The Latest News

HAPPY NEW YEAR, 2014! (1/1)

“Ring the bells! Jesus Christ is born this day!” Little five-year-old Apec (the youngest son of our Associate Pastor Callem) sang his solo for the fourth time during Sunday’s Christmas musical. He had also sung at many of the dozen Christmas presentations we’d planned for various civic clubs, jails, school functions and church celebrations throughout Davao. Pivy, our American guest Sign Language teacher from New York also taught “Amazing Grace” to each of the groups gathered for the holidays.

Teacher Richard had written the musical a few months ago, acting upon my request. Every one of the church’s auxiliaries was included. After my Bible message on the gifts of hope, freedom and justice which Jesus brought us (itemized in Isaiah 9), the musical began. Church men became guards and wise men. Teenage boys were the bathrobed shepherds. Other youths acted in the silhouette drama, as well as the white-gloved “hand mime” of the song “Voice of Truth”. Ladies and preschool children were costumed and singing in special choirs. Apec’s dad was King Herod, and Angel Gabriel (with white cardboard wings, but no glittery wire halo) was played by white-robed Dan, our youth leader. Elvie narrated the script which PJ had put to rhyme, and both he and her sister Abigail performed on many of the tambourine and drama teams.

As for Mary and Joseph, they were played by Jairus and Jenny, a young couple who’d become believers about five years ago. Having just delivered three children of her own in the past decade, she vividly remembered the motions. “Uuuyyyyyy! She cried, clutching her extended shirt (which cleverly concealed the stuffed animal tucked underneath it). It’s time, Joseph! I’m going to have the baby NOW!”

To which slumbering Joseph by her side rolled over and murmured, “Mary, the world has been waiting four thousand years for the Messiah to come. What is a measly few more hours going to make? Go back to sleep…” Needless to say, the curtain closed before revealing Mary’s response. And when it opened again, wahlah, there was the newborn baby Jesus.

Many unbelievers in the world today think that accepting God’s free gift of His Son Jesus Christ can be delayed just a “little bit longer.” But Scripture states, “TODAY is the day of salvation. Now is the accepted time.” Just ask Mary. Tomorrow will be too late. Certain very important things just cannot be delayed.

Right after the finale and before our fellowship dinner, I led in a baby dedication ceremony where Jairus and Jenny had their three kids consecrated to Jesus.

Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!
   
Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)
  
PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for wisdom in our timing of the purchase of the 3-acre real estate property for BCA’s new campus. The pledged funds will be sent from New York sometime in January, which means that combined clearing time in banks on both sides of the ocean should be sometime in mid-March. In the Philippines it is not wise to give a down payment for a purchase, even under contract. If there is a delay in the release of funds, the seller will increase the price before the final land title sign-over is complete.

PRAISE: That when our American orphanage administrator resigned to move back to the USA, we found capable Filipinos to replace him. We may also have guests from the United Nations visiting our orphanages just after Christmas, to observe how unfunded grassroots ministries like these succeed so well. 

BCA HAS 373 SPONSORED STUDENTS. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program.

TWO-PERCENTERS: 24 (26 more needed). ($1,000 pledged or donated for BCA’s new campus)

BUILDING FUND: $70,250.

3-ACRE PROPERTY

NEED: $56,000
RAISED-PTL! $56,000     
REMAINING: $0 

ADMIN BUILDING: 

NEED:$37,000     
RAISED: $14,250            
REMAINING:$22,750

PRESENT NEED: $58 for a starter for Bus “L”

Rev. Paul, Elvie, PJ and Abigail Barner
Philippine Missionary Church Planters
Barner Christian Academy of Davao City, Inc.
PO Box 82,224
8000 Davao City, Philippines 011-63

BCA Landline: 011-63-82-234-4000
Paul's Cell Phone: 011-63-947-329-0441
Magic Jack Computer phone: (518) 772-2359
New York Contact: (518) 449-2105

Home address: 18 Eileen Drive, Rensselaer, NY 12144
BLCKIDS@yahoo.com

PLEASE NOTE: OUR PJLILTIM@SKYINET.NET ADDRESS IS DISCONTINUED. PLEASE INSTEAD USE BLCKIDS@YAHOO.COM THANKS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! (12/25), HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVE! (12/24), BILL OF RIGHTS DAY (12/15), 393rd ANNIVERSARY OF PILGRIMS’ LANDING IN THE NEW WORLD, 1620 (12/21), CANADIAN BOXING DAY (12/26)

“I can’t feel my fingers.” Half a dozen pastors had gathered at our BCA school a few days after our international guest “Pivy” had arrived in Davao.

A professor in teaching sign language at a New York school for the deaf, Pivy visited us to teach sign language. Ten minutes after we picked her up from the airport, she was teaching sign language to the pre-teen class held in another room during the time of our Wednesday night Adult Prayer Meeting.

Since seven of the churches/schools we have started/adopted have invited us to their annual Christmas celebrations, Elvie and I asked Pivy to teach the sign language translation of “Amazing Grace” to many of our leaders so they could perform during the multiple celebrations.

Yet as we sat together in a BCA classroom facing our instructor, one of the Filipino pastors (Abam) just couldn’t get his fingers twisted properly for the letter “R”. Many others reached over to try and train the fingers of Pastor Abam’s uncooperating right hand.

Among our many Christmas celebrations, over a thousand parents and students attended the many enjoyable events. The first was on Sunday in a tiny church on nearby Samal Island. Before BCA had included it in our sponsorship program, the little church-plant only had sixteen members. Yet on Sunday the tiny bamboo church building was filled with nearly 200 people, wall-to-wall with an overflow out the door, onto the lawn and peering through the side windows.

That morning, before we drove our truck onto the barge to cross the Davao Gulf, Elvie told me that  the ceremonies would include a baby dedication ceremony at the end of worship. I ended up dedicating 20 babies, one after the other! Each unique child was prayed for and spoken about. These are such very delightful children. Some were sleeping, some crying and others hugging me warmly as I prayed for them.

A few days later, as the pastors stood to perform their song, when Abam got to “R” in the warm-up exercises of singing/signing the letters of the alphabet, Abam reached over with the fingers of his other hand, and manually pulled the rebellious fingers into their proper places.

Pivy has been such a blessing. Among her many talents, she is very fast at folding about two thousand prayer letters. Also since she is a teacher, she is gifted at organization. So next week she will guide Abigail’s Middle-School Girls’ Basketball Team as they sort, fold and arrange the used clothes which were donated for us to give to children during BCA’s 2013 Christmas programs. The extra clothing will be arranged on the shelves of BCA’s used clothing room.

We may not all be able to sing, to organize, and/or to preach. But as Elvie shared with the BCA parents this week, and as Pivy showed during her sign language classes, each of us has skills that God has generously poured out upon us to serve Him. That is the type of gift Jesus loves for us to give to Him on His birthday this Christmas!

Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!
   
Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)
  
PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for the funds which were donated for our new campus to clear the banks quickly so that we can begin the real estate acquisition process ASAP. Also please pray for Elvie as she is forming a team of builders, nurses, pastors and cooks to visit the areas hardest-hit by recent Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan. They’ll be there for a week in January, ministering to the homeless refugees.

PRAISE: That BCA finally has enough funds to purchase its new property! May God abundantly bless all those who sacrificially gave to make this a reality! Also praise God for those who gave for flood and/or typhoon cleanup/recovery. To date, BCA has given thousands of dollars in aid (food, generator, medical supplies, clothes, etc) for the relief efforts.

BCA HAS 373 SPONSORED STUDENTS. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program.

TWO-PERCENTERS: 24 (26 more needed). ($1,000 pledged or donated for BCA’s new campus)

BUILDING FUND: $70,200! A legacy was recently pledged to Barner Christian Academy from an American church for our new campus! the fund will take a few months to clear international banks, but as soon as the property title is signed over by the land’s previous owners, construction may begin. Breakdown of the funds donated this far are as follows:

3-ACRE PROPERTY

NEED: $56,000
RAISED-PTL! $56,000       
REMAINING:$0 

ADMIN BUILDING:

NEED: $37,000
RAISED: $14,200 
REMAINING: $22,800

PRESENT NEED: $14,000 to finish BCA Campus’ PHASE ONE of construction

ONE-YEAR MEMORIAL OF SANDY HOOK MASSACRE  (12/14)

“INSTANT HUMAN: JUST ADD COFFEE” Clown Chicklette’s  bright-yellow pin, overshadowed by her colorful 14-inch high blue wig, reflected her lifestyle:  she LOVES coffee.

When the American clown team finished their exciting 2-week Philippine ministry trip, they flew back to the USA. Fortunately they donated their coffee-maker machine to BCA. A Filipina friend visited a few days later and decided to wash our dishes, breaking the fragile glass carafe pitcher. So I now put a metal loaf pan under the “drip” area and then pour the cooled brown stuff from it into my mug.

A few days ago I nuked my mug of “joe” in the microwave and was about to take a sip. Only then did I notice the former resident of the cup, a baby lizard floating dead in my brew.

Mmmm…extra flavor! Instead of “Wizard of Oz” it is “Lizard of Joe.”
Only kidding. Actually I poured the “stew” down the drain, cleaned the mug and zapped another batch (to make me fully human, as per Clown-Chicklette’s detailed instructions).

Often the fulfillment of our planned expectations hit snags along the way and postpone our goals. On Saturday 85 Christian ladies converged on our church/school gymnasium for their Christmas gathering. The men had done likewise (at the beach) with an accompanying baptismal service just two days previous.

Elvie shared a Bible message with women from a dozen assorted neighboring churches. “It takes a special skill to see the opportunities that disappointments bring our way. As we focus on God’s perfect natal plan, we see revealed in the various names of Jesus, the multiple ways which Christ relates to our own selves as we wear the many ‘hats’ of daily living”.

Some of these hats fit so perfectly snug on our heads that they at first appear slightly painful. The recent flooding on our own campus has strained our daily agendas for the ongoing cleanup, repairs and relief efforts. Praise God that, with our last BCA classroom finally cleared of its caked-on flood-mud this week, the flash flood’s residual filth is gone.
Combined with the financial gifts which friends have sacrificially sent (thank you!), now reconstruction can be put into full swing. The ALS (Alternative Learning System) outreach sponsored by the Department of Education has now begun using four of BCA’s classrooms three days a week, giving us the opportunity to interact with these street children on a one-to-one basis before and after they attend their free classes.
Also the parents of our own students are attending some of these classes, and since the teachers are being provided by the government, we are not required to pay a salary for this additional staff! Aside from the BEC (Basic Education Curriculum), these adult students are also being taught livelihood projects.

Our school/church stage is now decorated with colorful construction-paper Christmas wreaths made by these new students. Just in time for the wedding we’ll be hosting in the BCA gym this Saturday.
So, as hundreds of children busy themselves on campus while practicing their Christmas songs, and as adults and kids memorize the lines for their (12/22) Christmas musical, and as teachers and staff wrap Christmas gifts (clothes, toys, food, tooth brushes/paste, school supplies and stuffed animals) for each of the kids, and as we also clean up the mess left over from lizards and typhoons, we are empowered by our God who wears the ‘hats’ of  Almighty Savior, Director, Provider and Guide (to name a few).

I don’t really NEED coffee to be human…I just need JESUS. Still the hazelnut flavored coffee is nice…minus the lizards.
Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!
 
Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)
 
PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for Pivy’s arrival this week from New York. Since she is deaf and dumb, she will be the perfect instructor to train our faculty/ staff and students in Sign language. She’ll also be assisting in sorting out our used clothing/school supplies room, from which many of the gifts for our BCA kids will be derived.

PRAISE: That an American widow living near Ohio recently gave $50 for BCA’s emergency Medic al Fund, which we use for children whose medical emergencies are life-threatening. Our most recent case of assistance was given last month to a delightfully cute little female BCA pupil whose dengue fever would  otherwise have claimed her life. Also praise God that x-rays reveal no bone damage to PJ’s arm after his injury during soccer practice. Plus last Saturday both or our kids won their games: PJ in soccer and Abby in basketball!

BCA HAS 373 SPONSORED STUDENTS. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program.

TWO-PERCENTERS: 24 (26 more needed). ($1,000 pledged or donated for BCA’s new property)

BUILDING FUND: $20,500  (Total savings for BCA’s new, government-required by 2017, $56,000 campus. (NOTE- pledged funds which are not yet released by their donors will be included in this total as the money arrives)

PRESENT NEED: $171 BUS “FI”- 1pc. Clutch Cable $12/ 2pcs.  Engine Support            $13/  1 pc. H/L Switch $70/ 1  pc. Carburetor Repair $45/ Labor $20/ 2 Quarts Gear Oil $11

MERRY CHRISTMAS! (12/25), HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVE! (12/24), BILL OF RIGHTS DAY (12/15), 393rd ANNIVERSARY OF PILGRIMS’ LANDING IN THE NEW WORLD, 1620 (12/21), CANADIAN BOXING DAY (12/26) '

“I can’t feel my fingers.” Half a dozen pastors had gathered at our BCA school a few days after our international guest “Pivy” had arrived in Davao.

A professor in teaching sign language at a New York school for the deaf, Pivy visited us to teach sign language. Ten minutes after we picked her up from the airport, she was teaching sign language to the pre-teen class held in another room during the time of our Wednesday night Adult Prayer Meeting.

Since seven of the churches/schools we have started/adopted have invited us to their annual Christmas celebrations, Elvie and I asked Pivy to teach the sign language translation of “Amazing Grace” to many of our leaders so they could perform during the multiple celebrations.

Yet as we sat together in a BCA classroom facing our instructor, one of the Filipino pastors (Abam) just couldn’t get his fingers twisted properly for the letter “R”. Many others reached over to try and train the fingers of Pastor Abam’s uncooperating right hand.

Among our many Christmas celebrations, over a thousand parents and students attended the many enjoyable events. The first was on Sunday in a tiny church on nearby Samal Island. Before BCA had included it in our sponsorship program, the little church-plant only had sixteen members. Yet on Sunday the tiny bamboo church building was filled with nearly 200 people, wall-to-wall with an overflow out the door, onto the lawn and peering through the side windows.

That morning, before we drove our truck onto the barge to cross the Davao Gulf, Elvie told me that  the ceremonies would include a baby dedication ceremony at the end of worship. I ended up dedicating 20 babies, one after the other! Each unique child was prayed for and spoken about. These are such very delightful children. Some were sleeping, some crying and others hugging me warmly as I prayed for them.

A few days later, as the pastors stood to perform their song, when Abam got to “R” in the warm-up exercises of singing/signing the letters of the alphabet, Abam reached over with the fingers of his other hand, and manually pulled the rebellious fingers into their proper places.

Pivy has been such a blessing. Among her many talents, she is very fast at folding about two thousand prayer letters. Also since she is a teacher, she is gifted at organization. So next week she will guide Abigail’s Middle-School Girls’ Basketball Team as they sort, fold and arrange the used clothes which were donated for us to give to children during BCA’s 2013 Christmas programs. The extra clothing will be arranged on the shelves of BCA’s used clothing room.

We may not all be able to sing, to organize, and/or to preach. But as Elvie shared with the BCA parents this week, and as Pivy showed during her sign language classes, each of us has skills that God has generously poured out upon us to serve Him. That is the type of gift Jesus loves for us to give to Him on His birthday this Christmas!

Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!
   
Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)
  
PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for the funds which were donated for our new campus to clear the banks quickly so that we can begin the real estate acquisition process ASAP. Also please pray for Elvie as she is forming a team of builders, nurses, pastors and cooks to visit the areas hardest-hit by recent Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan. They’ll be there for a week in January, ministering to the homeless refugees.

PRAISE: That BCA finally has enough funds to purchase its new property! May God abundantly bless all those who sacrificially gave to make this a reality! Also praise God for those who gave for flood and/or typhoon cleanup/recovery. To date, BCA has given thousands of dollars in aid (food, generator, medical supplies, clothes, etc) for the relief efforts.

BCA HAS 373 SPONSORED STUDENTS. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program.

TWO-PERCENTERS: 24 (26 more needed). ($1,000 pledged or donated for BCA’s new campus)

BUILDING FUND: $70,200! A legacy was recently pledged to Barner Christian Academy from an American church for our new campus! the fund will take a few months to clear international banks, but as soon as the property title is signed over by the land’s previous owners, construction may begin. Breakdown of the funds donated this far are as follows:

3-ACRE PROPERTY 

NEED: $56,000
RAISED-PTL! $56,000
REMAINING: $0

ADMIN BUILDING:

NEED: $37,000
RAISED: $14,200
REMAINING:$22,800

PRESENT NEED: $14,000 to finish BCA Campus’ PHASE ONE of construction

HAPPY BONIFACIO DAY, PHILIPPINES! (11/30)

“Please excuse PJ today…” Since I was driving our kids to school, and PJ had hurt his left arm in soccer practice Monday, Abby was the only one left to write PJ’s excuse letter. Yet at the bottom of the letter, she wrote, “Signed PJ’s Dad”. It was obviously in a teenager’s handwriting, so I wrote in my own handwriting, “PJ is left-handed.” After turning in the excuse, I considered, “Wow, I guess PJ will have explaining to do. Since I didn’t write the letter, how did he write the letter, if he is a lefty?”

And then, there is also the explanation of why (since we didn’t have a sling for him to put his damaged arm into) we used instead a monkey puppet with long arms, tied around his neck and clasped in the back with one of my plaid neckties...

Explaining our actions is sometimes a challenge. One friend’s favorite statement is, “It is easier to ask forgiveness than to ask permission”. Yet even greater is when others have such confidence in us that they trust us no matter what. I remember watching Batman as a kid and once when the sporty Batmobile was racing down the street a child asked a policeman, “Why don’t you stop him?” The response was, “We know Batman. If he is speeding, it is to help somebody.”

This week you have placed your trust in us, and we thank you for your confidence. Over ten thousand dollars has been given to this ministry since early November for the specific purposes of helping Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda survivors, and also for cleaning up the extreme mess and destruction the devastating six-foot-deep muddy flash floods and winds have had on our own BCA campus.

We also sent teams up to the hardest-hit areas (its devastation covered an area with the diameter of 1500 miles across). I am a pastor, and since we know pastors in the destroyed areas, those places were our first destination. Since the C-130 heli-plane we had reserved from the military only holds 10 tons of aid (we had fifteen tons collected), we instead sent nearly a dozen military trucks, loaded with food, 3,000 sacks of rice (nearly 3 ½ tons), used clothing, tents, medical supplies and bottled water. Our aid convoy was doubled in size when it was joined by another group of trucks at the halfway point, where they had to take a series of barges to the next island.

A big challenge that many of our teams faced was the local government leaders. The bigger the city, the more difficult it was to get through with the aid. Lucy (our BCA nurse) and “Kuya Boy” both mentioned that local mayors they encountered insisted on distributing the aid themselves so that all the separate villages would get equal aid. Yet when our teams went, they could see the rice sacks meant for aid were being stockpiled into warehouses for resale and also opened and cooked for the use of government workers’ families. Locally, all prices have skyrocketed. Rice alone has been marked-up over 300% in price. Local refugees cannot afford the extremely inflated prices of “imported” fuel, water and exaggerated cell phone charging expense. There is no way for remote people to get to the aid in the cities. No fuel, and few cleared roads or bridges are left. What food they have is being cooked over campfires. There is lots of scrap wood to burn from fallen trees and destroyed homes.

Another reason for disallowing grassroots-aid workers to distribute help by themselves is the danger. There were a few trucks which were ambushed by the desperately hungry refugees, who were wandering the streets like zombies without family, without homes, without jobs… the big Robinsons Mall and Gaisano Department Store were not only hit by the typhoon, but also ransacked by looters afterward.

Residents and visitors even now, a month after the storm hit, walk around with their noses covered by bandanas to avoid the rancid odor of rotting corpses that still line the roadside in body bags, unclaimed and unburied.

So our teams went to the local pastors instead. Some of the pastors were listed as “missing” since they had obeyed the president’s warning to evacuate a few days before the monster typhoon had hit. Other residents had refused to leave, since they did not understand that “storm surge” meant “typhoon and/or tsunami”. Most of those who stayed perished.

Yet when our pastor friends in the typhoon-hit areas returned to where their homes used to be, our teams were there to greet them. “Where is your church?” we’d ask. The reply was often similar, “It is gone. Here, see this cement slab? That is where our church used to be. No roof, no walls, no chairs.” Since our teams had brought chain saws, and since there were lots of downed coconut trees across the roads, it took about a week for the team to rebuild the church in the village of Palo, slicing the dead trees into boards. As for roofing, there were lots of metal roofing sheets blowing around from the thousands of downed homes and businesses.

This week I bought a gasoline generator and sent it with the follow-up team to Palo. They were informed that the electric company’s buildings no longer exist, and thus they will receive no power for at least a year. The Filipino pastor of the Palo church is named Dennis. He is directing the aid teams to set-up soup kitchens in his newly-rebuilt church. I bought 762 cans of meat (fish, beef, pork and/or chicken), 75 cans of vegetables, and over half a ton of rice, loading it up in the back of our family pickup truck and unloaded this “mountain” of aid I had purchased at the distribution spot where our team of pastors and nurses was departing from, here in Davao.

Palo’s outreach is becoming so effective that we’re extending to another hard-hit area, the village of Kananga. There, once again the task is to bring chain saws, rebuild the church, and then feed the homeless refugees. Of course the pastors on our work crew and those who live nearby are preaching to all who come for assistance. There are many formerly lost souls who recently repented of their sins and became believers in Jesus Christ!

Some businesses have developed creative ways to help the refugees: Havianas is a flip flop company, and they donated 5,000 pair to the homeless. Meanwhile Coca Cola has decided to, during their busiest advetising opportunity of the year, have no ads until 2014. Instead, their entire advertising budget is being used for food for Yolanda survivors.
Some of the survivors have also tapped into their creative juices. One was seen “harvesting” a ceiling fan from a local trash heap and converting it into a wind mill to charge his cell phone. I didn’t even know that was possible! Some of our Davao aid workers will stay at the churches they are rebuilding for over a month (through he Christmas season and into the new year) until the local residents are solidly on their feet again, planting vegetables, rebuilding homes, providing clothes and feeding the hungry.

On Sunday I preached from Luke 1 on “What Child is This?” Gabriel answered this question for Mary when he explained about the baby that was to be carried by her. We too carry Jesus…inside our hearts. As all associate Mary with Jesus, so too all should associate us with Jesus whom we carry inside our hearts.

Although Mary had difficulties of her own, she laid them aside to answer the higher calling predestinated by God for her. Sure, we are still busy cleaning up after the flood which destroyed much of our BCA campus and gutted our home, making our family virtual refugees in one of the school’s classrooms. Even my shaver was destroyed, so I have grown a beard.

Yet when I was unloading the tons of aid I’d purchased for the team heading up to the “Ground Zero” area of typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda, one of the workers looked at my beard and said, “Huh. I thought you were Santa Claus, bringing gifts! Thanks for being an angel of God for us by providing at the time of our greatest need!”
Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!
 
Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)
 
PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for:

1. Pivy, the young American woman who cannot hear or speak, who will be coming to Davao next week, and staying until the end of the year to teach our students, faculty and staff how to communicate in sign language.
2. Plus, our church’s Christmas musical will be televised this year by a national evangelist (Rev. Hermogenes Hermosa) and the potential viewing audience is over six million! I will be the one to preach the advent Bible message…what a privilege!
3. Please also pray for the ALS (Alternative Learning System) outreach sponsored by the Department of Education. They will be using four of BCA’s classrooms three days a week, giving us the opportunity to interact with these street children on a one-to-one basis before and after they attend their classes.
4. We will be having two Christmas parties for the BCA sponsored students this year. The first will be on nearby Samal Island, where 100 of our students are attending classes. The second will be here in Davao on our main campus.
5. Here at BCA, some civic clubs will also be joining the festivities to distribute toothbrushes and toothpaste to each precious child.

PRAISE: That:

1. after one “Two-Percenter” backed out of their unfulfilled commitment, an other who had already given $1,000 pledged to cover the financial obligation of that person who dropped. Yay!
2. Also, praise God that I am finally driving again! My double-vision is beginning to correct itself, although there have been bouts when they “go double” again. Elvie insists that she drive at night, due to the confusing lights and distortion of items on my right side.
3. Praise God too that one of the members of the clown team (Kaitlyn) plans to  Kaitlyn return to Davao next June for over half a year to spiritually disciple Pancelita and the nine girls that are in our orphanage for females.
4. Plus, a friend from Missouri (Justin) whom I trained when he was a child, also plans to come out with his wife sometime in the near future.
5. Praise God that Ann, the mom of four of our BCA kids, was recently healed of fractures due to a motorcycle accident. Elvie visited Ann in the hospital and prayed for healing of her cheekbone/nose fractures (since Ann could not afford the surgery). But the next day (after Elvie prayed with her) Ann was totally healed. She even sang in church Sunday.
6. Praise God that Jairus, a man whom we lead to the Lord a few years back, and whose kids are students at BCA, now has lead his in laws to Jesus, with the guidance of a local pastor. Many of BCA’s staff went to the in-laws’ house at two in the morning this week to sing happy birthday to the newly-believing grandma.

BCA HAS 373 SPONSORED STUDENTS. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program.

TWO-PERCENTERS: 24 (26 more needed). ($1,000 pledged or donated for BCA’s new property)

BUILDING FUND: $20,300  (Total savings for BCA’s new, government-required by 2017, $56,000 campus. (NOTE- pledged funds which are not yet released by their donors will be included in this total as the money arrives)

PRESENT NEED: $346 for BCA Bus “M” -1 SET KING PIN = $63, and BCA Bus “L” -BATTERY= $163, and BCA Bus “P”-BATTERY $120

HAPPY HANUKKAH! (11/27)

”Can we please help you clean-up from the typhoon?” Our visiting clown team from the USA had scheduled their Puppet Crusade months and months ago, yet they could not have imagined how timely their visit to Davao was at the then, for they arrived the day before we were hit by Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), whose death toll has now officially surpassed 4,460.

“Ladies, you came to present the saving message of Jesus through clowning. If we have you help clean up the germy, infected mud around our school area, you will likely get sick, and be unable to do what you came for!

We are surrounded by needs, with those who have lost homes, loved ones and all of their belongings. Where do we start? The best place to start is where we already are experienced. That way the aid can get out fast through proven channels.

As the clowns visited cancer patients in the hospital, a six-year-old girl with an enormous tumor on her face sat up in bed as the colorful clowns brought a smile onto the good-half of the young girl’s face. Clowns are supposed to smile, but as they exited the cancer ward, they had tears of joy smearing up their makeup.

“See, if you had taken the scrub brushes from one of the BCA parents and assisted her in scrubbing down our walls that were muddied by the six-foot-deep flood waters, you would have gotten sick, and could not have helped this little female cancer patient!”

The team prayed with many of the street children during the week (we did VBS each night at BCA and then through the midnight hours until 2am on the streets and in the park), and brought laughter to the hearts of fifty extremely poor children in a nearby squatter area, where our BCA school buses run.

As we are packing up aid (tons of crackers, canned fish and bottles of water) to fly into the hardest-hit area of the typhoon’s reach, other homeless children are also being blessed.

Friday night, as the clowns sculpted balloons into shapes of puppy dogs, monkeys and flowers, others glitter-painted colorful butterflies, hearts and crosses onto the cheeks and arms of street children.
“Tell me,” I asked a group of homeless street children gathered around me, “What Bible story would you like to hear? “David and Goliath? Noah’s Ark? Jonah and the Whale? Daniel in the Lion’s Den?” They chose “Jesus at the cross”. More and more children were drawn over to the clowns as they decorated kids’ faces and gave out sculpted balloons. They listened to the story and asked questions through our interpreter as to why Jesus loved us so very much that He would die on the cross for us.

“Jesus loves you. He left Heaven to come and die for your sins!” When asked what sins they had committed, each helped the others to remember sins they had done recently with comments like, “I saw you steal that candy from the sari-sari stand yesterday!” When asked who might like to become a Christian, it was unanimous! All of the children prayed to become Christians.

While only half an hour previous, there in the park it had been difficult to get the kids quiet enough to listen to the Bible story, they now listened with rapt attention as I explained what next to expect in their newfound Christian walk.

After they chose for my second story to be telling about David and Goliath, I comforted these unbathed, ragged street urchins, “Now that you are God’s children, He will help you when you need Him. If someone wants to hurt you and you cannot escape, do like David did and overcome that giant with the power of God! Just cry out, ‘Jesus help me,” and God Himself will protect you!”

“If your giant enemy is sickness, or hunger or pain, just say to Jesus, ‘Jesus please help me!” and He will!

Sure enough, on Saturday morning when  the clown team was about to board the plane to fly back to their families in the USA, I asked one clown who had already caught a fever, “See, imagine what you would have missed if you had been scrubbing the mud and gotten even sicker. You might have had to, instead of visiting hospital patients, you yourself might become one!”

Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!
 
Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)
 
PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for the seven street children who had become Chritsians fridasy night, the adult man (Mario) and the other child “Kenken” who also prayed to become Chritsians earlier in the week when we shated the Gsopekl with them in the park after midgnight.
   
PRAISE: That this week six children and one adult became believers in Jesus during the international clown outreach team’s visit. Although BCA suffered $12,000 in damages due to being hit by three typhoons in one week, over $3,000 in donations have already been given by friends worldwide! Yay, God.

BCA HAS 373 SPONSORED STUDENTS. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program.

