me. These are difficult days for me but His grace is sufficient.

With our love and deep appreciation, Dave & Wil

Posted by David at 9:00 AM

March 3, 2009

March Prayer Letter

Dear Friends,

The Global Ministries Conference at Multnomah Bible College went very well for me last week. I had help from four other OMF colleagues and we were able to have many good conversations with students who came to the OMF display booth. Many seniors, especially those in the Intercultural and TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) study programs were looking for short-term and longer term missions opportunities in East Asia. Please pray with me that these students will continue to seek and discover God’s good will for their lives in service to Him. Pray too that I will be able to follow-up and encourage them along the way. I am also following up on two couples from Western Seminary here in Portland. Pray for them as well as they are seeking God’s direction for ministry overseas. One couple will be finishing studies this May and the other is just beginning.

A week ago I returned to the Friday night international student ministry in downtown Portland. Karen and I started going to this weekly outreach for students of Portland State University last September. The majority of these foreign students are Asian and we enjoyed the interaction with them. It took time for me to feel able to return to this without Karen but now I think I can. Pray for good contacts and opportunities to share God’s love and good news with these students that are here from countries all over East Asia.

On the home front:

Wil is facing deadlines for college and scholarship applications. Just yesterday we missed one application deadline be one day. Pray that we can keep ahead of these and that the Lord will clearly direct Wil into the right school for this coming year. Our struggle is that Karen was the one who kept all these details in mind. Without her we are at a definite disadvantage. Wil continues to do well academically, and his extracurricular schedule is full, especially now as rehearsals for this year’s school play are starting this week. He has the role of Daddy Warbucks in the musical production of “Annie.” The play will be presented at the end of April and beginning of May.

I will be attending a “GriefShare” support group starting March 8. This is a 12 week course that meets on Sunday afternoons in a nearby church. A good friend of mine who also lost his wife last year recommended that I look into participating in this course and I discovered this one being offered very near my home. Pray that this will prove helpful to me in my grieving and healing process and that I will discover things that Wil and I can talk through and find helpful in our grieving together.

Thank you once again for standing by us in prayer, Dave & Wil

Posted by David at 11:38 AM

February 6, 2009

Picking up the pieces

Lampinen Prayer Bulletin
Dave Lampinen, 14300 SE Wiese Rd, Damascus, OR 97089 H:503-563-1146 Cell:971-322-8517

February 5, 2009

Even though I often wish it didn’t, life goes on and so do all the regularly scheduled activities. On January 5th I joined several Filipino pastors for their monthly lunch and prayer time. The 9th would have been our 21st wedding anniversary. But this year it marked one month since Karen’s death. The OMF prayer meeting for Cambodia was on the second Saturday. It was good to be a part of that group of faithful pray-ers. On Sunday, the 11th we had a “graveside service” for Karen at Willamette National Cemetery. The 14th would have been Karen’s 61st birthday. Our “small group” from church met that night for a meal. We put a candle on the dessert and sang Happy Birthday. Mission Connexion, the big annual missions event held here in Portland took place on the 16th and 17th. It went very well. Jim and Louise Morris from Salem, OR and Loren Morrall, recently returned from Thailand assisted in the OMF booth and we were able to talk to many expressing interest in East Asia. Wil and I went out for a meal on the evening of the 17th so the two of us could celebrate Karen’s birthday. Wil’s classmates also had planned a surprise birthday party for him later that evening. He was truly surprised since his birthday was last October 25th! We were never able to celebrate his 18th birthday back in October due to Karen’s deteriorating health. I am so glad that his friends did that for him.

The next morning Wil drove me to the airport to catch a 6 A.M. flight to Denver for the annual OMF Mobilization Conference held at our headquarters in Littleton, CO. I had mixed feelings as I thought about attending these four days of meetings as this would mean being with many of my colleagues for the first time since Karen’s death. Indeed it was a bitter-sweet reunion but a very good experience for me, reconnecting with people and getting refocused on the work of mobilizing people and resources for East Asia.

February began with dear friends of ours from Victoria, B.C. Canada coming to visit for a few days. Feb. 2 was Ben’s 5th death anniversary. It was a warm sunny day so I took them to the cemetery to remember Ben and Karen. George Fox University in Newberg, OR had their Missions Fair on Feb. 4th. I enjoyed interacting with students there and attending the chapel service where we were all challenged to follow Christ even if it means going to the most difficult and dangerous places in the world to take the Good News to lost and needy people. Next week is prayer meeting week with 3 OMF prayer meetings, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday and on Sunday, a prayer meeting for the persecuted church.

Multnomah Bible College (now Multnomah University) will hold its Global Ministry Conference Feb. 22-27 here in Portland. This is my favorite missions conference, and not just because I’m an alumni. There are a lot of students at Multnomah with genuine interest in missions and I enjoy talking with them and hearing their stories and seeing how God is leading and preparing them for serving him. Pray for good contacts. Pray also for follow up on the contacts from Mission Connexion.

Grateful for your continued prayers and encouragement, Dave

Posted by David at 7:54 AM

January 7, 2009

January Prayer Bulletin

KAREN MARY (DRULINER) LAMPINEN –January 14, 1948 to December 9, 2008

A little over a month short of reaching her 61st birthday. One month short, exactly, of celebrating our 21st wedding anniversary. To us it seems that Karen’s life was cut short. But not to God. He knew exactly the number of her days. He had determined that before she was born. And he was probably as excited about her coming to join him in heaven as we were dreading her leaving us her on earth. Pray that I won’t be shortsighted as I grieve but have my eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of my faith…so that I will not grow weary or lose heart. Pray the same for Wil. He seems to be handling the loss of his mother well, is kept busy with studies and other school activities and snowboarding whenever possible.

I was snowed in here at our home for several days around Christmas. Wil managed to get out and about with his friends but I enjoyed the enforced seclusion. I worked on a jigsaw puzzle part of the time which was very therapeutic for me. Facing the New Year for me now is a lot like working on a jigsaw puzzle, only it feels like there are many pieces missing and I don’t have the picture on the cover of the box to show me what the finished puzzle will look like. Without Karen in the picture life will be very different and the pieces won’t go together the way I would have wanted them to. But God has a picture and design in mind that he will slowly reveal in his way and in his time. I have asked him to fill in the empty spaces with himself and he is doing that day by day.

The part of the picture that looks clear to me is that I will continue on in my role as an OMF representative for Oregon and southwest Washington, seeking to challenge people with the spiritual needs of East Asia, recruit new workers and promote prayer for our missionaries and the people they are reaching. January 16 & 17 are the dates for Mission Connexion Northwest, the annual city-wide missions conference here in Portland, Oregon. Pray for good contacts with those who will attend this event. Then on Jan. 18th I fly to Denver for OMF’s annual Mobilization Conference at our U.S. headquarters in Littleton, Colorado. This is always a good time of interacting with all the others involved in mobilizing the personnel, prayer and resources needed to reach East Asia’s millions. It will be different and probably difficult for me to be there without Karen. Pray for God’s persistent grace to be my portion during both of these events. Pray too for Wil who will be on his own for the 5 days that I will be away.

I want to thank all of you once again for your faithful prayers over the years. I realize that many of you who are getting this monthly prayer letter have a closer link to Karen than me. If at any time you would wish to stop receiving this prayer bulletin please feel free to let me or the OMF office know and we can take your name off the mailing list.

God bless you. Let’s all keep our eyes on Jesus, Dave

Posted by David at 9:05 PM

December 9, 2008

Karen is in her Savior's arms

Karen has passed from the land of the dying into the land of the living and into the waiting arms of her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ tonight at 10: 52 p.m. Wil and I and her brother Bill and his wife Renee were with her; reading Scripture, praying and talking to her until she left us. Now she and Ben are together in heaven.

I will let you know about funeral services and burial when that is arranged. Thank you all for your faithful prayers for us and for all the encouraging messages sent telling of how Karen impacted your lives. May God’s grace sustain and comfort you as you share in our loss.

Posted by David at 11:33 PM

October 29, 2008

Prayer needed in November

November Prayer Bulletin
Oct. 29 for Nov. 1, 2008
Dear Team,

I want to share this information in a prayer letter, but don’t want to delay until the 1st. We have seen my oncologist today. He saw me in the office and asked us to wait since he had the results of the CT scan done yesterday and the Muga scan I was there for this morning. The Muga was fine; my heart has stood up well to all the drugs I’ve needed to take, but the CT is not good. I had thought I was beginning to put on a bit of weight after losing steadily for some months. Then I realized the weight was all part of a very distended stomach. I feel about 7 months pregnant! But the cause is that the cancer is spreading much more rapidly in my liver and for the first time, I’m having side effects from the cancer, not the cancer treatment. Tomorrow they will do a procedure to try to suction out some of the excess fluid in my abdomen. This will give at least temporary relief, hopefully long enough for another type of chemo to attack the tumors. Part of me wants to say, ‘Enough is enough’ and just pray that death comes quickly. But part is fighting to be here to see Wil graduate from high school and make a decision on where to go to college. Please pray we will know God’s mind in this. I’ll have blood work done on Monday and if the counts are low, that could be God’s way of telling us we aren’t to go on to another chemo. I still have no doubt that God can heal me physically this side of heaven, but since March of 2005 the downs have outweighed the ups, and my body hasn’t much fight left.

I’m thankful that we were able to fly to San Francisco over the weekend and be sponsors at Craig and Tammy Beers wedding. It was wonderful to meet so many Filipinos (relatives and friends of Tammy’s) and enjoy so many Filipino foods and wedding customs. I think the only wedding I’ve enjoyed more was our own! We stayed with Dave’s cousin Ruth and husband Peter and had a great reunion with other cousins living in the area. While we were gone Wil was on a senior challenge course with other seniors in his youth group, so he and we were away from home on his birthday. When things settle down a bit we’ll need to do something to celebrate as a family since he has turned 18. His soccer team has done very well this year, ranking third in their district. When the coaches rated the different players on each team, Wil and two others came in form honorable mention. We’re proud of him, and not just for being good at soccer. Please pray as he seeks to know the Lord’s mind as to where he studies next year. He will be visiting two of the possibilities this month.

Dave keeps busy with OMF-related work, but I’m afraid that concern for me may become more of a distraction in the coming months. Thank you for praying so faithfully for so many years. Please continue as we seek to honor, obey and glorify our Heavenly Father in the coming months.

Held in His embrace, Dave and Karen

Posted by David at 7:26 PM

October 3, 2008

Harvest Time

Dear Team,

It’s HARVEST TIME in the US Northwest. Tomatoes are finally ripening, as are peppers and beans and potatoes and carrots. Thankfully zucchini is done for the season. Harvest necessitates dealing with the fruit and vegetables produced. So far we’ve processed 5 kilos of tomatoes with other vegetables added (I call it V-10 instead of V-8), 3 batches of salsa, and many quart bags of frozen peaches and more tomatoes. We have ever-bearing strawberries and raspberries, so have also made frozen jam and even some raspberry jelly. We have neighbors with apple trees, so will shift to enjoying those soon. It struck me the other day when I was reading John 15 that it says “our Father is the gardener.” I’ve been thinking about all the work that goes into gardening and dealing with the produce. He has been willing to do all of that work in our lives and wants us to be as fruitful as He has made us to be, caring about people as well as produce.

“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” In another realm we are looking for people to help with the spiritual harvest. We are in contact with quite a few people who are seriously pursuing missions work in East Asia and considering joining OMF. Pray that God will guide, prepare and provide for them and use us in the process in any way He can. We were able to meet with a couple last week who met in Laos, were married, and are now going back there with OMF. On Sept. 20 we participated in a Next Mile Conference and talked to people about short-term opportunities with OMF. Time will tell whether there was real interest among those who participated, but we do have a short term team going out from the church that hosted the event.

Our prayers are very much with the Prak family as the Lord chose to take Andrew to heaven for his complete healing, rather than bringing him out of the coma. He did open his eyes and looked at peace just before he died. The funeral was here in Oregon last Tuesday and it was a privilege to be there with his immediate and extended family and many friends. The Praks plan to return to Cambodia in November. Please pray for them in all the adjustments they face. We won’t be able to attend the memorial service for our friend Patty in California tomorrow, but our thoughts and prayers are very much with her husband Denny, who wants the service to be as evangelistic as possible in line with Patty’s wishes.

Dave and I decided it is time to be more intentional in making contact with International Students here in Portland. On Friday we went to the first weekly meeting this school year of a group called FOCUS which meets near Portland State University. There were far more Korean, Chinese, and Taiwanese present than Filipinos, but we loved the chance to get acquainted with some who attended, most coming for the opportunity to get to know Americans and to practice their English.

May our lives be fruitful and lead to a rich HARVEST,
Dave and Karen

Posted by David at 9:58 AM

September 2, 2008

September Prayer Bulletin

Dear Partners,

I’ve just re-read our July letter and it sounds like ancient history! We were traveling and without a computer at the beginning of August, hence the long silence. Now the problem is knowing how to condense so much into a paragraph or two. I think what ties all that has happened together is the word LINK. Wonderful strengthened links with prayer partners, supporters, supporting churches, and other dear friends in Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, and Michigan. Links with my family as we were together for my brother’s wedding Aug. 2, and then with Dave’s family for the second week. I wasn’t feeling great at the beginning of the trip, but came back stronger, both from being able to eat better, and from all of the fresh air, sunshine, and laughter shared along the way. Our garden survived our absence, but has kept us busy since our return.

In the past I’ve mentioned several close friends who have been battling cancer, my former OMF colleague Patty and my oncologist, Dr. P. The Lord answered our prayers by taking them out of their pain-wracked bodies last week, and into the arms of their Lord and Savior Jesus. In both cases, I had the privilege of being able to say goodbye, to Patty by phone, and to Dr. P at the hospital. It now looks as though his memorial service will be on Saturday. All of OMF has been praying for Andrew, and MK from Cambodia who is hospitalized in Bangkok. He has been in a coma for more than two weeks since the morning his parents were unable to rouse him. It turns out he has diabetes, but that hadn’t been diagnosed before he went into the coma, making it very hard for our medical personnel to know exactly what was happening. There are minute signs of improvement day by day, but he still has not opened his eyes. Please join us in praying for Andrew and his family. The link of prayer is amazingly strong.

As we look to the start of a new school year, we are looking for ways to link with students at local seminaries and those who have done short term mission trips. A day conference on Sept. 20 will give opportunity for the latter and Dave is in touch with staff at Multnomah and Western to try to do the former. One of our prayer groups is in the home of Andrew’s grandparents, so that group has been particularly remembering him. We have been looking at ways to increase prayer for East Asia in our own church as well and pray some of our ideas will bear fruit in the coming year.

Links with our own church and Wil’s school are strengthened by our leading a Asia focus ministry team, Dave teaching the Heritage Sunday School class and my leading two women’s Bible studies, plus praying weekly for the school and being on the school commission.

Thank you for your link with us through prayer. We love you and we need you!

