Dear Praying team,
“Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name;
make known among the nations what He has done.” 1 Ch. 16:8
Our team will be departing starting tomorrow morning and evening – with Chris departing out of Tampa, FL via Hawaii, Guam and then Manila. Then Reggie from Philadelphia, Jeremy from Jackson, MS, Jim driving to Atlanta from Jacksons Gap, AL, and James, Ben, Vernon and Nolan out of Akron, OH and all meeting together in Atlanta to fly to Seoul, Korea midnight March 14 and on to Manila.
Meanwhile, Karl Crossman and I are departing out of Charlotte early Wednesday morning on a buddy pass from a faithful supporter I call uncle G! His passes are very high up on Delta and usually we have no problems, but please pray we will have seats on these flights and arrive on time in Manila to meet up with our team, and would it be too selfish to ask Him for First Class or Business class seats? Pray for great weather while we are up in Dibagat from March 15 on to March 31, so we can have a shuttle flight with the New Tribes helicopter beginning March 16 from Tuguegarao north of Manila. We will all fly PAL (Philippine Airlines) from Manila to Tuguegarao on March 16 early morning then have 4 of 5 shuttles to Dibagat with our cargo. Of course on the way back everyone will experience traveling by canoe to Kabugao (end of the road), then by vans to Tuguegarao and then flying back to Manila from there. Please remember to pray for each of our families left behind as well – Marilyn Miller, Carol Bates, Darlene Lunt, Angela Dees, Carla Davis, Carolyn Shoup, Nolan’s daughter – Marla Yoder, Deborah Crossman, Ben’s parents Don and Brenda Troyer and Sandy Pugyao.
Rudy and my nephew Mark just got to Dibagat yesterday after doing all the shopping for us in Manila and Bagabag for our food in Dibagat. I talked to him while they were en-route to Dibagat by van and then by canoe upriver. There are others from the Tubongan Bible Church (8 hrs hike away from Dibagat) coming to Dibagat to help us with the church, so I am excited to meet with them while in Dibagat. I am hoping I will be able to fly up to their church on Sunday March 25th to see firsthand what God is doing among them. This is another evidence of God’s wonderful provision through His people! I remember getting a call from faithful supporter Dwight while I was flying helicopter in Maine asking if I could use some funds in the Philippines. I told him I could use the funds to buy more lobsta in ME, but instead the Tubongan Bible church was built so that the folks there would not have to hike 8 hours to come to church in Dibagat. God is working among them as well.
One of the exciting parts of being in Dibagat is not only to see my siblings and their children, but to see young people now taking an active part in evangelism among the Isnags! When I was growing up, it was the adults that were very active and the young were not interested – but now the change has come! God is using the young to do all the hiking, distributing Isnag Bibles, showing the Jesus film and Luke video village to village, and doing Bible studies plus conducting VBS whenever possible. Now I can sit on my rocking chair (should I smoke a cigar??) giving praise to the Lord for what He is doing like the verse above expresses! I wish each of you could experience a trip to Dibagat and see what God is doing among His people there! God has placed Rudy in Dibagat to help make the church grow plus doing the Old Testament in Isnag. My nephew Mark, the pastor of the Dibagat Bible church has been helping Rudy with translation of the Old Testament. He is on chapter 75 of the book of Psalms now. Pray for both Rudy and Mark as they continue the translation. I told them they need to finish it in 10 years so I can still hike up to Dibagat for the dedication – will you join us in praying?
Finally – thanks again for your prayers for us the next 3 weeks in Dibagat. Be sure to check out our blog at www.dibagat.blogspot.com as we update it when we can!
Since I am a result of what God has done in Bible translation work and the Isnag believers as well, the verse below is so appropriate for me to send out to you, because you all have been so faithful in every way - praying, giving, sending and loving us to His glory! May each of you be a special letter from Christ among the people you meet to show Christ is Lord of all!
“You show that you are letter from Christ, the result of our ministry,
written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on
tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” 2 Cor. 3:3
With our love,
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