TWO-PERCENTERS: 24 (26 more needed). ($1,000 pledged or donated for BCA’s new property)

BUILDING FUND: $19,800  (Total savings for BCA’s new, government-required by 2017, $56,000 campus. (NOTE- pledged funds which are not yet released by their donors will be included in this total as the money arrives)

PRESENT NEED: $119 to replace BCA’s bus “N”’s -1 pc rack and pinion steering:$63/2 pcs suspension arm @$17 =$34/fuel filter $2/ignition switch $17/1.5 ft heavy gauge steel tube $3
(for online help: www.christianaid.org CODE: 801-BLC)

HAPPY VETERANS’ DAY! (11/11)

”I’m singing in the rain!” Grandma Giggles and others of the seven clowns in our visiting “Creative Ministries” team from the USA were singing a fun song in a local park here in Davao City, and doing colorful face-painting/balloon-sculpting for street people at one o’clock in the morning. Sure enough, the rain did sprinkle a little bit before we headed back to the BCA campus at 2am. So we really were “Singin’ In The Rain!”

Just two hours later the electricity in the school shut off as our third typhoon in two weeks poured rains down on Davao City. The first typhoon buried our school and home in six feet of muddy water on Halloween night last week, and did the most damage to our home and campus.

The second (Yolanda/Haiyan) brought more water into the house and into the school. Just 600 miles away in Tacloban City between two and ten thousand people drowned (many are still missing and debris will take moths to clear) in this, the most powerful typhoon to hit land in the history of the globe. Worse than Katrina, Irene, David, Pablo or Sandy. Winds reached 195 mph, and Philippine President Aquino declared a “State of National Calamity” for the country as hundreds of bodies washed up on the shore. Fortunately, nearly a million Filipinos had been evacuated before the storm hit.

Today, Typhoon Zoraida made its entrance, with a deluge of more rain. Yet while some of our clown presentations had to be cancelled (visiting muddy squatter villages, and some of our street ministries), the team has buckled-down to pitch-in to fill other needs. They are sorting out the sixty boxes of clothes in BCA’s used clothing room (thirty large cardboard boxes were emptied into a “clothing-mountain” on the third-floor classroom floor last Sunday morning so that we could use the boxes as a patchwork-quilt to cover the mud on the gym floor and keep the congregation’s feet from slipping out from under them in the mud).

Then today the clowns will perform at our local outreach club. After their performance, as president of the host club, Elvie will lead many other club presidents from a fifty-mile radius of Davao to determine how to load ten tons (20,000 pounds) of crackers, bottled water, canned fish and used clothing on a military (C-130) plane to assist Tacloban survivors. The C-130 easily converts from plane to helicopter with foldable propellers since the destroyed roads and bridges (and a multitude of debris) are making driving impossible in the affected areas.

Unlike last year’s aid relief to Typhoon Pablo survivors, BCA classrooms cannot be reserved for the packing of this emergency aid, since we ourselves are in a danger zone for more flooding. We need to get the C-130 packed up within three days before the plane leaves. As soon as the trucks arrive to drop off the bulk items, we will join hundreds of fellow volunteers at a friend’s warehouse to pack the thousands of per-family emergency items.

Our visiting clowns are such a hit with the children that, after they joined our Foundation Day parade last Saturday and performed for the BCA kids, they performed again on Sunday at church. After lunch they joined us by ferryboat as we traveled out to the island to perform at our “Discarded-Boys’” Ranch. Nearly sixty kids showed up at the ranch, and one was laughing so hard at the clowns’ performance that we were sure he was going to fall over onto the floor!

Although the clown team still has VBS each afternoon and street ministry from before midnight until 2am, they will performance at my foundation meeting this Friday, and also at the Faith Academy Annual Carnival. We also plan to bring them to a local hospital to brighten the lives of sick children there.

We know that “Our God reigns,” so it is obvious that, come typhoon or muddy water, we will keep “Singin’ in the Reign!”

Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!
 
Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)
 
PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for strength, as we are pretty worn out here due to Typhoon cleanup/replacement and repair, not to mention assisting those who are sick from the disease-ridden muddy floodwaters. We have been so busy trying to rebuild a semblance of order that we haven't had time to put together a website message (with pictures, etc.) that can fully present the extent of the calamity. Also the one-year birthday for PaulieBenCol (son of Pancelita, our girls’ home “mom”) needed a blood transfusion in the hospital this week due to sickness. He likely will be confined for two more weeks.
   
PRAISE: That all of BCA’s teachers and staff have been cleaning up mud, scrubbing walls, repairing broken doors, moving destroyed furniture, and so on this week. Although all of our eight school buses/vehicles were not functioning due to the flood, we got four of them working again until Zoraida wiped them out once more. We have a clown crusade this week, and are piling dozens of kids into the back of our pickup truck. Praise God for the many who sent email/Facebook messages and cards to commemorate Abigail’s and my birthdays this past week. J Also a dozen fellow worshippers “serenaded” Abby and me by coming to sing at our house on November 9 at 4:15am. What dedication!

BCA HAS 373 SPONSORED STUDENTS. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program.

TWO-PERCENTERS: 21 (29 more needed). ($1,000 pledged or donated for BCA’s new property)

BUILDING FUND: $18,790  (Total savings for BCA’s new, government-required by 2017, $56,000 campus. (NOTE- pledged funds which are not yet released by their donors will be included in this total as the money arrives)

PRESENT NEED:

$11,000 for Typhoon-related expenses:

• $360 food for our 60 volunteer cleaners every day for one month ($2 daily x 30 days x 60 volunteer workers)
• $850 for laundry soap and other cleaning supplies for cleanup
• $400 for increased water bill as we are hosing down every one of the classrooms on the ground floor, and scrubbing and disinfecting the walls/floors/chairs/etc., as well as the school bus engines/seats/interiors.
  
• $75 for emergency clothing we had to purchase while waiting for our muddy ones to be hand-washed (washing machine was destroyed)
  
• $190 for medicine, as all four of us have had sore throats, colds, etc. since the rains began
  
• $680 for school supplies which were on the ground floor during the flood (most of our supplies were stored on the top floor)
  
• $350 to replace five doors/knobs/hinges which were crushed/splintered by surging flash-floodwaters.
  
• $30 for extra garbage pickup to dispose of approximately 80 large garbage bags full of destroyed items/papers/etc.
  
• $340 to replace broken dishes, plates, cups, etc.
  
• $1500 to replace two destroyed laptop computers (PJ’s, Abby’s and Elvie’s)…an American friend is buying one for Abby for Christmas.
  
• $240 to replace almost all our food (none was spared except that on our top shelf)
  
• $4200 to repair our eight school vehicles’ engines.
  
• $120 to replace our church DVD player (most of our personal small appliances: tv, toaster oven, blender, iron, have already been replaced)
  
• $1330 to replace our church’s sound system, which was entirely under water.
  
• $120 to replace some of the mattresses (most of the furniture we can clean up, as well as some of the mattresses)
  
• $115 for increased electricity usage during round-the-clock cleanup

(for online help: www.christianaid.org CODE: 801-BLC)

HAPPY 13TH BIRTHDAY, ABIGAIL! (11/9/00) HAPPY 52ND BIRTHDAY, PAUL! (11/9/61), HAPPY 15TH BIRTHDAY, BCA! (11/9/98), “MY HOPE AMERICA” BILLY GRAHAM NATIONWIDE BROADCAST (11/1-10)

“Your dog will become sausage meat!” Some people eat dog meat in the Philippines. Cooked dog meat is called “polutan” and is typically only consumed by drunkards who are so inebriated that they don’t care what they are eating.

Recently Davao’s Department of Animal Control sent out a circular to all dog owners (including us) that they would tow to the dog pound any wandering animals and “euthanatize” them. So this Thursday we bought small chains to tie up our black dog Jana and her year-old tan puppy Trixie. Before heading off to the evening Faith Academy band concert in which Abigail played French Horn, we tied up Trixie, but had misplaced the chain for Jana.

The concert was amazing! In fact, since a thunderstorm raged simultaneous with the musical presentations, it almost sounded like celestial angelic drummers were accompanying the elementary and middle school performers.

The storm had caused massive flooding, which backed-up traffic for miles and miles. ON our way home after the concert we inched forward for four tedious hours on bumper-to-bumper roads, finally giving up and heading back downtown to drop-off PJ, Abby and a friend at the home of a schoolmate who happened to still be awake at the wee hours of midnight when we arrived. Then Elvie and I headed back home in our pickup truck.

When we arrived, a shock awaited us. Flooding had buried our school and home under six feet of muddy water, submerging our seven buses and also our ten-yr-old car. One of my major concerns was to look for Trixie. Since she had been on the new chain, I was sure that she would have drowned. Yet search as we might, the dogs could not be found. Although the flood waters had subsided, a foot of brown water still stood on the floor of our gym, and one-to-two inch deep sticky, glue-like mud was everywhere.

“Mmmrrmr,” I heard, sounding amazingly like our puppy. But where was she? “Look! Trixie is on the roof!” Sure enough, our puppy had broken her new chain and swum in the ever-deepening floodwaters to the roof of one of our BCA buses. She wouldn’t come down until two days later! I had to feed, water and pet her up there! Some said that they had seen Jana (Trixie’s mom) as well as one of our neighbors, caught by the current which had swept them downstream where they both had drowned.

The current had been so strong that it picked up dressers and bookcases and crashed them through 2-inch-thick doors in our home and school. Four doors were destroyed in this way.

Although we typically have minor floods every few months, in all the sixteen years we have lived in this area, this flood sets the record for depth. The previous deep water mark was the 2010 flood, at five feet. Somebody must have been clearing an awful lot of grass and brush upstream before the rains had hit, for on every wall was a six-foot-high brown mud line with green grass and leaves stuck to it. Mud was everywhere. Brown, dirty lines circled the windows of our car in two-inch intervals, showing the progression of when the waters had receded.
This was not our most expensive flood. We’d learned our lesson in previous years and moved the computers and textbooks up to the second and third floors of the school. In fact, just two days previous I had been looking through some old pictures on the school’s first floor and decided to move them upstairs to my third-floor office. They would definitely have been destroyed otherwise.

God’s people showed up almost immediately to assist. Around the clock, there was always someone around to help in the herculean task of bringing back a sense of normalcy to the “Ground Zero” of our school and home. The church youth group helped scrub chairs. Relatives helped dispose of destroyed papers, appliances and food. Parents of students scrubbed the barrel-fulls of muddy clothes. Some even cooked meals for the assorted cleaners.

After two days and a night of straight work without rest, Elvie and I were exhausted. But our stamina was renewed when a friend in the USA sent us $500 to buy a compressor, basins, and other cleaning supplies for this missive cleanup project.

A fellow pastor, whose birthday is the same as Abby’s and mine next week, came by with his wife to view the damages. He promised to come back Saturday with a mechanic and team to assist. He’d also bring a roasted pig…a Filipino favorite!

Even storm clouds often have silver linings. When we first saw the hurricane-force results of the flood’s devastation to our home, we were overwhelmed. Furniture was thrown around like toothpicks. Rubbish and mud was everywhere. Electronics, books, DVDs and tapes were destroyed. Smoke rose from smoldering electrical outlets. Yet after crawling over the mess through to the back of the house, I forced open the door of PJ’s bedroom, A dresser had fallen onto it, but I squeezed through to see what might possibly be resurrected from the shambles. Amidst the squalor I noticed his laptop computer, destroyed, caked with mud and washed onto the floor. Yet up on PJ’s bed sat a large joke book which was still dry.

“I wonder…” just opening the book up to its center, I wondered if perchance there might be a lighthearted way to view the destruction around us. Sure enough, right on the top of that very page it referred to the flood: “Why was it only once that God sent a flood to destroy the earth? Because it didn’t do much good that first time!” So this Sunday, when BCA’s muddy gym floor  will hopefully finally not be covered in mud and muddy water, I will preach on Noah’s Ark and focus on the GOOD that God has accomplished through this event. (By the way, an American friend just informed me this morning that she is giving $1,000 as a “Two Percenter” to bring us closer to the goal of our new campus, up on a hill where there will be no more floods.

Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!
 
Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)
 
PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for the cleanup from our devastating flood this week. All seven buses’ engines need to be overhauled, and our car also. Classes will be cancelled for one week, as the staff cleans up the mud from their classrooms. However, students will return to campus for Foundation Day this Friday, Nov. 8. Also please pray for our International Clown Team which will be arriving at BCA this Thursday, Nov. 7. They will perform almost every day during their week-and-a –half in Davao.
   
PRAISE: That Elvie’s older brother “Boy” won his campaign during elections this week. He is now one of the seven elected counselors who will assist their rural village mayor (Barangay Captain). Also praise God for the many people who have offered their time and strength to help clean up after this flood. Praise God as well that our used clothing room is on the third floor of the school and that the clothes were not soiled by the muddy floodwaters.

BCA HAS 373 SPONSORED STUDENTS. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program.

TWO-PERCENTERS: 21 (29 more needed). ($1,000 pledged or donated for BCA’s new property)

BUILDING FUND: $18,756  (Total savings for BCA’s new, government-required by 2017, $56,000 campus. (NOTE- pledged funds which are not yet released by their donors will be included in this total as the money arrives)

PRESENT NEED: $4,200 anticipated estimated expense of overhauling all seven of our school bus engines after this week’s catastrophic flood.

MASQUERADE DAY (10/31), ALL SAINTS DAY (11/1), USA DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME ENDS (11/3), USA ELECTION DAY (11/5), UTAH CLOWN TEAM ARRIVES AT BCA (11/7)

“How does he know?” As Baby Ben was crying during our BCA retreat, the lady holding him handed him to the true mom, and it was as if a light switch had immediately switched off his crying. I was amazed. We had driven dozens of BCA’s preschoolers on their annual field trip, and ended the outing with a visit to a local swimming pool.

Since Filipinos rarely get a chance to swim in pools (ocean swimming is more common), some parents came along as well. Pancelita, being the house mother at our girls’ orphanage, brought her 11-month-old baby along with her. “I have got to try this,” I said. Reaching out to pick up Baby Ben, as soon as I held him in my arms, he wailed once again. Then I gave him back to Pancelita, and he was once again fine. Other moms knowingly locked on with big grins on their faces.

I then tried just touching him…his arm, his shoulder, even his nose, with no response except a little grin. Yet to remove him from his mom’s embrace, well that was just cause for hitting the upper registry of extreme decibels!

True friendship is like a mother’s embrace. Before the kids jumped into the pool, I had them all hold hands with me in a circle. We sang together for all the others present, “God is love…Love one another, God is love…” Then I shared with them the story of the deep friendship of King David and his best friend Jonathan. “Do you have a close friend?” I asked the kids, as they held hands with their classmates. “Jesus is our very, very best friend, ever!” Then the kids recited after me, 1 John 4:7-8, which starts with, “Beloved, let us love one another…God is love”
The very next day a letter came to me from a man whom I had never met in New York who showed that he truly knew what real care for others means. He said, “Your sister lent me some of the books you wrote about the ministry there in Davao. I read them almost daily on my lunch break at school…I always finished my break in a great mood and faced the rest of the day cheerfully.” Wow, this man really cared for God’s work here in Davao, even though we had never met him!

He went on, “When I visited your website it was like visiting an old friend…I have sent a check for $150 and would be proud to begin sponsoring a child for a full year.” YAY! God is soooo awesome!
Somehow, little Baby Ben had known when he was being cared for by his loving mother, and we also are constantly reminded that our Savior is the one who always provides for us, since he cares for us so very, very deeply. May we today be the reminder that God uses to share with someone in need that God still cares.

Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!
 
Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)
 
PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for our BCA carpenters who this week will be building the long-awaited shelves in our “ATS” used-clothing room. Most of the funds for this project were donated through the gifts of friends in Vermont, Utah and a $900 life insurance policy from a dear former sponsor in New York. Please also pray for Teacher Richard, who is training our hundreds of children to perform a Christmas musical which will be televised locally in December for over six million viewers. I will be giving a brief Bible message also, so please pray that I can read my notes okay even with my double-vision.
   
PRAISE: That this week, Dane (our former BCA librarian) is marrying Ruth (one of BCA’s preschool teachers). Also praise God for the Mexican ministry which initially donated funds for us to purchase the land and buildings for our two orphanages. They have now started merchandizing organic coffee, giving a percentage of their profits to help defray the increasing expense of feeding these orphaned children.

Praise God that some sponsors have already begun sending funds to pay for the food and gifts which will be given to all of the BCA students during our 2013 BCA Student Christmas Party. Also praise God that during this week’s nationwide Philippine village elections, at least half a dozen pastors and other strong Christians (including Elvie’s older brother) were among the 60 candidates for local political positions.
BCA HAS 384 SPONSORED STUDENTS. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program.

TWO-PERCENTERS: 20 (30 more needed). ($1,000 pledged or donated for BCA’s new property)

BUILDING FUND: $18,656  (Total savings for BCA’s new, government-required by 2017, $56,000 campus. (NOTE- pledged funds which are not yet released by their donors will be included in this total as the money arrives)

PRESENT NEED: $188 for a tire and tube for BCA’s School Bus “M”. (Our seven busses are abbreviation-coded as: “N-PH-P-FO-FI-L&M”)

October 24, 2013 PHILIPPINE BARANGAY (VILLAGE) ELECTIONS (10/28)/United Nations Day (10/24)

“What if the ship’s captain does not know how to swim?” As Elvie and I attended a seminar this week, the speaker was making a point about the types of experience needed for leadership. “Saying that a ship captain needs to be a good swimmer is like saying that an airplane pilot needs to know how to fly without a plane! The key is to know how to keep the ship afloat until it reaches port, so that nobody will have to swim!”

Over the past three months we have sent what little aid we could spare to three different Philippine provinces for urgent needs:

• August=homeless Filipino residents from typhoons in Manila and Cebu;
• September= Filipino refugees in Muslim war in Zamboanga;
• October=starving thousands of Filipinos from earthquakes in Bohol and Cebu.

In this month’s 7.2 magnitude Bohol earthquake, dozens of centuries-old historic churches crumbled, along with the destruction of bridges, roads, and homes. 200 died, 500 were injured, and 2 million residents were affected. Although Operation Blessing, civic clubs and churches were sent to help, the Red Cross was turned away, as the local mayor refused to work with them.

As with the captain mentioned in the seminar, we can’t expect to solve every problem. We cannot swim every sea, and of course we cannot fly…yet. However, we can help those assigned to assist globally and we can also help “hands-on” locally. While attending another mini seminar sponsored by UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) on “SAM” (Severe Acute Malnutrition) Elvie and I learned that although nutritional aid is available for our starving hundreds of BCA kids, it is not sustainable. It will run out. So instead, our goal is to train the local poor in Davao to grow their own vegetables and other foods. We’ll also educate these hundreds of kids to grow up and solve their poverty dilemma.

One day this week I was riding in the passenger seat of one of our BCA school buses. The cute (yet skinny) students each, one by one reached though the window to the front seat to touch my head. Then one little girl started, in her delicate little voice,  singing my trademark chorus, “Read Your Bible, Pray Everyday, and you’ll GROW, GROW, GROW!” One by one, her schoolmates joined in the chorus as the bus rumbled down the road and other vehicles’ passengers looked on (it is an open-air vehicle, with no windows). As I sang along with these precious pupils, it came to me: yes, we are helping these kids to grow: physically, spiritually, mentally and socially.

We don’t have to get out of the boat to help them. We don’t have to try and personally grow a garden in every family’s tiny spot of ground. We’ll just keep reaching out a helping hand over the edge of the boat and lift up these kids to bring them into the safety and provision offered by our caring Lord.

Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!
 
Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)
 
PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for a friend’s brother in the hardest-hit earthquake-area. His roof fell on his foot, cutting off his toe. He couldn’t get to the hospital since the roads and bridges were out and their area of Tagbilaran, Bohol has only two main roads on the whole island. Also please pray for my 2,500 fellow Ironman triathletes who competed with me in our August 70-mile race. The location of our race was Cebu, which is one of the hardest-hit areas of the recent earthquake. Thousands of Cebuano Filipino residents had cheered us on during the 9-hour race, and now many of the athletes are returning the favor by sending aid for the Cebuanos’ recuperation from the catastrophic earthquake. Finally, please pray for the three hospitals to which Elvie and I donated sixteen centrifugal blood bio-pumps which had been donated to our ministry while we were in the USA this summer. These pumps are instrumental in heart bypass surgery.
   
PRAISE: That the Philippine government, in response to an international survey revealing Manila’s NAIA airport to be the worst in the world, is beginning renovation of that airport this December. This is in preparation for Manila’s hosting the 2015 APEC (Asian Pacific Economic Countries) Forum. Also praise God that some friends have given funds for our family to visit Israel next July (2014) and paint a Jewish nursing home. While there, PJ and Abby plan to be baptized in the Jordan River…by me. Also praise God that this month’s earthquake began (its minor tremors continue even now, even as far away as here in Davao) during a Muslim holiday (recognized nationawide), and therefore many of the schools and businesses which crumbled had few customers inside when they collapsed.

SPONSORSHIP STATUS: Of BCA’s 384 students, all 384 currently have sponsors! As Christmas approaches, we often obtain one or two new sponsors. We will find children for these beloved new friends to support.

TWO-PERCENTERS: 20 (30 more needed). ($1,000 pledged or donated for BCA’s new property)

BUILDING FUND: $18,456  (Total savings for BCA’s new, government-required by 2017, $56,000 campus. (NOTE- pledged funds which are not yet released by their donors will be included in this total as the money arrives)

PRESENT NEED: $116 for renovation of our upstairs preschool bathroom (last month was our downstairs preschool bathroom): bathroom tiling (off-white floor tiles-30cmx30cm- 42x$1=$42/tile adhesive 25kg 3x$6=$18 (plus pliers for school bus repair=$7) and toilet bowl Royal Tern off-white with seat=$49).

USA COLUMBUS DAY (10/15)

“Manong, may God bless your walk!” Elvie greeted a short, elderly gentleman who was carrying a wrapped bolo (machete) in his hand, and donned in well-worn clothing. He was walking the eight miles to cut grass at a business near the city. This kindly worker’s plan was to use his machete and get the whole lot’s weeds and grass carefully landscaped by lunchtime. That way he’d have a full day’s wages ($7) in half the time, so he could walk back home to be with his grandkids.

Most mornings, since my double-vision has made it impossible for me to drive, swim, run or bicycle, I go for a half-hour walk. Sometimes PJ, Abby or Elvie will accompany me. However, since I “hit the pavement” right when the sun starts peeping over the horizon, the others typically are still lost in dreamland, so I go solo.

Yet on this particular Tuesday, Elvie was with me and greeted many who passed us en route. Folks I met on a daily basis, like the street sweeper, the crossing guard, etc., had brief conversations with Elvie in their native tongue. Then, in successive days, they’d smile and wave at me as their new friend, as I strolled by.

Sometimes it doesn’t take much to brighten a person’s day. A kindly “hello” or a smile and a wave are often all that is required to transform a fellow citizen’s day from an “Okay Wednesday” to a “Winsome Wednesday”.

Then as we got back home, we were greeted by our dog Jana and her year-old pup Trixie. Trixie had a father of unknown origin, but I kind of suspect that he was a kangaroo. Trixie never walks. She always leaps and jumps. I think that she wants to be human, as she is often standing on two feet instead of four.

The next day Elvie and I dropped-into our girls’ orphanage, to see how Pancelita (the housemom) was doing. She has four of her own kids as well as six orphan girls, which makes a total of an even ten kids. The youngest is Esabelle, and she has one thing in common with our pup Trixie: they are both bundles of energy. As we were leaving a while later, she kept jumping, smiling and waving and waving and waving… (you get the idea).

Finally, to wrap-up our week, Elvie was inducted as president of the local Kiwanis Club in a special ceremony attended by sixty or so local businessmen. As Outgoing President Jimmy pinned to Elvie’s lapel the “President’s Pin,” he stated, “When my predecessor President Joe died in a motorcycle accident last December, I guess you could say that I (as acting president-elect) inherited the then-vacant position BY ACCIDENT.”

However, it is no accident when we make time to brighten the day of another. May we this day (in either an energetic, or in a calm, committed way) brighten someone’s life, so that they can experience the joy of being in the presence of someone who knows personally the Savior of the World.

Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!
 
Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)
 
PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for our two Children’s Homes. The boys’ home now has twelve orphans and the girls’ home has ten. Altogether, that makes twenty-two. Also, please pray for our BCA Christian school, as we sort and re-clean the hundreds of stuffed animals and clothes that were shipped to us for the students’ Christmas this year.
   
PRAISE: That the rock-hard coral soil at our Boys’ Ranch is gradually being penetrated by “Ben and the Boys” as they dig over a hundred post-holes for their new barbed-wire fencing which was provided by funds from a friend in Southern California. Also praise God that a New York friend informed me that he is bringing pictures of his sponsored kids to conventions, to share with others the need for Filipino kids to be sponsored for their schooling. Yay! Thanks. Also, a friend just informed us that he often distributes the free hand-made cards (made by our BCA students’ parents) to send to others for lots of different special occasions.

SPONSORSHIP STATUS: Of BCA’s 385 students, all 385 currently have sponsors! This will likely change within the next few weeks however, as we are re-evaluating our waiting lists of out-of-school kids. We have lists in different categories of commitment, including those families energetically willing to be educated immediately, then those who are strongly considering it, and even others who were hoping the start their preschoolers mid-year when the children had that extra six months of maturity under their belts before attending classes.

TWO-PERCENTERS: 20 (30 more needed). ($1,000 pledged or donated for BCA’s new property)

BUILDING FUND: $18,436  (Total savings for BCA’s new, government-required by 2017, $56,000 campus. (NOTE- pledged funds which are not yet released by their donors will be included in this total as the money arrives)

PRESENT NEED: $111 for BCA bus engine repairs:1 pc head gasket $12, 1 pc. Camshaft oil sealp$8, 2 pcs crankshaft oil seal $9, 1 pc exhaust manifold gasket $4, 1 pc pad gasket $5, 1 pc oil filter $6, 1 pc tensioner bearing $17, 1 pc silicon gasket $3, 3 pcs spark plugs $21, 1 set valve seal $9, 1 set spark plug cable $17. 

“Catch that pig!” Since our “Shepherd’s Hues” Boys’ Ranch has started raising, roasting and selling cooked pigs to raise funds for their expenses, the orphan boys and staff all work together in keeping their hungry customers pleased.

The piggery’s profit margin is small so they can stay competitive. Therefore when a large order for a hundred-thirty-pound pig came through, they immediately purchased a large sow and tied it up at the ranch.

Yet when the hog broke through its cord and ran away, Ben (our orphanage administrator) called all twelve orphan boys out to surround the animal and keep yelling at it to herd it into a corner of their three-acre property.

Ben then called the butcher to come right over, send the animal to “piggy-heaven” and begin the slow-roasting process early, to insure that the animal would remain on the menu.

Finding lost pigs and finding lost souls are dissimilar. However they both are challenges worthy of our undivided, creative attention. About a year ago, the fourteen-year-old nephew (“CD”) of one of our BCA bus drivers (Roger) was in the hospital with cancer. The small ward had eight boys, all with different forms of cancer. When we visited the hospital to pray for CD, we also prayed for the other boys. We gave them each a stuffed animal, a Bible, and some food.

When one of the boys asked us about our faith, we not only prayed for God’s healing touch, but also they all responded with a desire to pray to become God’s children. As new believers in Jesus, they started a Bible Study right there in the hospital room.

Two of the boys entered into heaven within the next few months. However, the other six survived. They considered each other “classmates” of the same “batch” of cancer survivors. Now a year later, CD was celebrating his fifteenth birthday and he is entirely cancer-free!

Word got out that this group of cancer survivors had a Christian support group, and they would meet together occasionally in each other’s homes. When another boy named Chris contracted cancer in January, he joined their “Survivors’ Club”. But he never received the gift of salvation…until last week.

CD invited our family to his birthday celebration. I gave a Bible challenge, and suggested that “CD” stands not only for our friend’s name, but also as “Cancer Dissolved” and also “Christ’s Disciple”. His new friend Chris was intrigued and wanted to hear more. PJ removed my gospel bracelet, explaining to Chris what each color represented (yellow-black-red-white-green) in the plan of salvation. Chris then removed his cap, revealing  his chemo-caused bald head. Elvie then led this nine-year-old in praying the prayer of repentance in his own language.

A few days later I needed to attend our Outreach Club meeting downtown. I was riding with a few dozen preschoolers in the BCA school bus (my eye problem has temporarily removed my ability to drive) and after most of the pupils had been dropped off, many left small things on the bus. Suddenly Roger (the bus driver) called out, “Hey, somebody left their shoe behind!” He reached back to pick up a small blue sneaker from the bus floor. Yet to his surprise, a foot was attached! The shoe’s owner was still wearing it, sitting in the corner right behind the driver’s seat! We all laughed, and kept chuckling until the last passenger departed on the last stop,,, with his shoes intact!

No child will be left behind. Our goal, in all we do, whether bringing-in street-side orphaned urchins, or praying for cancer-ridden children to be healed physically and spiritually, is that the love and compassion of Christ will be revealed through us to all we meet.

Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!
 
Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)
 
PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for CD and his friends Kenneth, Chris and the others, that they remain cancer-free and also that they will grow in their newfound relationship with their Savior Jesus Christ. Also please pray for the Boys’ Ranch as they venture into their new “Pig-Roaster” business, that through it, all of their ongoing financial needs will be met.
   
PRAISE: That Elvie, busy as she is, has been able to juggle positions as president in four different volunteer groups, as well as on the board of three other large ministries and still finds time to chauffer me around when the need arises. Plus she faithfully accompanies me during our biweekly Davao Christian Leadership Foundation (DCL) meetings, where I am president.