Dave, Karen, and Wil

Posted by David at 5:59 PM

June 30, 2008

Car, Chemo and crutches

Dear Team,

Thank you for praying for a reliable vehicle for Wil to drive. We found one through a former neighbor and Wil is very happy with it. Just a few days ago, Dave was checking the van over and discovered a loose pulley. If that had broken while Wil was driving, the engine would have stopped and the car would be hard to control. Once in a while God lets us see how He is protecting and providing for us. Much of the time I think His angels are watching over us and we are never aware of it. Wil is a good driver and was enjoying his new freedom until last Thursday when his freedom was curtailed by a fall. He was playing indoor soccer, and scored a goal in the last minute of play, but fell on to his foot and fractured the tip of the fibula in his right leg! He isn’t to put weight on that leg until he gets what we hope will be a walking cast on the 8th, the day his friend Dawson arrives! He is determined to go to his youth group Water Ski Camp in mid July even though he won’t be able to be in the water. He was working four hours a day for a friend, but that, as well as driving, is now on hold.

Last Sunday was our church’s annual Freedom Celebration, commemorating the Fourth of July by recognizing all those who have served their country in the military and other support services. We had a large contingent for the local National Guard unit with us for the service and time of eating and games afterwards. I’ve had trouble playing the flute and piccolo at some stages of the month when mucositis hits as a side effect of the chemo. But many were praying and I was able to play and enjoy playing on Sunday, even the piccolo part to Stars and Stripes Forever which I last played in high school!

Only one of our three monthly OMF prayer meetings will happen in July due to the pray-ers travel plans. Pray that we can connect with key people in the local Bible schools and seminaries this summer in preparation for this coming school year. We need to reconnect with several of the local Filipino pastors as well, having missed the monthly prayer fellowship time of these pastors recently.

I had chemo last week and saw a different oncologist. He suggested cutting the dosage of Doxil to see if that would make it more tolerable. Can’t say I’ve noticed any difference so far, but it’s only a week since treatment and side effects go on all month. On the 16th I’ll have another CT scan to find out whether the Doxil is working to shrink tumors. I’ve been able to walk most mornings and that plus gardening and sunshine makes life seem a lot more pleasant and worth living. I’ve also read several interesting and stimulating books recently.

Dave has been bothered by pain in his left arm (and he is left-handed). It seems to be something like bursitis and hurts more at night when he is lying down than during the day. Please pray that he will be able to keep moving the arm so that it doesn’t lead to a frozen shoulder. I’m afraid this may have been caused by all the digging he has done in the garden. With Wil away so much, Dave has done all of the heavy work in the garden. I just put in seeds and plants! Speaking of the garden, at long last we are getting enough sun and warm weather for crops to grow. Most crops are 4-8 weeks behind schedule, so unless we get a very warm autumn, we won’t get corn or many beans. But the potatoes are happy!

We mentioned that we will be in the Midwest at the end of July and beginning of August. Early this month we have a variety of visitors, fellow OMFers from the Philippines on the 4th, then the Burdicks on the 8th, and then Mike and Eileen Baldwin from England on the 11th. None are staying as long as we would like them to, but we are looking forward to each visit.

Hopping, limping, and praising the Lord, the Lampinens

Posted by David at 10:29 PM

June 1, 2008

June Prayer Bulletin

Dear Team,

East Asia has been in the news recently with the cyclone in Myanmar, earthquakes in China, political unrest in Tibet, and of course, the upcoming Olympic Games. A recent typhoon in the Philippines killed over 20 people. These events call us to prayer and we are reminded that there are great spiritual needs there as well as physical needs resulting from these natural disasters.

Thank you for praying for our training sessions in Denver. It is always revitalizing to connect with the OMF mobilization team here in the U.S. We received valuable training, shared ideas, and were challenged anew with the task of recruiting new workers to help reach the millions of people in East Asia that still have little or no access to the Gospel.

Karen spent most of last week at Kaiser clinics having a variety of tests and treatments. The latest CT scan shows that tumors in the lungs and liver have decreased slightly in size, so she continued with another round of Doxil last Wednesday. There is an indication of something going on in the left pelvic area which accounts for that pain, but it didn’t show up on the bone scan, so probably is not a spread of the cancer. Karen has done a lot less walking this past month because of the pain, but the lack of exercise has lead to feeling discouraged, so she is ready to go back to taking Ibuprofen enabling her to walk without pain and try to balance the side effects. It’s all a juggling act these days.

Dr. P had a setback about two weeks ago when a high fever landed him in the hospital for a few days. The virus which caused it has now been identified and with the right treatment he is feeling a lot better. Today is Day 75 post transplant for him.

Wil has one more week of school, much of it getting ready for their class trip to Washington, DC. They leave June 7 after helping at graduation the night before. He has a couple of jobs lined up for the summer and hopes to get his driver’s license and a car in the middle of June. Please pray the Lord will lead us to a reliable yet inexpensive car that we and Wil are happy to have him drive.

There aren’t missions conferences during the summer and Bible colleges only have a few summer classes, so we need prayer that we will constructively use our time, both in planning for the fall and getting familiar with OMF books, videos, and other materials that can help us represent OMF. The prayer meetings will continue, though each will probably have a month off to accommodate vacations. We will be in the Midwest from July 28 until August 12 to attend my brother Bill’s wedding in La Crosse, WI Aug. 2 and Dave’s college reunion the following weekend in Houghton, MI..

THANK YOU for your faithfulness in prayer for us and for East Asia.

Dave & Karen

Posted by David at 4:31 PM

May 1, 2008

May Prayer Bulletin

Dear Team,

Thank you for praying for our OMF Vancouver meeting. The result is that a monthly prayer meeting will be held the second Friday of the month at the home of Ken and Ruth Stickney. We were very encouraged by the enthusiasm of those attending the first meeting to be part of such a group. Unfortunately the meeting at Multnomah Bible College didn’t happen. We are still working through student representatives and hope to see a monthly prayer meeting started soon. Pray for Eric, a Multnomah student preparing for a summer Serve Asia trip to Thailand. There are others we are following up at Multnomah, Western Seminary and contacts from the Missions Connexion event held in January.

I had my second chemo treatment of Doxil yesterday, five weeks after the first. The delay was to try to allow the side effects of radiation and chemotherapy to settle down more before proceeding. I think it was wise to wait as I’ve felt far better this past week than during the previous four. It’s good to have some energy again and feel like myself. My mouth is now clear of thrush and mucositis, nausea is under control, and consequently I’ve been able to eat more and have more strength. Thanks so much for your prayers. I have had some pain in my leg and the doctor ordered an x-ray but findings were ‘unremarkable’ which means nothing showed up. I may need further tests in the future to figure out what is causing that pain, but if it did require radiation, that would have to wait until after chemo anyway, and if the pain is caused by cancer, the chemo may alleviate it. Today I have another brain MRI.

Dr. P went fishing yesterday and caught a trout! He was so happy telling me about it this afternoon. He went with his son to a lake near their home and loved being out in the fresh air and catching his supper! He and his wife were also able to attend a Russian Orthodox service at midnight on their Easter and that too was a special blessing to him.

Wil spends most of his time at school, either in classes or at play practice. They are doing Cinderella this year, so needing to learn to waltz and sing as well as act. Rehearsals are long and tiring, but I’m sure the finished performances will be at the same high standard as past productions. He will be taking the SAT test on Saturday and is thinking about where he would like to go to college a year from now. He’s also looking for a summer job.

We will be in Colorado May 20-23 for OMF regional mobilizer meetings. Pray this will again be a valuable learning time for us. We learned a lot this past weekend attending the ACSI administrator and board members conference for the northwest region in Seaside, Oregon. I am on the board of Wil’s school and Dave came along. We heard much that is applicable to areas of our ministry as well as gaining a better understanding of issues relating to the school board.

Thank you for holding the ropes with and for us,
Dave and Karen

Posted by David at 1:48 PM

April 1, 2008

April Prayer Bulletin

Dear Team,

You prayed and God has answered in the following areas:

Prayer groups. We asked you to pray about the start of two new OMF prayer groups. We are trying to get permission to have a kick off meeting at Multnomah on April 10th with students who were challenged during the missions conference to be involved in praying for the persecuted church. This would be an evening meeting, hopefully on campus, probably providing pizza for those who come. Then on the 11th we have a meeting in Vancouver, WA to try to get a Clark County group started. The reason for pushing both meetings into the same week is that Richard and Marilyn Schlitt will be with us then. Richard is our Philippines Field Director and was deputizing in Singapore for another director, so is in a position to speak knowledgably to prayer needs among the persecuted church and what God is doing in answer to prayer.

Health. God touched me after my first radiation treatment and took away the unpleasant side effects. Now He has done the same with the first round of a new chemotherapy. According to the doctors, I should be experiencing pain in my hands and feet and possibly other places on my skin. But so far, I’ve just had a bad time with constipation from the anti-nausea medicine given to help me tolerate the Doxil! My hair is gone after the radiation, so my head is cold, but eventually we should be seeing some warmer weather here. The sun is shining right now, but we’re still having very frosty nights.

My other health concern is my oncologist. Today is Day 11 since his stem cell transplant and I was talking to him earlier today. He said Day 8 was the hardest, but he’s feeling better now. Within a week some of those stem cells should be producing new cells in his bone marrow and building up his immune system. Doctors are as surprised by how well he is doing as they have been with me. In both cases, we know that the reason is because many have been praying and God is answering. Thank you for your part in this.

Wil’s trip to Mexico. Wil arrived Saturday morning and was willing to give us a pretty full report of his trip. I was disappointed that he hadn’t had more contact with Mexicans and been able to use and improve his Spanish. His team was mostly doing maintenance at the home of one of the missionaries, but he seemed willing to work, and felt he had learned a lot about painting walls. We are praying that as he processes the trip, he will be clear on what God wanted him to learn through the experience. He arrived home with a touch of diarrhea but seems to be doing better now. Play practice and soccer practice will fill most of his time in the afternoons after school.

Visitors. We mentioned the visit from Richard and Marilyn, but before that friends from Seattle will be in town, then friends from British Columbia. So are spring round of visitors has begun. All of the above are people we had hoped to see traveling north during spring break. We chose to stay home and take it easy while I recovered from the radiation and then the first chemo, so they all chose to come south to see us. We are delighted at the prospect of their visits, and that Dave’s brother and two sisters will also be here in May.

Thank you for standing with us,
Dave and Karen

Posted by David at 9:36 PM

March 4, 2008

March Medical Update

Dear Team,
Last month we talked about the world urgent. This month let’s look at the world indolent. It is from two Latin words meaning not and to be in pain. The first definition is disliking work, lazy, or idol, so almost an opposite to living with urgency. But the medical definition is closer to the Latin roots and means progressing slowly; causing little or no pain. That is the way Dr. Johnson, a radiation oncologist, described my cancer today. It is spreading and scans of my brain, lungs, and liver all show progression, but still I’m not in pain and he commented on how healthy I look.

Dave and I saw the MRI images and counted about a dozen tiny tumors in the brain. So on Thursday I will start ten days of radiation to the brain. This shouldn’t be painful, but may result in hair loss (good bye curls!) and headaches. If I can tolerate the headaches, I won’t have to take a steroid like dexamethasone which plays havoc with my sleep. So please pray I can handle the radiation, and that I won’t experience all the possible side effects, a list too long to enumerate. Dr. Johnson was also able to show us the results of yesterday’s CAT scan, indicating that the chemo I’ve been on has shrunk the larger tumors in the liver, but the cancer has gotten smart and found a way to continue to grow, so new little ones are showing up in both liver and lungs.

This morning in my Believing God Bible Study, Beth Moore’s video was on ‘Believing God when Victory Demands your All.’ That feels like where we are just now: aware that God will be victorious in my life, but not sure exactly how or when, with healing on earth or in heaven. I praise Him that the cancer is indolent; so far the only pain I’ve experienced has been from the treatment, not from the cancer. And it is a miracle that I’m alive and feeling well three years into a diagnosis that should have been fatal at least a year ago! God, not the doctors, knows the number of my days. We’re all handling this news better than we might have thought possible, not because we’re in denial but because God is pouring peace into each of our hearts. May He do the same for you as we know that you love us and will find this news hard to handle.

Dave and I thoroughly enjoyed the missions conference at Multnomah Bible College here in Portland. Excellent worship, teaching, seminars, and most of all, the caliber of students we spent time with talking and praying. We hope to see a prayer group for East Asia started on or near campus as a result of these conversations. And we also are praying that a new prayer group will start in the Vancouver, Washington area, just across the river from Portland. We have a venue and speakers for a kick off meeting, so just need to choose the right date and send out invitations. Please pray the Lord will guide clearly in this.

Wil leaves on March 20th for ten days in Mexico with his youth group. They have raised enough money for the plane fare, but not yet enough to cover living expenses and work materials they will need while in Mexico. Pray for safety in travel for the group, but even more that God will speak to each of them and give them a real opportunity to serve.

Depending on how I’m feeling after radiation, Dave and I would like to make a trip up to the state of Washington and British Columbia while Wil is away. Pray we’ll plan wisely.

Yours rejoicing in our Risen Savior,
Dave and Karen

Posted by David at 10:02 PM

February 1, 2008

After Hawaii Happenings

Dear Team,
January 18 & 19 –Mission Connexion Northwest, an annual city-wide conference focused this year on “What’s Next?” Many people came to the OMF booth looking for answers to that question. Students looking for short-term ministry opportunities, couples ready to serve God in Asia and others ready to take early retirement and find a second career in missions. Pray for those who are seriously seeking God’s direction and for us as we seek to give information, advice and guidance to them.

January 20-24 –OMF Mobilization Conference in Littleton, CO. This annual event is always a great time for us as we are challenged afresh with the needs of East Asia and the goals and mission of OMF to reach out to the unevangelized peoples there. Our stated mission is: to glorify God by the URGENT evangelization of East Asia’s peoples. I looked up urgent in the dictionary and found the following:
“a matter taking precedence over others.”
"too pressing to permit any longer delay."
“a need or demand whose fulfillment cannot be evaded or deferred.”
“compelling, or requiring immediate action or attention.”
“a sense of pressing importance.”
Pray that we might carry out our work here with this understanding of urgency. We realize that neither of us is terribly good at staying focused on a single target, and our energies can easily be deflected to other good, but less strategic things. Dave is better at staying on task when the task is clear. Karen tends to be so relational that she gets involved with the people around her and their immediate needs and can lose sight of the target and related tasks. So having had our focus re-sharpened and with a clearer idea of the steps we need to take towards that end, pray we will know how to continue to encourage and support each other in the task.

The only missions conference on our calendar this month is at Dave’s alma mater, Multnomah Bible College Feb. 24 – 29. We are trying to make contact with students who have been in touch with OMF before the conference starts to arrange appointments with them.