SPONSORSHIP STATUS: Of BCA’s 391 students, 388 have sponsors and we need to find 3 more.

TWO-PERCENTERS: 20 (30 more needed). ($1,000 pledged or donated for BCA’s new property)

BUILDING FUND: $18,376  (Total savings for BCA’s new, government-required by 2017, $56,000 campus. (NOTE- pledged funds which are not yet released by their donors will be included in this total as the money arrives)

PRESENT NEED: $1,865for Fuel/Oil/Filters for BCA buses during September ($1,343) and repairs for BCA buses in September ($522) (4 tires [w/tubes]@$95-$380/2 pcs suspension arms@$17-$34/ 1 set Hydrovac with pedal-108,)

Leif Erikson Day/Fire Prevention Day (10/9), WORLD TEACHERS’ DAY (10/5), Gold Star Mother's Day (A Gold Star Mother is any American woman whose child has died in the line of duty of the United States Armed Forces-10/6) New Jersey: Gold Star Families’ Day.

“To God Be The Glory!” As the congregation sang its hymns last Sunday, since there are not enough hymnals for everyone they read the words which flashed upon the screen.

Being guided by looking up is a common practice in this delightful Philippine ministry. Many of the parents of our BCA (Barner Christian Academy) sponsored kids came into this ministry without a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Gradually, one-by-one most of the parents have prayed to become believers. Week after week we have trained these former unbelievers to read their Bibles, study, pray, give, worship, memorize, and finally (after enough years have passed, and when they are ready) to preach the precious Gospel of Jesus.

While my damaged eye is healing, many of the pulpits of churches which we have started need preachers. Our newly-trained believers are filling the need.

Yet this Sunday was the fifth Sunday of the month, and therefore it was designated as “Children’s Sunday.” Before the kids’ Sunday School teacher preached the Bible message he had prepared, dozens of children appeared on the stage to sing a song which itemized all the books of the Bile.

They looked precious, and reflected great training from their teacher. After the message, we all sang “To God Be The Glory” (also known as “My Tribute”). Yet up on the screen, the typist had mistaken two very important letters which changed the meaning of the verse. Instead of “MILLIONS of angels,” it read “VILLAINS of angels!”

Our precious kids of today, as they performed with the joy of the Lord in their hearts, showed that truly their God-fearing teachers were not “villains” (like so many of the dangerous influences on kids’ lives today) but like the “millions” of angel-messengers from God.

We are praying that we will not be raising up “villains” of angels (like those who fell out of heaven), but rather raising up millions of “angels” (messengers of the Gospel). Our special new little leaders were each rewarded after the end of the sermon with a small onion plant in a Styrofoam cup. Surrounding the cup were lollipops taped to the outside. These kids will be growing (like the plants) with the sweetness (represented by the lollipops) of their assurance of an abundant life in Jesus 

 Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!
 
Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)
 
PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for the preparations this week for our school-wide annual educational field trip. This Friday the teachers will be deciding where the busses will bring the children, considering the educational/spiritual/social/physical advantages of each of the options available for the event. In past years they have visited bottling plants, zoos, parks, famous churches and museums.
   
PRAISE: That a dear friend in the USA has donated funds to install three thick strands of barbed-wire, along with dozens of cement posts around the perimeter of our Boys’ Ranch for the continued safety of our orphans (and also for security from theft of our growing number of livestock).

YOM KIPPUR (9/14)

“Noah built an arky-arky…the animals came on by twosies-twosies!” Since our eleventh-grade son PJ has study hall first period, he agreed to teach the kindergarteners and elementary students at Faith Academy’s Friday chapel. I guess that leading runs in the family, for I spoke at the middle school chapel just a few days before, and our seventh-grade daughter Abby led the worship then.
The kids were very responsive and even acted-out the characters of some of the animals, which had come onto the ark two-by-two.
Our own “ark of safety” on nearby Samal Island is our “Shepherd’s House” Boy’s Ranch. In it a dozen boys who formerly lived on the sidewalks and begged for food have found a home. Ben is our American volunteer missionary, a former military man who has been hard at work trying to find a way to feed the boys. 

Ben and the boys constructed a little pig house and bought four piglets to fill it.  One of the pigs will be their Christmas dinner.  He also built a large barbecue pit made out of cement and cement block for roasting whole pigs.  After hiring a butcher to slaughter and cook the pigs, they’ve begun delivery by motorcycle to customers locally and on the mainland. Roast pig is VERY popular among the non-Muslim, non-Seventh-Day Filipino population.

I guess that with my (Paul’s) present double-vision challenge, I couldn’t help with either loading two of each animal on the ark (I’d load one, but see two) nor delivering the roasted pigs (I might charge them double).

However, on Sunday my troubled eyesight became a blessing. During the closing prayer I challenged, “We cannot live a spiritual life of double-vision. A man cannot serve both God and Satan. I ask you today,” I said to the congregation, “who do you serve? Do you serve God on Sunday and yourself on Monday? Give God your all!”

The response at church of those willing to stop playing “double-vision” with God was incredible. After all, with two eyes seeing different directions, I can’t drive, can’t focus and can’t concentrate without having a patch over one eye. Likewise, we are at our utmost effectiveness when we give our all to Jesus, serving Him and Him alone, 24/7!

Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!
 
Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)
 
PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for Ben and the Samal boys, that the pigs will not get stolen and Ben will have many customers for the new roasted-pig delivery service.
   
PRAISE: That the center of Major Typhoon Usagi (Odette) is scheduled to pass between Taiwan and Philippines, with only minimal damage due to flooding, etc. Had it passed directly over the Philippines (instead of just to the north), the powerful winds and rains would likely have resulted in high damage in property and fatalities. As of now, although villages are being evacuated, what will hit the Philippines will likely be only a severe tropical storm.

Also praise God that the two explosions that hit cinemas in Davao last week did not result in any loss of life. Instead, it has heightened security all over the city, and it is now even more safe that it was before r the blasts. The small bombs were likely not caused by wither Islamic nor Communist terrorists, but confused juvenile delinquents.

Also praise God that the clown team (of six American ladies) has now purchased their tickets for their short-term mission trip to BCA, scheduled to take place this coming November.

Preaise God too that this past week the Department of education made a surprise inspection visit to our BCA campus, and were quite pleased with the cleanliness of the school and also with the services for all of BCA’s poor Filipino pupils.  

SPONSORSHIP STATUS: Of BCA’s 437 students, 388 have sponsors and we need to find 49 more.

TWO-PERCENTERS: 19 (31 more needed). ($1,000 pledged or donated for BCA’s new property)

BUILDING FUND: $18,250 (Total savings for BCA’s new, government-required by 2017, $56,000 campus. (NOTE- pledged funds which are not yet released by their donors will be included in this total as the money arrives)

PRESENT NEED: $1,243 for BCA bus fuel and repairs for the month of August.

PATRIOT DAY, USA (9/11)

“You could teach sign language!” I spoke this Summer at the church where I had become a believer as a child in Albany, New York. In July after my message, a young single woman who sponsors a child in our BCA school (“Pivvy”) approached me through an interpreter. Pivvy cannot hear or talk, yet the excitement shown on her face long before the words were related.

She is coming to the Philippines to teach sign language to our students and staff, plus some from the community. She can easily write a letter or word or phrase on the blackboard/whiteboard, then teach us the “sign” for it. Our family has wanted to learn American Sign Language (ASL) for quite some time now, but never had the stick-to-itiveness to really grasp it…until now.

Some travelers and short-term mission trippers have questioned the wisdom of traveling to the Philippines now, since the country is plagued with wars and floods. However most of the flooding is in the northern part of the country (Manila/Luzon) and the Islamic MNLF/MILF terrorist wars are 400 miles across the mountains to the west of here. Davao is pretty safe.

Of course safety depends a lot on the wisdom of the traveler as well. Last week, we set-up the plan on nearby Samal Island for the housing and usage of BCA’s new boat. It will be used for church planting on the nearby islands of Samal and Talicud, and also for transportation of our twelve boy orphans back and forth from the mainland. Elvie and I finished-up our discussions with prayer and then made our way back to the pickup truck. Since the pastor lives along the ocean’s edge, I had to watch my footing as I climbed up the dirt path from his small house to the roadside. Suddenly my head hit an iron bar holding up the metal roofing of a pedicab parked along the roadside. I did not pass out, but two days later was seeing double.

At the hospital, the ophthalmologist and neurologist, after taking 100 pictures of my brain with a cat scan (MRI) determined that one of the vessels to my brain is smaller than the other, and therefore prescribed medication to help the blood flow; to make the vessels more supple, and also to repair the damaged eye muscle. They said I should be able to remove my eye patch in less than two weeks. PJ said I look like an iguana, since my eyes follow his finger to a point, then one eye stops and the other one keeps going. Praise God for good doctors, but the best physician of course is Dr. Jesus, my awesome Creator (James 5).

Back to Pivvy though. She has purchased her tickets and will be arriving in early December. I mentioned to her that, “Christmas and New Years’ Eve in the Philippines is very LOUD! As the clock approaches midnight, for three hours people bang pans together, shoot off fireworks, honk horns and turn their radios on full blast. It is quite bothersome and hard to sleep on those nights.” Pivvy started laughing. Judy (Pivvy’ interpreter) was smiling as well as she responded, “Pivvy does not mind noisy places. They are perfect for her. After all, remember, she can’t hear!” Ooooohhh yeah…

Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!
 
Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)
 
PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for the fifty who came to the altar to rededicate their lives to Jesus at our church this past Sunday. On Saturday Elvie and I attended the funeral of a dear friend from the jungle, and Hermogenes (a respected national television evangelist) happened to be there. He invited himself to speak the next day at church, since my limited eyesight and eye patch made it a challenge for me to see my notes to preach. Praise God for the moving of His Holy Spirit in the parishioners’ hearts and souls on that day. Truly, “Our disappointments are His appointments!”
   
PRAISE: That PJ and Abby both did great in their dress up days at Faith Academy this week. Every day had a different theme (eg: sports/super hero/backwards, etc.). They even won one of the competitions! Also praise God that our Outreach Team distributed a sack of rice and other food items to the Bajao Sea Gypsies this week. Also praise God that I’ll be guest speaker at Faith Academy’s Middle School Chapel this week and also some of their faculty/staff will take a mini field trip to our BCA campus. What a privilege! Praise God too for over thirty friends of Elvie’s who came over at 3:45am on her birthday to sing to her (Filipino tradition) and spent three hours praying for her and well-wishing her. (many came back for lunch as supper as well…some never left, but helped to cook!)

SPONSORSHIP STATUS: Of BCA’s 438 students, 386 have sponsors and we need to find 52 more.

TWO-PERCENTERS: 19 (31 more needed). ($1,000 pledged or donated for BCA’s new property)

BUILDING FUND: $18,135 (Total savings for BCA’s new, government-required by 2017, $56,000 campus. (NOTE- pledged funds which are not yet released by their donors will be included in this total as the money arrives)

PRESENT NEED: $238 to purchase a good-quality, large, wheeled whiteboard (with markers) which Pivvy can use from the school/church stage for the entire audience to follow her teaching ASL this December.

HAPPY LABOR DAY, USA! (9/2)

“adlaw ug buwan…balikon!” during our daily morning family devotions we read scripture, then sing and then close in prayer. However, after singing, Elvie suddenly started laughing. “Did I pronounce the Filipino word incorrectly?” I asked. “Oh no, it was fine, honey. But it wasn’t to be sung. That word, ‘balikon’ means ‘repeat’. You don’t sing the word, but you repeat the chorus before it!”

Often while going about our daily routine, we have to make snap decisions. Sometimes they are accurate and at other times…not so accurate. One of BCA’s teachers illustrated this well in her class this week by describing “inside” and “outside”. She had a pile of small objects and a big box. One by one, she had the pupils come up and place objects inside the box and then other students took them back out.

Early this week, we bought a boat. We had been given just enough funds for this purpose, and needed to decide which of the two used vessels available we would purchase. Deciding that the best one to go “inside” of this ministry was a large fishing vessel, big enough to seat thirty passengers, we also hired the son of one of our satellite church pastors to pilot the vessel. He will find paying passengers during the week to provide for the finances necessary for the pastors’’ usage in bringing the boat to events for church planting: bible studies, worship services, etc. It was actually a pretty easy decision. However, another decision later this week was not so easy…

On Wednesday morning I woke up with double vision. Somehow I had strained a muscle on my right eye. The next day I was in an important meeting, and I sat across from the main speaker. My dilemma was, since I saw two of him, which one was I to focus on? Which one was the real him, and which was the “image” of him being created by my damaged eye? Fortunately I chose correctly and got through the meeting fine.

During our DCL Foundation meeting on Friday my associate pastor Callem (the one whose house we dismantled and transferred last week) gave the Bible lesson from Romans 16. Aquila and Priscilla had chosen correctly as they knew what went “in the box” and what stayed outside of it. As the passage reads, “all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them”.

May the same be said for us, as we determine what goes “inside the box”…

Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!
 
Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)
 
PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for my eyes to heal. I cannot drive until this eye patch is removed in three or four weeks. Also please pray that the transition of registration of BCA's new boat from a fishing vessel to a passenger vessel will be smooth and inexpensive.
   
PRAISE: That so many people sent greetings to wish Elvie a happy 46th birthday this week! Thanks again! Also praise God that I have been invited to share my personal testimony and also tell of my life’s calling to ministry at the staff devotions of Faith Academy this week. What a privilege!

SPONSORSHIP STATUS: Of BCA’s 408 students, 385 have sponsors and we need to find 23 more.

TWO-PERCENTERS: 19 (31 more needed). ($1,000 pledged or donated for BCA’s new property)

BUILDING FUND: $17,035 (Total savings for BCA’s new, government-required by 2017, $56,000 campus. (NOTE- pledged funds which are not yet released by their donors will be included in this total as the money arrives)

PRESENT NEED: $28 for tiles, faucets, toilet bowl and cement to re-tile and repair three of BCa’s bathrooms. Also for a new doorknob for the BCA library. The other one has been removed as it was damaged and kept locking the students in.

HAPPY 46TH BIRTHDAY, ELVIE! (9/9)

“Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord!” thirteen-year-old Fraulein kept repeating this passage from Psalm 121:1-2 over and over, even singing it a few times. Her friends in the church youth group were loading up into one of BCA’s jeepney buses to ride to a waterpark about twenty miles away. But Fraulein couldn’t join them, since she was not able to come up with the 50-peso (just over a dollar) entry fee.

While walking home, she prayed her song to God, claiming His promise that her help would come from Him. As she walked the twelve-inch-wide sidewalk along the large drainage canal, she happened to look down to be sure of her footing. Her heart skipped a beat as there; about to be blown away at her feet was an orange twenty peso bill!

Fraulein rushed back to the jeepney, which was about to depart. “It’s ok, Fraulein,” quipped their leader. “As long as you have part of the fee, you can give me the rest later.” While enjoying herself with her friends at the waterpark, she pondered in her mind, “Hmmm, where will I find that other thirty pesos?” The next Sunday morning during testimony time at Sunday School, Fraulein stood up and shared how God had fulfilled His promise with the twenty pesos bill she had found. He teacher was so impressed that he gave her one hundred pesos! Fraulein whooped for joy!

Monday of this week was a Philippine national holiday, “Heroes’ Day”. Since the men in dozens of churches around did not have to go to work, many gathered at BCA and had a day of worship. Not to be outdone, 150 ladies also came out this past Saturday for a special time of games and Bible study.

Yet between these two dates, on Friday BCA’s preschoolers performed for their national Philippine-Culture Day. Dressed up in tribal outfits, the kids were enormously cute…especially one little girl who won the prize for the best costume. Aside from her earthy-colored native abaca getup, her hair was woven into a tight braid that stuck up straight in the air thirteen inches!

Another real hero was Rziah. She is our little five-year-old female preschooler whose left leg is eight inches shorter than the other. You wouldn’t know it from the glistening smile on her face. There on the stage she circled her partner in the Filipino dance, waving a fan at him as the custom prescribes. After the song ended, she curtsied with the others and made her way down the stairs.

We are surrounded by everyday heroes. Yet often we hesitate to notice the special, little things they do for others. Sunday after preaching my message at church, I challenged the congregation to show their appreciation for our associate pastor Callem and his family. The lease has just expired on their small property, and the owner will not renew it. Since Callem built their tiny bamboo house himself, twenty dads, moms and kids came over to their place to tear down that house and reassemble it seven miles away. Lots of spider webs, cockroaches and dust between those boards, but our sweat was like tears of joy as we had lots of fun making their life livable again.

You are a hero too! May God open your eyes to see those who will be led to Jesus by your positive influence upon their lives today…

Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!
 
Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)
 
PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for our choice in a boat. Funds were given through DSO (Davao Strategic Outreach) for a small craft to give access for Filipino church-planting missionaries to reach the local islands of Samal and Talikud for Christ. We found an eleven-seater with a strong engine and a thirty-seater with an older engine. Elvie and I need to decide this week which one to purchase for the multiple outreaches on these nearby islands.
 
PRAISE: That two of the boy orphans at our Boy’s Ranch (Reymond and Junior) are valedictorians in their classes at school! Also, that even though my (Paul’s) blood pressure nearly reached 200 (diastolic) and over 100 (both systolic and pulse), through a change of diet this week, it has decreased substantially (plus I lost ten pounds). Plus, Dean (one of the supporters of our two orphanages) is flying this week to the Amazon river Basin to provide life jackets for the children in Charity Village there. While crossing the Pomeroon river there to attend school, many of these children drown. Not after this week!

SPONSORSHIP STATUS: Of BCA’s 408 students, 385 have sponsors and we need to find 23 more.

TWO-PERCENTERS: 19 (31 more needed). ($1,000 pledged or donated for BCA’s new property)

BUILDING FUND: $17,025 (Total savings for BCA’s new, government-required by 2017, $56,000 campus. (NOTE- pledged funds which are not yet released by their donors will be included in this total as the money arrives)

PRESENT NEED: $295 Small refrigerator for BCA’s Home economics classroom.

“Uh-oh. I broke two of Abby’s snowglobes!” As we travel through different countries, each of us members of the Barner family have collections. While I (Paul) collect coins, Elvie gets spoons, PJ looks for locally-designed Rubics-cubes, and Abby: snow globes. “Just look for plastic ones, Dad. I know the little kids who visit our house might drop them.” Little did I expect that the culprit would be me!

Typhoon Labuyo (also called Utor) is being followed by Tornado Nando and Typhoon Naring (also known as Trami), and is now on its way to the Philippines. The flooding was so bad that flights were canceled, banks and stores were closed, and 70% of Manila (the Capitol City) was under water. A prayer training workshop scheduled for Davao was cancelled Saturday, since the instructors were not able to fly through the storm.

One day when Elvie and the kids were out visiting friends, I stayed home at my office to finish up some projects. When the torrential rains started to bring up the level of our drainage canal ominously high, Elvie texted me to get everything off the floor and up on tables, beds and chairs. While the flood waters never entered the house, in the process of my moving stuff all over the house, I dropped two of Abby’s precious snowglobes, which cracked and leaked small puddles on the floor. “That’s okay, Dad,” consoled Abby when they retuned home. “Thanks for your hard work of moving all that stuff for us!”

Although the snowglobes didn’t make it, God did protect another of our cherished responsibilities: our “Dirty Dozen” boy orphans at the Boy’s Ranch. While the large property remains high and dry on a nearby island, one night the power was temporarily knocked out by high winds.  There was also heavy rain and lightning.  Just a few days previous, police had shown up at the ranch and located a criminal woman who was the target in a manhunt. She was hiding in the Ranch’s high grass field, and is now being held on charges of murder.

So a week later during the power outage, the orphan boys, still spooked by the crazy lady from last week, moved their beds together in the middle of the house and began singing praise and worship songs (without prompting) until the lights came back on.  These boys know where to turn when it gets dark!

Sometimes the worth of the things we cherish most dims in comparison when we consider the awesome care that our Heavenly Father pours out upon us every single moment of every single day of these delightful lives that we live.

Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!
 
Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)
 
PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for Nitz, the mom of one of our students whose house burned down earlier this year. We have now hired her part-time as a janitor at BCA. She is very cheerful as she works. Also please pray for PJ. His severe leg cramps have intensified, so we will likely bring him to the hospital to have X-rays taken this week.
 
PRAISE: That during this last week’s Kadayawan Harvest Festival in Davao, there were no bombs, explosions or violent outbreaks from terrorist groups. The week before the event and parade, Davao’s vice mayor had threatened and dared the terrorist groups. Many feared a retaliatory attack. Praise God that the opposition forces restrained themselves. Also praise God that our church youth group once again spent Sunday afternoon distributing hundreds of Gospel tracts in a local shopping mall. Plus, of the twelve boys in our male orphanage home, six are in the first grade.  The first grade class just got back their first quarterly report card.  Two of the boys, in a class of more than 40, came back with grades in the top 10.  Gerald had the 3rd highest grade in class, and July (our newest boy) was #6!

SPONSORSHIP STATUS: Of BCA’s 397 students, 385 have sponsors and we need to find 12 more. Praise God that this week, two American friends decided to sponsor multiple children: one is sponsoring three, and the other is sponsor four students! Yay, God!

TWO-PERCENTERS: 19 (31 more needed). ($1,000 pledged or donated for BCA’s new property)

BUILDING FUND: $17,015 (Total savings for BCA’s new, government-required by 2017, $56,000 campus. (NOTE- pledged funds which are not yet released by their donors will be included in this total as the money arrives)

“I know, that YOU know all of your body’s parts.” Hazel, one of our preschool teachers, wanted to be sure that everyone in her class could recognize each of their own anatomical distinctions. “So before reviewing the different body parts,” she continued, “I have an activity for you. This activity is to draw a person on a whole sheet of Manila paper”.

She first spread the large sheet of Manila paper on the table. “I chose you!” she said to a student, “Please lay down on this large sheet of paper.” After laying him down she traced his whole body on the paper with a dark marker. “Now, how about volunteers?” She asked, inviting others of his fellow students to draw the different body parts. “Don’t forget, he needs hair, eyes, eyebrows, nose, mouth and ears!” She drew the shirt and short pants herself.

All agreed that the activity was exciting and fun. Hazel was amazed that everyone in the class was participative and very “game to draw”. For Hazel though, she confided afterward “What my students drew didn’t look like a person or even a kid (just being honest).” In fact, she said that “it was more like a newly-born mouse dressed with shirt and pants!” Mostly because the ears and nose were oversized and because the hairs were countable. Hazel replied, “After all, they are kids: they can’t draw that well. J”

This week Elvie was drawing a different type of picture: one of Jesus. Many of his personality traits were seen in her activities.

God’s COMPASSION was seen on Tuesday as she consoled family and friends during the funeral of her autistic uncle. I presided over Tuesday’s weekly Outreach Club in her absence.

Gods’s GRACE AND MERCY were exemplified on Wednesday and Thursday as she, the designated president of our Community Outreach Club, visited two packed-full nonprofit homes for juvenile criminals. On Wednesday, she joined the anniversary celebration for the Lambdag home for children of petty crimes, accompanying a local tailor who donated a quarter-ton of fabric remnants for the boys to make “rag rugs” to sell for them to buy food and clothes. On Thursday she spent the whole day and into the early evening hours visiting another local ministry (ARRYC) to older boys who are convicted rapists, murderers and drug dealers. Due to the religious leaders sponsoring this ministry, many of these kids are now thoroughly rehabilitated, regenerated and training for the ministry.    

God’s ENCOURAGEMENT was practiced on Friday as Elvie assisted Inday, the wife of our assistant pastor, preparing for them to clean and pack up all their personal items and disassemble their house to reassemble it seven miles away in an area where they own a small piece of property. The ten-year lease on the property they live on now is not being renewed, even though they had originally built their house there on a vacant lot of property. Elvie also accompanied me to find a sale on air conditioners, to purchase the one which a VBS in Vermont had raised funds for, for BCA’s new nursery classroom.

God’s EMPOWERMENT was revealed on Saturday as she entertained five different families, individuals and couples who “dropped-in” while she was cleaning-up our own house and clothes. Some needed prayer. Others needed advice.

God’s EDIFICATION was presented as Elvie gave a Biblical challenge to the ladies on Women’s Sunday. Before I gave a message from Matthew 13 about “REACHING OUR NEIGHBORS FOR JESUS”, she challenged from Psalm 46 on “LIVING PEACEFULLY AMIDST GOD’S PRESENCE AND PROMISES”

God’s PARENTAL CARE was lovingly reflected Monday when Elvie stayed home with PJ who was home sick, with a very painfully-cramped leg.

In many ways like the preschool pupils in Hazel’s class drawing the parts of a human being, as a person follows Elvie this past week, that person can see, maybe not totally and perfectly clear, but adequately so, a picture of the awesome traits of our Savior, Jesus.

On Sunday before church, a cute little four-year-old girl in long shiny black hair came up to me to “bless” me (a Filipino custom) by pressing my hand to her forehead. Only when she did so, reaching out her own hand, did I notice that her entire arm was devastatingly scarred by a fourteen-inch long burn. She will have to go through her entire life with this scar. And yet she still smiled from deep within, reflecting her love for Jesus.

We may not have perfect lives. We may even be scarred by mistakes of the past. Yet in all we do, we can still shine in such a way that others will see a drawing of Jesus-In-Us.

Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!
 
Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)
 
PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for Steve, one of our Boy’s Orphanage residents, a former street-child. He is suffering severe emotional breakdowns, combined with violent outbursts, destruction of people’s property, lack of appetite, and loss of interest in education. Often these emotionally-damaged children suffer relapses from when they were at the mercy of evil “people of the night” (gay-pedophiles, prostitutes and drug dealers) in their “street-living-days”. Also please pray for the three unemployed fishermen (on nearby Samal Island) whom we are hiring to build a boat for us to transport goats, church-planting pastors and orphans across the mile-wide Gulf of Davao to Samal Island. Also please pray, as a Islamic Militant Group (MNLF) led by Nur Misuari, has just declared autonomy (independence) from the Philippines and Malaysia for the geographical areas of North Borneo Sabah, Zamboanga Peninsula, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan and Palawan.
 
PRAISE: That during this week’s Women’s Sunday at church, a dozen ladies presented their chorus-interpretation of “Go Light Your Candle”. The ladies had won first place in a local church competition on chorus-interpretation! At the conclusion of the song, they all lit candles off from a large center one. It was touching. They also had come in second place in the hymn, “Trust and Obey”. Also praise God for the eighth anniversary celebration this week of our Panuntongan jungle church plant, and for our new American “Two-Percenter” this week who pledged to donate $1,000 for BCA’s new property! Yay, God!
 
SPONSORSHIP STATUS: Of BCA’s 399 students, 374 have sponsors and we need to find 25 more. (This is a revision from last week, as our secretary collated my list and hers, identifying some other children who are still unsponsored)

TWO-PERCENTERS: 19 (31 more needed). ($1,000 pledged or donated for BCA’s new property)

BUILDING FUND: $16,990 (Total savings for BCA’s new, government-required by 2017, $56,000 campus. (NOTE- pledged funds which are not yet released by their donors will be included in this total when the money arrives)

“God is sooo faithful!” Jenny Mae’s mom and dad gave their testimonies during our first Sunday morning back at church in Davao, Philippines.

“Our precious little girl was dying of dengue fever. Our bright and happy baby had become lethargic, with a severely swollen face. All the hospitals in Davao were full of dengue victims, since the chain of back-to-back typhoons lately has increased the mosquito population. The doctor said Jenny’s lungs and heart would be the first to go. We couldn’t afford the medication, and then the Barners came home. PRAISE GOD!”

While we traveled through June and July in the USA, some Americans had given through us for BCA’s EMF (Emergency Medical Fund) and thus we were able to pay what was lacking in beautiful 5-yr-old Jenny’s hospitalization. On Friday she was released from the hospital, bright and chipper as she had been before she got sick.

But what about the donors? It seems that we had missionaries on BOTH sides of the ocean. Even as we were rescuing a little Filipino girl in Davao, one of our sponsors in Utah was also busy rescuing a tiny American baby girl in Utah.

Our friend Karen was on her way to take her dad for an appointment, going down a street she has never taken before, when a woman (18 yrs. old and barely dressed) came running out of her house screaming, "my baby is dead!!!!"  The three week old baby had been nursing and was too close to the mom, so her breathing was blocked.  Karen used to have a daycare, and calmly took the baby and started infant CPR...while the mom went inside to dress.  By the time the mom came back out, the baby had turned from purple, not breathing, to breathing and fine.  Karen showed the mom how to keep from blocking the baby's breathing while nursing.

She also suggested they take the baby to be checked out, and then went on her way to help her dad.  God was really at work in the situation...Karen never takes that route, the girl came out just at the moment Karen drove past, and what could have been a tragedy turned out to be a tremendous blessing.  Once Karen was finished with her dad, she stopped back by to be sure everything was ok.   God is good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The real heroes are our sponsors, who are active on BOTH sides of the ocean: They donate globally and act locally! As a result, two little girls have been given a new lease on life.
 
Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!
 
Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)
 
PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for the family of a 17-yr-old Vermont teen ager who fell asleep while driving and died in a car crash two weeks ago. We spoke at his church last month and remember the delightful and kind disposition of this family of eight. Please also pray for my and Elvie’s plans to strategize our tenth church plant in these past seventeen years. There is a yet-unreached area just seven miles away, in the small village of “Ilang”: an area I often pass while either cycling or running.
 