This month Lord of Life Christian Church (LOLCF) in Fairview, Metro Manila celebrates its 16th anniversary. We helped start this church and worked with it for 6 years. We asked one of the members to tell us what’s happening there now. Here are some of the main points for your prayers:

About 10 women attend a Bible study near the church. Two are elderly ladies in the community who love the Lord. “Though they are poor, their prayer requests are centered not on material things but on following and knowing the Lord.” A couple who now live a distance from the church, lead an outreach Bible study in a site far away from their house and office. It’s up in the hills and hard to reach when rain makes the road slippery. At first only women attended the Bible study and their husbands were antagonistic, but now two of the men are attending.

Another couple who teach at the University of the Philippines lead three weekly studies, one for researchers at the Marine Sciences Institute, one for caregivers and helpers in their neighborhood, and another for their neighbors that is now in its third year. One couple has been baptized and joined LOLCF. “Pray that there will be a harvest in these groups… I pray that God will find us faithful and obedient to His word. Do pray that we will all be God's witnesses and ambassadors.” The youth cell is going strong and another group is composed of 11 to 16 year old youth who work in a nearby market. LOLCF has its own building but still owes about two million pesos ($50,000) to the contractor. “I am not sure how we will be to pay him but we continue to trust our Jehovah Jireh.”

May we all continue to trust our Jehovah Jireh and be obedient to Him in sharing our faith,
Dave and Karen

Posted by David at 2:50 PM

January 2, 2008

January Prayer Bulletin

Lampinen Prayer Bulletin
Dave & Karen Lampinen, 14300 SE Wiese Rd, Damascus, OR 97089 H:503-563-1146 Cell:971-322-8517

Dear Team, 1 January 2008

Since we were with friends welcoming in the New Year, and consequently got to bed in the wee hours of the morning, we’re glad to have today to rest and get organized. Piles of papers seem to mushroom in our bedroom/office and our goal is to be able to see the desk and know where papers are filed by the end of the day. But greeting and updating you is also high on our priority list.

The Campus Crusade conference caught us by surprise. When we arrived to set up a display we learned that the exhibits would only be open from 9:30 pm to 1:00 am daily, except for New Year’s Eve when they would open from 1:00-3:00 am!! Those may be good hours for students, but were pretty taxing for us. I wasn’t feeling well the first night, so Wil went with Dave. I think it was good for him to see firsthand what it’s like to initiate contact and answer questions at an exhibit. The conference wasn’t specifically a missions event, so a fairly small percentage of the students were interested in missions, but we had about ten really good conversations.

Scan results for me were mixed. The Muga was clear (no sign of trouble with my heart) but the CT showed the tumors are growing again, so I’m back on Xeloda, the medicine I had trouble tolerating some months ago. I’m at about 25% of the original dose and so far am not experiencing the difficult side effects. Time will tell whether this lower dose is effective. Since the medication is oral, it won’t interfere with our 20th Anniversary trip to Hawaii or the OMF Mobilization Team Conference Denver later this month.

Cornerstone Bible Christian Fellowship in Manila celebrates its anniversary in January and we asked Reinard Manahan, son of one of the founding members and now the pastor, to tell us what’s happening and how to pray for Cornerstone. He wrote:

We have been praying for 2 things we want to see in CBCF in the next 3-5 years - a Christian school & a sustainable income-generating livelihood program to impact the community. I believe this is a breakthrough from God. We just need to be sensitive to His leading & do a good job out of what He entrusts to us in CBCF. During our church camp Nov. 1-4, 11 people were baptized. We finished a Basic Christian Doctrine study that ran for 4 months, and a membership & bible-leading seminar that ran for another 4 months, for a new batch of regular members. They're a mix of young professionals, blue-collared workers, students & out-of school youth from Delta, 12 in all. They are our new CBCF team. God has transformed them & is using them in their community through CBCF. Some of parents of these young people are now attending Sunday service & bible study. We only have 3 bible studies at the moment but our target for 2008 is at least 12 new bible study groups.

Reinard’s daughter Audrey recently had heart surgery. Doctors were unable to do all of the repair work needed, so we pray God will continue the healing process.

Thank you for your prayers, Dave and Karen

Posted by David at 9:34 AM

December 5, 2007

Blessings in Abundance

5 December 2007

Dear Team,

In looking forward to Christmas and a new year we find ourselves looking back to all the wonderful gifts that we have received from family, friends and from the Lord. There have been gifts and blessings, not just at Christmastime but all through this past year. When we returned to the States two years ago, we wondered (and worried about) how our increased financial needs would be met, as living expenses are so much higher here than in the Philippines. But, we have seen God provide in abundance through faithful churches and individual supporters so that we can rejoice in sharing with you that God has supplied all of our needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus, to quote the Apostle Paul. One of the greatest provisions has been the health insurance coverage that OMF had arranged for us that has covered the enormous cost of Karen’s cancer treatment. Yes, we have co-pay charges, but they are miniscule compared to the cost of consultations, tests, and medication.

Visits from friends from around the world have been another extra special gift. Not many friends were able to visit us in the Philippines; consequently much of our face to face contact with them was as a guest in their home and country. Now we’ve had the joy of welcoming many to our home. This weekend’s weather wasn’t very welcoming--Oregon has been hit with high winds and a deluge of rain and we wondered whether Dave would be able to make it to the airport Monday morning through flooded streets to get our friend Gordon to his flight on time—but we’ve loved having opportunities to reconnect with friends and to see how as we grow closer to the Lord, fellowship with one another becomes richer.

In our next letter we will try to fill you in more on how God is continuing to provide for churches in the Philippines that have played a significant role in our lives, but for now we’d ask you to pray for the OMF Philippines team as they meet in Davao for a field conference between Christmas and New Year's Eve. We would have loved to be there, but instead will be representing OMF at a mini-Urbana style student conference here in Portland at the same time (Dec. 27-31). One specific request for the Philippines field is a resolution to a problem with the access road to our mission home in Manila. The street outside the mission home is now the widest in Metro Manila, and with the last widening, the already-steep access road became unusable. Negotiations with the neighbors have ground to a halt and for months now access has only been possible by foot and through a round-about path through a squatter area—hardly an incentive to people to make their way there.

Karen has both a Muga scan and CT scan later this month which will tell how her heart and liver are doing. But blood tests remain in the normal range and her energy level is good. She is actually feeling considerably better right now than at this stage either one or two years ago. God is good and we don’t want to take His provision of health for granted. Actually Dave is the one in need of prayer at the moment. His hernia has started bothering him and he’s had a cold for more than two weeks, with an uncomfortable cold sore as well, indications that his immune system is weak. The miracle is that Karen has not caught the cold.

Have a blessed Christmas and a New Year full of hope and joy in the Lord,

Dave & Karen

Posted by David at 11:55 AM

November 2, 2007

November Prayer Bulletin

Dear Team,

We last wrote just before leaving for a missions conference in Southern Oregon. We were immensely encouraged by the pastor and congregation of that church and have had four letters from them since we returned home. There was a very strong sense of affinity with a number of families there, a hard-to-describe but very real oneness in Christ. It’s a long time since we have been in such a missions minded church and the experience was faith-building for us. Thank you for praying. It looks as though God answered prayer for our message to be clearly presented and received. We would love to see another new OMF prayer group start in Shan Creek, but the Lord will have to guide in that. One lady in the church has already been praying for Dave for more than twenty years!

Last Saturday we were at Multnomah Bible College for a one-day conference for people who had done short-term missions trips. The focus was on how to keep moving forward with the Lord and very helpful suggestions were given, the key one being that when we keep going into risky situations, outside our ‘comfort zone,’ we continue to see our faith built, and that’s exactly what happens during short term missions trips. So to reach out to the poor and needy in our own community can keep us on fire for the Lord right where we are. This conference was the first of its kind, and not too well attended. Pray that in future more will take advantage of such opportunities. We have a number of missions conferences coming up in January, but none on the calendar between now and then. Please pray that God will lead us to people with a heart for missions, both those He is calling to go to Asia, and those who will get involved here at home.

Wil has applied to go with a group from our church here to Mexico during his spring break. He hasn’t heard yet whether he’s accepted, but sees it as a good learning, growing experience. At this point, he sees missions in his future, so we’ll see if that strengthens his resolve. He’s just finished another fund-raiser: selling wreaths and poinsettias to help pay for his class trip to Washington, DC next June. Last year it was mainly Mom selling. This year he took a lot more initiative. And now that soccer season is over, he’s applying for a part time job. He’d love to be able to get his driver’s license, but needs to save up money to pay for the insurance first.

My last CT scan results were good. The tumors haven’t grown in the last two months and I’m to continue on Tykerb alone for another three months, then have another scan. Pray that this treatment plan will prove effective in keeping the cancer in check. My friend Patty started chemo yesterday, and more friends at church have been diagnosed with cancer. Pray that what we have learned and experienced of God through these past few years will enable us to help others facing similar situations in life.

Your fellow servants, Dave & Karen

Posted by David at 1:43 PM

September 29, 2007

October Prayer Bulletin

Dear Team,

Yesterday as we drove to various doctors’ appointments, the sun was shining through the rain. That meant seeing lots of rainbows and seeing grass and trees and flowers looking brighter and cleaner than they have in months. Good news in difficult times is rather like sun shining through the rain. And the best good news I could have had was seeing my oncologist looking so much better than he did four weeks ago. He is back on chemo, has gained seven pounds (he lost 35!), has had his hemoglobin go from 7 to over 10, and looks at least 100% healthier than when I last saw him. What a tremendous answer to prayer. Thank you for being a part of that process. He still needs a walker to get around and cannot straighten the leg with the large skin graft, so please continue to pray for ongoing healing. I’ve lent him a book on spiritual formation. He is responsible for our physical bodies, and I’m encouraging him to keep growing spiritually.

He and I compared the palms of our hands (last time mine were dry, rough, and scaling and his were bluish white. Now his are pinky red and so are mine. Dr. P wants me to continue to take just the Tykerb for another month, and then have another CAT scan. I learned from the pharmacist that I’m the only person in Kaiser Northwest region taking just the Tykerb (without Xeloda) and no studies have been done to see whether the one drug is effective without the other. I’d love to be the guinea pig that can show the effectiveness of Tykerb without all the difficult side effects of Xeloda. I’ve had a really good month, feeling well, able to keep up with produce in the garden, enjoy leading the Bible studies, and have a fun and relaxing weekend at the coast with women from our church. God is giving more and more of us a deep hunger for truth and desire to live out that truth in our daily lives.

Dave and I are looking forward to being part of the missions conference at Shan Creek Bible Church in southern Oregon from Oct. 4-7. I’m speaking at a women’s luncheon, we’re taking a children’s Sunday School class, and have several other long and short presentations. Pray God will guide us in our final preparations for this and that what we share will impact the church. We are also encouraged by another answer to prayer. A new OMF prayer group is holding its first meeting on Oct. 20th near Banks (west of Portland) with Mary Haag, an OMFer soon returning to Cambodia as the guest speaker. Others in the group have a special interest in Cambodia and we hope they will strengthen Mary’s prayer team. Please pray too for Grace, a Korean American wanting to apply to OMF. Her elderly father has just had heart surgery and she is feeling the weight of responsibility in caring for him.

Another dear friend who needs prayer is Patty Merritt. Patty was diagnosed with breast cancer last month. The tumor is growing rapidly and problems with their medical service mean that she still hasn’t had surgery or started chemo. Pray for peace of mind and heart for Patty and husband Denny who were our OMF teammates in Tanauan, Batangas, and now live in California.

Wil is in the midst of a 30 hour fast to raise funds for children supported by World Vision. At the beginning, he had a soccer practice, and right now is at behind-the-wheel practice with his driving instructor. He says he’s doing OK without food so far. God is working in his life.

Rejoicing in the sun and the Son even through the rain,
Dave and Karen

Posted by David at 5:48 PM

September 12, 2007

Prayer Bulletin that should have been posted Sept. 3

This letter was sent out on Sept. 3, but we slipped up and didn't post it on the website. I'm really sorry that many of you haven't heard from us since August because of that mistake. I'm posting this now and will do an update on the past 10 days soon after. Sorry to keep you in the dark. Karen

Dear Team,

Today is Labor Day, a public holiday in the US marking the end of summer vacation for most students, and the last long weekend families can get away before school starts. We didn’t plan ahead and so got up this morning without anything arranged. We suggested three different outings to Wil, but none of them interested him if he didn’t have a friend along to share the experience. Those of you who have had teenage sons will probably be able to identify with us as we’ve reached the stage where outings with just Mom and Dad are considered deadly boring. But Wil is now at an amusement park with friends and we have time to catch up on correspondence and prepare for a very busy week ahead.

Rereading our last letter, we hadn’t given you many prayer requests for August, but I know many of you were praying for my handling the new chemo. I really struggled a lot with the Xeloda and finally was advised to stop taking it. I was off both medicines for about a week and that let my body get back to ‘normal.’ For the next month I’m just on Tykerb (five tablets each morning) and a number of herbal supplements to help with digestion, opening blood vessels, and generally helping my body to cope with the side effects of the chemo. The results of the CT scan showed that in the six weeks I was on the new chemo the two largest tumors in my liver had shrunk by about 33%. That was very encouraging news. The Muga scan showed that my heart wasn’t doing quite as well as on previous scans, but was still registering in the normal range. I’ve had some pain in my chest which I now think is more related to acid reflux, caused by the chemo, than to heart trouble.

Despite my good results, my heart is heavy because my oncologist isn’t doing very well. He has been getting into the office two days a week for the past two weeks, but his blood tests last week showed that the level of M protein in his blood shot up while he was having surgery on his leg. That means his multiple myeloma is no longer in remission, his brain is getting the signal that he doesn’t need protein (but the protein in the blood is not strengthening his body), and he is very weak. He is getting around with a walker, but looking at his face as he walks shows how much pain and effort is involved. He needs to be back on chemo himself in order to lower the protein level. Please pray for the Lord’s healing of this brother in Christ.

Friends from New Zealand who were colleagues in Manila arrive on the 5th, Wednesday, and will be with us until the10th. We have a missions committee retreat on Friday, a soccer tournament on Saturday, and a full day of meetings at church including a Ministry Fair on Sunday. Pray that we can make needed preparations for all of this before they arrive and that we’ll be able to make contact with more potential volunteers and missionary candidates now that life settles into more of a routine for them as well as us.

I’m leading two ladies Bible studies this fall and Dave continues teaching the Heritage class at church and we’ve both involved with the missions activities in church. Wil enjoyed his driver’s ed. class and soccer practice, but wishes school wasn’t starting on Wednesday!

Laboring on in service of the King of Kings,
Dave and Karen

Posted by David at 3:47 PM

August 6, 2007

August Prayer Bulletin

Dear Team,
The first week of this month was chock full of visitors: Char and Beth from Colorado, Mike and Betty from Toronto, who we’ve known for many years in the Philippines, their daughter Melody with her husband and two very lively little girls, Pam from Seattle, and Jim and Louise, who arrived to visit with Char after we left for a weekend in Sunriver, Central Oregon. It was fun to have friends here and meant we had enough people to play games, as well as have rich times of fellowship. And with so much fresh produce in the garden, and lots of flowers blooming, it’s a great time of year to welcome people to our home.