PRAISE: That another American friend Kelli recently opened her storage unit and passed 50 apple boxes over the facility gate to be packed into (retired pastor) Steve’s pickup truck, to eventually be packed into cargo boxes and shipped for their three-month voyage to BCA.  Steve and his wife are storing these boxes in their garage. Inside these boxes are clothes, dozens of newborn kits, school supplies, bars of soap, vitamins, cold medicine, Aleve and Advil, yarn,  fabric... and on and on. Our 500 BCA kids will be healthy and nicely clothed this Christmas!

Also, At church Sunday I was informed that the orphan girls in the Girls’ orphanage are old enough and responsible enough, that they are assisting Pancelita and her mom in cleaning and cooking.
 
SPONSORSHIP STATUS: Of BCA’s 382 students, 369 have sponsors and we need to find 13 more.

TWO-PERCENTERS: 18 (32 more needed). ($1,000 pledged or donated for BCA’s new property)

BUILDING FUND: $16,975 (Total savings for BCA’s new, government-required by 2017, $56,000 campus)

PRESENT NEED:

$612 for the engine overhaul of one of our school buses’ injector pump:

• 4 pcs plunger & barrel $40 each, total $160
• 4 pcs delivery valve @23 each, total $92
• 4 pcs delivery valve bronze washer @ $2 each, total $8
• 4 pcs delivery valve holder o-ring @ $2 each, total $8
• piston $8
• spindle $8
• 2 pcs check valve @ $4 each, total $8
• 4 pcs nozzle tip @ $45 each, total $180
• 4 pcs injector labor @ $2 each, total $8
• injector pump labor $45
• ped pump oil seal $12
• 2 pcs bearing @ $10 each, total $20
• labor injection pump and inner pull out, with installation $55.
  
  (518) 772-2359./ PHILIPPINE cell phone: 63 (947) 329-0441

“DILI NA KO!” (I can’t do it!) blurted out the three-year-old BCA nursery pupil Mario (not his real name) as he threw his handful of colored popsicle sticks onto the classroom’s cement floor. Yet as Teacher Hazel calmly coaxed him little by little, the boy regained his confidence and finished gluing together his colorful, yellow, red and blue handsome small wooden cross and hung it on the bulletin board next to those of the other students.

At times in my Half-Ironman (swimming, cycling and running) race a few days ago, I felt a little like Mario. Worn out and weary, it was so tempting to just say “Dili na ko” and stop. But since I didn’t give up, there now hangs a finisher’s medal on our window.

Often during the race, eavesdropping spectators could hear PJ or Abby ask, “Is Daddy still alive?” Every time Elvie and the kids heard an ambulance siren during this ninth race of mine, they were sure I had encountered difficulties in the famous 70.3-mile ultra-race.

In previous years, the intense Philippine tropical heat had taken its toll on my limited strength during the race. However, God had answered prayers and sent a few typhoons our way to give cloudy skies. On August 3 (the day before my race) the IronKids had their own race, which was divided into three age categories. The first two went ok, but the last had to be cancelled, due to Tropical Storm “Georgina”.

Fierce winds and rain toppled over thousands of directional signs and buoys over the race course. High, strong coconut trees were bent low to the ground by the heavy winds. The possibilities of our race the succeeding day taking off without a hitch looked bleak. Yet Sunday morning dawned with slightly cloudy skies and only a slight breeze. It looked like a great race day.

Famous Filipino weatherman Kim Atienza (“Kuya Kim”) showed up on-site in his famous Outback-style hat to give his consensus: Typhoon “Kiko” was bound to vent his wrath sometime during the 8-1/2 hours of race time. When Kiko would strike, however, was an ever-unanswered inquiry.

God had sent Kiko. Kiko had given overcast skies to block out much of the intense sun (although I still got sunburned). While 2012’s race temperature topped over 100degrees Fahrenheit, 2013 averaged in the mid-nineties. The storm did cause some high ocean waves, but the rains and most of the wind ceased after my swim. It was my worst time of all nine of my Ironman races (eight hours and nine minutes), but a great accomplishment for this “over-fifty” stroke victim. I even performed a cartwheel while crossing the finish line, to the cheers of steadfast onlookers.

The day before race day, during our pre-race briefing, the Australian “no-drafting” official had explained the Ironman policy regarding penalties for “drafting” (following too close to another cyclist):

RULE #1: Don’t do it.
RULE #2: If you do it, don’t get caught.
RULE #3: If you do get caught, cop it sweet (show good sportsmanship)

Immediately following my cartwheel, I found shelter to change my clothes so we could zip to the airport to catch our next flight to Davao. Miraculously, we arrived three minutes before the gate closed.

We arrived in Davao after PJ led our family’s trademark song-and-dance interlude in-flight. Upon arrival we were briefed by our BCA staff on the status of the school, churches, and orphanages during our two-month international absence. All went smoothly in our absence. Yay!
The three “no-drafting” rules had come into play:

RULE #1: Don’t do it: The nine pastors who run our nine churches and eight additional satellite churches had clarified to the parents of BCA’s sponsored students, all the rules that we require for them to maintain their free schooling, easily remembered by their acrostic: AIM.

A-Attend church regularly (by the students). In little Jun’s family (not his real name), all five members of his family work or school seven days  a week to keep food on the table. So Jun’s pastor (Boboy) hops onto his motorcycle to zip over to Jun’s place when the family has a scarce half-hour to have family worship. When the clock disagrees with our agenda, we frevise the agenda.

I-Each family is required to help-out in the school for a few minutes each week, to keep sponsorship costs low. Since laverne’s family (not her real name) can’t travel to the school to help, Laverne brings paperwork projects home for her family to work on in her spare time.

M-Meetings of Discipleship. This is the core of BCA’s ministry. 90% of the decisions for salvation in this ministry take place during the one-on-one discipleship meetings. While we were in the USA this year, some dear pastors shared with Elvie and I their materials for discipleship (Christian growth).

RULE #2: If you do it, don’t get caught. Following up on our staff is tantamount to following up on our families. I schedule monthly “Integrity” prayer meetings with these nine pastors, combined with our “DCL” foundation of Davao businessmen and pastors

RULE #3: If you do get caught, cop it sweet (show good sportsmanship). In the case of Fran (not her real name), after attending classes for a few months her family decided that a free education was not worth the commitment of establishing and maintaining a progressive relationship with Jesus Christ. They dropped out. Gracefully.

This is an intense ministry. Praise God for your prayers for these precious children, pastors and their families, as they are growing spiritually, mentally, physically and socially.

Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!
 
Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)
 
PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for Callem, one of our pastors. The small property which they have been leasing for over a decade is being revoked, and they need to move. Our staff, men’s group at church, and youth/ladies’ auxiliaries will be disassembling Callem’s small home over the course of the next week, and transporting/rebuilding it about ten miles away.
 
PRAISE: That I successfully finished my ninth Ironman triathlon race, and that our 2013 USA speaking tour effectively saw dozens of new sponsors of BCA students, and also over a dozen who gave sacrificially for BCA’s required new property.  
 
SPONSORSHIP STATUS: Of BCA’s 500 students, 335 have sponsors and we need to find 165 more.

TWO-PERCENTERS: 18 (32 more needed). ($1,000 pledged or donated for BCA’s new property)

BUILDING FUND: $16,875 (Total savings for BCA’s new, government-required by 2017, $56,000 campus)

(518) 772-2359./ PHILIPPINE cell phone: 63 (947) 329-0441

ps: Happy birthday to my brother Phil who turned 53 today! (8/8)

“Looks like we are going to miss our flight!” While flying early in the morning from New Jersey to California, then through the night on to China, many of the planes had been delayed, pushing each connection very close to being missed.

As our plane landed in Beijing, the stewardess announced in her deep Asian accent, “For those transferring on to Manila, you will be leaving out of Gate E-15-1.” I made sure to jot down the Gate number in my handy-dandy notebook so that we would not waste crucial time en route.

It seemed to take forever to get through the immigration, for unlike most countries, China requires all transferring passengers to present themselves and their passports for stamping and security checks before heading on to their designated gates.

The flight had already been delayed, so we rushed through as quickly as possible. Uh-oh, 7:40. Looked like we were not going to make it in time. Each time we would enter a hallway, the gates seemed farther from our destination. Where, oh where was Gate E-15-1?

Finally, I ran ahead of Elvie and the kids to try and get to the gate before it closed, so they would know to wait for our delayed family. Sweating profusely, I got to the gate, and it was already closed and locked. Stranger still, there was absolutely nobody around, except the cleaning ladies, who spoke not a word of English.

I peered up at the electronic Departure board, and found the Gate number for Manila. In astonishment I realized that it was not “Gate E-Fifteen-One” that we were to depart from, but “Gate E-Fifty-One!”
We all took U-Turns with hope against hope and lots of prayer, that the flight would be delayed. Since Gate Fifteen was at the very end of the airport terminal, we had a long, long haul to run before getting to Gate 51.

Finally arriving, I could see that a large crowd was gathered at the gate. “Hmm…I wonder if they are already lined up for the next flight. After all, we are here a whole twenty minutes after the flight was to take off.”
Asking at the gate, I found that not only was the plane delayed three and a half hours due to a heavy electronic thunderstorm, but also that they had a free meal for all travelers who were awaiting their flights!

Most travelers were concerned that they would miss their connecting flights in Manila. However our flight had a seven hour layover in Manila, so we had ample time to get through Philippine immigration, claim our checked-in bags, take a taxi to the domestic airport, and also to do all the other stuff necessary to check-in for the next flight.

God truly answered our prayers, so that we would not be stranded in China, trying to buy new tickets to fly four hours away across Mainland China and the South China Sea.

God has answered our prayers unexpectedly in other ways too. A fellow missionary friend in Davao has agreed to help distribute Vitamin A to thousands of Filipino children in Davao (including our school and orphanages) each month. Also, A fifteen-yr-old street boy, who was abandoned by his parents, was just added to the growing number of boys in the new Boy’s Ranch which I dedicated in June. And since they have a little bit of electricity, a new (small) refrigerator has been added to the new house, meaning the kids are enjoying a lot more fresh foods and a lot less canned fish.

And just after the new fridge was added, an American friend offered $35 monthly for extra food for the house! Aside from that local refrigerated food, A New York ministry donated 75 pounds of delicious dry-roasted peanuts, thirty boxes of breakfast bars and fifty pounds of wrapped, assorted chocolates for our BCA students and staff. We shipped 26 large boxes of food, clothes, school supplies and stuffed animals to Davao just a few days ago. They should arrive at the school in three months. An awesome friend also handed us a check to cover most of the shipping cost, and the shipping agency was so touched that they refunded $300!

God accomplishes amazing things through prayer: We arrive late at the wrong gate in the middle of China, so after we pray, He sends a thunderstorm to ground all flights…then He touches the heart of a friend to send funds halfway around the world to fill the tummies of many rescued, previously-homeless street kids! Is God great, or what?

(since we are busy traveling during most of this 2013 USA speaking tour and frequently do not have internet access, our weekly prayer supplement will resume when we return to the Philippines next month)
 
“The cross is gone!” Forty years ago while riding in the family car one 130 miles to Summer Bible camp, one of the kids in our family glanced up a cliff side along the edge of the highway exclaiming, “Look! There is a big white cross!” Sure enough, way up there about fifty feet in the air was a cross made of two huge white 2x4s. It was way up there in the middle of the cliff, so somebody would have to precariously climb down to that place in the hillside where the cross was to tamper with it.

Every year as we headed off to camp while growing up, we peered along the roadside to see who would be the first to spot the “big white cross on the cliff”. Well I have been out of the country as a missionary, and rarely get back on that well-worn highway and see the “Big White Cross”. This past week we were on that same highway to arrive at a church I was to speak at that evening, when I as the driver could see that well-remembered “cross-cliff” looming up in the distance.

Elvie and PJ got their cameras ready as I cheered, “Who’ll be the first to see the cross?” Surprisingly however, the cross was GONE! Now after all these decades, who would climb down that precarious cliff to steal the cross? I mulled this over and over in my mind, and all of those in the car could hear my murmuring, “Who would take the cross?”

About five miles later, I noticed other cliffs scrape the sky on that left side of the road. “What if?” I considered…”What if I had the wrong cliff?” Half-heartedly, I glanced up at the next cliff as we passed, and sure enough hollered out, “THERE IT IS!” Sure enough, I had the wrong cliff. The cross was a bit tattered after nearly a half-century of hanging on that cliff, but it was faithfully, through storm and sleet and sun and rain, still there.

In this ministry, God always provides. We started the Barner Christian Academy during the last millennium (1998) and during all these past fifteen years, God has never failed to pay the salaries for our teachers and staff. Yet just last week, while we were driving through New York State, we stopped at a rest stop to check the email. The treasurer of our Philippine School emailed me, and stated, “Our babies are not being fed!” The funds you sent for our salaries were used to pay utilities and other bills, and I had nothing left to pay the $2,000 for salaries!

Since I have been driving thousands of miles each week, I do not always have access to the Internet. So when Elvie and I received this information, payday had come and gone. We were greatly concerned. But what were we to do? I had already budgeted the funds for utilities and other bills to clear later in the month. There were no funds available at that moment in time to pay the salaries. As the mileposts passed by the window hour after hour, we prayed for God to miraculously intervene. From where in the world would God send $2,000?

Just as that cross on the cliff never deviated but our perspective kept it out of our sight, even so, God had already provided the answer to our dilemma. As we arrived at our next destination, a child I’d known from thirty years before (now a delightful adult, of course) rushed to Elvie and I. “Oh, I am so glad that I found you! I wanted to let you know that my family has decided to sponsor a child in your school, and is paying the entire year in advance, in cash! Elvie and I glanced at each other with that “God is coming through again!” look.

After Beth (not her real name) chose the picture of a beautiful little girl to sponsor, she said, “And oh, by the way, I want to be a FOUR PERCENTER!” At first, her statement did not register in my vocabulary. What is a Four Percenter? We do have “Two Percenters”: those who give or pledge $1,000 toward the $50,000 we still lack for the new property the government is requiring for our Philippine School.

Yet when Beth handed us two envelopes, each filled with fifty twenty-dollar bills, the gears in our heads began to turn. Elvie started crying. “Oh, you are an angel of God!” she said. And then we explained to her how she had given the exact amount we needed to pay the teachers’ salaries! $2,000! And since it was cash, we left right away to send a Moneygram to the Philippines. First we explained to Beth that, although the funds were designated for the new property, the checks that were to clear later in the month would go toward the property and the money in our hand would pay salaries. Beth understood immediately.

God came through again. He always does. What a mighty God we serve!

Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!
 
Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)
 
PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for Olivia, a little third-grade girl at one of the churches we spoke at recently. A pastor’s kid, she really wants to be a missionary when she grows up, and to reach a people group that has not yet heard the precious saving message of Jesus Christ. Also please pray for these next few weeks while we are traveling: for wisdom for Minmin our school treasurer as she pays all the bills on time during our absence.
 
PRAISE: That I (Paul) finished reading through the Bible cover-to-cover 59 times…now for #60! Also praise God for a mentally-challenged prayer warrior who recently laid hands on me for healing of my frequent headaches. And praise God as well for the pastor of a church we recently spoke at who likewise prayed for complete healing from my recent stroke and memory lapses. And praised God that we have been able to spend a few days in New York with my parents and they are recuperating progressively from their multiple surgeries.
 
SPONSORSHIP STATUS: Of BCA’s 500 students, 320 have sponsors and we need to find 180 more before we return to the Philippines next month. We have four more churches to share in before August.

TWO-PERCENTERS: 10 (40 more needed). ($1,000 pledged or donated for BCA’s new property)

BUILDING FUND: $10,835 (Total savings for BCA’s new, government-required by 2017, $56,000 campus)

This week’s furlough travel schedule:

Thursday, July 18 Rensselaer, NY
Friday, July 19 Guilderland, NY
Saturday, July 20 Rome, NY
Sunday, July 21 Albany, NY
Monday, July 22 Rensselaer, NY
Tuesday, July 23 Rensselaer, NY
Wednesday, July 24 Ithaca, NY
Thursday, July 18 Rensselaer, NY

(…return to Asia 7/30/13)

(since we are busy traveling during most of this 2013 USA speaking tour and frequently do not have internet access, our weekly prayer supplement will resume when we return to the Philippines next month)

“They just don’t make them like that anymore” I shared with PJ, as we looked up in awe at the enormous granite presidential faces of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.

We had driven all day, having left early that morning from Saskatchewan, Canada, and passing through spacious North Dakota before meeting-up with friends in Rapid City. Just six days later we would be sharing in Vermont, and singing about the gorgeous “purple mountains majesty” above the “fruited plains” which we had passed, hour-after-hour and day after day, city after city and state after state.

But the best part of the journey has not been the sights…it has been the people. Special people. Christian people. People who love to hear the great accomplishments that God is carrying out on the other side of the planet. Some have changed our oil for us, while others have filled our gas tank and still others have fed us meals so delicious that we thought we’d burst if we had another bite. At one gas station, the attendant was so taken up with our kids that she gave PJ and Abby a free bowl of maple walnut ice cream.

“Let’s bring Mom to visit Dad in the hospital,” Elvie suggested, shortly after we’d arrived in New York State. So we loaded Mom’s wheelchair into the minivan and started driving. There at the Hospital Rehabilitation Center, as we pushed mom down the hall from the elevator and entered Dad’s room, he looked up from his book and his face lighted up like the fireworks we’d seen in Michigan on the 4th of July.

Of course we had to tell him and Mom every exciting story about God’s protection and provision on our trip, since they don’t use internet and hadn’t been updated on many of the joys of our journey thus far. As each saga unfolded, he peeked over to see if his two roommates were listening –in.      When I revealed how our kids had shared the Gospel so many times this past month using our wordless bracelets, he rechecked to see that the roommates were hearing the plan of salvation. And then when PJ and Abby were about to sing their duet about missionary life, Dad mentioned that the roommates are hard of hearing so it’d be good to speak loudly. During our closing prayer, I prayed for the nurses, janitors and also, of course, for Dad’s two roommates.

Amazing that, even during painful recovery after surgeries, our parents are still thinking of the spiritual condition of their roommates in the hospital.

I’d mentioned to our kids last week at Mount Rushmore, while looking up at the great leaders’ faces, how there are no longer any more leaders made like that in the world. Well, I guess there are a few exceptions. Dad and Mom for starters…

Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!

Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)

PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for our Boys’ Orphanage in the Philippines. With the new building that we dedicated two days before returning to the USA, they are able to increase the number of boys rescued from the streets from 14 to forty. Please pray for Ben, the man who is scouting Davao’s streets and sidewalks on many evenings, seeking lost and homeless orphan boys who need a home.

PRAISE: That we have been able to box-up and ship many of the 600 stuffed animals my dad had collected (and many had sent him) since we last were in the USA in 2012. Since we will not be coming to the USA next year, we need to send 1,000 stuffed animals to give the Filipino kids for the two years’ Christmases  combined.

SPONSORSHIP STATUS: Of BCA’s 500 students, 316 have sponsors and we need to find 184 more before we return to the Philippines next month. We only have 3 states left to visit: FINISHED: UT-NV-OR-WA-ID-BC-AB-SK-ND-SD-NE-IA-IL-IN- MI-ON-VT/STILL TO COVER: NY-PA-NJ.

TWO-PERCENTERS: 7 (44 more needed). ($1,000 pledged or donated for BCA’s new property)

BUILDING FUND: $7,835 (Total savings for BCA’s new, government-required by 2017, $56,000 campus)

This week’s furlough travel schedule:

Thursday, July 11 Manhattan, NYC (NY)
Friday, July 12 Binghamton, NY
Saturday, July 13 Lancaster, PA
Sunday, July 14 Mt. Pleasant Mills, PA
Monday, July 15 Rome, NY
Tuesday, July 16 Rensselaer, NY
Wednesday, July 17 Cold Brook, NY
Thursday, July 18 Rensselaer, NY

(…return to Asia 7/30/13)

HAPPY 237TH BIRTHDAY, USA! (7/4/1776)/ISLAMIC RAMADAN (7/9)/HAPPY SEVENTEENTH ANNIVERSARY, PAUL AND ELVIE! (7/6/96)

(since we are busy traveling during most of this 2013 USA speaking tour and frequently do not have internet access, our weekly prayer supplement will resume when we return to the Philippines next month)
 
“TO MONTANA” The brief 2-worded message, scrawled in bold, black magic marker on a brown piece of cardboard box, was propped on the lap of a crouching college student whom we met at a highway rest stop while passing through the mountain plains of Western Washington State.

Being a holiday weekend, hundreds of vehicles were travelling, and this young guy was using the heavy traffic to his advantage. “Do you think he is hungry?” whispered our own little Abigail. “You know, I’ll bet he is.” suggested Elvie.

While driving thousands of miles across the USA and Canada, we have collected snacks and treats from friends we’ve met and from grocery stores here and there.

While finding a plump, juicy orange in our treat bag, I looked up to Elvie’s tap on my shoulder. There, just in front of our van, PJ could be seen stooped down and talking with the tattered traveler.

“Look! PJ is witnessing to him!” Sure enough, without staring at them, we stole glances at the two travelers, as PJ untied the five-color bracelet from his own wrist and tied it onto the hitchhiker’s arm. We could follow in our minds as PJ pointed to first one color and the next, with corresponding narration and questions from the traveler.

About ten minutes later, when PJ was finished, he gave the young guy a friendly hand-fist-handshake and came over to the car. Before he started talking, another two guys, one in ponytail and the other in tattoos, offered him a ride in their aged pickup truck. I made sure to give PJ’s first correspondent the juicy orange before they left though.

In deep curiosity, we listened to PJ’s story as we pulled out of our parking space and back into the 75-mph highway speedway. “There are thousands of hippies on their way to a Religious Rainbow Inner Light gathering in Montana. They are not necessarily poor. Just young people getting together for a fun time of reflection. This guy’s name is Balboa, and he is from California.”

“Did he understand the Gospel?” we were curious to ask. “Very strange,” replied PJ. “Balboa seems intelligent, and recited many Bible verses. Yet he does not believe Jesus is God. Just a nice guy, who did great things. Baboa really needs Jesus.”

So there in the van, as we covered mile after mile, passing through mountain after mountain, state after state, town after town, we prayed for Balboa and also for the many others whom we had not seen before, who were likely making their pilgrimage to a weird cult meeting in Montana. A bus passed us by, with all sorts of magic-type symbols and wild animals painted on its front and sides. Three guitarists strummed on a street corner (also with a cardboard “TO MONTANA” sign) in the city of Spokane, where we next stopped to stay overnight with friends and visit their church.

“Lord, please bless Balboa. He really needs you. As he attends these Rainbow Cult meetings in Montana, may he glance down at the rainbow-colored thread bracelet on his arm and remember the real plan of salvation which PJ shared with him.”
Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!
 
Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)
 
PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for Balboa and the people he travelled with, that You will guide him to explain to others what the colors represent in the bracelet now on his wrist. May your Holy Spirit nudge him, convince him and convert him away from confusing cults and over to saving faith at the foot of the cross of Jesus.
 
PRAISE: That the many churches and friends we have visited over the (average) 500-miles-per-day we have driven this last week have overwhelmingly expressed their joy at our meeting again, and have promised to pray for the 194 yet-unsponsored BCA kids to have sponsors before we return to Davao next month.
 
SPONSORSHIP STATUS: Of BCA’s 500 students, 306 have sponsors and we need to find 194 more before we return to the Philippines next month. We only have 5 states and 2 provinces left to visit: FINISHED: UT-NV-OR-WA-ID-BC-AB-SK-ND-SD-NE-IA-IL-IN/STILL TO COVER: MI-ON-QB-VT-NY-PA-NJ.

TWO-PERCENTERS: 6 (44 more needed). ($1,000 pledged or donated for BCA’s new property)

BUILDING FUND: $7,805 (Total savings for BCA’s new, government-required by 2017, $56,000 campus)

This week’s furlough travel schedule:

• Thursday, July 4 Flint, Michigan
• Friday, July 5 North York, Ontario, Canada
• Saturday, July 6 Jericho, Vermont
• Sunday, July 7 Jericho, Vermont (Jericho Congregational Church)
• Monday, July 8 Rensselaer, New York
• Tuesday, July 9 Thornwood, New York
• Wednesday, July 10 Thornwood, New York (Community Church)
• Thursday, July 11 
• (…return to Asia 7/30/13)

Davao City, Philippines June 27, 2013 HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SUMMER! (6/21)/ PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE RECOGNIZED BY CONGRESS (6/21/1942)/ G.I. BILL SIGNED INTO LAW (6/22/1944)/ JOHN THE BAPTIST DAY –CANADA (6/24)/ KOREAN WAR BEGUN (6/25/1950)/ HAPPY 16TH BIRTHDAY. PJ! (6/29)/ POST-G.I. BILL SIGNED INTO LAW (6/30/2008)/ U.S. ARMY AIR CORPS ESTABLISHED (7/2/1926) )/HAPPY 237TH BIRTHDAY, USA! (7/4/1776)

(since we are busy traveling during most of this 2013 USA speaking tour and frequently do not have internet access, our weekly prayer supplement will resume when we return to the Philippines next month)

“Silky, do you know Jesus?” When our car broke down in the middle of the desert of Nevada last week, we had to cancel our speaking engagement in northern California. Yet God had other divine appointments for us instead.

After finally getting back on the road with our newly-repaired 1999 minivan last week, we had to try and make up for lost time. However, once we found that we could stay in California for free one night, we stopped and stayed about two hundred miles short of the border of Oregon. While there we visited a church (not originally on our agenda) and prayed with a very accommodating local pastor’s family, whose children befriended our own PJ and Abby.

On Thursday we visited (and shared with) a church in Oregon, and stayed overnight in Grant’s Pass. Friday morning Elvie got caught up on our laundry while the kids and I zipped over to fill-up the gas tank and also visit the local used bookstore. Two hours later when we went back to the laundry mat, Elvie was not alone. A 74-yr-old, sweet grandmother named Silky was there, laughing and conversing with Elvie.

“Lets have lunch together!” Elvie suggested. So we went out for pizza at a place called “Abby’s Legendary Pizza.” While there, Silky told us her heartbreaking saga. Every once in awhile, Silky would pause in her reminiscing and glance at our own PJ and Abigail. When she was through, we had a group hug, and after our kids sang a duet for her, Abby undid a Wordless Bracelet from my wrist. “Silky,” began Abby, “Do you know Jesus?”

When our sweet guest responded with quietness, Abby began to explain the plan of salvation with her. One by one, the five simple colors portrayed the glorious plan of salvation to this precious septuagenarian woman in southern Oregon.

After paying our food bill, we went outside to take a picture. “May I help?” asked a teenage boy, who was leaving the store at the same time as us. It seems that Silky was not the only one hearing the Gospel from Abby’s lips. Abby had been witnessing unexpectedly to all those within earshot in the restaurant.

Pulling back onto the highway, we waved goodbye to Silky one last time. As she flashed a soft grin across her formerly grim visage, we knew deep down inside that this would likely not be our last sight of this dear, dear lady. We will surely see her in Glory. But until then, God bless you, Silky!

Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!

Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)

PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for Silky, for she has had a hard and difficult life. Yet now that she has been introduced to Jesus, He can shine His light into the dark recesses of her days.

PRAISE: That our BCA school in the Philippines continues to operate fine during our seven-week absence (6/10-8/4). Praise God that Elvie has hired such capable teachers and staff to operate the ministry. Also praise God that the painful cuts in my feet, which developed during the Davao baptism a few weeks ago, have healed up and I am no longer limping.

SPONSORSHIP STATUS: Of BCA’s 500 students, 304 have sponsors and we need to find 196 more before we return to the Philippines next month in time for my Half-Ironman race. We still have 14 states and 2 provinces to visit: WA-ID-SK-MT-SD-NE-IA-IN-IL-OH-MI-ON-VT-NY-PA-NJ.

TWO-PERCENTERS: 6 (44 more needed). ($1,000 pledged or donated for BCA’s new property)

BUILDING FUND: $7,751 (Total savings for BCA’s new, government-required by 2017, $56,000 campus)

This week’s furlough travel schedule:

• Thursday, June 27 Anacortes, Washington
• Friday, June 28 Spokane, Washington
• Saturday, June 29 Pennant, Saskatchewan, Canada
• Sunday, June 30 Pennant, Saskatchewan, Canada (Trailside Alliance Church)
• Monday, July 1 Rapid City, South Dakota
• Tuesday, July 2 Minden, Nebraska (Evangelical Free Church)/Cedar Rapids, Iowa
• Wednesday, July 3 Holland, Michigan
• Thursday, July 4 Flint, Michigan
• (…return to Asia 7/30/13)

Davao City, Philippines

(since we are busy traveling during most of this 2013 USA speaking tour and frequently do not have internet access, our weekly prayer supplement will resume when we return to the Philippines next month)

“Whatever you do for the least of your brothers, that you have done for Jesus!” While speaking at six different Bible Studies, civic clubs, mission teams, churches and Sunday School classes in Utah since our plane landed in the USA late Tuesday night, our family and I challenged our listeners to consider looking around to see who might need our help, in clothing beggars, feeding the poor, educating orphans or sheltering wanderers. Little did we realize that the very next day we ourselves would be those needy ones.

While driving the nine hours from Utah to California early Monday morning, our minivan stopped dead in the middle of the desert of Nevada, on the way toward Reno. When a kind Nevada Highway Patrolman pulled over with his car’s flashing lights to see how we were, he said, “You are technically in the middle of nowhere.”

Forty miles from any towns, he radioed ahead and found that tow trucks would charge hundreds of dollars to get us to the nearest repair shop, and that at the earliest, they couldn’t work on the van until possibly the next day. We would miss our Tuesday speaking engagement in California.

Calling our Utah hosts to pray, PJ and I decided to start pushing the van. Fortunately, a rest area was just half a mile away. I was careful to drink lots of water in the hot and dry desert climate, since my Filipino doctor had told me after my March stroke not to get dehydrated or over fatigued.

Suddenly Elvie put on the brakes, for a white pickup truck pulled to the side of the road. The driver (Mike) was a Christian and tied a tow strap to our bumper, pulling us for free to the rest stop. He called a few friends from his church, but most were away on vacation.

“You are not safe here,” he cautioned. “Many human predators from Reno, Las Vegas and other places will prey on stranded travelers in the desert.” When I called some towing companies (which the patrolman had given me the #s for), they claimed that the area where we were stranded was not under their jurisdiction. Finally, a friend of Mike’s pastor got in touch with a man who owned a trailer big enough to carry our minivan.

Mike stayed with us the few hours it took for Denny to arrive. Before we prayed and chatted together for the next few hours, Mike looked over the engine, determining that the fuel pump needed replacing. However, we couldn’t do it ourselves, as it would likely require the removal of the gas tank.

Mike left us in Denny’s capable hands after we pushed our van up the ramps onto his trailer. At about 5pm (we’d entered and earlier time zone after crossing the great salt desert of Utah) Denny pulled into his driveway and spoke with his neighbor, a mechanic. While he could tow our car to his shop in Reno on Tuesday, he said he couldn’t make any promises as to the possibility of adequate repair.

I called ahead to our hotel in Susanville, California, but they said they’d charge us for our reservation that evening, whether we showed up or not. Denny drove us to a hotel in his town, and paid for it himself! After we chatted awhile and prayed together, PJ rehearsed the Gospel with our new friend, removing one of the 5-color Gospel string bracelets from my own wrist and tying it to Denny’s wrist as his teaching tool.

After we were settled in our room, Abigail looked up at Denny (who had to get to work just a few hours later at four a.m.) and said, “You know sir, yesterday my dad preached at church and said that whatever we do for anybody in need, that you have done for Him. When you helped us today, you helped Jesus!” Denny wiped his tears as we said goodbye to our most recent angel helper. Then he really smiled when I said, “Our disappointments are HIS appointments!” and we had a big group hug.

But the day wasn’t over yet. Approaching midnight, we walked over to a chicken restaurant and ordered dinner. We’d only shared a sub sandwich for lunch while traveling, and had snacked in the car while driving. Yet now, while ordering, our kids happened to mention that we were stranded, due to our van breaking down, And when the food arrived, there was twice as much as we had ordered! The workers smiled at us and said, “You really needed more than you had ordered for your family.” NO extra charge! Then, when we were almost done eating, they brought free desserts for each of us as well! They waited to close the restaurant until we finished eating. “Hope your van is repaired soon!” the manager said.

“Wow,” Elvie sighed as PJ, Abby and I settled in to the hotel room with our three bags (We’d left the others in the van), “God brought us from the desert to the dessert. While we have looked after so many thousands of little Filipino children who were in need, God has also been looking after us!”

Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!

Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)

PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for the van to be fully repaired, as we still have nearly 7,000 miles left to drive. Also please pray for my (Paul’s) feet, as they were pretty cut-up in the rapids last week during our river rapids baptismal service, and now they are infected, causing me to limp. I was still able to run a few hours in early-morning practice this week though. Plus, please pray that God blesses those who have been such a blessing to us on this trip: our host families, churches and brand-new friends! Oh, and we still have jetlag. We are drowsy in the middle of the day and have trouble sleeping through the night.

PRAISE: That God sent so many “angels” to help us when we were stranded in the desert of Nevada. Also praise God that we have another “Two Percenter” who gave $1,000 for BCA’s  new $56,000 campus. Only forty-eight more “2%-ers” to go, until the school can purchase the land! We now have eighteen new sponsors for poor Filipino children’s schooling. Yeah! After my brand-new projector was destroyed when handled by the luggage carriers of the five flights to bring us halfway around the world last week, a friend in Utah gave me her projector to keep! Plus, PJ was given an electric piano for our praise team at church to use. We will ship it to the Philippines once we get to NY.

SPONSORSHIP STATUS: Of BCA’s 500 students, 286 have sponsors and we need to find 214 more before we return to the Philippines next month for my Ironman race. Once the van is repaired, we still have seventeen states and two provinces to visit: NV-CA-OR-WA-ID-SK-MT-SD-NE-IA-IN-IL-OH-MI-ON-VT-NY-PA-NJ.

TWO-PERCENTERS: 2 (48 more needed).

BUILDING FUND: $6,701 (Total savings for BCA’s new, government-required by 2017, $56,000 campus)

This week’s furlough travel schedule (if and when the van is fixed):

Thursday, June 20 Rogue River, Oregon (FourSquare Church) Friday, June 21 Lynwood, Washington Saturday, June 22 Seattle, Washington (Alliance Church) Sunday, June 23 Seattle/Tacoma, Washington (Multiple Alliance Churches/Bible Studies) Monday, June 24 Anacortes, Washington Tuesday, June 25 Anacortes, Washington (Tentative- Alliance Bible Study) Wednesday, June 26 Anacortes, Washington (Tentative- Baptist Awana Club) Thursday, June 27 Anacortes, Washington

Davao City, Philippines 69TH ANNIVERSARY OF D-DAY-ALLIED INVASION OF EUROPE (6/6/1944), 238TH ANNIVERSARY OF U.S.A. ARMY’S FOUNDING (6/14/1775), FLAG DAY (6/14), HAPPY 60TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY, DAD AND MOM BARNER! (6/6/53)

“He is all three: the Composer, the Conductor, and the Director!” I whispered to our daughter Abigail during this past week’s music camp at Faith Academy. Dr. Garcia had flown from California to the Philippines to lead the week-long festival, and while PJ daily played the drums, Abby and I played French horn.

“Strings,” Dr. Garcia advised during Wednesday’s practice session, “Delete measures 38 through fifty of your score. We will let the advanced flutes play a duet instead. I can do that, After all, I wrote it!” Since I had not played my horn for over a year, my sound quality was far from perfect.

“Tell you what,” the director suggested to me personally during our break, “That one section is really too high for you horns. How about taking it down an octave?”

“But Sir,” I countered, “The whole piece revolves around those few high notes by the horns. To delete it would change the whole piece. Abby and I will practice it until we get it perfect!” I could see by the sudden smile on Dr.’s face that he was pleased. He knew the piece. After all, he wrote it.

He knew I was right. “That’s my California Orchestra’s favorite piece” he responded.

During Friday’s Orchestral Concert Performance, the “high note” number was the very first piece we played. Although Abby and I strained a bit for those precious few notes, we tackled them and overcame them with gusto. Yes! We were victorious! Among the eighty-seven musicians, I glanced over at Abby by my side and gave her one of those, “we have conquered!” exhausted smiles. Elvie also smiled to us from hundreds in the audience.

Later, thru the unanimous, energetic chanting decision of all his co-performers, our own PJ was chosen to read a narrative preface to a choral number we sang.

This week another “performer” did an exceptional job. A banker friend in New York, after reading about the “Two Percenters” last week, rejoicingly responded with, “I LOVE it! I want to be the VERY FIRST Two-Percenter to give $1,000 for the remaining $50,000 in funds necessary for BCA’s new 2.2-acre campus, required by the Philippine Department of Education before 2017.”

You see, 50 people or groups will provide 2% ($1,000) by the end of 2016 and each 2%-er will get a small, cast metal plaque (3x5) with their name and Bible verse on it displayed at the new campus. Only 49 more to go, and then we can pay the property owner, who will sign the title over to Barner Christian Academy! (you can pledge to be a “2%-er” online at www.christianaid.org, with code #801-BLC).

Elvie too was another excellent performer this week. While the kids and I performed at Music Camp, the BCA crew went to rural churches to fill-in with new poor children at BCA, to replace those who have either moved away or graduated. So many poor parents responded (one young dad walked eight miles, round trip, with his three preschoolers), bringing in their tattered children for sponsorship, that we have a few extra kids, and 269 on the waiting list. This multitude of impoverished preschoolers will get an education if, when we Barners get back from our USA speaking tour in August, we have sponsors for these extra children. If not, they will stay home from school yet another year. God is our Composer. He made the plan, and He is also the Director: He can revise that plan as well.

Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!

Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)

1. for God to provide the needed $56,000 for BCA’s new 2.2-acre campus, required by the Philippine Department of Education before 2017. Total received so far: $5,665.
2. for the next upcoming Barner Christian Academy events:
   June 10: 2013-2014 Student Orientation/School year begins/ Barners fly to USA for 6-Week Speaking Tour.
   July 12: School-wide General PTA and Homeroom Meeting.
   July 18-19: First Preliminary Exams.
   July 26: Nutrition Month Performance Celebrations.
   August 4: Paul’s Ninth Ironman Triathlon (Cebu, Philippines)/ Barners return to Davao from 6-Week USA Speaking Tour.
   August 21-23: First Periodical exams.
   August 30: Philippine Culture Day and Student Performances and Competitions.
   September 6: Parent-Teacher Consultation Day.
   September 18-20: Second Preliminary Exams.
   October 23-25: Second Periodical Exams.
   October 28: School-wide Educational Field Trip.
3. for our family as we fly to the USA Monday-Tuesday, that we make all the connecting flights (Davao-Manila-Beijing-San Francisco-Phoenix-Salt Lake City). The airport in Davao was shut down for three days recently when an airplane caught fire upon takeoff, when it overshot the runway. the passengers had to be bussed over the mountains four hours away to another airport in Gen San City.
4. for our challenge during our USA speaking tour this year (June 10-August 4): Due to a misunderstanding, Elvie and our BCA staff, while visiting poor areas to identify needy children for student sponsorships, presented a “waiting list” of over 200 children who cannot be schooled unless we find sponsors for them. We are making up a display to bring with us on furlough, showing pictures of all the 232 unsponsored children. We will be presenting these displays in each of the twenty churches we speak in this Summer. Please pray that every single child will be sponsored by the time we return to Davao in August.
5. for next week’s travel:
   Monday           June 10: Fly from Davao, Philippines to Manila, Philippines
   Tuesday           June 11: Fly from Manila, Philippines, to Beijing, China/Fly from Beijing to San Francisco, California/Fly from San Francisco to Salt Lake City, Utah
   Wednesday     June 12: Settle in, rest, jog and unpack/Visit Walmart
   Thursday         June 13: Speak at Kiwanis Club Meeting, Roy, Utah
   Friday              June 14: Speak in Cowboy Church, Kaysville, Utah
   Saturday          June 15: Plan with Creative Ministries Team for their November Davao trip
   Sunday            June 16: Speak at church in Ogden, Utah
   Monday           June 17: Drive to Winnemucca, Nevada
6. for the BCA preschoolers and their parents who will be attending School Orientation Monday morning, a few hours before we fly out of the country, that the children will enjoy meeting their teachers and also that they will transition well into our institutional environment.
7. for the baptismal service this Sunday. We will be holding it at a river, on the outskirts of the city. I will also be speaking at church this Sunday, to challenge the congregation in considering becoming missionaries.
8. for the widow and grown children of one of my former Sunday School teachers in New York, Jeff Oesch. He passed away this week. A very meek and humble person, he was a true prayer warrior, following this ministry.

PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for wisdom and strength for Elvie, me and the kids as we “wrap-up” the last details here before we leave for the USA June 10. This week we have 1) an NGO Anniversary Banquet to plan and attend; 2) the official opening and dedication of our newly-finished orphanage building on our Samal Ranch for Street Boys; 3) Outfitting for the six new orphans at our Father’s House Home for Street Girls, 4) Attendance and Hosting of the Homeowners’ Board of Trustees Meeting, 5) Presiding the DCL Foundation’s monthly breakfast meeting with special gust speakers; 6) preaching at church next Sunday…we’re combining all our church plants for the joint service, since we will be flying to the USA the next day, after the… 7) first day of the new school year June tenth; 8) baby dedications, 9) Baptismal Service; 10) Weekly Outreach Club meeting; 11) Prayer Meeting and 12) lots of other exciting things as well.

PRAISE:

1. That we have our very first “Two-Percenter” who pledged $1,000 for BCA’s new campus…and also that Abby and I actually hit and held those extremely high notes in our French Horn piece during the Summer Orchestra’s Grand Performance this week!
2. that the severe flooding which hit most of Davao four times this week, did not enter the school, nor our home. It came every close, but your prayers kept the muddy water away. One evening I was downtown at the time of the heavy rains, and Elvie and the kids moved everything from the floor onto the counters, beds, and dressers.
3. that PJ and Abby volunteered to spend half a day this week, helping their music teacher to clean-up and sort out the music and equipment in the Faith Academy band room.
4. that on Wednesday evening during our church’s prayer meeting, a man whose wife died three years ago, and who works with his son and daughter packaging bat feces for shipping to Japan as fertilizer, was able to visit our school and bring fresh crabs that he caught in the ocean himself.
5. that the sixteen male orphans in our Boys’ Ranch will be moving into their new multipurpose building after the building’s dedication this Saturday.
6. that our six new preteen female orphans were able to visit BCA’s clothing room and bring away a box and two bags of shirts, pants, etc. for their “outfit” now that they are residents in our Father’s House orphanage.
7. that, even though our internet connection has not been working at all this week, we have been able to visit restaurants, etc. to do our email.

Present need: (correction from last week)

• $1,042 to overhaul one of our BCA buses, and also get some sorely-needed parts for one of the other buses.
  1 SET GASKET $88,
  1 SET PISTON RING $85,
  1 SET PISTON ASSEMBLY $238,
  1 SET ENGINE LINER $120,
  1 SET OIL FILTER (2 PERICES) $19,
  2 PCS SILICON GASKET $5,
  2 GALLONS CASTROLOIL $45,
  1 PC CLUTCH LINING $80,
  1 PIECE RELEASE BEARING $24,
  1 PC BYPASS HOSE $5,
  1 SET MAIN BEARING $47,
  1 SET C/R STANDARD BEARING $40,
  1 BLOCK CHANGE LINER $113,
  1 CRANKSHAFT PALIS $50,
  1 SET HORN $19,
  2 PCS TAILLIGHTS $28,
  1 PC BOSCH RELAY $7,
  1 PC BOSCH RELAY SOCKET $2,
  1 PC TOP OIL TREATMENT $4,
  1 BOX AUTO BULB MEDIUM S-C $10,
  WHEEL ALLIGNMENT $13.

BUILDING FUND: $5,690 (Total savings for BCA’s new, government-required by 2017, $56,000 campus)

Status of $30,000 needed for three 21-passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10-passenger multicabs: $4,310 received, $25,690 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still awaiting sponsors: 235.

Present need: $1,342 to overhaul one of our BCA buses, and also get some sorely-needed parts for one of the other buses. One of the school’s larger buses had burned out its engine when some high-performance fuel was put into the tank, and the engine overheated, blowing out the water hose. The driver ignored the problem and the engine overheated and was destroyed.

Please pray:

1. for God to provide the needed $56,000 for BCA’s new 2.2-acre campus, required by the Philippine Department of Education before 2017. Total received so far: $5,650.
   
2. for the next upcoming Barner Christian Academy events: June 10: 2013-2014 Student Orientation/School year begins/ Barners fly to USA for 6-Week Speaking Tour. July 12: School-wide General PTA and Homeroom Meeting. July 18-19: First Preliminary Exams. July 26: Nutrition Month Performance Celebrations. August 4: Paul’s Ninth Ironman Triathlon (Cebu, Philippines)/ Barners return to Davao from 6-Week USA Speaking Tour. August 21-23: First Periodical exams. August 30: Philippine Culture Day and Student Performances and Competitions. September 6: Parent-Teacher Consultation Day. September 18-20: Second Preliminary Exams. October 23-25: Second Periodical Exams. October 28: School-wide Educational Field Trip.
   
3. for the hundreds of students preparing to come back to school next week. Many of these children have never attended school in their lives, up until this point.
4. for the reports that we bring to churches across the USA during June ande July, that these precious believers would be truly challenged for missions.
5. for the newly-sponsored students who have replaced some who graduated or whose families moved out of Davao to other provinces. These new students come from all over Davao and are extremely poor. Two families have an American father and Filipino mother, yet still have no way of paying for their kids’ schooling in the local schools.
   
6. for the building dedication this Saturday (6/8) on Samal Island, of our brand new Boys’ Ranch multipurpose building. In this new structure, we will increase our capacity to hold orphans from 5 to 40. Previously we had squashed 14 growing boys (and counselor) into a 10-footx10-foot coconut leaf structure. The new building is cement, glass and steel, and very strong. Also please pray that the government leaders who have been invited will attend the ceremonies.
   
7. for our outreach club’s annual anniversary this Thursday (June 6). We expect forty to fifty to attend.
   
8. for my DCL Foundation’s monthly community meeting this Friday (June 7). Our speakers will be a local pastor and also the local director of YWAM (Youth With a Mission)/DCMF (Davao City Ministerial Fellowship).
9. for a friend who, after being married over a decade, his wife became an adulteress, and they are now going through the painful process of a divorce.

Praise God:

1. that a friend recently gave our family a $14 gift certificate for a local Christian bookstore.
2. that Elvie and some of the staff at Barner Christian Academy were able to visit five rural churches this week on evangelistic outreaches to bring pagan neighbors to those churches’ worship services.
3. that I was chosen to lead one of the prayers for the closing ceremonies last week at the school where PJ and Abby attend.
4. that this week we were able to lead a triple celebration for one of Elvie’s relatives, a fruit-farming family: 1-the dedication of their one-year old son, 2-the prayer for their son Carl’s first birthday, and 3- the dedication of their newly-built, small home. The ceremonies lasted three hours, and ended with roasted pig, goat, fish and chicken. They gave us two cases of bananas to show their thanks!
5. that PJ, Abby and I finished successfully our weeklong Music Summer Camp at Faith Academy. While Abby and I (Paul) played the French horn, PJ played percussion and was the narrator for part of the presentation.
   
6. that last Sunday I was chosen to speak at a rural church in the mountains, challenging them from the Bible and also calling the entire congregation to pray for God’s blessings upon the young pastor’s family.
   
7. that during last week’s teachers’ retreat in the mountains, I challenged the staff with a scriptural challenge on Saturday evening. The electricity went out, but we were still able to continue with the message on courageously “Putting Out into Deep Water” from Luke 7.
   
8. that, even though my office’s computer printer broke down this week, I was able to get it repaired in time to type up the program for our weekly outreach club meeting.
   
9. that Davao hosted a Bangsamoro conference this week. The Muslims have been fighting for more representation in government, to claim more land for their growing tribes. During the conferences, the government is determining what areas are available to transfer to them without causing an extension of the present wars. The Muslims are not willing to buy the land (although they could likely afford it if they did), but instead are fighting small wars to claim the property forcefully.
   
10. that, even though the two pet rabbits both died, which we bought along the roadside en route home from our Teachers’ retreat in the mountains, we are finding other uses for the cage which we held them in.
    
11. that 20 kids from the youth group at our church (with friends) were able to take the barge out to nearby Samal Island to schedule a praise and worship gathering together.
    
12. that BCA now has its very FIRST “TWO-PERCENTER”, a friend from New York has pledged to give $1,000 to pay 2% of our remaining financial need to purchase the needed 2.2 acre lot for our new school campus (by 2017). YAY! Only forty-nine 2%ers to go!
    
13. That PJ and Abby have once again received almost straight A’s on their report cards at school. Smart kids!
    
14. that I have been able to make very colorful weekly programs for our outreach club’s bulletins. A friend in the USA mailed us their church’s unused colorful blank programs. So these religious-themed pictures are on the cover of every week’s outreach club program. Some members are making an ongoing collection folder, for the inspirational covers.
    
15. that today I was thinking, “Oh, if only my friend Patrick were here…I need to explain something to him.” Then five minutes later, I turned around and he was there! He just happened to be attending a meeting on political intervention of social dilemmas, and the venue was the campus where I was! How cool is that?!
    
16. that a friend in Maryland gave fifty dollars to BCA to help pay for last month’s gas for the school buses. Thank you!
    
17. that a church in Indiana just realized that they had forgotten to send their student sponsorships for last year, and paid their arrears this week. Yay!
    
18. that during this week’s music camp at Faith Academy, our BCA music/computer teacher Dexter attended, playing the flute. 
    
19. that although Davao’s Mental Hospital burned down this week, there was not a great loss of life due to the fire. Our outreach club is determining what the hospital’s priority needs are at this time as the forty-year-old ministry reanalyzes how to rebuild.
20. that, since PJ and Abby just finished their year of school, they were able to join Elvie and I at our weekly Outreach Club meeting.
    
21. that a young Canadian student-nurse has arrived from North America and will be assisting our various ministries to street children during June and July.

Status of $30,000 needed for three 21-passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10-passenger multicabs: $4,305 received, $25,695 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still awaiting sponsors: 10.

Barners' Philippine Missionary Prayer Supplement
Davao City, Philippines

Present need: $342 for repair of some of our school buses last week: a new tire for one of our buses and for oil, filter and other needed parts. (note: next week: overhaul of one of our bus engines…almost a thousand dollars!)

Please pray:

1. for God to provide the needed $56,000 for BCA’s new 2.2-acre campus, required by the Philippine Department of Education before 2017. Total received so far: $5,520.
   
2. for the next upcoming Barner Christian Academy events: May 22-26 BCA Annual Teachers/Staff Retreat, June 10: 2013-2014 School year begins.
   
3. for the hundreds of BCA students who finished Summer School this week. Since they will have a two-week break before the new 2013-2014 school year begins, many of their families are traveling hundreds of miles to visit relatives to assist them on their farms in the mountains.
4. for our Samal Island Boy’s Ranch for street children to find peacocks for sale so they can start a local tourist attraction: a Peacock Park.
5. for our travel this week, five hours away to a dangerous area, known for terrorist activity. A lot of prayer and consideration has gone into the event (BLC Teachers’ Retreat), and we still felt that God was okaying the location. I (Paul) am one of the three main speakers for the event. My topic is “Raising a Christian Family.” Our former librarian (Dane) will be marrying one of our preschool teachers (Ruth) after our return from furlough in August. Ruth is the daughter of a pastor on nearby Samal Island.
6. for the upcoming expensive overhaul of one of our jeepneys. An additive was placed in the oil to make it run better and clean out the pipes. Unfortunately it seems that the carbon deposits were the only thing holding it together, and the water hose burst, overheating the engine.
7. for PJ, Abigail and myself next week, as we join the Summer Orchestra of Faith Academy. It has been over a year since I have practiced my French horn. However, I have now been practicing and my armature (lips) is getting back into shape, gradually. My biggest challenge is not playing the notes, but seeing them! Either my eyesight is getting worse, or else they are making musical scores smaller nowadays!

Praise God:

1. that our Outreach Club this week has gathered many donated materials (soap, brushes, pails, brooms, dustpans, used clothes, paint, etc.) to have a “Brigada Work-Day” at the community school where dozens of Bajao Sea Gypsies are bussed-in from the ocean for schooling. It was a full day of work, but the results are fabulous!
2. that Faith Academy Mindanao has found a very qualified new principal (technically titled, “HOS-Head Of School”), in Mr. Nate Kruger. This is fortunate, since I was being considered for the position, and I prayed that if God did not want me to stretch myself thinner in carrying that responsibility as well, that He would send someone more available. God came through again!
3. that the government is offering a Davao seminar next week to update all schools, public and private, on new requirements for all grades from preschool through high school.
4. that a good American friend has suggested a proposal that I initiate a “Two-Percenter Club” of 50 people or groups who will each give $1,000 (2% of the needed $50,000) for our new school campus. The main building on campus will have a wall with fifty 3x5-inch cast steel plates with the names of those in the “Two-Percenter Club” who were instrumental in making the new campus a reality.
5. that PJ and Abigail, during a concert at Faith Academy, were easy to spot in the audience. It was a Jazz-Gospel rendition of classic hymns like “Trust and Obey”. Sitting side-by-side, they were swaying back and forth, clapping their hands…fun to watch, while most of the others in the audience were seated calmly and listening.
   
6. that, although my computer’s printer was recently destroyed (it was dropped while being brought to the repair shop for routine maintenance, but nobody is admitting blame), I was able to siphon $10 worth of ink from the unit to be used in one of our back-up machines, before putting the destroyed unit into storage for spare parts.
   
7. that PJ and Abigail once again have done excellent in their final exams. By the way, their cousin Emily in New York is graduating this year, and is not only the valedictorian of her entire school, but also the Prom Queen. Cool, huh? Way to go, Emily!
   
8. that the new, handsome blue metal roof has now been completed on our Street Boys’ Home in nearby Samal Island. The cement floor has also just been poured this week.
9. that a friend in Kentucky has gathered the retired ladies in her church to prepare more used greeting cards to send to us here in the Philippines. I sent her Cebuano Bible verses, which she is copying and cluing to the cards so that our church youth group can distribute them as Gospel tracts.
10. that the repairs on our pickup truck last week were not as serious as I had suspected. It is four-wheel drive, and we had gotten stuck in a rut. The truck just did not function properly afterward, but the service center was able to make a minor adjustment (which took ten hours) and the truck is working fine now. Since the truck is still under warranty, there was no charge. Ooohhh, that was good.
    
11. that PJ, Abby, Elvie and I were able to sit down and discus the dilemma of my Ironman races always being right after furlough, with not enough time for practice. Since we will be traveling to a different country than the USA next year (2014), we were able to find an Ironman race that I can compete in at the alternate location. It will actually be cheaper in Norway than in the Philippines!
    
12. that we were able to give away more used clothes to three new boys who have decided to stop living on the streets of Davao and to move into our Boy’s Ranch.

Status of $30,000 needed for three 21-passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10-passenger multicabs: $4,305 received, $25,695 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded. 

BLC Children still awaiting sponsors: 10.

Barners' Philippine Missionary Prayer Supplement
Davao City, Philippines

Present need: $443 for the annual registration of two of our school buses, as well as for the fuel consumption of our seven buses for the month of April (Vacation Bible School).

Please pray:

1. for God to provide the needed $56,000 for BCA’s new 2.2-acre campus, required by the Philippine Department of Education before 2017. Total received so far: $5,500.
2. for the next upcoming Barner Christian Academy events: May 22-25 BCA Annual Teachers/Staff Retreat, June 10: 2013-2014 School year begins.
3. for Philippine Challenge, Inc., an evangelistic outreach group that is planning a seminar for this Summer to gather together dozens of pastors in the dangerous southern portion of the Mindanao. After over a decade of research to find the most unreached areas of the country, they are presenting their findings at various key locations near the points of most unbelief.
   for the BCA kids as they finish their Summer classes at BCA next week. They will have a break of two weeks before their next 2013-2014 school year begins, Monday, June 10.
   for a group of churches which began its annual General Assembly this week. Hundreds of pastors and church workers are convening in Davao to determine the most and least effective forms of evangelism in each vicinity. Of the three seminar speakers during this five-day event, two are members of our DCL Foundation.

Praise God:

1. that when the television blew up and caused a fire which burned down their house this week, the child who was watching the TV at the time of the accident (a preschool student from BCA) was able to escape without being harmed.
2. that a friend in the USA felt challenged by God to provide funds (through Elvie and I) to a riural church-planting pastor, for their financial, physical outreach and nutritional needs.
3. that I was able to ride my bicycle over 50 miles this week.
   
4. that one of the American churches we will be speaking at this Summer has just emailed to inform us that we will be able to speak at both their morning worship service and also their Sunday School time.
   
5. that this week I was given the privilege of sharing a Bible message with some of the teachers and staff at Faith Academy, encouraging them as missionaries, pursuing the call of God upon their lives.
   
6. that this past Wednesday, when my associate pastor Callem was suddenly called away on an urgent need for one of our parishioners, I filled-in with an impromptu message on the story of Ezekiel and the dry bones in Ezekiel 37. Everyone so enjoyed the message that I gave it again on Friday morning during our foundation prayer meeting.

Status of $30,000 needed for three 21-passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10-passenger multicabs: $4,300 received, $25,700 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

Davao City, Philippines

Present need: $443 for the annual registration of two of our school buses, as well as for the fuel consumption of our seven buses for the month of April (Vacation Bible School).

Please pray:

1. for God to provide the needed $56,000 for BCA’s new 2.2-acre campus, required by the Philippine Department of Education before 2017. Total received so far: $5,500.
2. for the next upcoming Barner Christian Academy events: May 22-25 BCA Annual Teachers/Staff Retreat, June 10: 2013-2014 School year begins.
3. for For the Libertad Samal church which is beginning its first youth outreach events this week. 
4. for our computer. It no longer allows banking transactions, nor credit card purchases. Please pray that this is fixed, so that I can look-up our bank totals, to know when we have funds available for our teachers’ salaries.
5. for safe and fair national Philippine elections this coming Monday, May 13. Also, the power has gone on and off many, many times this past week. This will cause great difficulties if it continues during the elections, since the government is trying to perfect new electronic voting machines.
6. for churches in Indiana, Vermont and New York which are going to be presenting our Philippine ministry to their kids during VBS this Summer, so they will be focusing on the possibility of God calling these children to become missionaries when they grow up.
7. for the June 2, 7th anniversary of one of the churches which is a member of our DCL Foundation. They are inviting unsaved neighbors to the event, and planning other ongoing outreaches afterwards.
8. for the ongoing outreaches of visitation which another DCL church member is carrying out after their successful free dental clinic in the garage of its pastor (my vice president Manny).
9. for Elvie, Inday and Minmin as they travel this week to half a dozen other churches to interview parents, pastors and preschoolers for extending our sponsorship program to their ministries.
10. for our teachers’’ retreat, scheduled for the third week of May. I will be among three others as the Bible speakers, and the event will cover four days and nights, taking place about three hours’ drive from BCA.
11. for a friend in Vermont who has agreed to include our hundreds of BCA girls in “Dress A Girl Around The World” (DAG), to provide “pillow dresses” for each of our poor female students.
12. for two agencies who have recently introduced additives for adding to our gas and oil to extend the lifespan of the engines of our seven buses and also to allow them to go farther on a tank of gas. Also an attachment on one vehicle, which we can build ourselves, will allow (believe it or not) the bus to run without gas, but instead with urine. 