As well as letting you know what we’ve been doing, the above explains why you didn’t hear from us earlier in the month. We gave you a lot of prayer requests last month, so want to begin by telling you how God has answered. First, the picnic with Filipino pastors and their congregations on the 4th of July, went well and enabled us to meet a number of new families. Dave was able to present his message on freedom in Christ without a microphone, and apart from one or two restless children, the audience was attentive. It was a hot day, but our picnic site was under very large shade trees, keeping the temperature comfortable, enabling us to talk with people until late afternoon. We went to watch fireworks downtown that evening.

The High Impact Volunteer Network training program in Denver was extremely helpful in understanding how to go about recruiting, selecting, training, and building a team of volunteers. We as a mission are looking for people who want to make a difference through their donation of time and effort in serving in OMF. We are in touch with several people who we believe will strengthen our Portland area prayer team, and are praying the Lord will lead us to more in His time. We got the computer we needed from OMF and Dave has spent a good number of hours reading information on people who have expressed interest in OMF from the Oregon and Vancouver, WA area. We’re learning now how to update information in the database and have been contacting people by email using that computer system. Dave has built an extension to our desk for the new computer at the right height to type. He’s done a beautiful job of matching the stain on the extension to the roll-top desk, and using our printer table as legs for the extension. Our bedroom doubles as our office, so space is at a premium. Pray that we will connect with the right people.

We met Wil at the airport, as planned on July 12th and saw him off to his church youth group camp early on the 14th. Since he returned from the week in the water, he’s worked odd jobs for neighbors and helped us with various projects like painting our back deck and some gardening. Now soccer practice has begun and will occupy his weekday mornings. He will do a Driver’s Ed. course the last two weeks of August.

My new chemo regimen consists of 5 tablets every day of Tykerb and 8 of Xeloda daily for a week, followed by a week off. I started with 10 a day of Xeloda and that caused a number of unpleasant side effects. Some of the side effects are cumulative, like a burning sensation in my palms and soles of my feet, tiredness, and diarrhea, but I’m doing a lot better now than I did the first week. I just need to do all that I can during the good weeks and accept that my energy level is a lot lower during the heavy dose weeks.

Thank you for walking this twisty path with us, Dave and Karen

Posted by David at 8:07 PM

July 3, 2007

July Prayer Bulletin

Dear Team,
July started with our church’s annual Freedom Celebration, a time to recognize and remember those who have served or are serving in the armed forces. As our band played the march for each branch, those who had served stood up. One of the speakers had recently returned from his 65th class reunion at the Naval Academy. His presence and clear Christian testimony were the most impacting part of the service for me, though I love having a chance to play the piccolo! Afterwards we all enjoyed a picnic lunch followed by games (sack races, water balloon fights, etc.) for all ages. We were pleased that three neighbors accepted our invitation to come.

July 1st was also the first day of camp at New England Frontier Camp in Maine, so Wil shifted from raking and other maintenance jobs, to being a counselor. He and another counselor are in a cabin with eight 10-12 year old boys. Wil says they are a good bunch, going to sleep and getting up when they are supposed to! He called this morning to report in. We hadn’t heard from him for a week. The last call was when he was standing in the Atlantic Ocean! He seems to be having a good time, but doesn’t want us to send him letters, because he has to sing to get them!
I emailed to give him the results of my CAT scan when we heard from Dr. P last week. Wil said he was discouraged when he got the news, but went to his cabin, and “it was as if the Holy Spirit opened my Bible to Psalm 20. After I’d read that, I was OK again.”

We praise God for helping all of us handle the unwanted news that the tumors are getting larger again. I see Dr. P on Thursday to discuss further treatment options. He suggested two possible drugs and I read up on those. Basically, it’s a matter of choosing which side effects I think I can handle. The pattern seems to be that each drug initially causes the tumors to shrink, then they become resistant to it, and the next scan shows they’ve grown again. So I’ll continue trying different things, hopefully finding one which will work a bit longer without too many debilitating side effects. We’re all disappointed, “perplexed, but not in despair” as Paul said in 2 Cor. 4:9. God is in control and we continue to trust Him to do what He knows is best.

Those of you who get this via email may be able to pray for Dave as he shares tomorrow at the Filipino-American picnic. His topic is Freedom and he plans to look at what it has cost this country and the Philippines to gain freedom during different wars, and then look at what it cost God to give us freedom from Satan through the death of His son. Pray for a sound system that will help him be heard. We’ve no idea how many Filipinos will be at the park tomorrow, but it’s supposed to be one of the hottest days of the year!

On Saturday we fly to Denver for training in handling the Volunteer Network OMF is starting. While there we hope to get a new computer with Lotus Notes software so that we can access the US HQ database and have contact information for those who have shown and interest in OMF in our region. Pray we will learn how to use Lotus Notes and to initiate the volunteer network quickly. And pray our flight back on Thursday will be on time. We are scheduled to arrive twenty minutes before Wil flies in from Maine!

This comes with our love and continued gratitude for your prayer support,
Dave and Karen

Posted by David at 2:20 PM

June 5, 2007

God is fantastic!

Dear Team,

We’ve had a packed month since last writing. The time at the OMF Mobilization Conference was stimulating, refreshing, and encouraging. We had a report from the leader of one of our teams working in a creative access area of the world. We had no idea that this relatively new team now has 180 workers from 25 nations, working in 5 countries, on 18 teams among more than 30 people groups comprising a population of 160,000,000 people. They are praying for 140 additional workers over the next 5 years. Their target area includes about 100 unreached people groups! Let’s join them in prayer. God is at work there and here in the States as well. We heard reports on OMF conferences and contacts in different parts of this country and can see why the Lord has put together a growing Mobilization Team. To fill anticipated needs, OMF International is praying for 900 new workers by 2010! Will you join us in praying for these reinforcements?

Another highlight of the conference was having God meet with us in a very special way. The theme of our worship for the week was ‘Serving the Holy God.’ On Tuesday morning the devotional was on sin and judgment and God convicted many of us of the sin in our lives and need of forgiveness. Our director described it this way: “As people prayed, they opened up their hearts in humility, emptying themselves of all pretense, pride and self. Prayers revealed contrite hearts and a yearning for a deeper experience of God. For some, this experience was a result of prayer and fasting; for others, the experience has led to prayer and fasting.” We were united in Christ and abandoned our planned program for several hours to individually meet with God. We are excited at this taste of revival in our mission and in our own lives, in answer to prayer.

One huge item of praise is that the misunderstanding with our supporting church in England has been cleared up and their support has not stopped. The mission council there understood that our supporting church here in Oregon was offering to take on the finances that had been coming from Gold Hill. Since the church here also gives a third of our total support, they are not in a position to double their giving. We praise God for keeping our hearts and minds at peace during the two months when it seemed we were being ‘dropped’ and for the way He has reassured us that we are loved and cared for on both sides of several oceans.

Wil leaves early on Friday morning for New England Frontier Camp near Lovell, Maine. He will be traveling out with the camp director and a group of fellows. They will help with maintenance and setting up of the camp, then he will be a counselor until July12 when he flies back to Portland. We will return the same day from a training course in Denver held July 9-11. Before that, a Singaporean friend will be with us June16-20, and Dave will be speaking at a Filipino-American picnic on July 4th. Last Saturday the Filipino pastors and some of their wives met at our home for fellowship and an extended prayer time.

I start another three week cycle of chemo on Wednesday, and at the end of that cycle will have another CAT scan to see what’s happening in my liver. So many have prayed for me that I’m looking forward to this scan, believing God is shrinking those tumors in answer to prayer. I’ve been on three hikes in the past two weeks and am feeling great!

Rejoicing in God’s goodness, Dave and Karen

Posted by David at 10:55 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

April 12, 2007

April Prayer Bulletin

Dear Team, April 11, 2007

TRAVEL: We are late once again with this prayer letter as we were away from home. Yes, Wil’s passport arrived by overnight delivery the day before he was scheduled to fly to Manila. He had a great time reconnecting with classmates from Faith Academy, OMF missionaries and Filipinos he knows. He came back tired but very positive about his time there. Wil’s being able to leave for Manila meant that Karen and I were also able to fly to London the next day and spend 17 wonderful days visiting friends in England and Northern Ireland.

Our focus was on people and not sight-seeing or special events, but we did get to see Shlemish (St. Patrick was taken from that hillside as a slave and later returned to Ireland as a Christian missionary), the mountains of Mourne, North Antrim coast, and the largest freshwater lake in the UK while in N. Ireland. In England, highlights were two birthday celebrations, and the 30th anniversary Prom Praise concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Noel Tredennick joined the staff of All Souls, Langham Place in the summer of 1972 and I was in the first All Souls Orchestra. What a contrast from our small beginning to the 120 piece orchestra with a choir of more than 200 at the Albert Hall! The music was incredibly varied and beautifully performed, a perfect preparation for Easter Sunday. We were happy to attend three services at Gold Hill Baptist Church that day. Saturday morning we’d been at the lovely home of the Kendalls in Beaconsfield along with 40-50 members of the church who came to visit with us. Of course we weren’t able to see all of the friends Karen would have liked to spend time with, but we certainly packed every day that we were there, and especially appreciated the gift of time, love, and generous hospitality of Jim and Anne Graham who have been like parents to Karen for more than 30 years.

RETURN: We arrived back in Portland at 11 p.m. on the 9th of April and Wil flew in at 8 a.m. the following morning. We drove Wil straight to school where he finished the school day and had play rehearsal until 5:30 p.m. He came home and went to sleep right after dinner. Pray for him as he needs to make up schoolwork he’s missed and has he and the others practice for the opening of their school play, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, on April 19. Wil is playing the part of Aslan.

TREATMENT: Today, Wednesday the 11th, Karen had her appointment with Dr. Alex and started her next round of chemotherapy. Pray that these treatments with Taxol will continue to be effective in shrinking the tumors in her liver. She was pleased to discover that most of the unpleasant side effects of the chemo subsided quite a bit during the time we were away. But now she will be returning to these once more. Pray that they will be bearable and manageable. Dr. Alex suggested that we include trips to London as part of her treatment plan, since she came back feeling so well!

OMF MINISTRY: I will be attending an Ethnic Workers Summit in Seattle, April 19-21. Pray that this will prove helpful in learning how to better serve among the Asian Ethnic communities here in the Portland area and that I will be able to connect with others doing similar ministries, and with Filipino pastors in and around Seattle. We will both be attending the OMF US Mobilization Conference, May 14-18 in Littleton, CO. This time will be helpful in getting us ‘up to speed’ in our new role representing OMF here in Oregon, focusing on the Asian community and churches. Pray that the Lord will guide us in how to most effectively use our time and energies and lead us to the people and churches that He wants us to serve and impact.

Thank you for your part in our lives and ministry through prayer,
Dave and Karen

Posted by David at 9:00 AM

March 8, 2007

March travels

Our apologies for being so late with this month’s letter! We’ve had visitors for the past week, and were trying to get lots of things organized before they arrived. They left today and when I sat down to do an update on the website, realized that this letter to you was a week overdue.

For those of you who aren’t able to visit our website, the biggest news is that when I got the CAT scan results, I learned that the two largest tumors in my liver are about 25% smaller than on the previous scan. The Taxol is working! Thank you for your prayers. The Lord has helped me come to terms with losing my hair, and last week I purchased a very comfortable wig.

A major prayer request at the moment is for Wil’s passport to arrive. We took it in to be renewed in January and were told that it would take about six weeks. Seven weeks later, we’ve heard nothing. He leaves for Manila on March 21st! We are scheduled to leave for England the following day! Please pray that it will arrive soon, or that we will find out how to follow up and expedite its delivery. Because a passport is now required to cross the border from the US to Canada, many people need to apply for passports and apparently there is a huge backlog. We arrive in England on the morning of March 23 and will be at Gold Hill for the weekend. Then we will fly to Belfast on the 26th to visit OMF colleagues, retuning to Gold Hill on the 29th. This time we will stay in one place and friends will come to us there in Chalfont St. Peter. We fly home again on April 9.

Our visitors were Leny (Magsanay) Misiano and her husband, John. Leny and two of her sisters lived with me in Tanauan about 25 years ago. Leny is now married to John who is an American, and she has been in the US for about a year. She has wanted to visit, and the Lord worked it out for them to come this past week from New Jersey. We had only met John briefly in Manila, so enjoyed getting to know him and seeing his love for his lovely wife. We were able to share what Christ means to us and to pray with John. We’d ask you to pray for him and Leny as they seek to study God’s Word together in the coming months. March isn’t the ideal time to visit Oregon, but we had several sunny days and were able to visit the coast and Multnomah Falls.

This Sunday is a quarterly Missions Sunday at Damascus and we are responsible for organizing this one. We are trying to help everyone take a step further in outreach, whether to their neighbors, through an organized ministry, helping at a camp, or going on a short-term missions trip. Our theme is: “Sent from the Pew” and Dave has worked hard at gathering information on a large number of outreach opportunities. Pray people will be willing to be sent. We have a follow-up meeting scheduled for the following Sunday.

Both our Damascus Christian School boys’ and girls’ basketball teams were trophy winners in the state tournament this year, and Wil went along to watch all of their games. He’s a very enthusiastic unofficial cheerleader! Now he has daily play rehearsals, and hopes to have his lines memorized before he leaves for the Philippines.

Thank you for your part in our lives and ministry through prayer,

Dave and Karen

Posted by David at 7:22 PM

February 2, 2007

Anniversaries and Plans

Dear Team,

February has three special anniversaries for us. The first is today, the third anniversary of Ben’s promotion to heaven. Twenty years ago, Dave arrived in Singapore, and thirty years ago I was there starting life as an OMF missionary. A friend of Dave’s gave him a cake commemorating the 20th anniversary of his commissioning here at Damascus Community Church. It’s good to remember, and thankfully, it’s the good memories that last the longest.

Thank you for praying us through January. We enjoyed the Missions Connexion 2006 and learned a great deal during our two days of meetings at the US HQ of OMF in Littleton, CO. What a fantastic team we have the privilege of being a part of. We have a lot to learn, and are doing a lot of reading at the moment so that as we represent OMF, we will have accurate, up to date information on what is happening through the mission in different parts of Asia. On the 7th we’ll be at Multnomah Bible College talking to students about their journeys and interest in missions. Feb. 9-11 is a Church Couples Retreat, and we may have visitors later in the month. Our friend Bonnie Boerner was here from Jan. 26-30 and our jaws got tired from talking, laughing, and praying together. I have another CAT scan on Feb. 15 and will get the results on the 22nd.