Praise God:

1. that On Sunday night, while attending a men’s Bible Study, the speaker was detained overtime at a wedding and arrived late. Nonetheless, he texted for me to speak, two minutes before the study was to begin, and God gave me a message that I had studied during my morning devotions, on Prsalm 1. The men participated and enjoyed the time.
2. that That the parents of our BCA Summer School students were cooperative when we cancelled classes Thursday to make way for thirty pastors to have a prayer conference on the campus that day. Even though the pastors only used two classrooms (one for eating-in and the other for prayer and Bible messages), the noise of hundreds of students would have made it very difficult to concentrate on our prayer time.
3. that I was able to ride my bicycle over 70 miles this week.
4. that This week I was tasked to preach a Bible message at six different locations. Since some of those who were in these meetings were in more than one, each message had to be original.
5. that our foundation decided in this week’s meeting that, after our June hotel breakfast meeting, we will not meet in the hotel anymore, since it is too expensive. Instead, we will meet at the board room of one of our members.
6. that, on Monday morning the BCA teachers appreciated my message on avoiding temptation, from Proverbs 7. I was informed the night before that I was to be the speaker Monday morning.
7. that even though our Internet connection has been on-and-off constantly, it looks like we could decrease the cut-offs by enclosing the wires in PVC plastic tubing. We are working on it.
8. that we are working with a local boat-builder to design and build a motorboat big enough for us to bring animals and orphans back and forth to nearby Samal Island. However, there is a very large boat which a missionary has for sale and has not been able to sell yet. Please pray for wisdom in this decision. 
9. that during our special pastors’ prayer meeting this week, a Christian politician joined the event and also was able to give a speech about his plans for the government if he gets elected.
10. that our Outreach Group was able to clean-up the trash from a major section of the waterfront on nearby Talikud Island. The group also provided a medical clinic to circumcise over a dozen teenage boys and also provide other minor surgeries.
11. that although Faith Academy (Mindnao Branch) had asked me to submit an application for their temporarily- vacant principal position, they were able to find a permanent principal. I had prayed previously the God would direct clearly whether or not I should provide my time for Faith Academy at this time.
12. that an American couple who are teaching in the Philippines, are going on furlough shortly. They are giving BCA some of their school supplies!

Status of $30,000 needed for three 21-passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10-passenger multicabs: $4,295 received, $25,705 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still awaiting sponsors: 10.

Davao City, Philippines

Present need: $150 for a refrigerator for our BCA school canteen/kitchen.

Please pray:

1. for God to provide the needed $56,000 for BCA’s new 2.2-acre campus, required by the Philippine Department of Education before 2017. Total received so far: $5,475.
2. for the next upcoming Barner Christian Academy events: May 22-25 BCA Annual Teachers/Staff Retreat, June 10: 2013-2014 School year begins.
3. for Elvie and our BCA treasurer as they redesign our annual operational budget to reflect more closely the number of monthly sponsors for the BCA students during this next school year, 2013-2014. To lessen my load as president of the corporation, I will release to the BCA treasurer (Minmin) the entire sponsorships ($25 per child) arriving monthly, instead of micromanaging the bill payment scheduling. Since this will be the first year of eliminating my micromanagement approach, I will still do quarterly checks to be sure that the treasurer has not forgotten any bill payments, such as the utilities and textbook payments.
4. for two physically-challenged students at BCA. One (a sixteen-yr-old) has cleft palate, and the other (a five-yr-old) has a leg that stops at the knee, with a fully-functioning foot attached. At our foundation meeting this past Friday, Leron (our speaker from the CURE hospital) said that even though “Operation Smile” can’t help the cleft palate victim, “Smile Train” can, and will operate on him when they open next year! As for the little girl, they would have to amputate her leg and foot and attach a prosthesis. Instead, we will seek other ministries which can lengthen the leg and attach the nerve endings so that her leg and foot can be fully functional.
5. for Inday, our sponsorship secretary. She is frantically trying to finalize the information for all the BCA children before our family leaves for the USA in June. This is quite a task when working with 320 students and their families!
6. for me as I am the guest speaker at a local pastors’ convention this Tuesday. I plan to speak exegetically on the topic of sin, repentance and Hell.
7. that our internet connection will soon be functioning again. Presently our family has to visit restaurants with WiFi in the city when we want to use the internet.

Praise God:

1. that PJ/Abby were able to share the Gospel with some good Christian friends as they gave them some “Gospel bracelets” and explained each color’s meaning.  
2. that Elvie was able to, when invited to speak at the birthday party of one of our church members, share the Gospel with all present as she gave the birthday celebrant, the dad of some of our BCA graduates, a “Gospel bracelet” and explained each color’s meaning.
3. that Elvie invited Carol to our home to stay overnight. Carol is a visiting missionary from Hong Kong. We had a scrumptious dinner the night before, and Elvie drove her to the airport early the next morning.
4. that during the recent Pastors’ Convention, I was able to befriend almost a dozen professionals from Bangladesh, whose medical convention was being held on the same campus as our Pastors’ Convention. After they taught mew how to say “Good Morning” in Bangladeshi, I greeted them every morning in their own language. When an earthquake hit their country midweek, bringing over 200 casualties, I was able to console them over their loss.
5. that this past Saturday our outreach club hosted a “Coastal Cleanup” on one of the nearby wharfs. Each of the crew brought their own sacks and gloves and beautified the dingy area by removing trash that had washed up onto the shore. This event received an award when I presented it during a convention in Sri Lanka last year.
6. that the two speakers I invited to speak at our DCL (Davao Christian Leadership Foundation) breakfast meeting this past Friday. Since the Spiritual Guideliner was an hour late, my vice president Manny gave an impromptu, interactive sermon. This was good, since our scheduled speaker had misunderstood the expectations and gave a very shallow message. Also our main speaker did come on time, and challenged us to pray for the newly-constructed Tebow CURE Hospital he is opening in Davao next year.
7.   that finally, after waiting two months, the new license plates for our pickup truck have arrived. For these past eight weeks, we have had to pay eight dollars every week for 7-day “travel permits” to drive without a license plate.
8. that, when the donor of a vehicle for our USA furloughs suddenly required that we pay him a portion back for the donation, we were able to come up with the thousand dollars to finalize his requirements.
9. that Ben, the administrator of our two orphanages, was inducted into our Outreach Club during this past Tuesday’s weekly meeting.
10. that on Saturday Elvie was inducted into the Board of officers (as treasurer) for our local homeowners’ association. In the presence of many government representatives and neighbors, this landmark event was hosted at none other than our own Barner Christian Academy gym. Many of the unbelievers present had to sneak outside to smoke cigarettes, since this is a “No-Drug” campus.
11. that 2 new boys were added to our Boy’s Ranch/Orphanage this past week. We were abler to bring them into our BCA clothing room to get them fitted with more than just the rags they had on when they were brought in off the sidewalks for Davao City. One of these boys had come in with another boy who was on drugs. The druggy ran away, but his friend (Dave) stayed.
12. that during the pastors’ conference this past week, the newly-elected president won by only 9 votes! This was among over 2,800 delegates! It was fortunate that the other two candidates reflected good sportsmanship and required no recount, nor challenge of the voting procedure. Also, since the vote was so close, the winning candidate will work extra hard during these next four years to meet the variety of needs in this assembly thousands of pastors, and millions of parishioners.
13. that I was able to find time to design a new member application form for our Christian Leadership Foundation. In answer to the ongoing annual debate on whether to have dues or not to have dues, I included a one-line fill-in: “Voting Member ($12)/ Non-Voting Member (Free).”
14. that I was chosen to have the delightful privilege of picking-up and returning our convention speaker at the airport. He is the bishop/president of the PCEWC (Philippine Council of evangelical Churches).
15. that Tim, one of the Pastors’ convention delegates, who runs a  ministry to lady prisoners in Manila, stayed an extra day in Davao so that I could tour him around the various facets of our Davao ministry (2 orphanages/school, churches, etc.)

Status of $30,000 needed for three 21-passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10-passenger multicabs: $4,290 received, $25,710 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still awaiting sponsors: 10.

Davao City, Philippines PHILIPPINE LABOR DAY (5/1), LOYALTY DAY (5/1), AMERICAN NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER (5/2), ARBOR DAY (4/26), LAW DAY (5/2)

“Ceasar must have sold another spider.” Last Christmas, our dozen orphan boys in our Boys’ ranch/orphanage wanted to do something very special for their oldest (16-yr-old ) housemate, Ceasar. They pooled their meager funds and got him a cheap cell phone. Since Ceasar has a cleft palate, he finds it difficult to communicate. So with the cell phone, he can type out what he wants to say. And he doesn’t have to send the message…he can just type it and have somebody read it out loud.
Yet when we drove the boys onto the barge to bring them back from their island to the mainland for BCA’s VBS and Summer School, Caesar started sending me text messages. At first I could not figure out how he found the funds to buy “phone time” to send messages to me.

The number of children attending greatly increased as the week of VBS continued. Monday’s total of kids was about 250. But by the end of the week, we had nearly 400. That is a whole lot if kids. As they filled up our BCA gym, we led them in Christian songs, Bible stories, and opportunities for them to receive Jesus into their hearts. Our friend Dean, who had come to visit from Mexico, even was given an opportunity to share his testimony to the multitude.

Halfway through the week, after finishing my Bible quizzing session with the hundreds of kids, I spent a few minutes in my office. “Caesar, please stop sending me messages, and pay attention to your teacher,” I texted to our highly-communicative street boy.

When we’d visited the Ranch to bring the boys out, they treated us to a “spider fight”. Each of the boys pulled out little matchboxes. Inside were chubby spiders. Junior (one of the nine-year-olds) stuck his finger into the box, so that his brown spider could crawl up onto his hand. Then he placed the critter onto a six-inch-long stick. Eric set his own tan spider on the other end of the stick. They turned the stick so that the territorial spiders had to keep moving, and attacking each other. Eventually one would let out a strand of webbing and jump off. If the cheering was loud enough, Junior would pick up his spider by its web and place it back onto the stick for round two.

Ben (our Ranch administrator) explained to me that the boys find the spiders in their big field before the snakes get them. When they have collected enough spiders, they sell the chubbier ones to their classmates in the local island school, who also like to have their own competitions.

As I got more and more messages from Caesar, I realized that he was using his “spider income” to buy “load” to send me messages. Of course I responded.

The final day of VBS, Ben, Dean and I drove back out to the island in my pickup truck. One of the boys had run away, so to bring back the total back to a dozen, we picked up “July”, a boy whose mom had died and who was being raised by a very ancient father, who could no longer manage him.

July and the others returned for our closing exercises on Sunday. Lots of children had responded to my “lollipop invitation” earlier in the week, when I gave each a “Dumdum” and explained, verse-by-verse from the Bible that we are like lollipops… Before we open the wrapper, we don’t really know what is inside. But God knows what is inside us. He makes us sweet and clean inside when we repent and believe in Him. During the Bible quizzing, I’d given a big blue stuffed tiger toy to a girl who’d answered correctly a Bible question.

“Kids, when you receive Jesus, you too have a new home, just like this once-lonely tiger now has a new home in Chercie’s house” The tiger’s new owner embraced the cuddly toy as I led the kids in the prayer of salvation…”Repeat after me” I began, and many kids were so anxious to respond that they replied, “Repeat after me…”

I could see that July, Chericie, Casear, the new believers and even the toy tiger, all had new homes…isn’t God grand?

Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!

PRESENT NEED: $104 for “Travel Permits” for March, April and May. The Philippine Department of Transportation is designing new license plates, and is not yet finished. So we are being charged $8 each week for permission to drive our pickup truck without license plates.

PLEASE PRAY: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)

1. for God to provide the needed $56,000 for BCA’s new 2.2-acre campus, required by the Philippine Department of Education before 2017. Total received so far: $5,450.
2. for the next upcoming Barner Christian Academy events: April 26-May 1: distribution throughout the area of BCA’s Summer School fliers. May 2: Beginning of BCA’s Institutional Summer School. All 320 BCA sponsored students will be on the Campus, in classes during these five weeks.
3. for wisdom by the executive committee of Faith Academy Mindanao, as they consider the suggestion by one of the other Faith Academy parents that I (Paul) be their interim principal from August, 2013-July, 2015.
4. for the family of Mia, a friend we’d met in Guam, who died this month of brain cancer. She leaves behind a husband and two young boys.
5. for three of our DCL Foundation members who are reaching out to the mountainous regions, targeting for evangelism two minimally-reached tribal groups. Pastor Glen reaches the Matigsalog Tribe in Orocan Valley, while the newly-widowed Charrie reaches the Kaolo tribe in Malita, and Johnny reaches the Talainggud tribes residing in the border areas of Bukidnon and Davao. The latter of these is developing a massive prayer movement, while Charrie has a feeding follow-up program scheduled for September. She spends the interim time collecting from interested believers and churches the items needed for the outreach.
6. for Pastor Manny, my DCL Foundation vice president, has scheduled a free dental clinic, to build in his neighbors deeper trust in their house-church ministry. Presently they have sixty worshipping in his open-air carport garage,  weekly.
7. for Sir Paul, a fellow DCL member, owns a stationery business. He considers the “8/5 Window” mirroring the well-known 10/40 Window (in which we live), for evangelism. The 8/5 Window represents those laborers who work from 8am until 5pm each day. Paul as an employer, will treat his customers and employees in such a godly Scriptural manner as pastors treat their congregations. Christian Employers in many Davao businesses have employed part-time chaplains to service their constituents. Please pray for the effectiveness of these “8/5 Window” chaplains: Pastor Demoni, Pastor Cabardo, Pastor Lanaban and Pastor Pascual. Also please pray that God would challenge other Christian businessmen in Davao to reach-out to their 8/5 Window.
8. Dean, our friend from Mexico, continues to request prayer that he can find a farm in the Philippines that grows big-thighed-chickens, so that he can start a chicken-kabob restaurant to raise local funds to support our two orphanages. Filipino chickens have skinny thighs. He also requests that our girls’ orphanage, which only has three of its twelve beds filled, will soon be able to rescue enough street girls to fill the house. Five orphan girls from nearby Compostella Valley may be joining the orphanage soon. These children lost their parents in the devastating December “Typhoon Pablo”.
9. I made 50 colorful fliers to inform churches about our upcoming May 3 DCL Foundation meeting. Please pray that many will respond and attend this monthly breakfast meeting, as they will be blessed with information about the opening of the soon-opening of a local pediatric orthopedic hospital, which will be free for the destitute.

PRAISE GOD:

1. that, since our Outreach club’s president was once again sick this past Tuesday (he is my age, yet he has diabetes), I was chosen to preside the weekly meeting. Fortunately, since he had chosen no special guest speakers for the event, the leaders of four other outreach clubs joined us for the meeting to discuss planning for next week’s full-day cleanup of some trash-ridden coastal areas of Davao. We also extended our discussion on using excess Typhoon-designated funds to begin livelihood projects for men (building bamboo furniture) and women (providing classes on food processing). A special fund has also been begun to provide educational vocational education scholarships for the destitute orphan children of typhoon victims.
2. that the sixteen children in our two orphanages thoroughly enjoyed our trip to the zoo last Saturday, and after experiencing the animal-petting section, became very interested in raising exotic animals themselves at our new boys’ ranch. Also that Ben, our administrator, was not injured very severely (painfully, but not severely) when kicked in the thigh by a donkey at the zoo.
3. that many of the parents in our school were able to have an income by selling baked goods to hundreds of the delegates at this week’s General Assembly Conference of the CAMACOP. Over 3,000 pastors and church leaders attended the conference from around the country.
4. that the thousands of pastors present at the CAMACOP General Assembly this week responded overwhelmingly when challenged by the devotional speaker Efraim Tendero (head of PCEC: Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches) to emulate to positive aspects of Biblical leaders such as Joshua, to “Go, Grow, and Glow to the Glory of God” in every aspect of our lives and ministry. One of my main responsibilities during the conference was to accompany the speaker for his transportation and lodging needs. What a privilege, to hour-by-hour accompany this great hero of the faith, throughout the week! (By the way, he personally shared with me an acrostic for good health: NEW START: N-Nutrition/E-Exercise/W-Water/S-Sunshine/T-Temperence/A-Air/R-Rest/T-Time with God)
5. that our many speakers’ challenges this week at the Pastors; conference included (among other things) a few important acrostics: JOSHUA: J-Junior officer who learned well/O-Obedient to God’s call/S-Strengthened by his faith/H-Hard-working leader/U-Uncompromising loyalty to God/A-Ability to rebound/BRIDE (of Christ): B-Build relationships/R-Reach out/I-Instruct members/D-Demonstrate values of the Kingdom/E-Enhance worship
6. that I was able to befriend some citizens from Bangladesh who were also at the hotel where some fo the delegates for the conferences were lodging. They taught me how to say good morning, “Shebu-shekol” (sp?).
7. that both PJ and Abby did exceptionally well in their band concerts this past week. PJ played the xylophone while Abby played the French Horn.
8. that we had the delightful privilege of treating our dear friends, the Bouws, out to eat for delicious steak and fish. Rev. Bouw was the missionary whose missionary challenge to me 41 years ago was what God used to call me into the ministry.
9. that, in the “Davao Christina Leadership” Foundation of which I am president, we are developing integrity for the MRP: Moral Recovery Program, which empowers and provides chaplains to government offices, schools and military/police camps. The challenge which has to be constantly supervised is that many government leaders only have paid lip-service to this ministry so they could gain people’s favor to be re-elected.
10. that, while thousands of pastors were attending the General Assembly conference this week, over 500 PKs (pastors’ kids) also attended simultaneous Christian conferences and seminars on the nearby campus of the DABC Bible College.
11. Each week we need to file for an extension of our travel permit for our pickup truck, since the license plates have not yet arrived from the Transportation office. Last week our family was invited to a friend’s home. They requested for me to give a Biblical challenge and also to dedicate the house to the glory of God. Since national elections are coming up in just two weeks, Police expect unrest and homicide incidents to increase. So they have set-up traffic police to stop vehicles periodically in alternating locations throughout the city, to checxk on permits and also the presence of explosives and/or munitions. After reaching the home I was to dedicate, I realized that I had forgotten to renew the week’s travel permit. Elvie, PJ, Abby and I silently prayed that we would not be stopped by the police and fined. Suddenly it started pouring down rain. The traffic police dive for cover when it rains! So they did not stop us! Then, when we got home, we found that it hadn’t rained in the location of our home and school, only in the area where the police often stand to stop traffic and check the documents of drivers! Praise God for His providential, locational rainstorm!
12. that we had a really fun time recently in our family devotions. Some friends were visiting, so we decided to sing praise songs in the local language. Problem was, my pronunciation of the words were inaccurate. While singing the song, “Jesus makes beautiful things of my life,” suddenly Ikay, the twelve-year-old friend of our daughter Abigail, started laughing hysterically. “What’s wrong?” I asked. When she regained her breath, she explained, “The English interpretation of what you just sang was, “Jesus makes me a CRAZY FLIRT!” Oops!
13. that one of the hundred-plus pastors who were sleeping in the classrooms of our BCA school this week was a skinny man from dangerous Jolo/Tawi-Tawi, Southeastern Mindanao. His wife is a converted Muslim from the two dangerous tribes of Tausug and Yakan. Praise God that, although I am an American and therefore unable to physically enter that volatile area of the Philippines, were nonetheless able to bless this dear pastor who is often on the front lines proclaiming the precious, redeeming Gospel of Jesus Christ.
    Status of $30,000 needed for three 21-passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10-passenger multicabs: $4,285 received, $25,715 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for the ongoing construction of our new boys’ home. For the past year, the “dirty dozen” former street boys have been living on hammocks in a small temporary house made of native materials. However, after receiving funds to build the new building, we have begun construction. Please especially pray that the builders will finish their project ably yet speedily, so that the boys can move in right after BCA’s Summer School ends at the end of May.

PRAISE: That so very many children responded to the Gospel invitations during this week’s Vacation Bible School, and that most of these new believers will learn more about growing as a believer during the next four weeks of BCA’s Summer School.

BUILDING FUND: $5,350 (Total savings for BCA’s new, government-required by 2017, $56,000 campus)

BLC Children still awaiting sponsors: 10.

Davao City, INCOME TAX DAY (4/15)/EARTH DAY (4/22)/ADMINISTRATIVE PROFESSIONALS DAY (4/24)/USA REVOLUTIONARY WAR BEGAN, 1775 (4/19)

“How is PJ?” The cellphone text from Elvie came as a surprise to me, as I was in my 3rd floor school office, and hadn’t realized he was sick.

Elvie was in a three-day board meeting for a major Philippine missions team, hosted by Davao City. When I got her text, I rushed downstairs and across the street to our home. I felt PJ’s fevered forehead. Though hot, he was not extremely hot, yet he was not the chipper guy he usually is.

Five days and two doctors’ clinic visits later, his case had worsened to the extent that we brought him to the hospital. Fortunately for PJ, as his blood platelet count continued to plunge (due to tropical mosquito-borne dengue fever) many praying friends worldwide (you) had been already praying for our family’s health. It was fortunate for our daughter Abigail as well that more people started praying, for she too came down with a fever and I picked her up from school to have her sleep in the bed next to PJ’s in the hospital room.

The week was filled with 14 blood extractions from PJ's fifteen-year-old arm, as well as frequent visits for me (Paul) back and forth from respective ministry centers to the hospital. Girls’ Orphanage-hospital-Outreach Board Meeting- hospital-Faith Academy Meeting-hospital-Church meeting-hospital-Boy’s Orphanage-hospital (you get the idea).

Just a few weeks earlier I had suffered a stroke. The thermometer-gauge of our “prayer covering” and danger of a follow-up (more intense) stroke was the frequency and intensity of my daily headaches.

As more prayer warriors heard of PJ’s confinement, my headaches became less intense, and PJ’s blood platelet count began to climb back closer to normal.

Yet on the morning that PJ was released from the hospital, my headaches suddenly intensified drastically. That meant one thing…for some reason, people were not praying as much. So in addition to my normal praying, I prayed through the pain for our prayer warriors, that they would pray.

The release of pain was not the only sign that we received that people were praying. We also noticed an increase in opportunities arising for our family to share our faith in Jesus Christ.

As we finally carried from the hospital room all of PJ’s belongings from his and Abby’s week of confinement, we passed the nurse’s station. PJ untied the “Wordless Gospel” string bracelet from my wrist and tied it to the arm of a male nurse, explaining the meaning of each of its respective colors of gold, black, red, white and green.

Then, on the way home,  we got a flat tire. While we found a roadside “vulcate” stand to repair it (our BCA bus drivers had not repaired the bus’s flat spare), Elvie and Abigail befriended some elderly homeless squatters on the side of the road.

The old man and woman exclaimed, “Oh, God must have sent you here to us! In this wind and rain, the scrap metal we’d found to shield us has blown off our shelter and we are getting wet.”

Abby and Elvie shared their love for Jesus with this couple, as they pulled down some of the plastic election posters from a nearby telephone pole. They then affixed the posters to the spaces over the heads of the elderly couple, whose sole belongings were two plastic chairs, a gallon water bottle and the clothes on their backs.

Driving home after the tire had been replaced, I considered what may have caused the earlier lull in our prayer covering…Of course! Our praying friends on the other side of the planet must have been sleeping! When it is daytime in the Philippines, it is nighttime on the other side of the world. When it became morning in the rest of the world, the headaches decreased and new opportunities arose to share our faith, accompanied by greater courage to speak of Jesus to the lost.

Thank you so very much for your prayers, in season and out of season. The time you have sacrificed for prayer has relieved our pain (literally), added years to our lives, and also ushered lost souls into the victorious life known only by believers in Jesus Christ.

Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!

Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)

Present need: $720 for Bus fuel for March.

PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for our Vacation Bible School, beginning this week. It will be immediately followed by BCA’s Summer School. Please also pray for the strength of our seven school busses, that there will be no flat tires as we transport hundreds of students to the BCA campus these next five weeks.

1. for God to provide the needed $56,000 for BCA’s new 2.2-acre campus, required by the Philippine Department of Education before 2017. Total received so far: $5,300.
2. for the next upcoming Barner Christian Academy events: April 19 Finale of BCA Required Vacation Bible School. April 22-26: distribution throughout the area of BCA’s Summer School fliers. April 29: Beginning of BCA’s Institutional Summer School. All 320 BCA sponsored students will be on the Campus, in classes during these five weeks.
3. for the two speakers I have chosen to share their insights at our DCL (Davao Christian Leadership Foundation) monthly meeting, May 3. Fliers have already been distributed to churches and businesses. The prayer request is that neither of the speakers will back-out at the last minute. Occasionally this has happened in the past, making a true challenge to find a last-minute speaker (often myself) and also to explain to the attendees why the one they came to see is not there. Our speakers this time are the executive director of a new Christian Tebow hospital and also the pastor of the friend from whom we recently bought our pickup truck.
4. for the 3,000-5,000 pastors coming to Davao this next Tuesday for our week-long national CAMACOP Conference. Elivie and I will be hosting over one hundred pastors on the BCA campus.
5. for PJ and I as we recuperate from our recent illnesses. The doctor suggested that I increase my sleep and also double my exercise, so that my August triathlon race will not be a shock to my system. However, in preparation for our June trip to the USA for our Summer Speaking Tour, I have many projects here at BCA to finish before our departure.

PRAISE: That PJ and Abby are feeling much better. However, they are required to refrain from any extraneous sports, etc. for at least two weeks. Also praise God for a church in Vermont considering having their own VBS project to purchase shelves and racks for pour used clothing room for the poor families who visit our BCA campus.

1. for the speedy construction of our new Boys’ Orphanage house on nearby Samal Island. The building is progressing nicely, and the two septic tanks are nearly complete. Since the soil is rock-solid compressed corral after the first two feet of dirt, digging had to be done with pick axes and shovels.
2. that Elvie hosted the local Homeowners’ Association meeting in our BCA gym this week, complete with refreshments. She will be going door-to-door with the other officers this Saturday to collect the membership dues of each homeowner. Although her name came up as a suggestion for the position of president, she declined, as she has already been elected at Kiwanis president for this next year. However, she is treasurer of the Homeowners’ Association.
3. that, since PJ and I both receive medication each day (mine for stroke, and PJ for dengue fever), I separate out our pills each morning. After giving PJ’s medicine to his school nurse, I didn’t realize until an hour later that I had given her my own blood thinner medication instead of his pills. Fortunately I was able to get back to the school to switch medications before his allotted time to take the meds.
4. that since our Outreach club’s president was sick this past Tuesday, I was chosen to preside the weekly meeting. Since I was the one who had invited the two speakers for the day, my presiding provided ample opportunity to give full credit and an open discussion time for the club to respond to both speakers.. One speaker was the friend who had supplied funds for the buildings of our orphanages, and the other has located property on stilts over the oceanf or a new outreach ministry center to be built for the Bajao sea gypsy area of Davao.
5. that  Abigail did fantastic on her Science fair project, which was to determine what is the best cleaning solution to clean copper coins with. Other students chose similarly interesting topics such as what soda pop freezes fastest and what effect music has on the growth of plants.
6. that Elvie was able to visit her 82-yr-old mother in the jungle this week and to accompany her 30 miles away to her mother’s youngest brother’s home. His terminal illness will likely take his life before the month is complete.
7. that our guest from Mexico was able to share with the 300 children present at BCA’s VBS this Tuesday. They had a wonderful time!
8. that, to celebrate her son’s fortieth birthday, an American friend sent $40 for our Boy’s Orphanage ministry. We will be bringing the eleven boys to the zoo this Saturday to get them interested in raising exotic animals themselves at our new boys’ ranch.
9. that our VBS (Vacation Bible School) totals are soaring close to 400, and that every day there have been at least half a dozen children praying to become Christians. The reason why the decisions for Christ have continued day after day is that as the kids become believers, they are going home and inviting their other unsaved friends and neighbors to come the next day to hear about Jesus. Many of these poor children are also enrolling in BCA for free schooling for the remainder of the Summer and also for the next school year (which begins in June). Of course, salvation is not an entrance requirement for applicants.