The big news is that we’ve booked a flight for Wil to visit the Philippines from March 21-April 10. This is during his spring break and on through Easter. He can be there about 18 days and only miss 6 days of school. He has a place to stay, and permission to be at Faith Academy, attending some classes with friends. We’ve renewed his passport, and it should be here in time for the trip. Pray that he will be able to handle traveling alone, especially getting through the airport arriving and leaving Manila. Pray too that this visit will provide good closure for him. When he left, it was with the hope of returning, at least for his senior year, but the longer he is here, the less likely that seems.
As well as making up work he will be missing, he will need to work on his part for the Spring play at school. He will be Aslan in “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.”

And while Wil is in the Philippines, we are planning to be in England! The invitation to a birthday part started us thinking about a visit now, and the more we thought, the better the timing looked. So far, the worst side effect of chemo has been hair loss and some trouble sleeping. It’s likely that other things will hit me later, so it seems better to try to make a trip soon, while I still have the strength and energy to travel. We haven’t booked our flights yet, but will leave March 21 or 22 and return April 9, in time to meet Wil.

In closing, I’d like to share one more amazing answer to prayer. Our support figure for 2007 was about 50% higher than 2006 because of living in the US, and the Lord provided all of that increase and more. We received 101% of our support figure! God is good.
Partnering with your for the furtherance of the Gospel,

Dave and Karen

Posted by David at 10:18 PM

January 4, 2007

January Prayer Letter

Lampinen Prayer Bulletin January 4, 2007

Dear Team,

Looking back at 2006 we are so aware of God’s gracious presence and help. During the year, my arms got stronger, chemo was tolerable; we were able to garden, visit friends and family in the Midwest in the summer, and make that very special trip to the Philippines in November. Wil grew wiser as well as taller, and the Lord clarified His direction for our future ministry.

Seeing God’s help in the past makes it easier to look forward with hope. In fact, the verse that God has been impressing on my mind and heart almost daily right now is Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” What a lot of truth is packed into those 31 words! Truth about God, what He provides for us and how we get it, where our power comes from, etc.

We had prayed that God would shrink the tumors in my liver while I was off chemo. But the scans showed that two of the tumors got larger and I had to start on Taxol on Dec. 28th. Needless to say we were disappointed, but we still are trusting God and know that He is in control and knows what is best. The first week of Taxol was much easier to tolerate than when I started on Navelbine in 2005 and that is encouraging. The possible side effects may hit me in time, but I’m glad to be feeling well at this point. I will have chemo weekly for the foreseeable future. Do pray that this treatment will prove effective in fighting the cancer, that my body will continue to tolerate the drug, and its undesirable side effects be kept to a minimum.

In looking forward, we are excited about having joined the OMF US mobilization team as it will give us the training, oversight and direction that we were lacking this past year. We will still be involved with the Filipino churches here in Portland (the next meeting is Jan. 6) but will be given more opportunities to represent OMF and promote our work in Asia in other churches, on college campuses and missions events here in the Northwest. We will also continue our connection with the Philippine Missions Association (PMA) and work with them in promoting the work of Filipino tentmaking missions and the goal of sending out of 200,000 Filipino missionaries by the year 2010. PMA’s National Director, Bob Lopez, will be coming to Portland and Seattle in April. Pray for the logistics of organizing events and speaking opportunities for him while with us here.

Pray for God’s grace and guidance as we move into these new areas of ministry. Jan. 9 is our anniversary and the monthly OMF prayer meeting at our home. Jan. 10 our new boss Mark Bradley will be here to discuss our new roles. Jan. 19 & 20 we will assist our Northwest regional directors Dick and Donna Andrews, in representing OMF at Mission Connexion 2006, a city-wide missions conference held annually here in Portland. And Jan. 23-24 we will be at the US office in Littleton, CO for mobilization team meetings. Karen is also speaking at the MOMS group at church on the 10th and we’re expecting OMF Philippines teammates to be here Jan. 12-14, so the calendar is starting to fill up.

Thank you for sustaining us in prayer, and for all the evidences of your love and support over the past years.
Your fellow servants, Dave and Karen

Posted by David at 2:51 PM

December 1, 2006

December Prayer Bulletin

Dear Team,

After two wonderful weeks of visiting friends in the Philippines we flew out of Manila on Nov. 30th just hours before Typhoon Reming struck the provinces of southern Luzon and the island of Mindoro. This was one of several to hit the Philippines in the last month or so. Here is the report of one weather station as the typhoon initially traveled over the country. “This is an extremely catastrophic typhoon...PAGASA Virac (the government recording station) has recorded wind gusts of 265 km/hr (about 165m.p.h.) ...All interests in the Northern Samar, Bicol Region & Quezon Provinces should closely monitor the progress of this extremely dangerous typhoon.” Here is the weather report from the government weather office yesterday: “At 2:00 a.m. today, Typhoon "REMING" was located by PAGASA radar, satellite and surface data in the vicinity of Calapan, Oriental Mindoro or 100 kms south southeast of Manila (13.5°N, 121.3°E) with maximum sustained winds of 150 kph near the centre and gustiness of up to 185 kph.Iit is forecast to move west at 19 kph.” The storm struck Calapan, the place where we were this past weekend for the OMF women’s retreat. It is too early to know the full extent of the loss of life or damage. However, the main part of the OMF Calapan Centre has lost 75% of its roof. If this is the case for a solidly built structure, we fear what the situation will be for many poor families who have far less substantial homes. Many farmers were just recovering from an earlier typhoon and replanting rice fields. Pastor Sam Castro, from Lord of Life, told us of his brother in Mindoro who had lost most of his fruit trees a few months ago. All he could was to make charcoal from the downed trees and sell that to buy new seedling trees to replant. Do pray for many thousands of people who today are homeless and those who have lost loved ones.

We hope to get a newsletter written in the coming week, so will tell you more about our trip soon. Right now, we’d like to share several specific answers to prayer. We know that many of you were praying that our flight would arrive on time since I had surgery scheduled for 10:30 am yesterday. Our plane landed almost an hour early (!) and we had time to get home and unpacked before a friend took me to the hospital. Another answer is that the nurse who put a needle in for me to receive anesthetic was able to get into a vein on her first try (it usually takes at least three). I slept well during the procedure, and with pain medication, have had a lot of rest in the past 24 hours. Though a bit dopey, I was able to lead our Beth Moore Bible study this morning. And after a month of rain here, the sun has come out! Also in answer to prayer, Wil had a good two weeks here in our absence. He stayed with four different families during that time.

As we look to the future, we are facing a lot of uncertainties. Based on the biopsy findings from Karen’s surgery we will have a clearer picture of what the next steps will be in the fight with her cancer. She will need to have new scans soon to determine whether the tumors in the liver have grown more and if the surgery has removed all cancerous material. Based on that information, we will need to decide on a new treatment plan. Pray for wisdom and God’s guidance for the doctors and for us in this regard. Wherever we went in the Philippines, we were assured of the prayers of those we met. Many took time to pray for us right then and there, most asking God to heal Karen, which is indeed the desire of our hearts. Our faith and trust are in God. He knows what is best for us and we know that his will is “good, acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)

With our love and gratitude for your partnership in prayer,

Dave & Karen

Posted by David at 3:48 PM

November 1, 2006

November Prayer Bulletin

Lampinen Prayer Bulletin
Dave & Karen Lampinen, 14300 SE Wiese Rd, Damascus, OR 97089 Home: 503-563-1146 Cell:971-322-8517
lampinendavid@juno.com www.lampinenlog.com
Dear Team, November 1, 2006

Along with a change from sunny 80° (27° C) days to freezing nights and a strong northeast wind, we've had changes in our path, some as chilling to the heart as that blustery wind. The CAT scan showed one of the tumors in my liver has more than doubled in size. A PET scan last week showed that in addition to the tumors in the liver, there is evidence that the cancer is back in the breast tissue. Dr. Leimert was ready to start me on Taxol immediately, but knowing how toxic that chemotherapy is, and that I might have to be on it for the rest of my life, I'm not anxious to start. We talked with Dr. Panutich who suggested several other possible treatments, and that was one of the reasons for doing more tests. I am still getting Herceptin, and also taking large doses of Ambrotose, a powder made from the aloe plant, which helps strengthen the immune system and helps the body fight the cancer itself. I'll continue with this treatment plan for the next month.

And on November 15, Dave and I are flying to Manila for two weeks! That may sound crazy, but lots of pieces have fit together to convince us that this is the right thing to do. I mentioned last month that I'd had a toothache. Well, I had just as much pain after the endodontist redid a root canal. Two weeks later he said that the neighboring tooth also needed a root canal! I have a lot more confidence in Jonathan Perez, my dentist for 20 years in Manila, than the dentists I've seen here, and I felt I'd get better treatment for a lot less money if I could see him. I've been in touch with Jonathan who says he will fit me in as soon as I can get to Manila and get the work done in the time I have available. Then we discovered that we could both get flights using Frequent Flyer miles…and we've just booked the tickets! We leave here at noon on the 15th, arriving in Manila at 10:45 pm the next day. We leave Manila at 7:55 am on the 30th and get to Portland at 6:55 am the same day! As well as dental work, I'll be able to attend an OMF Women's retreat in Calapan, Mindoro. It feels as though that was all planned just so that I could see everyone! Now we need to work out housing for Wil while we're away. Several friends have already offered, and he assures us he's happy to stay with friends.

We have also been invited to officially join the OMF US Mobilization Team at the beginning of 2007. That will go a long way towards providing the direction, accountability and training we need to be an asset to the bigger team. We've started doing some reading to help us with this.

Please pray especially for my health in the next month and that God will show us what treatment option to follow from December onwards. I'm more concerned with quality of life than longevity but I'm not anxious to leave Dave and Wil and many friends here any sooner than I have to. God knows the number of my days and how He wants me to use them. I'm extremely grateful for the level of medical care I've received, including quick access to very expensive tests like PET scans.

Wil's soccer team learned a lot about teamwork, but victory eluded them in a lot of their games. He has decided against playing basketball, but wants to keep in condition by playing indoor soccer and running. We'd like to see him get back to playing his trumpet too. We're hoping that he and a classmate will work on some duets of Christmas carols and be able to use those caroling.

With all the grape, apple, and tomato juice in the cupboard, plus the other canning and freezing, we see manifold evidence of the Lord's bounty, even though the cold winds blow. Thank you for your fellowship with us in prayer,
Dave & Karen

Posted by David at 6:27 PM

October 9, 2006

Together for 225 months

Dear Team, October 9, 2006

When I typed the date on this letter, Dave reminded me that this is our anniversary and today we’ve been married for 225 months!! (That’s 18 and ¾ years for those of you not into counting months!) These have been good years, not always easy, but as we’ve walked on with the Lord between us, they have definitely been good. It has been a privilege to serve together in ministry all these years.

We were slow to write because we’ve been processing some major decisions. Dave has felt frustrated at not seeing more immediate fruit from his labors in seeking to mobilize Filipino congregations in the Portland area. Good relationships have been built with local pastors and we enjoy the opportunities we have to fellowship with Filipino church leaders, but thus far, few openings have come to do seminars in churches on cross-cultural missions. Dave was discouraged and on the point of resigning or going on leave of absence from OMF. As we began discussing this with OMF, and praying more, I felt God was saying that instead of resigning, Dave needed me to be more involved as a catalyst or spark plug in getting this new ministry going. Dave is a servant, who works well with Filipinos, but he’s not a ‘salesmen’ who can sell a vision. We’ve seen that what most Filipino pastors here need is encouragement in the form of prayer support and a listening ear as they struggle with life in this country. Once those relationships are established, they need education in the form of information on what is already happening worldwide through Filipino ministry before they are at the enlistment stage, ready to pray, give, and/or go. As we talked, we started coming up with ideas on how Dave can contact more Filipino pastors, begin small steps in the education process by summarizing articles and books written on the subject, and sending excerpts from such articles via email. Pray that he will develop a disciplined approach to these tasks (building a data base and preparing mini training materials) in the coming months. He wants to set up a team of consultants to help him keep on task and look at the prospect from a wider angle, namely Asian Americans along the west coast of the US and Canada, rather than the narrow focus on Filipino pastors in Portland.

Apart from a toothache necessitating re-treatment of a root canal and new crown, I have felt well over the past few months and been grateful for less discomfort in my arms. It’s good to be playing in the church orchestra again, and teaching fifth and sixth graders at Damascus Christian School to play the flute. I’ll have a CAT scan on the 12th and will know the following week how the tumors are doing in my liver. Please pray for Dr. Panutich and for Linda, a close friend at church who has also been diagnosed with multiple myeloma. Next week Dr. Panutich will have another four days of IV chemo and a month later a stem cell transplant with his own stem cells. He’s getting better at walking, though still needs to use a walker, and has a strong fighting spirit. He’s become a good friend through the out-of-office visits. Linda is in her second week of daily radiation treatments. She has one week to go and will continue on daily chemo tablets for three months. Lana, another friend, has leukemia and is facing a stem cell transplant but needs to decided where to have this done and needs to find a compatible donor. They may not be Filipino, but God has given me a widening circle of fellow cancer patients to love and support.

Wil turns 16 this month and is getting more anxious to drive. He just got his mid term grades and at the moment, has an A or B in everything but Greek. He’s really enjoying soccer season, and we’re enjoying the fact that we’ve had beautiful autumn weather to enjoy watching the games so far this season (more 80 degree days are predicted for this week!) Pray for balance for him between social activities and time spent on chores and homework.
Thank you for being a part of our lives and work through prayer, Dave & Karen

Posted by David at 8:54 PM

August 31, 2006

August Activities

Travel, friends and family, gardening and harvesting have kept us busy through August. We flew the day that stricter security regulations made flights difficult for many people around the world, but didn’t inconvenience us. Our flights to Denver and on to Minneapolis went smoothly and we were able to get to Dave’s sister’s home in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in a rented car that evening. I was amused that the model of car we were given was a Buick ‘La Crosse’ since that’s the name of my home town! We arrived just in time to attend to the funeral of Aunt Selma who died at 102 after living in the home she moved to as a bride up until the last year of her life when her son and his wife needed to care for her. A grandson had been with her up until then. She loved the Lord and had been waiting to see him face to face for more than 30 years! At the funeral we were able to visit with a number of more distant relatives. Jo Ann’s home on the lake was a wonderful place to spend almost a week. Wil got to use a jet ski and learn to knee board and ride an air chair (check out our website photos). We loved the peace and beauty of their home and view, and kayaking on the lake, as well as seeing friends and family.

We went via Chicago to La Crosse, not the most direct route, but one that let us spend two nights with very dear friends and see another OMF couple. Karen enjoyed her class reunion. She didn’t remember that she was one of 429 in that class. Only about 10% of the class, plus spouses, were able to attend, but it was a good time of reconnecting with many who came and learning news of others. While Dave and I were at the reunion, Wil went with his uncle to a Green Bay Packers pre-season game! My claim to fame is that I’ve raised an avid Packer fan who has hardly lived in the US, and never in Wisconsin! He loved the game and the Packers won!!