BUILDING FUND: $5,300 (Total savings for BCA’s new, government-required by 2017, $56,000 campus)

Status of $30,000 needed for three 21-passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10-passenger multicabs: $4,280 received, $25,720 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

Davao City, Philippines

Present need:

• $418 for this past week’s BCA bus repairs
• $9 for 10 AUTO BULBS
• $21 for 3 SPARK PLUGS FOR 12 VALVE ENGINE
• $14 for 12 VALVE SEA
• $12 for 1 CYLINDER HEAD GASKET
• $8 for 2 OIL SEALS
• $12 for 1 SET SPARKPLUG CABLES
• $5 for 1 DISTRIBUTOR CAP
• $7 for 1 OILFILTER C-110 VIC
• $21 for 3 QT OIL
• $2 for 2 HYDROVAC HOSE,SUNPLUS (2 FT)
• $2 for 1 ADVANCER HOSE SUNPLUS (2 FT)
• $1 for 1 ROLL ELECTRICAL TAPE
• $113 for 1 MOTOLITE ENDURO BATTERY N840
• $7 for 1 FAN BELT W/ GROOVE #34218
• $88 for 1 LABOR TOP OVERHAUL DIX
• $80 for 1 BATTERY W/ PLATES DIX DYNAPOWER LM #34226
• $9 for 1 SIDE MIRROR LH MULTICAB/$7 for 1 FAN BELT.

Please pray:

1. for God to provide the needed $56,000 for BCA’s new 2.2-acre campus, required by the Philippine Department of Education before 2017. Total received so far: $5,200.
2. for the next upcoming Barner Christian Academy events: April 15 BCA Required Vacation Bible School and Institutional Summer School begins. All 320 BCA sponsored students will be on the Campus, in classes during these five weeks.
3. for our Vacation Bible School which begins Monday. We will drive one of our BCA school busses to Samal Island this Sunday to our boys’ orphanage to pick up our 11 boys there, and they will stay (closely supervised) in our girls’ home in the city for one month, to attend the VBS and Summer School at BCA.
4. for our fifteen year old son PJ and twelve year old daughter Abigail. PJ has been battling dengue fever (a mosquito-borne disease) for over a week. In the hospital, he finished the first stage (high fever), and has passed into the dangerous second stage (low platelet count). Normal platelet count is 150. His dropped down to 90 before it climbed back up, gradually, to 108. After this stae is complete (he has been in the hospital on intravenous and other medications), the third stage is the convalescent stage, where he needs to rest so that his body will recuperate completely. One of Abby’s friends has a classmate who died from dengue. It was very sudden. When Abby came down with a fever Thursday, we also brought her to the hospital for tests to see if it is the flu or close to what PJ has. Please pray that Abby will not have dengue again (she had it last year).
5. for the release of four foreigners who have been kidnapped 300 miles from us in Northwest portion of our island of Mindanao. These include one Japanese man, one Jordanian journalist and two Europeans. An Australian retired soldier who was kidnapped in 2011 was just released by Al-Queda (Abu Sayyaf) terrorists last week.
6. for construction of our boys’ orphanage, supervised by our administrator Ben. The electric company is demanding that we pay $2,000 for a huge transformer for the entire neighborhood, and donate it to them. They also demand that we allow them to bill us monthly, along with neighbors, for the use of it, and receive no refund of the expense. We are considering other options like a generator, but diesel fuel on the island is quite expensive.
7. that, since after my recent stroke I still have headaches, forget things, and need frequent naps, my body will recuperate fully before my next follow-up checkup this May.

Praise God:

1. for our friend Avi, in New York. As with many who are praying (Thank You!), he called and prayed over the phone for our family’s health, and my recovery from the recent stroke.
2. that on Sunday after church, when Abby mentioned, “Oh by the way, the youth group is coming over,” the sixteen teens had a wonderful time at our tiny home. Abby shared the meaning of our “Wordless bracelets” and the Wordless Book. Plus, she made a special pumpkin and caramel 3-layer cake, plus we fed them lots of scrumptious goodies and fruit while they were here.
3. that thew wedding which Elvie and I attended this week as godparents requested for both me and her to speak, challenging them with our example, advice, Biblical guidance and prayer.
4. that Michael Card, the popular Christian singer/songwriter (he wrote “El Shaddai”), performed a mini concert at Faith Academy last week, and Elvie and I were able to meet and talk with him after the concert.
5. that  Dean, our visitor from Mexico this week, paid for the barge ride for me to drive across the Davao Gulf to our Boys’ home on Samal Island. He also purchased a snack for them from a little store on the island. The boys entertain themselves by catching fat spiders and keeping them in matchbox containers. They place the spiders on opposite ends of a stock and have them fight. They even catch spiders in the field and sell the fattest and fastest ones to their classmates. Roger (one of the boys) kept the seeds from a squash he’d found in the garbage. He planted them and keeps the goats away from the vine. Every week he’ll pick his squash and walk it a mile to the nearby town to sell it in the market. Then he saves the money until he sees his family again in the city. He gives them the funds to help them pay for food to eat.
6. that this week, I (Paul) was re-elected to my third year’s term as president and Program Coordinator of Davao Christian Leadership Foundation. Next week we will elect a new slate of officers who will be my cabinet.
7. that, even though the giving was low for the month of February, we just received the listing of gifts for March, and the two months combined match the average months' giving from last year at this time.

Status of $30,000 needed for three 21-passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10-passenger multicabs: $4,275 received, $25,725 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 10.

Davao City, Philippines

Present need: $94 to cement, repair and tile the Boys’ An d Girls’ bathrooms servicing BCA’s multipurpose gym (also used for church on Sundays and Wednesdays):

• 2-20W LIGHTBULBS: $5
• 2 FAUCETS: $11
• SOLVENT CEMENT: $3
• FLUORESCENT 30W MAGNETIC BALLAST: $4
• 2-20W CASING BALLAST: $13
• 96-30X30 CERAMIC GRAY MARBLIZED TILES:$58           

1. for God to provide the needed $56,000 for BCA’s new 2.2-acre campus, required by the Philippine Department of Education before 2017. Total received so far: $5,165.
2. for the next upcoming Barner Christian Academy events: April 15 BCA Required Vacation Bible School and Institutional Summer School begins. All 320 BCA sponsored students will be on the Campus, in classes during these five weeks.
3. for Dean, a short-term American missionary, who flew to the Philippines last week: that God will use him greatly as he spends three weeks teaching, building and giving financial counsel to Filipinos.
4. for the mom of four of our BCA sponsored-students. Unable to cope with the pressures of raising a family on such little income, she ran away for six months. This week she returned and (together with her husband) had a counseling session with Elvie and myself. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will repair the emotional damage that caused the problem, and unite the family together again as one. All four of her children failed in their exams, due to the pressures of having no mother for most of the school year.
5. for Elvie as she is one of the fifteen governing board members of a national mission agency (CAMACOP) with 3 million members. This week is their semi-annual meeting, hosted right here in Davao, where they are making final plans for their biennial General Assembly (April 23-28). Three thousand pastors, missionaries and church workers are expected to attend, and we will have about 300 sleeping on the floor here at BCA school. Friends in the USA have also sent toothbrushes, wash cloths, soap and toothpaste for the poor pastors staying with us who cannot afford hotels.

Praise God:

1. for the many prayer warriors who, as soon as they heard I’d (Paul) had a stroke, began praying for my complete recovery. My greatest defense (besides prayer) against the stroke’s recurrence is to increase my sleep to eight hours per night, and to maintain my hydration in this humid, tropical climate.
2. that at the local Homeowners Association’s annual meeting at BCA two weeks ago, Elvie was elected as Treasurer, since she is the most trustworthy and that she will be sure that no unofficial collections will be made from ne’er-do-wells who desire to pedal their elected position for profit.
3. that PJ is recuperating from his fever.
4. that although all the hotels had previously been booked solid for the area of my Ironman triathlon in Cebu, Philippines this August, I was alerted of a recent vacancy this week, and able to reserve rooms for our family during the days of the race
5. that a Philippine Challenge representative agreed to give a half-hour presentation this week in the foundation I run. All who were present were challenged as he revealed his finding that most evangelical churches in the Philippines average only 50 adherents and that of the 100 million Filipinos in the country, only 10% are saved believers in Jesus Christ. For 30 million (one third) of the population of the country, there is no nearby evangelical church, so there is no way to hear the Gospel unless someone goes to tell them. He also mentioned that, of the 13 Muslim groups in Mindanao, two have already been reached with the Gospel, with multitudes turning from Islam to embrace salvation through Jesus Christ. However, the other eleven are still hardened to the Gospel. We also had Nonoy, a fellow church planter, share with us a Bible challenge from Psalm 1, reflecting on our responsibilities in the upcoming nationwide May elections.
6. that, after some friends had sent many boxes of used clothes to BCA for the use of poor students, we found a few boxes of adult clothes as well. These adult clothes are being sold on the streets by a family in our church whose house burned down. They are able to get a good income for their family’s food and personal needs from the sale of these clothes, as they set up tables at  various alternating village festivals around the city.
7. that when Becky, the fourth of our six puppies, died this week, it was sudden and she did not suffer. We now have two 6-month old puppies who have survived. Near as we can figure, tropical parasites have infiltrated the puppies’ systems: parasites which are able to bypass the required inoculations which we had the veterinarian give them.
8. that when a local stray cat (we call it “Hitler” due to its facial coloring) had kittens this week, I rescued one which got too close to our dog Jana. Although Jana was on a chain, the kitten waddled right over to our dog and was almost eaten before I separated them. In the past Jana had killed and eaten kittens so fast that we hardly had time to respond. Cats, although smelly, are good at catching mice before they get too big to kill. Sometimes rats get bigger than the cats here. In our house, mice got into my “private stash” of peanuts this week. When they eat, they nibble on some and poop on the rest. Ick.
9. that one of the poor BCA parents celebrated her 45th birthday this week, and saved up her resources to buy spaghetti, rice and Coke, which she brought over to the school to treat our staff to lunch.
10. that when a sponsor in Alabama’s BCA child’s family moved away after graduation last week, the sponsor accepted a new two-year old nursery girl named Molecule as her new sponsored pupil.

Status of $30,000 needed for three 21-passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10-passenger multicabs: $4,270 received, $25,730 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

Davao City, Philippines

Present need: $230 for BCA bus repairs on March 16.  

1. for God to provide the needed $56,000 for BCA’s new 2.2-acre campus, required by the Philippine Department of Education before 2017. Total received so far: $5,155.
2. for the next upcoming Barner Christian Academy events: April 15 BCA Required Vacation Bible School and Institutional Summer School begins. All 320 BCA sponsored students will be on the Campus, in classes during these five weeks.
3. for the local homeowners, who had their annual meeting at BCA this past Sunday. During the previous elections, there were many disgruntled neighbors, who disliked the winners of the vote. Perhaps this time they will be able to work together for the betterment of the populace.
4. for me not to have a relapse of the stroke that I had this week. The doctor said that sometimes a mild stroke is a warning of its “big brother” just around the bend.
5. for our BCA teachers as they prepare the campus for the five week Summer School, with 320 students and possibly dozens of others “tagging along” for the VBS which will begin during the first three days of Summer classes.

Praise God:

1. that God answered your prayers! PJ’s renewed passport was supposed to be released in three weeks, but it arrived within one! I was thus able to purchase our airline tickets for our North American speaking tour (and triathlon), from June 10-August 4.
2. that although I (Paul) suffered a mild stroke a few days ago, the doctors were able to prescribe medication (blood thinners, etc.) that should pretty-well keep it under control. I have no physical ailments resulting from the stroke.
3. that PJ performed fabulously in the Faith Academy community stage dramas this week. He really has a unique, comfy personality while on stage.
4. that an American family, who felt blessed by the Lord in 2012, showed their appreciation to God by sending $1,000 to BCA! Timing was perfect, as our projector has been destroyed by the floods of a typhoon a few months ago, and our church projector also stopped working this past Sunday. Plus, I needed a replacement by this week. These funds not only covered the cost of the new projector, but a free, six-foot movie screen and also enough was left over from the gift to cover part of the school’s utility bill. Yay, God!
5. that Tim Tebow’s CURE hospital representative gave a presentation in our Outreach club this week, and we were able to use the brand new projector for his speech.

Status of $30,000 needed for three 21-passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10-passenger multicabs: $4,265 received, $25,735 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 10.

PALM SUNDAY (3/24)

“What do you brush your teeth with?” Our club president Jimmy was speaking to a class of 60 poor Badjao sea gypsies to whom we give food to each month.

“And…why do we brush our teeth?” he asked, to which the kids, in unison, responded, “The toothpaste tastes tam-is (sweet)!”

On our way to the elementary school where the class was being held, we had to take a detour, for about fifty soldiers and police were standing with shields and firearms, at the school entrance. Another 40 poor beggars were performing a sit-down strike, blocking the road.

Once inside the school grounds however, the kids were excited about the noodles, rice and other consumables which we had brought for them to eat.

This past December, a tragic typhoon had hit the Philippines. Our club members had given tons of rice and other aid (including a generator for a small local hospital) to help.

Since not all the aid came at once, some cases of noodles arrived after the trucks had already left for distribution.

While awaiting the collection of enough aid for another trip, the concern was that some of the groceries might expire before time for the next scheduled distribution. That was when the decision was made to distribute to the local starving children, and to replenish those groceries when the next truck would arrive to drive to the typhoon-hit region.

After lots of pictures were taken with the kids and club members (with all the food), Jimmy (our club president) opened a case of New Testament Bibles in the local language (he is a volunteer for the Gideons Bible Society). Since some of the students have Muslim roots, their parents were peeping in the door of the classroom to see the dozens of Bibles being distributed.

One women, all dressed in black, with only her eyes showing through a tiny “window” in her shawl, looked longingly at the Bibles. Since the Quran mentions Jesus (called Isa Amasa), most Muslims are curious in finding out more information about Him. So, innocently, a Bajao sea gypsy student gave a pocket New Testament to one of the shawled Muslim ladies.

“Pastor Paul, do you have anything to say?” I was asked by our President, Jimmy. Now, all seminary graduates are taught, “Always be ready to preach, teach, or pray,” I asked the kids to raise their new Bibles into the air. Their teacher Grace translated my impromptu speech into the Bajao dialect.

“Who likes a secret?” I asked. All hands went up into the air. “I do!” they responded. “Inside this book,” I continued, “is an incredibly fantastic secret. The secret is how to get to Heaven. But you will not find out the answer to the secret unless you open this book and read it. What is the first day of the week?” I asked, as I reached up and removed the calendar from the classroom wall, pointing to Sunday.

“Domingo!” (Sunday) shouted all the kids in unison. “Open your Bible every Domingo (Sunday) and read it!” So all the kids opened their Bibles right then, to show that they knew how to do it. Day by day, we went through the calendar week, with the same challenge, “Open your Bible EVERY DAY and read it. If you can’t read, have somebody else read it to you!”
A little girl in the front row did not seem to be able to wait for the next day to arrive, and opened her Bible right away, reading it and trying to find out the answer to the secret of eternal life.

“Just like toothpaste, the answer to the secret of eternal life, once you have found it, is very, very…”

And all the Bajao kids responded, “TAM-IS!” (sweet).

Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!

Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)

PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for the Bajao students. A sister ministry busses dozens of them to school every week. However, I am trying to convince a local civic club to build a multipurpose building (on stilts) right in the village of the sea gypsies, to provide schooling and other medical/nutritional, spiritual and educational outreaches there. Please also pray for PJ's passport renewal this week as our family flies to Manila.

1. for God to provide the needed $56,000 for BCA’s new 2.2-acre campus, required by the Philippine Department of Education before 2017. Total received so far: $5,150.
2. for the next upcoming Barner Christian Academy events: March 25 BCA Baccalaureate Service/ Moving-up Ceremonies, April 8 BCA Required Summer School begins, April 2-5 Vacation Bible School.
3. for PJ’s passport renewal. We have already been in Manila a few days to process the document, but they said it may take between two and three weeks. Please pray that I receive it quickly, so that I will still have ample time to purchase discount tickets for our upcoming June trip to the USA.
4. for A.L., the son of my BCA secretary. He is training for the pastorate, and is scheduled to graduate this week.
5. for Ma’am Duloy, the former Dean of Students at a local Bible College. Her diabetes caused her to have her leg amputated.
6. for the thousands of pastors who will be traveling to Mindanao (Davao specifically) for a pastors’ conference next month. Our school will be allowing hundreds of the pastors to sleep ion our classrooms.
7. for the pastors and church workers in Compostella Valley, where the December typhoon hit the hardest. There has been so much suffering in the area that Christian workers are heavily overworked. Many are counseling the survivors for cases of deep depression.
8. for Apec, the four-year-old son of my associate pastor Callem. Apec has been in and out of a local clinic, with a high fever.
9. for the Philippine “Holy Week” just before Easter. During this time, many unbelievers “flagellate” themselves with whips. Some have themselves nailed themselves to crosses, to try and help Jesus to pay for their sins!

Present need: $180 for six cans of pink paint, beige paint and primer to repaint our street-girls’ home’s exterior wall, pillars and gate from the drab dark green to a lively feminine hue.

PRAISE:

1. That this week, a few of the Bajao students actually graduated from the public elementary school! These are most likely the first elementary graduates in the entire history of these families. Bajaos, since their community is a distance from our school, are not sponsored by Barner Christian Academy. However, in the not-too-distant future we may be able to develop a sponsorship program among them.
2. that PJ and Abigail were able to “shadow” students their grades/ages at Faith Academy Manils this week. They made many new buddies! Meanwhile Elvie and I interviewed other administrators in ministry.
3. that when I moved our weekly DCL prayer meeting to a local Bible College campus, I hadn’t realized that is was the same exact day as the 56th birthday of the Bible College president’s wife. So of course there was lots of food and also a nice celebration.
4. that I had a meeting this week with the executive director of the new CURE Tim Tebow hospital in Davao. He agreed to come in May as our guest speaker in the foundation I am president of, “Davao Christian Leadership” (DCL)
5. that a man whose family I had helped many years ago, finally introduced me to them, so that I could remember their faces and pray for them.
6. that the three holidays this week, “Ides of March” (15th), “Araw Ng Dabaw” (16th) and “St Pat’s Day” (17th), tho filled with important events, were enlightening. 
7. that last week’s parent-teacher conferences with PJ and Abby’s teachers went very well. Both kids are leaders in their school. However, PJ needs to work a tad harder on Trigonometry, and Abby in Gym. Aside from these two grades, They had virtually straight A’s.
8. that Abby had a great overnight event at Faith Academy Davao, with her classmates.
9. that, when Elvie spoke at an ecumenical funeral last week (for her aunt), many unbelievers heard the Gospel.
10. that, in response to your prayers (thank you soooo much!), my mom is doing better physically. All four of us had a chance to talk with her (one-on-one) when we called to New York for my dad’s 84th birthday. Their sixtieth wedding anniversary will be in June.
11. that Amie, a young lady whom we’d met at the USA Embassy two years ago (when we were processing Abby’s passport renewal), still remembered us during our visit this week, and let us pray for her and share with her the plan of salvation. She still had in her bag our family’s picture and prayer card!
12. that we were able to help Leo, an American stranded in Manila and falsely accused of battery; just recently released from four months in jail. We met Leo in the mall and prayed with him. We also shared with him the plan of salvation.

BUILDING FUND: $5,150 (Total savings for BCA’s new, government-required, by 2017, $56,000 campus)

Status of $30,000 needed for three 21-passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10-passenger multicabs: $4,260 received, $25,740 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 10.

Present need: $375 for 19 gallons of paint reducer, lavender paint and primer for the inside walls of our “Father’s House” street-girls’ home compound, beige paint for the cabinets, gray floor paint and sealer, and brushes and body filler for the chipped areas of the wall..

1. for God to provide the needed $56,000 for BCA’s new 2.2-acre campus, required by the Philippine Department of Education before 2017. Total received so far: $5,125.
2. for the next upcoming Barner Christian Academy events: March 20-22 School wide Achievement tests, March 25 BCA Baccalaureate Service/ Moving-up Ceremonies, April 8 BCA Required Summer School begins, April 2-5 Vacation Bible School.
3. for our family’s flight to Manila this Sunday. We will visit the USA embassy on Tuesday to renew PJ’s passport. Please pray that all goes smoothly and that we receive his new passport quickly, so that we may purchase our tickets ASAP for our USA speaking tour which begins this June.
4. for a family in the church whose two twin sons John and Jay are divided: one is a believer, and the other is not. Please pray that the unbeliever will be drawn to salvation.
5. for our work among the Bajao sea gypsies. We are trying to decide whether to build a multipurpose room for the students in a local elementary school, or to build a house on stilts in their ocean village for medical/educational/spiritual/nutritional outreach.

Praise God:

1. that our school guard Roger celebrated his birthday by inviting many unbelievers to join us in the celebration dinner for his birthday. We had singing, praises and testimonies, and also a Bible message and prayer.
2. that a fellow missionary is also working in the local mental hospital, and we have been able to share ideas about how best to spread the Gospel there. Weekly, that family brings peanut butter sandwiches to the patients.
3. that Jon and Leo and Ongon, three workers hired by a fellow missionary, are working for two weeks in our “Father’s House” street girls’ home by painting, scraping, cleaning and performing minor carpentry/electrical work. It is really starting to look nice. They also chiseled-off the wall some old tiles which had already been painted over, plus finished the entire exterior wall.
4. that during this week’s Leaders’ Meeting at church, we decided to energize the congregants by hosting 20 “Cottage Prayer” meetings in various homes throughout each month. This will enhance the members concertedly as a group in their spiritual growth. We also decided that, each time a pastor visits one of our daughter churches, that he will bring a children’s worker with him so that there will be greater consistency in the Children’s Sunday School programs.
5. that we have a new contact in Oregon for us to share about this ministry, while we are on speaking tour in the USA this June/July.
6. that I have finished reading the Bible my 58th time through, from cover-to-cover.
7. that a former missionary’s son, grown now and working in the USA as an art teacher, is returning to the Philippines with his family for four months this year to write a children’s book on Filipino culture.
8. that the director of Ted Tebow’s Davao hospital has scheduled a time this week for me to meet with him to discuss our sister ministries.
9. that funds were sent through Christian Aid Mission last month for us to purchase a pig, a goat and a horse for indigenous church planting missionaries. Also $50 was given for fuel for the boat we are building for trips to a large local island to plant churches.

Status of $30,000 needed for three 21-passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10-passenger multicabs: $4,260 received, $25,740 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 10.

DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME (3/10), 101ST ANNIVERSARY OF THE GIRL SCOUTS (3/12) ARAW NG DABAW (DAVAO CITY ANNIVERSARY/492ND ANNIVERSARY OF MAGELLAN’S 1521 PHILIPPINE LANDING: 3/16)

“There are gold bricks in here!” While passing the iron bars of the homicide criminals in the Davao Mental Hospital, one of the patients, with a small towel resting open on his head, suggested that I unlock the gate to retrieve the treasure of gold which he claimed to have in his cell block.
As foundation president of DCL (Davao Christian Leadership), I had been approached in January by one of our newest members, Ray. Ray’s sister had been a social worker for two whole decades in Davao City’s 40-yr-old mental hospital, and Ray had developed a heart of compassion for the 400 patients incarcerated within its inner-city walls.

“Please write a letter to the city mayor, requesting enough ice cream and rice soup (“lugaw”) for all the Mental Hospital residents” asked Ray. “We can make this an official, ongoing project of DCL.” After I had typed-up the letter on DCL stationery, Ray brought it to our city mayor’s office, and the mayor approved and signed it immediately. Two weeks later, the twenty members of our foundation were invited to come and serve the patients.

However, it was good that only Ray and I showed up, since the mayor’s team had arrived with the food donation over an hour early, and the hospital staff, to keep the meal from getting cold and the ice cream from melting, went ahead and served it to the residents themselves, before we arrived.

This was actually a good thing, for it gave us the time to visit the staff, patients and administrators.

That morning had been our BCA Parent-Teacher’s meeting, and I’d presented to the BCA parents a Bible challenge from Luke 6 about being “good trees” by being a good example, and bearing “good fruit” in their children. I had planned on “tweaking” that same message for the mental hospital, since Ray had only informed me an hour before the visit that he expected me to also give a Bible message to the patients. Yet now, there’d be no general assembly of the patients to open the opportunity of presenting one main message.

However, as Ray and I toured among the cells in the mental hospital, I could see great opportunities here. Hundreds of mentally challenged patients were here, bored in this “safe place”.

There was one cell for a dozen of those whose brains had been “fried” by continued drug usage.

To “normal” mankind, these formerly productive citizens, businessmen, young people and housewives were useless, and now considered the dredges of society. Others…a few hundred actually, were in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit), an open-air ward, on intravenous tubes, recuperating from rescued suicide attempts and/or self-flagellation.
Yes, there is “gold” in here. Golden opportunities to share the Gospel, that is. Yet gold must be dug up through hard work. Later, after passing through gate after gate on successively connecting sidewalks, we sat upstairs in the Director’s office, devising a sustainable plan to schedule a monthly agenda. These events would be designed to feed, both naturally and supernaturally, the patients and their visiting families.

Since pictures of patients are not allowed (to protect confidentiality of the patients) we asked a patient to take our picture, along with the Directress. Yet first, we had to remove the patient’s finger from the camera lens!

Later that evening, Elvie, PJ, Abby and I, after changing a flat tire on our car, enjoyed the “BOB” (Battle of the Books) literary competition at Faith Academy. Abby did great. These kids are quick, smart sand very teachable…seemingly just the opposite of the lethargic mental patients whom I had come into contact earlier that day.

But as we celebrated at McDonald’s over cheeseburgers on the way home, I reflected that, the mental killer I’d met this morning had had a good point. If we dig deep enough, if we search hard enough, there is nowhere that you can’t find traces of golden opportunities. We are surrounded by potential, if we only look for it, to the Glory of God.
Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!

Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)

PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for the city mayor to continue providing ice cream and lugaw each month for this evangelistic outreach at the local Mental Hospital. Also please pray for the graduation exercises of our BCA children this month.

Present need: $180 for six cans of pink paint, beige paint and primer to repaint our street-girls’ home’s exterior wall, pillars and gate from the drab dark green to a lively feminine hue.

1. for God to provide the needed $56,000 for BCA’s new 2.2-acre campus, required by the Philippine Department of Education before 2017. Total received so far: $5,115.
2. for the next upcoming Barner Christian Academy events: March 20-22 School wide Achievement tests, March 25 BCA Baccalaureate Service/ Moving-up Ceremonies, April 8 BCA Required Summer School begins, April 2-5 Vacation Bible School.
3. for safety and provision for a ragged, homeless family I spotted recently on may way back home from a YWAM meeting. There was a young mother, an infant baby and two toddlers, sitting in the dirty dust of a doorframe of an abandoned building. The children were pawing through, and emptying a plastic bag and counting the recyclable bottles and cans they’d collected, using the trash as toys to play with. My next time passing the spot (there was a lot of traffic), they were no longer there.
4. for Dexter, our computer teacher. He is rushing to finish the BCA graduation program in time for the upcoming event.
5. for my dad, sister and brothers, who will have a family meeting in New York next Thursday to discuss, with a Government advisor present, what options are available to provide for geriatric care for my ailing mother.

PRAISE: That our DCL foundation has new doors opening up for cooperation among many sister ministries to meet the physical and spiritual needs of Davao’s poor and homeless children: YWAM, Operation Blessing, Gideons, Child Evangelism Fellowship, Kiwanis, Campus Crusade for Christ, Father’s House for Street Children and other Children At-Risk, Sparrow’s Gate Mission, Faith Academy, Shepherd’s House, Davao Alliance Bible College… and many more!

1. that BCA’s annual occupancy permit renewal, after countless visits to City Hall by Elvie and other BCA staff, has finally been released this week. Yay, God! The process is quite complex, and has required the paying of many fees and presentation/creation of numerous documents, including even minor revisions in the structure, over the previous twelve months.
2. that the BCA staff hosted the weekly DCL prayer meeting this week. They even got up early to clean the wall fans and also to cook breakfast for the prayer team.
3. that although we lost one sponsor this week, we gained two! Also, a friend who already sponsors a child in BCA has sent $25 additional for the family of RJ, whose house burned down a few weeks ago. Thanks, Lord!
4. that the twelve residents in our street-boys’ home will be receiving new shoes this weekend, through the OCS (Operation Christmas Shoes/Socks) program, in which many individuals and churches donated funds this past October through January. This is the third group to take a field trip to the store to get brand-new, black uniform-ready shoes/socks and also a free l;unch!
5. that a ceasefire was declared this week, just a few hours after 31 Filipino settlers were gunned down on the border island of Saba, between the Philippines and Malaysia.
6. that, even though informed last-minute by PJ and Abby that I was chosen to give the Sunday afternoon Bible message, the young people really energetically participated and responded to my two-hour challenge, to look for the lost and lonely and show the compassion of Jesus to them.
7. that I was challenged deeply when I was recently listening to a Christian speaker. He claimed that the martyr Deitrich Bonhoeffer’s statement “The Cost of Discipleship” should be analyzed with the perspective of the even greater “Cost of NON-Discipleship” for new believers.
8. that Elvie and the women from our church hosted dozens of women from many different churches in this area of the city, for a lively time of prayer, as well as a competition in Bible knowledge.
9. that the recent Typhoon Crising, which hit parts of the Philippines last week, missed Davao City.
10. that our City Mayor, daughter of the former mayor, resigned this week (just two months before Election Day) when she found out that she is pregnant.
11. that this week I met with a distant relative, who (with her husband) are Math and “Advanced Placement” Science teachers in Manila for the sister school of PJ and Abby’s Faith Academy Mindanao.

BUILDING FUND: $5,115 (Total savings for BCA’s new, government-required, by 2017, $56,000 campus)

Status of $30,000 needed for three 21-passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10-passenger multicabs: $4,255 received, $25,745 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 10.

Davao City, Philippines

Present need: $410 for bus repairs (flat tires, differential rebuilding, parts).