Our church missions retreat went well and the proposed changes have been discussed and are now being implemented. As September starts, so do most of the programs in the church so we expect to be back to a more regular schedule. Karen will be leading a Beth Moore woman’s Bible study, “Living Beyond Yourself,” and Dave will be team teaching the senior adult Sunday School class. Wil has been at soccer practice for the past week and will begin classes Sept. 6. He has quite a heavy load this year, taking both New Testament Greek and Spanish, and being on the Student Council. Pray he won’t be injured and that he will develop and maintain good study habits.

I’ve canned three quarts of vegetable juice (like V-8 but with nine vegetables!), three of tomato sauce, and tried making some very hot salsa. (We’ve grown cayenne and jalapeño peppers!) The freezer is bursting with bags of corn, beans, cauliflower, grated zucchini, and peppers and we’ve eaten and given away bags of cherry tomatoes and enjoyed having fresh strawberries and raspberries on our cereal most mornings. We need a root cellar for all the fall crops which will soon be ready to harvest.

God is good and has provided for us richly. We’re grateful for the health and strength to enjoy and share His bounty. And we are grateful for your part in strengthening us through prayer.

Gratefully yours, Dave & Karen

Posted by David at 3:26 PM

August 9, 2006

August Prayer Bulletin

Dear Team,

The Tualatin Valley Wesleyan Church is using their basketball court to attract young Filipinos and their families this summer and is concerned with how to disciple its members who seem to be too busy with work and family needs to meet regularly for Bible study. On the other side of Portland, two small Filipino congregations have merged to form a larger more effective body of believers. In another church, Pastor Romy is considering moving on from his present pastorate to do a new church plant and is asking for prayer for guidance. Another pastor is needing a change of immigrant status in order to do further studies. These are just a few of the prayer items we brought before the Lord at the monthly Filipino Pastors Fellowship last night. We are very impressed by the commitment these men have to the Lord and to serving Him and their congregations. Last month we had the privilege of hosting this monthly meeting at our home and enjoy getting to know these pastors and their wives. Pray with us for them.

Our home was also the gathering place for about 25 of our neighbors as we invited them over for coffee and dessert to meet our newest neighbors (friends who just moved into a house down the road from us). This proved to be a wonderful opportunity to get acquainted with the people who live so near but who we never meet. Pray for ingoing friendships to develop.

The Northwest Asian Youth Conference, held July 10-13 was a great event that allowed some 30 plus high school age young people to come together for worship, fellowship, teaching and a personal challenge to grow in their relationship with God. I (Dave) had the privilege of presenting a seminar session on missions and enjoyed the interaction with these talented teens and their youth pastors. Pray for God’s unique work in each student.

Wil has had a full schedule this past month with a week counseling at one camp for elementary age kids, attending a week long water ski camp with our church’s high school youth group in Idaho, playing on an indoor soccer team and working as a caddy. We praise God that once again someone has anonymously paid much of his tuition for this coming school year.

This week (Aug. 10) we fly to Minneapolis and then drive to Michigan and Wisconsin for a two week visit with family and for Karen to attend her high school class reunion. (We’ll let you guess how many years.) Pray for good and meaningful time with family and for still to be made arrangements to meet friends along the way.

Upon our return to Portland, Karen and I will be participating in a retreat with our church missions committee. We are on the committee’s leadership team which is in the process of reorganizing the committee to make us more effective, to involve more people and better serve the church and the missionaries we support. Pray that we will be guided by the Holy Spirit as we meet.

On both ends of our trip to the Michigan and Wisconsin Karen will be having her chemotherapy treatments. Having the double dose of Herceptin along with the chemo drug Navalbine every other week is a bit harder on her body. Pray she will be able to handle this as we travel. She is now needing to see a different oncologist because Dr. Panutich has had surgery and needs to be on chemo himself. Please pray for him and his family.

Thank you for your partnership with us through prayer,
Dave and Karen

Posted by David at 4:39 PM

July 11, 2006

July Prayer Bulletin

Dear Team, 4 July 2006

On June 11th at the get-together of Filipino churches in the area, Dave was able to distribute a paper he’d written (and quoted from in the last letter to you!) on the place of Filipinos in World Missions. We had 70 copies ready. Response was good from those attending and the pastors especially seem to be more ‘on board,’ but we need to reach a much larger number of Filipinos. On Monday July 10th the Filipino pastors’ prayer meeting will be at our home. We hope some tomatoes will be ripe by then!

July 13th Dave will give a seminar on cross-cultural missions at the Northwest Asian Youth Conference, a first-time event here in Portland. Pray for the organizers of this event and that the youth and youth leaders who attend will benefit and put into practice what they learn.

In our last bulletin, we mentioned that I’d had a Muga scan (that’s checking to see whether Herceptin is damaging my heart), Results showed my heart is in good shape, and Dr. Panutich initially suggested changing from weekly injections to triple-strength injections once every three weeks, so that I didn’t have to go in for treatment every single week. Then when I saw him last week, he decided it would be better to do a double dose of Herceptin every two weeks and also shift the Navelbine from two weeks on, one week off to every other week. That means one visit every other week and a two week break after each visit! It’s hard to imagine having a life again, even with ongoing chemo, but I’m sure God will show me how to use the extra ‘free’ time. I’ve been asked to be a ‘table mom’ at an outreach you moms with preschoolers and to speak at one of their meetings this coming year. They are meeting for evening Bible studies during the summer and I’ll be part of some of those as well.

I do want to ask you to pray for my oncologist. At my last appointment, he was wearing a knee brace and we learned that he has multiple myeloma, a type of cancer. I had no idea that he was a fellow cancer patient. He is a wise, kind, compassionate doctor, and now I know that both his faith in Christ and his own circumstances contribute to that. Please add him to your prayers. News of several other friends recently diagnosed with cancer has been very positive; one needs no further treatment after a lumpectomy, and another only a few weeks of radiation. And Dorothea, the fellow missionary from our church who I mentioned some months ago has completed chemotherapy, and is almost through with radiation and is doing really well. God is good.

Wil extended his stay at camp since they needed another counselor for the following session. He enjoyed himself, but was fighting a cold or sinus infection much of the time and still isn’t feeling great. He has two weeks to caddy and recover before going to his high school youth group camp. He got his learner’s permit to drive yesterday!

Our love in Jesus and thanks for your support in prayer, Dave and Karen

Posted by David at 7:21 AM

June 1, 2006

June Bulletin-- Good News!

Lampinen Prayer Bulletin
Dave & Karen Lampinen, 14300 SE Wiese Rd, Damascus, OR 97009 H:503-563-1146 Cell:971-322-8517

Dear Team, 1 June 2006

We’ve had some queries about our statement in last month’s letter that we hope to see TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND Filipino missionaries by the year 2010. Yes, we meant 200,000. We didn’t put in too many zeros. Church and missions leaders in thee Philippines have sensed for years that God has been preparing their country to be a missionary sending nation. Filipino believers are well suited, through their culture, gifting and faith to be effective servant messengers of the gospel in these last days. Filipinos are favored as Overseas Contract Workers all over the world because of their adaptability, diligence, fluency in English and ability to learn other languages. And Filipinos can get into countries where we white westerners are not welcome. As leaders met and prayed the vision began to immerge of trusting God to raise up 200,000 Filipino missionaries by 2010..

How is this possible? Consider the fact that there are already over 8 million Filipinos living and working abroad. Now if the percentage of Filipinos that are born again committed Christians is around 5% (and actually it is closer to 8%) there would already be 400,000 committed Filipino Christians living abroad! Each day over 2,000 Filipinos leave home to work abroad. Millions are finding work in countries within the 10/40 Window. Many who go are committed Christians who see their job as an opportunity and opening to share the gospel among co-workers and the people of their host country. They are what we call "tentmaker" missionaries. Missions leaders in the Philippines are seeking to equip those preparing to work abroad to be effective witnesses and church planters in areas that are closed to the gospel, such as in the Middle East, North Africa, Indonesia, Malaysia and in places such as China, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Laos where communism still holds sway. Pray to the Lord of the Harvest that He will continue to raise up, equip and send out thousands of faithful Filipino Christians to help fulfill the Great Commission of taking the gospel to every tribe and language and people and nation. Pray too that we can see Filipino congregations here in the Portland, Oregon area catch this same vision and begin to play an significant role in fulfilling it.

Thank you for praying for my CAT scan last week. I was able to get my arm back far enough for the test (I’d never have been able to do that two months ago), the IV line went in on the first try and worked well, and best of all, the results show that the tumors in the liver are continuing to shrink and there was no sign of any problem in the lungs. I was less anxious while waiting for results this time than with previous scans, but the good report still means I can breathe easier and is a major item of praise. Those who get email updates had also prayed up my neutrophils (May 16 they were 1.48, too low for a full dose of chemo; May 24 they were up to 5.18!!) so I’ve had a number of encouragements health-wise. Another Muga scan (a test of the heart since a side-effect of Herceptin is damage to the heart) is scheduled for June 6th.

Because of the weakness in my arms, I haven’t been able to play my flute in the church orchestra since mid-December. But I went to the rehearsal last night, and thoroughly enjoyed playing. What a precious gift. And so is our garden. I love seeing flowers and vegetables coming up and flowering. We’re already eating home grown lettuce and enjoying having a lawn and so many flowers.

Tomorrow is Wil’s last day of school for the year. He has applied to be counselor at one Christian camp and plans to attend his high school youth group camp. But he has purchased a cell phone, so the rest of the time had better be spent earning money to keep up his monthly payments. In March we mentioned that we were hoping to visit the Philippines in August. We’re disappointed that that won’t be possible, so hope visitors keep coming our way. In fact, we’re expecting to see two families who are missionaries in the Philippines this month, one just arriving from the Philippines and one soon returning. And our time with the Otterbachs last month was very, very special.

Thank you for your faithful prayers, your love, concern and correspondence. May the Lord bless each one of you and encourage you in your faith and your relationship with Him.

Dave & Karen

Posted by David at 9:44 AM

May 7, 2006

Active Springtime

Spring is bringing visitors as well as incredible flowers and blue skies. We enjoyed having family and friends with us in April, and look forward to having former OMFers Wilfred and Renate Otterbach from Germany here May 19-26th.. For those of you who haven’t been to Oregon, Spring is the best time to enjoy it’s beauty. We now have a lawn planted out back, and flowers and vegetables in, so are more ready to welcome guests! Ministry continues through Bible studies and on the 20th I’ll be speaking at a women’s meeting at a friend’s church.

My Uncle Owen whom we visited last month died on April 22nd. I wanted to go to the funeral, but had to accept that it was going to be too much to get there for a Friday funeral when I’d just had chemo on Wednesday and would have had to spend all of Thursday traveling to Ohio. Having missed so many important family occasions during my years in the Philippines, I badly wanted to be there. But if I had gone, I’d have missed seeing Dave’s sister Gail who came to visit from Rochester, New York. She had been wanting to see us in our new home, and timed her visit so that she could see Wil in his school play. He did a great job, and even led community singing at the beginning. The drama coach had asked Wil to try out for the play after seeing him in another school event, and when the choir director heard him singing, she asked him to try out for choir! He is also applying to be on the Student Council at school next year as Social Chairman. He certainly is social, but not flighty. His Bible study continues twice a week before school. This weekend he is at his youth group retreat. Maybe next weekend he’ll have time to caddy at a nearby country club.

My next CAT scan will be May 26th. Since I’ve been experiencing some tightness in my chest, the doctor wants a scan of my lungs as well as my liver. Please pray that I’ll be able to get my left (frozen shoulder) arm back far enough to do the scan. The last time I had one, I could just barely hold it back far enough for the liver scan and this time I’ll have to go further into the machine. I’m doing better now in terms of range of motion, but this is will be a challenge. My blood counts have been good and I’ve been able to carry on a more normal life in recent months.

Last week I was at a school board conference held in Seaside, on the Oregon Coast. I found the speakers stimulating and challenging. My training is to teach, but most of my teaching in recent years has been Bible studies, so it was good to learn more about issues facing teachers, administrators, students, and Christian schools trying to maintain Biblical standards in a world where everything seems to be tolerated but faith in Christ.

June 11th is not only a significant birthday for Dave, but a get-together of Filipino churches to celebrate their Independence Day. We’re planning to prepare a newspaper-style article for that event on the vision of seeing 200,000 Filipino missionaries by the year 2010. Pray this will get Filipinos attending excited at how they can play a part in reaching this goal and lead to opportunities to share more with individuals and Filipino congregations.

Seeking to serve as God leads,
Dave and Karen

Posted by David at 8:08 PM

March 3, 2006

March Prayer Bulletin

Dear Team,

March will involve traveling for us. From the 9th to the 12th Dave and I will be in Columbus, Ohio to visit my uncle and aunt. They are the only remaining relatives of my mother’s generation and neither is in good health. In fact, it looks as though my uncle will soon need hospice help. I’ve wanted to visit them for several years, but the chaos in our lives has made it hard to plan ahead. I pray that we’ll be able to communicate and say good goodbyes. We’ll stay with my cousin Kathy.

Then at the end of the month Wil has spring break right after parent-teacher conferences and we’re hoping to visit friends in the Vancouver, BC area and near Seattle. We also need to be making plans for summer travels. It looks as though our niece Sarah will be getting married on June 3, the day after Wil finishes school. We’d like to be there, but scheduling is tight. Wil would also like to pay a visit to friends at Faith Academy after their next school year begins in August. Dave and I have enough frequent flyer miles for tickets to Manila, but Wil doesn’t, so we need to figure out what might work.

We asked you to pray that God would meet our financial needs this year so I want to share with you how He is answering! In January we received two large gifts, one from England, and one from the States, and just today we learned about another from New Zealand! These have been tremendous faith boosters, helping us to trust that if we are where God wants us right now, and doing what He wants us to do, He will provide.

Those of you who don’t get our email updates are also waiting to hear the results of my CAT scan on Feb. 7. Dr. Panutich phoned on the 10th to say the scan shows that the tumors in the liver are shrinking! That was cause for celebration, and we had friends from Victoria, BC with us for the weekend to help us celebrate. And another friend, from Germany and working in the Philippines will be with us March 16-18. That will be another special treat.

Dave is continuing to lead the Heritage Sunday school class and they start on James this week, the same book we’re studying in Precepts. I know that studying this very practical book with such a mature, godly group of Christians will be an edifying experience. My Beth Moore study with finish this month, but we’re planning to continue meeting during April.

We had good conversations with a number of students during the Multnomah Bible College Missions Conference, and since we’re living nearby, hope to continue meeting with some of them. We were impressed by many we met who show real maturity and an openness to go and do whatever God wants them to. We want to see a monthly meeting of people whose hearts are open to missions here at our church as well, probably starting after our short term team returns from Mexico. Pray for this group of about 20 using their spring break to learn and help the church in Puebla, Mexico.

Thank you for standing with us and praying us through. May the God of hope fill YOU with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Dave and Karen

Posted by David at 11:55 AM

January 6, 2006

January Prayer Bulletin

Dear Team, January 5, 2006

We’ve waded through a lot of dark valleys and had some mountain top experiences in the last month. The first two weeks of chemo turned out to be a far more grueling, painful experience that I had anticipated, with multiple side effects. At the time I felt I was in a downward spiral and would never come up again. Chemotherapy really is a process of pouring poison into your system and make every single cell fight for survival, so I guess it’s not surprising that I felt as though I had a bad case of flu, etc. It seemed like most systems in my body were out of whack.

That’s the valley part. The highlights followed. My neutrophils ( a part of the white blood cells) were so low that I couldn’t have my third dose of Navelbine last week Wednesday. That meant a two week break from chemo and enough time for my body to recover and feel normal again. On the morning of the 24th Dave and I listened to the Lessons and Carols from Kings College Chapel in Cambridge and thoroughly enjoyed the broadcast. Christmas morning we had our own Bible readings as a family, sang Happy Birthday to Jesus, and spent time worshiping Him together with Wil. That was so much more special than the presents (at least for Dave and me!). I was able to keep food down and even enjoy it from Christmas Day onwards and think I’ve regained all the weight I lost during the two weeks when nausea and vomiting plagued me. I was also well enough to entertain some of Dave’s relatives and go to two New Year’s Eve parties! One of the benefits of the bad weeks is that now I’m grateful for the strength to cook, go shopping, go walking…all very ordinary things that I couldn’t do for a while.

On Jan. 3rd I saw Amanda Clark, a physician’s assistant, who gave me a shot of Cortisone for my left arm. Her diagnosis of what I’ve called tendonitis is ‘adhesive capsulitis’ or in lay terms ‘frozen shoulder.’ There was pain medication in with the Cortisone to cover the pain of the injection for the first 6-8 hours, so I was well enough to go to Wil’s basketball game that night. I didn’t wake in pain during the night and think it has helped some, though I’ve got to get back to doing all of the physiotherapy exercises to regain range of motion. Then yesterday on the 4th I went back to Kaiser for blood work and chemo. I mentioned that the week before my neutrophils had been too low for chemo. They were 0.94 on Dec. 28th (normal range is 1.8-8.3) and yesterday they were 9.4!! Higher than normal!! I hadn’t been having shots or taking anything during that week to boost production, so I can only account for the increase as an answer to prayer!! And answers to prayer are continuing right now thick and fast. I haven’t had the nausea, diarrhea, or flu symptoms again and had enough energy to get out for a walk today! And I’ve kept eating! The doctor decided he might have been giving me too strong a dose of Navelbine initially, so some of the improvement this time might be because the dosage has dropped from 45 to 40 mg. But whatever the reason, Iim grateful, especially as we have a special visitor coming.

Nilo Endoso is from Tanauan Bible Church where Dave and I ministered when we were first married 18 years ago. He and his family are now leading a team living in a country in the Middle East and working among a people group our church here has adopted. We are thrilled that he can be with us from the 6th to the 9th and have time to share with the church. Later this month is Missionsfest Northwest, another opportunity to get Damascus and area Filipino churches more involved in missions. Dave is busy promoting this.

Thank you for standing with us in prayer, Dave & Karen

Posted by David at 11:08 AM

November 5, 2005

November News

Dear Team,

Rainy season here in Oregon sure is a lot colder than rainy season in Manila! There are winter storm advisories already for Mt. Hood and possibly two feet of snow there by Sunday! We are at a lower altitude, so it’s just wet and muddy and cold here. We’re thankful that the roof doesn’t leak and we aren’t in danger of flooding (both things plagued us in Manila!). I’m thankful too for a good start to the Beth Moore Bible study “Believing God” this morning. I was surprised that more than a dozen women wanted to be part of it. We can just fit in the needed number of chairs in our family room! Lesson learned from the life of David in the Precepts study on Sunday evenings have been challenging as well, especially lessons on leadership, parenting, acknowledging our sin and receiving God’s forgiveness.

Thank you for praying for Jody and Dorothea. Jody will have a port installed today and start chemo on Tuesday with 48 hr. treatments every 2 weeks for 6 months. The chemo she will receive is one of the less toxic ones, so she probably won’t lose her hair. She and David are really happy with the Christian oncologist who is treating her. Dorothea and Jim returned Tuesday night from Houston where a leading oncologist did tests and planned the protocol she will receive here in Portland. She will be getting a port soon and also have chemo for six months, but she needs a more toxic form, so is already looking at wigs. The prognosis for her is relatively good, so we are praising the Lord for sustaining and shining through these two families. Pray on!

Wil has learned a lot in his health class and is trying to eat a healthier diet as a result. He also learned that he’s about the only one in his class who likes liver! We were given an elk liver this week. It is HUGE and will probably provide at least six meals for our family. I’ve been giving the boys liver since they were babies, and it has remained a favorite. But I may need to find some new ways of cooking it. Today is the end of the first quarter for Wil. Next week we will meet with his teachers and find out how he is doing. The NT Greek has been a stretch.

Something very special on our calendar this month is a trip to Florida for Thanksgiving! We leave late on Nov. 21 and return the afternoon of Nov. 27 to spend that American holiday with four dear couples, all from the United Kingdom! They are all from Gold Hill Baptist Church and include Jim and Anne Graham, and Bob and Joan Dalton who own the house in Florida. We are really looking forward to seeing these friends and are praying the hurricane season will end before we get there. This has been a rough year for the southeastern part of the USA.

I have my next CAT scan on Nov. 10 and see the oncologist on the 17th. I had a blood test in Oct. and the results of that were good. I feel great apart from my arms. A physical therapist in our church here is giving me some extra treatments and using ultrasound to try to loosen up the tendon in my left shoulder. He’s shown Dave how to build a pulley for me to do other stretches.

I’ve been putting prayer letters and journals into chronological order to serve as references as I start writing my book. Pray I’ll be disciplined and lead by the Lord as I write.

With thankful hearts and gratitude for your partnership with us,
Dave and Karen

Posted by David at 11:00 AM

October 10, 2005

God's Plans

Lampinen Prayer Bulletin
Dave & Karen Lampinen, 14300 SE Wiese Rd, Boring, OR 97009 Tel:(503)563-1146 Cell:(971) 322-8517

Dear Team, 9 October 2005

Life doesn’t always go as we plan, sometimes God takes over and pours blessings into our laps! Shortly after we wrote saying that we would be in Southern Oregon representing OMF at the end of September, we were told about a retreat for pastors and missionaries called SonScape. A retreat was being held north of Seattle from Sept. 27-Oct. 5, and the more we learned about SonScape, the more we felt it right to apply to attend. The focus of the week was on spiritual disciplines like solitude, silence, prayer, and meditation. We didn’t talk about those things, we practiced them! There were just two other couples attending, plus Larry and Barbara Magnuson from SonScape, and the couples hosting the event We had time to really rest, talk together as a couple, talk to and listen to the Lord, and receive wise counsel from the Magnusons. We were also pampered in ways none of us had ever before experienced: facials, massages, manicure and pedicure, horseback riding, sheets so soft they felt like silk, luxurious baths, incredible meals, warm, loving, generous care all reminded us just how lavish God’s love is for each of us. It’s hard to articulate just what a special privilege it was to be a part of that retreat. We went hoping the Lord would show us His plan for our future. Instead, He showed us that He loves us and wants to draw us close to Him, and to trust Him even when we can’t see the way ahead. I guess that’s what faith is, isn’t it? Trusting Him no matter what. We returned refreshed in body, soul, and spirit, determined to continue keeping Him in focus, drawing strength and hope from Him, and waiting to see who and what He wants to bring into our lives. Our purpose is to love and obey Him, wherever. I realized how much my identity had become an ‘OMF missionary in the Philippines’. And now that that identity has been taken away, at least temporarily, He has reminded me that who I really am is His child: ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven. No more, and no less.

Our prayer is that we will be able to continue to live daily in His presence and to minister to others out of the fullness and wisdom that He gives. At the moment our prayers are focused very much on two couples that we love dearly. One is Dave’s cousin Jody who will have surgery this week. The doctors think she may have colon and liver cancer. The other is Dorothea, a missionary from our church who has just learned that she has two different types of breast cancer. These women, their husbands, and families are hurting and trusting. Our hearts go out to them and we’d ask you to join us in praying for strength for them and wisdom for their doctors.

Our plan was to have Bob Lopez from PMA visit pastors in Portland while on a trip here in the US. Instead, God brought another Filipino pastor, Joy Tira, to Portland for graduate studies! He is the founder of the Filipino International Network (FIN) and is keen to help us organize a missions conference for Filipino churches in the Portland area. God’s plan, not ours.

We’re learning that having a child playing soccer is a time consuming activity for the whole family! Wil had three games this week, and three days of practice for a total of about 20 hours. He’d like to be warming the bench less and on the field more, but there too he’s learning important lessons about patience and teamwork.

Thank you for keeping us in your prayers as we go on learning to trust and obey.
Yours in Jesus, Dave and Karen

In order to grow in grace, we must spend a great deal of time in quiet solitude. Contact with others in society is not what causes the soul to grow most vigorously. In fact. One quiet hour of prayer will often yield greater results than many days spent in the company of others. It is in the desert that the dew is freshest and the air is the most pure. Andrew Bonar From Streams In The Desert, October 2.

Posted by David at 2:23 PM

September 20, 2005

September Prayer Bulletin

Dear Prayer Team, September 5, 2005

It’s Labor Day here in the US and we’ve used it as a day of rest! We were in Eugene and Cottage Grove, OR from Tuesday to Thursday attending two OMF prayer groups and in between visiting Crater Lake and the area near Florence along the Oregon coast. We were invited to join friends from church in Central Oregon over the weekend, but decided we needed rest more than more travel. We are enjoying our home more as we find places for things and get them put away. Things are more or less in order now in each room, and that feels good. I’m about ready to tackle making curtains and maybe even doing some baking.

When I saw Dr. Panutich on August 23rd I learned that the tumors in the liver were the same size on this last scan as on the one before. Also the blood tests to check on liver function, which had been high for the previous two monthly readings, were back in the normal range. Those were very good and very welcome results after five months of every doctor visit bringing more bad news! It means we can begin to plan more than a week at a time, and are now actively asking the Lord to show us His direction for us in coming months. We are officially on home assignment until Feb. 2006,and are happy to represent OMF at prayer meetings, churches, and mission conferences. Diary dates are coming together, both with visits from friends (Linda Storey will be here Sept. 9-17), a women’s retreat at the coast with ladies from Damascus (Sept. 23-25), and representing OMF at a church in Grants Pass in Southern Oregon Sept. 30-Oct.2. I’ll be part of a team leading a Precepts study on 2 Chronicles and 1 Samuel Sunday evenings beginning Sept. 18, and Dave has been asked to co-lead one of the Community Groups on Sunday mornings.

Wil starts school on Tuesday, Sept. 7. He has been working on math over the past month and I’m encouraged to see how much he is able to do well when he’s focused on that. Please pray especially for a good academic performance in math and English (two weak areas for him) so that he will be able to be on the school soccer team. He loves the sport and appears to have a lot of natural talent. Our hope is that wanting to stay on the team will be the motivation he needs to work hard in school! We’ve spent some time today agreeing on his responsibilities around the house and what his allowance should cover. As he takes over management of more of his finances, we pray he will be responsible and learn good practices.

Bob Lopez, director of PMA, is presently in the US and we are hoping to arrange for him to visit with pastors of Filipino churches here in the Portland area in October. Pray especially for Dave as he works on this and seeks other opportunities to meet with and mobilize Filipinos churches to get involved in cross-cultural missions.

Dave and I are having to deal with more aches and pains than is pleasant just now. We both have tendonitis in our left shoulders (probably from too much lifting and reaching) and bursitis in one hip (normal ageing, I guess) and I’m also dealing with a lot more pain from lymphedema (swelling in my right arm caused by the fact that the lymph nodes were removed as part of my surgery in Singapore). There is no simple cure for this and regular exercises and massage don’t bring quick results. Since I’m right handed, there isn’t much I can do when my right arm is aching! Please pray for patience and endurance.

Thank YOU for your patience and endurance in praying for us over many months and years. God hears and answers. Please let us know how we can be praying for you too.

Our love in Jesus, Dave and Karen

Posted by David at 3:21 AM

July 30, 2005

July Lampinen Prayer Bulletin

Lampinen Prayer Bulletin

Dave & Karen Lampinen

Dear Prayer Team, July 29, 2005

Again you’ve had a long wait for news of us if you haven’t been to our website. We left Portland on June 14th , the day after my appointment with my oncologist. Even though the spots in the liver had doubled in size from the first CAT scan to the second, Dr. Panutich thought the best course of action was to continue on the hormone treatment for another two months, repeat the scans, and then decide how to proceed. He explained that the hormone treatment doesn’t work as quickly as chemotherapy, and there was still reason to hope that the estrogen inhibitor I’m taking would kick in and retard the growth of the spots. I too had been feeling that it was right to make a trip to the Midwest this summer, regardless of what the tests showed. I was glad to see that the way God was leading my thinking and the doctor’s was along the same path. However it means that once again all I can tell you is that I’m waiting to learn the results of the scans scheduled for August 18th when I see the doctor on the 23rd.

Our minivan served us very well as we drove more than 6,000 miles in a month! We traveled in comfort, enjoyed reunions with family and friends, supporting churches and prayer partners, and also enjoyed the beauty of our homeland. I kept thinking of the song, “O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, for purple mountains majesty above the fruited plain; America, America, God shed His grace on thee, and crowned thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.”

We returned to Portland the night of July 14th, just in time to get Wil’s clothes washed and repacked for him to go to Water Ski Camp with his high school youth group. He loved wakeboarding and tubing and eating and hanging out with friends. Even though it meant sleeping in a tent on the ground, he came home with only positive comments about the week. While he was away we worked on the house we will be moving to about August 15th. Contact DCC for our new address. It’s actually in the town of Damascus, but so far Damascus hasn’t it’s own post office. When we drove away from Wiese Road yesterday all the painting was completed, everything removed from inside the house including the toilets (!) in readiness for the men who will arrive on Monday to lay carpet and other flooring. We, and many others, put in a lot of time and effort to bring about the transformation. The area around the house has been mown and spruced up as well and the whole property looks much more inviting than it did six weeks ago.

The Lord has provided most of the furnishings we’ll need, either through leading us to good, reasonably priced stores to order things, or through gifts of furniture no longer needed by others. For the family room we even have an area rug with palm trees on it! And after some delay we now have the shipment of personal effects which came from Manila. So once we have flooring, we’ll quickly be able to move in and begin to unpack. It will be the first time in our married lives that all of our belongings are under one roof and not scattered around the globe! God is good and has gone before us step by step, so our faith in Him is strong even though we don’t know exactly how He will lead us once we are settled.