PRAYER REQUESTS:

1. for God to provide the needed $56,000 for BCA’s new 2.2-acre campus, required by the Philippine Department of Education before 2017. Total received so far: $5,105.
2. for the next upcoming Barner Christian Academy events: March 20-22 School wide Achievement tests, March 25 BCA Baccalaureate Service/ Moving-up Ceremonies, April 8 BCA Required Summer school begins, April 2-5 Vacation Bible School.
3. for my vice president in DCL (Davao Christian Leadership Foundation) Manny, who is training his own intern pastor, Erwin. Erwin has written a Christian musical for students, which will be performed at their Community Bible Center (which meets in a local family’s garage).
4. for both PJ and Abby, who were assigned parts in the upcoming “Solomon” musical. It will be presented in a few months.
5. for a fellow pastor’s church. They are in a rural area near where Elvie grew up. While the pastor and congregation were bringing a casket to the burial place after a funeral service, a thief broke in and stole their entire sound system, guitars and other musical equipment.
6. for our annual occupancy permit renewal. Although Lando (our engineer) stated that it was ready to be released a few weeks ago, they have found some last-minute snags regarding minor structural revisions that were made (and not included in the blueprints) since the construction was completed six years ago.

Praise God:

1. that the local YWAM (Youth With A Mission) director Jeremy has agreed to accept the assistance of DCL in bringing a Christian “muscle team” to Davao to share the Gospel with young people.
2. that Elvie and the ladies in our church are hosting over a hundred ladies from other local churches this Saturday in a special ladies’ convention, at BCA. Also next Friday BCA will host the DCL for their weekly prayer meeting.
3. that Dr. Rex, our guest speaker at DCL this week challenged us to (as Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law stated) delegate authority to as many other believers as possible, so as to lift up in prayer daily the entire body of believers, by name. He also assured us that “Our problems are a platform for God to display His grandeur.”
4. that our street-boys’ home on the nearby island of Samal now has a new power pole for the installation of the home’s first electrical meter. Also, even though the government said we couldn’t build the home in the area, since it is zoned for “agricultural use only”, our engineer was able to convince the local administrators that the home is for the betterment of the poor and also will bring in funds to the community. The new electrical permit has also now been filed. Digging of the building’s foundation should be started next week. Hopefully, the cement will be prepared, poured and dry by the time our international mission team arrives in April to build.
5. that after saving up for 17 years, we finally are driving our brand-new pickup truck! Thank you Lord! Dr. Nebab (a national Christian evangelist and director of thousands of indigenous churches) “just happened” to be visiting Davao  on the day we brought the truck home, so he prayed for God to use it to lead many souls to Jesus, and also to further ministry of God.
6. that over the past half-year, my DCL foundation has invited leaders from many parachurch ministries to share at our monthly meetings. These have included Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF), Father’s House For Street Children and other Children At Risk, Inc. (FHF), Gideons, Operation Blessing, Philippine Student Alliance Lay Movement (PSALM), Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC), and Philippine Challenge. Upcoming speakers include Navigators, YWAM, Far East Broadcasting (FEBC/DXFE), Faith Academy, BCA (Barner Christian Academy), DABC (Davao Alliance Bible College), Koinonia Seminary, Hope Mountain, Operation Christmas Child, Compassion International, World Relief, United Nations Humanitarian Aid (secular), Dynasty Rural Pastors’ ministry, and Living Stones Orphanage.
7. that, although there was a road-block sitdown-strike against soldiers, police, guns and road blocks outside of one of the locations where we were ministering this week, there were nonetheless no injuries.
8. that 2 cases of noodles were “borrowed” from the typhoon aid supplies, to be replaced next month. The concern was that the expiration date might be exceeded otherwise. These noodles were given to poor children in a local elementary school. Another ministry had recently poisoned dozens of recipients of aid when they had distributed expired and contaminated food.
9. that it was determined by a national church growth group that the greatest number of 2012 conversions and new churches planted in the Philippines is in formerly-Muslim areas where converts have turned en masse to Christ. In ARMM (Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao) alone, over 100 churches were planted in the past five years! Yay, God!
10. that Rick Warren’s “Purpose-Driven Church” program has challenged hundreds of national Filipino churches (including ours), who have adopted the “WIDER” approach to evangelism: W=Winning People To Jesus; I=Integrate them into the life of the church; D=Disciple them to be responsible and godly citizens; E=Engage in holistic developmental ministries and in planting churches; R=Rejoicing in worship for the glory of God. We are teaching this curriculum in our men’s group, Sunday School and Youth program.
11. that local church leaders are working on developing a process of disciplining fallen workers and also creating a process of restoration.
12. that the “I Still Do” marriage seminars are blossoming in attendance nationwide. Also the “College of Prayer” modules are returning to Manila in March and August. Elvie, the kids and I may be able to touch base with them when we return from the USA in August, just before my Ironman triathlon in Cebu 8/4.
13. that, since Elvie and I have agreed to be the “chauffeur” of a national evangelist (head of the PCEC Philippine Council of evangelical Churches), during an upcoming convention in April, we will also be provided a free hotel room for the week! Cool!
14. that on Sunday afternoon, while Elvie was on nearby Samal Island doing pioneer-analysis in a new area for church planting, I “proxied” for her as one of the directors (and host) for the local homeowners association’s monthly meeting. Elvie was nominated for the vice-chairman position, yet voted it down, since she mentioned she already has enough responsibilities. Instead, she will likely be appointed as board secretary in their March 3 meeting.
15. that PJ and Abby did fantastic during last Sunday’s worship service. PJ operated the PowerPoint projector while Abby was on the Tambourine team during the worship chorus time.
16. that we participated in a feeding program (outreach) to the sea gypsies this week.

2013 FURLOUGH, JUNE 10-AUGUST 4, 2013

JUNE
9 SUN PHILIPPINES
10 MON PH BCA STARTS/FLY TO MANILA
11 TUE PH FLY TO USA
12 WED UTAH KAYSVILLE
13 THU UTAH KAYSVILLE
14 FRI UTAH COWBOY CHURCH
15 SAT UTAH MEET WITH CREATIVE MINISTRIES TEAM
16 SUN UT LAYTON BAPTIST CHURCH
17 MON CA DRIVE TO HAYFORK
18 TUE CA HAYFORK
19 WED CA HAYFORK CHURCH
20 THU OR DRIVE TO GRANTS PASS
21 FRI WA DRIVE TO SEATTLE
22 SAT WA EVERETT
23 SUN WA MILL CREEK/SEATTLE/TACOMA
24 MON WA DRIVE TO ANACORTES
25 TUE WA ANACORTES
26 WED WA ANACORTES
27 THU WA ANACORTES
28 FRI WA DRIVE TO SPOKANE
29 SAT CN DRIVE TO PENNANT, SASKACHEWAN, CANADA
30 SUN CN SWIFT CURRENT CHURCH

JULY
1 MON SD DRIVE TO RAPID CITY
2 TUE NE/IA DRIVE TO MINDEN, IA AND CEDAR RAPIDS, IA
3 WED MI DRIVE TO HOLLAND/HOPE COLLEGE
4 THU MI DRIVE TO FLINT
5 FRI CN DRIVE TO CANADA, TORONTO
6 SAT VT DRIVE TO JERICHO
7 SUN VT JERICHO CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
8 MON NY DRIVE TO RENSSELAER
9 TUE NY DRIVE TO THORNWOOD
10 WED NY THORNWOOD CHURCH
11 THU NY MANHATTAN
12 FRI NY/PA DRIVE BINGHAMTON, ORIENTAL
13 SAT PA LANCASTER
14 SUN PA ST THOMAS IND BRETH CHURCH/MT PLEASANT MILLS
15 MON NY BRING PJ TO DELTA LAKE CAMP
16 TUE NY RENSSELAER
17 WED NY COLD BROOK PRAYER MTG.
18 THU NY RENSSELAER
19 FRI NY RENSSELAER
20 SAT NY RENSSELAER
21 SUN NY PINEVIEW ALBANY CMA CHURCH
22 MON NY BRING ABBY TO DELTA LAKE CAMP/ RENSSELAER
23 TUE NY RENSSELAER
24 WED NY ITHACA PRAYER MTG
25 THU NY RENSSELAER
26 FRI NY RENSSELAER
27 SAT NY GLENS FALLS MEN’S BREAKFAST/DRIVE TO ANDOVER
28 SUN NY ANDOVER/CANANDAIGUA BAPTIST CHURCH
29 MON NJ DRIVE TO MERCERVILLE
30 TUE NJ DRIVE TO NEWARK AIRPORT, FLY TO PHILIPPINES
31 WED NJ LOSE ONE DAY

AUGUST
1 THU PH FLY TO CEBU
2 FRI PH REGISTER FOR IRONMAN RACE
3 SAT PH CEBU
4 SUN PH CEBU IRONMAN/FLY TO DAVAO
5 MON PH FAITH ACADEMY BEGINS
6 TUE PH KIWANIS
7 WED PH PR MTG
8 THU PH PASTORS’ MEETING
9 FRI PH DCL FOUNDATION PRAYER MEETING
10 SAT PH HOME
11 SUN PH FAITH FELLOWSHIP CHURCH

Status of $30,000 needed for three 21-passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10-passenger multicabs: $4,250 received, $25,750 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 12.

Davao City, Philippines

Present need: $410 for bus repairs (flat tires, differential rebuilding, parts).

PRAYER REQUESTS:

1. for God to provide the needed $56,000 for BCA’s new 2.2-acre campus, required by the Philippine Department of Education before 2017. Total received so far: $5,075.
2. for the next upcoming Barner Christian Academy events: March 20-22 School wide Achievement tests, March 25 BCA Baccalaureate Service/ Moving-up Ceremonies, April 8 BCA Required Summer School begins, April 2-5 Vacation Bible School.
3. for Elvie, as she and others on her church-pioneering team travel this weekend to a remote area of Samal Island to research local needs for churches. Limited funds for a small motorboat have been provided from American friends for national missionary church planters to get back and forth the one-mile across the Davao Gulf. My triathlon team has swum this trek many times, but church planting teams cannot be expected to do this with their Bibles.
4. for the son of my associate Pastor Callem’s coworker, who was in a motorcycle accident and will be in the hospital for 3 months.
5. for the families of the deceased driver in a multicab accident that PJ and Abby saw. As they were coming home from school,  they saw the accident and the blood pouring from the mouth of the driver, still in his seatbelt.

Praise God:

1. that PJ and Abby was still able to attend school at Faith Academy, even though all the other schools in Davao were closed due to an oncoming typhoon prediction.
2. that a few days ago, I just missed being in an accident when I pulled-out from the hardware store parking lot. There was a three=car pile-up including a truck and motorcycle, just two minutes after I left.
3. that when our car got a flat tire this week, we were rescued by a BCA bus driver, even though they had let the spare tire in the trunk go flat.
4. that, this week when our DCL (Davao Christian Leadership) Foundation visited the local Mental Hospital with free ice cream and rice soup (lugaw), the hospital’s staff had already fed the patients and we could spend the time visiting with the patients and also discussing with the administrators how best to meet the spiritual needs of those being treated for mental deficiencies.
5. that Abigail did wonderfully in her “Battle of the Books” (“BOB”) competition at Faith Academy this week. Twenty-six  elementary and Middle School students quizzed to see who could remember the most details from the half-dozen books they’d read over the past few months. Abby’s team did not win, but performed well.
6. that, even though I am a former president of the Davao City Kiwanis Club, I was elected this week to fill in the vice president vacancy after the former president died and Elvie (former vice president) was pushed up to president-elect status.

2013 FURLOUGH

JUNE
9 PHILIPPINES
10 PH BCA STARTS/FLY TO MANILA      
11 PH FLY TO USA       
12 UTAH KAYSVILLE
13 UTAH KAYSVILLE     
14 UTAH COWBOY CHURCH       
15 UTAH MEET WITH CREATIVE MINISTRIES TEAM
16 UT LAYTON BAPTIST CHURCH
17 CA DRIVE TO HAYFORK
18 CA HAYFORK
19 CA HAYFORK CHURCH
20 OR DRIVE TO GRANTS PASS     
21 WA DRIVE TO SEATTLE
22 WA EVERETT        
23 WA MILL CREEK/SEATTLE/TACOMA
24 WA DRIVE TO ANACORTES
25 WA ANACORTES
26 WA ANACORTES
27 WA ANACORTES       
28 WA  DRIVE TO SPOKANE 
29 CN DRIVE TO PENNANT, SASKACHEWAN, CA
30 CN/MT SWIFT CURRENT CHURCH/BILLINGS CMA

JULY 
1 SD DRIVE TO RAPID CITY
2 NE/IA DRIVE TO MINDEN, IA AND CEDAR RAPIDS, IA
3 MI DRIVE TO HOLLAND/HOPE COLLEGE
4 MI DRIVE TO FLINT
5 CN DRIVE TO CANADA, TORONTO
6 VT DRIVE TO JERICHO
7 VT JERICHO CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
8 NY DRIVE TO RENSSELAER
9 NY DRIVE TO THORNWOOD
10 NY THORNWOOD CHURCH 
11 NY MANHATTAN
12 PA DRIVE ORIENTAL        
13 PA LANCASTER       
14 PA ST THOMAS IND BRETH CHURCH/MT PLEASANT MILLS
15 NY BRING PJ TO DELTA LAKE CAMP
16 NY RENSSELAER
17 NY COLD BROOK PRAYER MTG.
18 NY RENSSELAER
19 NY  RENSSELAER
20 NY RENSSELAER
21 NY PINEVIEW ALBANY CMA CHURCH
22 NY BRING ABBY TO DELTA LAKE CAMP/ RENSS.
23 NY RENSSELAER
24 NY ITHACA PRAYER MTG
25 NY RENSSELAER
26 NY RENSSELAER
27 NY GLENS FALLS MEN’S BREAKFAST/DRIVE TO ANDOVER
28 NY ANDOVER/CANANDAIGUA BAPTIST CHURCH
29 NJ DRIVE TO MERCERVILLE
30 NJ DRIVE TO NEWARK AIRPORT,  FLY TO PHILIPPINES
31 NJ LOSE ONE DAY

AUGUST
1 PH FLY TO CEBU        
2 PH REGISTER FOR IRONMAN RACE     
3 PH CEBU
4 PH CEBU IRONMAN/FLY TO DAVAO
5 PH FAITH ACADEMY BEGINS      
6 PH KIWANIS        
7 PH PR MTG
8 PH PASTORS’ MEETING       
9 PH DCL FOUNDATION PRAYER MEETING     
10 PH HOME        
11 PH FAITH FELLOWSHIP CHURCH

Status of $30,000 needed for three 21-passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10-passenger multicabs: $4,250 received, $25,750 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 12.

Davao City, Philippines [Philippine Edsa Holiday 2/25, George Washington's Birthday 2/22]

“Let's get lots of veggies!" Since a friend in the USA gave a one-time gift of funds to get food for our "Father's House" home for street girls, Elvie and I went to the grocery store to shop. A 110-pound sack of rice and six grocery bags later, we hauled the food to Pancelita, the "house mom" for the Father's House.

"This food is to last for one month," we told her. Yet just 3 weeks later, our friend Bebing had stopped by the Father's House one evening and seen that all the food was already gone.

As I was about to sleep, Elvie got a call from Bebing about the foodless girls. Try as I did, I couldn't sleep. All I could think of were those hungry children.

"We have food in the fridge. The stores might be closed, but we sure aren't." Our whole family got into the act, cleaning out food from our cupboards, freezer and fridge. If there were three cans of corn, we'd keep one and give them two. Bacon, beef, noodles, fish, candy and popsicles, all went into the bags. Even the leftover casserole that we'd only eaten half of at dinnertime, was transferred to Tupperware containers and stuffed into the bags. What a way to clean the fridge!
I could actually see the light in the back of the refrigerator now!
First time since August.

"Let's see...have I missed anything?" Then I spotted the boxes of cake mix on our kitchen shelf. American friends had sent us the mixes, over fifty of them, at Christmastime. We typically baked 2 or 3 cakes each Sunday, as many parishioners come to the parsonage for lunch after church and stay through for events in the afternoon. Midweek, PJ and Abby also often bake a few more.

Since our oven had been destroyed by one of the many floods that have hit us, we bake the cakes one at a time in the little toaster oven.

Two fresh-baked vanilla-sprinkled party cakes later at 9:30 pm, I banged on the metal gate of the Father's House girls' home. The girls and Pancelita didn't answer at first. Yet as I kept persisting in my banging and calling out, the girls and Pancelita came out to haul in the half-dozen bags of groceries into the house, with big smiles on their faces.

I stepped into the dining area with the still-hot cakes wrapped in a towel. Pancelita's eyes opened wide as I cut the cakes and transferred them from the pans I'd baked them in, to some dinner plates she'd had on the shelf. Since her fridge is half the size of ours, the "overflow" from ours filled hers to the brim.

On Sunday at church, during the testimony time, Pancelita stepped up to the microphone. In her tribal language (she is originally from the jungle), she shared the “miracle of the food.” Elvie translated the words as our girls’ home housemother spoke phrases between sobs of joy.

“We’ve never had so much food before. Last month, when Pastor brought over so many groceries, I didn’t know how to budget so much food. So we just cooked it all. But then, before we knew it, there was nothing left. From feast to famine. I was too embarrassed to tell anyone. But then suddenly one evening this week, in the middle of the night, I heard someone at the gate.

“Afraid it was a burglar, we ignored the noise. But then when we heard him call out that he was our pastor, we rushed out to see what he wanted. Oh, so much food! Some of it was already cooked! Food like I had never tasted before. And then, what a surprise when he unwrapped from a towel some food which he had freshly baked. Yet I am so very curious…how did you know?”

I called out, “Bebing told us you had no food!”

“No,” she responded. “I figured that. My question is, how did you know that you came on the very evening of my 34th birthday? I am from the jungle. I have never, ever had a birthday cake in my whole life…until now! Thank you, God!”

WHOAH. I was stunned. Praise God for His not letting me sleep. Praise God for Bebing’s alertness. And thanks to our friends in the USA who’d sent those cake mixes at Christmastime. But especially, thank YOU for praying for God’s discernment in this exciting ministry!

Until next time… Let the Islands rejoice!

Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)

PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for more street girls to be rescued from the streets of Davao and brought into our “Father’s House”. We have a donor who will give food money if there are four or more girls in the home. We only have three girls now.

PRAISE: That PJ, Elvie, and I were all able to play guitar in church this Sunday, even though we only started lessons a few weeks ago. Abby couldn’t play as she was performing in the tambourine team. Nitz, the mom whose house recently burned down, led in singing a Cebuano praise hymn.

BUILDING FUND: $5,075 (Total savings for BCA’s new, government-required, by 2017, $56,000 campus)

Davao City, Philippines

Present need: $456 for our BCA busses’ fuel bill for December, 2012.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

1. for God to provide the needed $56,000 for BCA’s new 2.2-acre campus, required by the Philippine Department of education before 2017. Total received so far: $4,965.
2. for the next upcoming Barner Christian Academy events:   February 14 Valentine’s Day, Teacher’s Appreciation Day, Hearts Day School-wide Celebration Performances; February 20-22 Fourth Periodical Exams.
3. for the victims of this week’s Davao flood (our school and house were not affected this time). Hundreds of newly-homeless families, representing four different religious backgrounds, are residing in outdoor covered basketball courts.
4. for the many poor families with whom and for whom we work. The months of steady rain have taken their toll on their health, and many are sick with dengue fever and sore throats.
5. for the mother of Pancelita (Pance). Pance is the house mother for our “Father’s House” girls’ home. While she is away recuperating from her recent hospital stay, her mother is running the home. Aside from her three granddaughters, Pance’s mom is caring for the newborn son. There is also a new street girl (9-yr-old Jean) who may be soon entering the home this week. Please pray that Pance’s mom adapts well to her “growing” family. Also praise God that we were able to donate a sack of rice and $30 worth of groceries this week. Plus, our church had a special offering Sunday to buy powdered milk formula for the newborn until Pance returns. Please also pray that Pancelita will gain her strength soon so that she can return asap to the ministry of being houseparent for our street-girls’ home.
6. during our community prayer meeting at DCL (Davao Christian Leadership Foundation) this week, Elvie mentioned how she and a church group fed 1500 hard-boiled eggs, along with rice soup, noodles and fish, to starving typhoon survivors. Please pray that the various outreaches will open doors of opportunity to share the Gospel with unbelievers.
7. that I (Paul) will find my passport soon. I use it for identification, as well as for travel, and I have misplaced it for the past week. If I can’t find it by March, I’ll need to get a new one when we renew PJ’s in Manila that month.
8. that as we extend our BCA ministry to include nursery ages, that the pupils’ early intellectual foundation in life will be based upon their faith, rather than upon their poverty.
9. that our 2-months’ plans for furlough this Summer (2013: UT-NV-CA-OR-WA-SASKATCHEWAN- ID-MT-ND-SD-MN-IL-WI-OH-MI-TORONTO – VT-NY-NJ-PA) will challenge many to become missionaries, or to sponsor kids at BCA.
10. for A.L., the son of one of our BCA secretaries. A.L. is a new pastor, on his internship. Yet he has been very sick with Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) these past two weeks.

Praise God:

1. that a team from Nebraska may be coming in February to pour the foundation for our new “Shepherd’s House” boys’ home on a nearby island and also to run a VBS for their nearby residents.
2. that “Apple” (a new believer in Jesus, and parent of one of our BCA students), who was struggling with breast cancer, went to heaven last week, and is out of pain now.
3. that Elvie held a “Women’s Sunday” at church this week, after her prayer and fasting conference on Saturday. Elvie challenged the parents from what our family had studied that morning in our Bible time, while going through the Book of Job. She shared how to care for others even when life becomes challenging for us. She shared about her recent trip to give aid and food to the survivors of recent Typhoon Pablo (“Bopha”), and also showed a You-Tube video clip from the recent Oprah Winfrey show. In the clip, Nick, a Christian Australian with no arms or legs gave his testimony of faith in Jesus, while leaping, one at a time, up the six steps to the stage.
4. that Jimmy, our Kiwanis club president, visited an area hit by the recent typhoons, and gave out 200 hamburgers to hungry survivors.
5. that Lenlen, another member of our club, travelled hours away with a different  Kiwanis club to give out hundreds of sacks of rice, canned food and cooked rice soup (plus small toys and also household items like soap and toothpaste) to even more hurricane survivors, who’d had family members drown in the flood waters.
6. that 2 very large boxes, which my dad in New York had packed three months ago, arrived this week. Inside were new children’s underwear, 150 stuffed animals and also school supplies for us to distribute next Christmas.  Only 350 stuffed animals to go, before Christmas, 2013 in 335 more days! Also included in the large box were smaller boxes of items for the school, sent in 2012 to him by churches in the USA.
7. that my computer’s printer is working fine, even though the black cartridge is destroyed. I did not have to purchase a new cartridge nor printer, since the ink store showed me how to program the machine to use the colored ink to print black copies.
8. that the first church we planted in 1997, whose monthly budget is $777,  although fell drastically below budget during Jan-Oct, inscreased substantially during Nov/Dec, 2012.  Since Dewc only fell short about $90, the church leadership team will only have to make minor cutbacks for 2013, and is abkle to continue supporting our Filipino pastor.
9. that during a day when classes were cancelled this week (due to water damage and power outages), due to severe flooding and heavy rains, PJ and some of his classmates collected boxes of food, clothes and household/school supplies to distribute to a nearby neighborhood that was roof-deep in floodwaters. They spent most of the day donating their time in scrubbing mud off from walls and shoveling goop from the interiors of peoples’ houses. We gave two large boxes.
10. that during Abigail’s basketball team “End-of-Season” party, she received a reward for the team’s “Greatest encourager”.
11. that our family received ten Christmas cards from friend in the USA.

Status of $30,000 needed for three 21-passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10-passenger multicabs: $3,235 received, $26,765 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 14.

Davao City, Philippines

Present need: $456 for our BCA busses’ fuel bill for December, 2012.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

1. for God to provide the needed $56,000 for BCA’s new 2.2-acre campus, required by the Philippine Department of education before 2017. Total received so far: $4,945.
2. for the next upcoming Barner Christian Academy events:   January 23-25 Fourth Preliminary Exams; February 14 Valentine’s Day, Teacher’s Appreciation Day, Hearts Day School-wide Celebration Performances; February 20-22 Fourth Periodical Exams.
3. for Pancelita, the young widow who is house-parent for our “Father’s House” home for street girls. After she was release from the hospital this week, she returned for a time of recuperation with some of her relatives in the jungle. She should return to her four children here in the city in February or March.
4. for the speedy opening of our new free nursery school program at Barner Christian Academy. Many needy young families have employment opportunities which they cannot take due to the need to take care of their small children 24/7. Other parents just need a “breather” the “catch their breath” during long, hectic days with their young kids.
5. for the teams considering coming out this year to help. Confirmed are: Nebraska, Utah and California. Unconfirmed are Alabama, Missouri and Indiana.

Praise God:

1. that last Tuesday, the day we returned from Guam, Elvie and I attended the Kiwanis Club mtg. Our district governor was present, and the thousands of dollars which they have received for aid for the Typhon Pablo survivors, has all been accounted for in meeting some of the needs of those struggling to get back to "life as normal". However, other aid groups have not been successful in reaching their areas of rural responsibility, and minor revolutions are taking place in those places, due to starving populations. One particular village is demanding 10,000 sacks of rice to avoid a revolt. Through Kiwanis, we have already doled out almost 200 sacks to other hungry communities.
2. that our church is considering "adopting" a sister church in the hardest-hit areas of nearby Compostella Valley, where Typhoon Pablo wreaked its havok in December.
3. that Elvie has successfully processed preliminary paperwork for our BCA school’s 2013 annual occupancy permits, and that there are a few American teams planning to visit the Davao ministries we are involved with to do minor construction.
4. that when the gas tank of the BCA bus I was driving this week sprung a huge leak, pouring out very combustible gasoline, there were no fires caused before the tank could be repaired.
5. that the wild snake that entered our house this week left ten minutes before I hosted the children’s program in our living room.
6. We rejoice with a missionary friend who, although Elvie and I were denied a free trip to Israel, he and his wife were granted the trip. It was likely because the other couple is childless and we wanted to bring our kids along.

Status of $30,000 needed for three 21-passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10-passenger multicabs: $3,230 received, $26,770 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 14.

Davao City, Philippines

“Yay! Bring in more street kids!” Pancelita, the pregnant widow who became the housemother for our “Father’s House” home for street girls, had a baby boy in November.

Once the baby was born, she was asking for more street girls to come in, to be rescued from a dangerous life on the city streets at night. Pancelita already has three small girls of her own.

According to Ben (our “Father’s House” volunteer administrator), “Pancelita is a very sweet-spirited and patient woman who loves kids of all kinds.  She seems very dedicated to caring for children as her primary responsibility in life.”

Ben had brought the “dirty dozen” boys from our “Shepherd’s House” Boys’ Home back from their island to the city for the holidays. Pancelita's aged mom, who also had come down from the mountains, joined the group.

As Ben explained, “This adventure was, in part, to test Pancelita’s ability to handle a bunch of wild, former street children.  And she passed with flying colors!”

The group of twenty-two (Ben, Pancelita’s family, the Dirty Dozen, and others) toured the city over the holidays. They saw the stores’ Christmas lights, joined in church Christmas parties and cantatas, and played games together, like a huge, extended family.

Not only did Pancelita display a gift for working with these street kids, but her very energetic and playful mother, along with our “highly resourceful” social worker Siegfried, cared for and supervised her own four children and our 12 former street boys for two weeks without any dramatic incidents, melt-downs, or moments of panic on her part.  She fell into the role of house parent quite naturally, and was smiles the whole time.  According to Ben, “She truly seemed to enjoy every minute!”

Not only did Pancelita shine, but also her mom. The two poor widows are both farmers from a mountainous jungle area, hours from Davao City. When Pancelita’s husband died in August, her mom left their tiny farm to help with the new baby’s birth. But she was bored in the city and wanted to get back to the farm as soon as the baby arrived.

However, now that she’s met the “dirty dozen,” she just might agree to be brought on-board as a house parent once our boys home is constructed this March!

As for Pancelita's willingness and ability to handle other infants as well as older girls – Ben now has no question – “she most certainly can!”

Until next time, Let the Islands rejoice!

Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!)

PRAYER REQUEST:  Please pray for the two new street girls who have already been considered for rescuing, and are being processed through the DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) as well as the police department. One is an infant and the other is four years old.

PRAISE:  That Dean and his building crew, coming in March from the three countries of USA, Belize and Australia, will get all the permits and materials needed before construction on our new boy’s home is scheduled to begin.

BUILDING FUND: $4,900 (Total savings for BCA’s new, government-required, by 2017, $56,000 campus)

Rev. Paul, Elvie, PJ and Abigail Barner
Philippine Missionary Church Planters
Barner Christian Academy of Davao City, Inc.
PO Box 82,224
8000 Davao City, Philippines 011-63

(082) 234-4000
(Philippine Cell) 0917-322-8224
(USA) (518) 772-2359, (518) 449-2105

Home address: 18 Eileen Drive, Rensselaer, NY 12144
BLCKIDS@yahoo.com
American tie-in free NY # (for messages) to Philippines: (518) 772-2775

PLEASE NOTE: OUR PJLILTIM@SKYINET.NET ADDRESS IS DISCONTINUED. PLEASE INSTEAD USE BLCKIDS@YAHOO.COM. THANKS!

Archived news from 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002

Return to homepage

Last edited December 30, 2013
Please write with comments or questions