I’ve been asked to help lead a Precepts Bible study when the church calendar gets going in the autumn, and would like to try writing a book. The Lord gave me some chapter titles as we were traveling. Pray I’ll be disciplined in setting aside time for that once we’re unpacked. Dave and I met with seven Filipino pastors in the Portland area last month. He is hoping to have more time with them and to encourage them in mobilizing their churches for cross-cultural missions. Since PMA’s vision is to mobilize the global Filipino church, we will do all we can to that end from here in Portland!

We leave at 5 am tomorrow to drive to Salt Lake City, about a 13 hour trek, and then on to Littleton, CO the following day for an OMF Home Side Reunion. It’s easy to start feeling disconnected from OMF when we rarely see other members, so we’re grateful for this opportunity to reconnect with teammates from the Philippines as well as from other countries in SE Asia. This time there will be a special program for the children (known as MKs or missionary kids). Wil will be one of 11 boys there. The one girl participating is likely to feel quite outnumbered! We’d value your prayers for safety in travel and for an enriching time at our US headquarters. We plan to start back on Friday afternoon, and hopefully make it to Portland by late Saturday night, August 5th so that we only miss one Sunday.

Most of the time since we returned from Manila we’ve had very hot weather wherever we’ve been in the States. While others are drooping, or staying indoors with air con, we’re happily carrying on with activities. Guess that’s one more of the blessings of being used to temperatures in the 80s and 90s F. Just wish we’d had time to fit in a few more swims!

We’ve also purchased a Verizon mobile/ cell phone. We understand that this means no charge to talk to others who also have calling plans with Verizon here in the U.S. Call DCC for our new number @ 503-658-3179. There is no charge for weekend calls, so we can talk to any of you then!

Thank you for remembering to pray for us. Please also remember the PMA team who are in the process of moving to another office. Several close friends on staff have felt the Lord leading them in new directions and that means new people will be needed to replace them. Pray especially for Pastor Bob Lopez as he leads PMA. Pray too for Richard Schlitt, our OMF Philippines Director as he chairs Admin. Council meetings the first week of August. One item on the agenda is finding someone to fill the position we were to assume of Personnel Resource Manager. And pray for the country of the Philippines and for President Arroyo as she seeks to lead it forward in the midst of economic and political uncertainty.

We thank the Lord for each one of you!

Dave and Karen

Posted by David at 1:06 PM

June 8, 2005

June Prayer Bulletin

Dear Prayer Team, June 7, 2005

I thought I had done a prayer bulletin at the beginning of May, but since I can’t find a copy of it, I must be mistaken. We’ve been doing website updates at www.lampinenlog.com as often as possible, but some of you aren’t getting those and may be wondering what has happened to us. I hardly know where to begin! The first major news was that my breast cancer had spread to other organs, so radiation wasn’t going to deal with the problem. That threw huge questions over our future, and Dave and Wil came to Singapore so that we could talk together with an oncologist and make plans. We had almost a week together and spent a lot of it with doctors. Our OMF doctor, Stroma Beattie, was very good at helping us sift and weigh the information we were given, and come to the conclusion we needed to return to the States for treatment. I was able to leave Singapore with Dave and Wil on April 14, having decided to start with a hormone therapy rather than chemotherapy. That enabled me to start treatment sooner, with a medication designed to inhibit the effect of estrogen in my body. Dave and I were kept more than busy packing and saying farewell to friends during the next few weeks.

With lots of help from friends, we managed to complete the packing, selling, and preparation for shipping, and vacate our house by May 9. Then Dave and I flew to Portland on May 10 and Wil followed us on May 28. He wanted to be at Faith Academy for the end of the school year May 26 and the Burdick family were willing to look after Wil until he left. We are glad to be together again, to have a lovely little house to stay in (see address above) for as long as we need it, as we’ve been making decisions on Wil’s schooling (he wants to got to Damascus Christian School and a family in the church have offered to pay his tuition for the year) and housing (just when we arrived in Portland the church bought a .8 acre piece of land near the church with a double wide modular home. They have offered to rent that to us, and after looking a the cost of renting or buying in that area, we’ve decided to opt for living in the modular. All the flooring needs to be replaced and walls painted, so we have the privilege of stating preferences on those matters even though we will only be renting.

This morning I had a CAT scan of my liver and lungs to see whether the medicine is working to contain or even shrink the tumors. If it is working, I will only need to have scans every three months and we can visit family this summer. If not, I still want to make a trip to Michigan and Wisconsin before starting chemotherapy or some other type of treatment. I’ve had numerous doctor’s appointments since Dave and I returned to Portland, and been impressed once again with the care received through our insurance with Kaiser Permanente.

We know God is in control and that He can heal me if He chooses to. In the meantime we’re trusting Him to show us His purpose in bringing us back to the States. We’ve loved connecting with Filipinos here and hope to present the challenge of cross cultural missions to them. Officially we are on home assignment for the next nine months and hope we’ll be able to visit many supporters in the US.

Some of you have asked if we need help in covering our unexpected expenses. The answer is yes, and OMF Philippines has a special Field Project (#365609) to process tax deductible gifts designated to Lampinen Special Needs.

Thank you for praying that God will reveal His plan for our future, Dave and Karen

Posted by David at 6:21 AM

February 5, 2005

The PMA newsletter

Dear Team,

The PMA newsletter was 8 pages long this time and we finally got it finished and printed at the very end of January. Now it is in the post and we can start work on the next issue which should come out early in April. The first quarter issue focused on tribal work here in the Philippines and next quarter will feature work in countries where Buddhism is the dominant religion, especially looking at the contribution of Filipinos serving in these countries.

Thank you for praying for the service at Faith Academy on Feb. 2nd. Planning and preparing for that helped us with the healing process and made it easier to get through the first anniversary of Ben’s promotion to heaven. And we were so conscious of how we were being lifted in prayer. We had numerous emails, cards, text messages by cell phone, and even phone calls from abroad reminding us that we aren’t alone in missing and remembering Ben. For more details of that service and photos, check out our website: www.lampinenlog.com

Feb. 1st I got a call from Fanny Madlang-awa, formerly a teacher at the OMF language center in Batangas, asking if I would speak at an ABCCOP Women’s Conference Feb. 18-19 on ‘Developing the Woman with You.’ I needed time to pray about that, and believe God wants me to speak, despite the short notice, and the topic! The Lord has already begun showing me what He wants me to say. Pray it will fit into the three messages they are expecting and come out in clear Tagalog.

Wil’s backpack is already up at Faith Academy and he leaves Monday for a week of Outdoor Education at Lake Taal in Batangas province. All of the middle school is going and this year there are about 200 kids plus adults on the trip. They will visit Taal volcano, in the middle of the lake, which is still an active volcano which has been rumbling recently. Pray for safety for all and that this will be a valuable learning and bonding experience for the kids.

Dave and I really appreciated the Precepts training seminars we were able to attend last month and are looking for ways to get these materials out to more Filipinos. We’ve suggested to our church that the 40 Minute studies be used by some of the church’s 250 cell groups. We want to see more and more people getting in to inductive Bible study for themselves. Much as we valued the training, it was costly in terms of time and energy, and we both got sick the following week! We’re doing better now, but Dave’s right foot is still painful (for two days it was too swollen for him to be able to walk). Pray that as our days, so will our strength be.

Our helper Pusing had a baby boy on Jan. 15th. He’s a healthy, cute little fellow and we’re glad she was able to have a normal delivery. We like her and she badly needs work, so we’ve said we will wait until she is able to work again two days a week (bringing the baby so that she can continue to breastfeed him). In the meantime it means Dave and I are needing to fit laundry and cleaning in to our schedules. It really is making us appreciate all the help Pusing is to us. Pray she will be strong enough to return by mid February.

Yours in Christ’s service, Dave and Karen

Posted by David at 7:24 AM

December 6, 2004

December Prayer Bulletin

Dave & Karen Lampinen, 1354 Cambridge, Brookside Hills Subd., 1900 Cainta, Rizal, Philippines Tel. 632-655-7253

Dear Team,
We’ve done website updates, but thought we’d better send a prayer letter as well to assure you that we are safe and sound after the recent storms in the Philippines. I think sometimes your news coverage is better than ours! Thankfully Metro Manila, with a population of over 12 million, was spared a direct hit and there was very little damage done here. But elsewhere there was severe damage, many casualties and many left homeless. In times like this Filipinos are very generous and government agencies are prepared to take relief goods and other aid those in need. Thank you for your concern for us and the families of more than a thousand Filipinos who died in these storms.

After our turkey dinner as we read the story of the first Thanksgiving, , we were struck by how many lives were lost on the voyage to the New World and through the first winter. The Pilgrims weren’t lightly giving thanks nor did they take lightly the provision of God for them. They were hurting, yet also rejoicing. In September we asked you to pray for two struggling families, the Statlers and the Gianellis, where husbands had been diagnosed with cancer since we left the States. Both men have since died and that means the holidays will be difficult for their families. Diane Graham, also at Damascus Community Church, has leukemia (AML). She has a son and daughter close in age to our two and was diagnosed last April. Recent reports indicate she and her family need prayer just now.

Thank you for praying for Karen’s class on Teaching Principles and Practice. They are now in the fifth week of a 16 weeks course and Karen is beginning to wonder how to fit in all of the material she would like to cover. There are only six students, ranging in age from 18-28 with varying levels of ability in English. Quite a challenge!

There will be a very short service this Thursday, Dec. 9th to dedicate the things the Ben Lampinen Memorial Fund was used for at Faith Academy. That same evening is the PMA Christmas party! Not ideal timing, but a lot of things are not under our control.

Our house is decorated for Christmas, and we are into the second week of advent. Alongside Christmas concerts and parties we are working on the next edition of the PMA Post, and preparing for our OMF conference in Davao Dec. 28-Jan. 1. At the same time PMA is conducting the National Youth Missions Congress. Pray for the 500 youth who will attend. PMA’s Annual General Assembly, training meetings for Precepts and Condensed World Missions Course all take place in January, also our 17th wedding anniversary and Karen’s birthday. So 2005 starts with a full agenda.

We pray for you too as you seek to balance the important with the urgent, and the immediate with the longer term, and we wish you God’s peace as you read this and in the year to come,

Dave and Karen

Posted by David at 8:51 AM

October 1, 2004

October Prayer Bulletin

Dear Team,

Thank you for supporting us in prayer through the past month. Feedback on our sharing on Sept. 5 was very positive, and since one of the things we learned through Ben’s illness was how much we needed the support of a small group, we have now joined a cell group at Faith Fellowship. Pray that we will be a support to others in the group, and they to us.

Groups met all over the Philippines on Sept. 11 to ‘Bless the Muslims’ (a day of prayer and fasting). The one we attended included presentations from four areas of Manila where Muslim ministry is focused. A collection was taken that day to bless those involved in this outreach and that enabled us to give one thousand pesos to each of those involved in this ministry. ‘Project Barakah’ (barakah means blessing in Arabic ) is another service project being repeated this year to purchase pails of food for Muslim families. These will be distributed on November 11, just before the end of Ramadan. We hope to provide pails for 700 families.

One of the projects our PMA director Bob Lopez has asked us to take on is editing the discussion material to go with a video series on M outreach. Pray we’ll be able to do this quickly as there are groups already wanting to use it! The first PMA Missions Post since our return is due out this week (we’re the editors). Articles have been slow in coming in, but we should get it printed on time. We’ve had to do a lot of work on the mailing list as well. It needs wider distribution and fewer copies being returned to us. We hope to be able to post it on PMA’s website soon. That is currently being redesigned.

Ed Darnell from Damascus Community Church has been helping us put together a family website and that is now up and running. We’ve also learned that we can continue to use the Caring Bridge site, so if you go to www.caringbridge.org/or/benlampinen or www.lampinenlog you will find news from us. We waited until we had the new one working reasonably well to tell you about the site. Let us know what you think of it!

Oct. 11-13 is a Missionary Trainer’s Consultation in Antipolo. That comes during Wil’s Faith Academy half term so we are hoping to all get away to the beach with the Burdick family (Brent is pastor at Faith Fellowship) for a couple of days, then leave Wil with the Burdicks when we need to return to Manila. On the 15th we will do another Missionary Involvement Seminar, this time for leaders from eight churches. Another is scheduled for Nov. 6 at Faith Fellowship. Dave has been working on a power point presentation to go along with this since we hope PMA will be able to purchase an LCD projector by then.

Thank you again for holding us up in prayer,
Dave and Karen

Posted by David at 12:53 AM

September 2, 2004

September Prayer Bulletin

Dear Team,

Thank you for your prayers. It took four days to get the van registered for another year, but I managed it before the end of the month. The boxes came from FedEx and Wil can now use the Playstation 2! He seems happy at school and back with his ‘mates.’ First encounters with friends are sometimes difficult, but each time we see them it gets easier.

Our first opportunity to work with other PMA staff came on August 21st when Karen and I along with four PMA colleagues conducted a Missions Involvement Seminar at Cosmopolitan Church. This is a large, influential but traditional church in downtown Manila. Thirty of the church’s leaders attended and responded very positively to our teaching by setting goals to begin cross-cultural ministry in nearly all of their existing outreach programs. Pray for follow through and the realization of their action plans.

On Sept. 5 we will both be sharing things we have learned over the past two years in both the English and Tagalog services at Faith Fellowship, the church we have been attending here in Manila. It won’t be easy, but we sense that the Lord wants us to do this. Pray that the Lord will give us the right words to say and the ability to share things, some of which are still very painful.

On Sept. 11 PMA is sponsoring the third annual, Bless the Muslims, day of prayer and fasting in several locations around the country. Pray for last minute arrangements and for good attendance. This year we will be seeking to raise funds to bless several Muslim communities by giving food baskets to some 600 families.

Sept. 14th will have us speaking at the weekly OMF prayer meeting. We enjoy the opportunity to pray with our fellow OMFers that live here on the east side of the city, mostly Faith Academy teachers and staff. And early in October PMA is conducting a Missions Trainers Consultation. This should help us get back in touch with what is currently being done in different programs.

Oct. 8-16 is Wil’s mid-semester break preceded by parent teacher consultations. Pray especially for his grasp of math and science, two areas he was weak in last year. He is working a lot harder this year, but not doing as well as he and we would like.

Pray for friends facing major health issues: Sue’s husband Hugh died in August of prostate cancer. Paul Gianelli from Damascus Community Church was diagnosed with cancer after we left and also Ed Statler, a missionary to Senegal supported by the church. Please pray for them and their families to know God’s strength and comfort as they walk along this very painful path.

We’ve visited Lord of Life twice, once for a service and to see their new purpose-built building, and the second time to offer our sympathy to the family of a lady in the church who died very suddenly. We saw her on our first visit and were shocked when the news came of her death.
Our days are in God’s hands, Dave & Karen

Posted by David at 12:51 AM