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| 12/30/2016 | Happy New Years! Happy Hanukkah! Pray Please- for the “Faith Fellowship” church we planted nineteen years ago in Laverna Hills. It is seeking to build an addition, but needs to find a good engineer. Praise God- that our daughter Abby’s three-day hospital stay rehydrated & refreshed her, & her high school teachers allowed makeup midterm exams. “Oh Lord, will these preschoolers ever be ready for their Christmas performance?” BCA’s Teacher Anajean teaches Kindergarten & is a new teacher, picking up where the former teacher Sheena left off before heading out for a job in the Middle East. As Anajean watched the older elementary classes approach the stage to practice their performances, she considered how, where her own kids lack in precision, they excel in being excited, active & very, very energetic! “Teacher Jean,” called a squeaky little voice from one of her students, “how come the older grades get to act in dramas & solos while all we do is dance?” “Dwayne, “responded Teacher Anajean, “this is Christmas. Jesus is pleased with seeing you dance to His glory.” “Yeah, Dwayne,” quipped fellow student Nigiel, “they all got their start just where we are, & improved until they were old enough to learn more difficult parts.” “Guess you are right, Nigiel. Besides, Dad & Mom probably couldn’t hear my voice if I sang a solo, since I am so little now!” Day after day Teacher Jean taught routine lessons during the first hours & then practiced dancing after the recess. Everybody was busy practicing their presentations. All levels were excited to present & render their amazing talents. With just a few days left until the great Christmas performance, Jean’s morning class students were few. It made her a bit sad. “Lord,” Jean prayed as her students filtered in off the morning school buses, “I suddenly feel pressured. My children have not yet memorized the dance steps perfectly. As we are practicing, they cannot exert the steps well & they have their own style & movement. How can we make it perfect? We practice 5 times but still it is just the same. But Lord, Nigiel was right. They are just kids, no matter how many times I try to make them look perfect, they will still remain as they are…kids. I guess that is what they are.” Finally, performance day arrived! Judging was announced for the best decorated classrooms & also the best “lantern” (huge “Philippine stars” hanging from the gym ceiling, made from discarded products: coconut leaves, plastic bottles, shells, etc.). Then I gave a brief Christmas Bible message appropriate for both kids & adults, including the prayer of salvation. “And now,” announced the two “Masters of Ceremony” for the day, Teachers Juvy & Roselyn (from elementary grades), “Teacher Anajean’s preschoolers!” Applause thundered from the parents & friends of the cutely costumed tykes. Meanwhile Jean’s pulse raced. To the glory of God, the kids were incredible! “Oh Lord, I had nothing to fear! The little ones look perfectly amazing. They are dressed well with their different costumes. I am very excited about this day. The program started & ended well. I guess everybody did a great job. Indeed, it was truly an amazing day! Thank you Lord for the success!” After the distribution of gifts (stuffies, food, toys & clothes for each one of hundreds of kids), families joined their children in classrooms for lunch, provided by the school & also a bit of “pot luck”, everybody left to go home. As Teacher Jean picked up discarded papers from the floor of her classroom, she prayed a “thank you” to God. “Lord, I love these children as if they are my younger brothers & sisters. I treat them as my own flesh & blood. What a privilege it is to be a Christian Teacher!” The BCA Christmas celebration was just one of 24 which Elvie & I have been a part of (preaching, watching kids perform, giving out thousands of gifts, & eating…always eating…) over the “Twelve Days of Christmas”. To summarize, why don’t I provide a song? (to the tune of “The Twelve Days of Christmas”): On the 12th Day of Christmas, my gift to God will be, 12 Samal churches… 11 families eating… 10 support staff on the mainland… 9 teachers playing… 8 classrooms judging… 7 gifts for each street kid… 6 City leaders… 5 cantata tenors… 4 muddy tires! … 3 shopping carts of candy… 2 hours at Kiwanis… And a week of rest & cycling in GUAM… Until next time…
BCA has 416 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program.
Present need: $259 for repairs for BCA’s Bus “Ph”: $35 for 1 set overhauling gasket, $33 for 1 set piston ring 0.25, $4 for 2 pieces of water jacket, $24 for 1 gallon Castrol engine oil, $7 for oil filter, $3 for silicon gasket maker, $13 for engine support (2 pieces), $35 for clutch lining, $63 for pressure plate, $1 for #120 sandpaper, $30 for release bearing, $11 for 2 liters of gear oil. |
Rev. Paul, Elvie, PJ and Abigail Barner Philippine cell phones: Elvie: (63) (946) 258-4259; (63) (926) 939-4357 Home address: 18 Eileen Drive, Rensselaer, NY 12144 For online giving: www.christianaid.org CODE: 801-BLC PLEASE NOTE: OUR PJLILTIM@SKYINET.NET ADDRESS IS DISCONTINUED. PLEASE INSTEAD USE BLCKIDS@YAHOO.COM THANKS! |
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| 12/23/2016 | Pray Please- for Pastor John & his wife Gina, in Missouri. They are good friends of PMBMI’s secretary Jean. PMBMI is our NGO in the USA. Since Jean has long-since retired, she understood the need to pray for an eventual replacement, as her biennial filing of documents might better be placed eventually into the hands of a younger person. PTL that Pastor John & Gina have agreed to take over the responsibility. Please pray for them as they pastor a church and homeschool one son while the other son is in college. Please also pray for our daughter Abby. Although this week is Midterm exam week, she is in the hospital for probable amoebic dysentery. Praise God- that many of Abby’s sophomore classmates approached their Biology teacher to discuss the timing of assignments in class. A few days later Elvie was late coming home from work, so I made dinner (chicken & baked potatoes). Apec is an elementary school student at BCA, and his mom Filipina is staying in a mountain cottage with her husband in hopes that the mountain air will strengthen her as her body combats the final stages of cancer. While she is away, Apec and his sister are our house guests, really part of the family. They sat down to the table with the rest of us and, after we said grace for the food, Apec questioningly looked at the spread, asking, “Walay can-on?” [What, no rice?] Filipinos eat rice with EVERY meal, including breakfast. Our laughter was replaced by an astonishing rendition of every note on the scale from my vocal chords as the salt grinder I was twisting to flavor my potato fell off, dumping pink rock salt into a heap on top of my food. Abby’s eyebrows popped up when she asked, “What was THAT?” Every five minutes or so, Abby would burst out with a giggle and then mimic my expression of surprise, “Ah-ah-ah-ah- AH!” Perhaps salt grinders would assist the choir in hitting the correct notes for the cantata’s anthems?
Present need: $49 for a Christmas sale on 194 used children’s books for BCA’s library. |
| 12/16/2016 | Pray Please- for Abby, who is having challenges in Biology class. She has a major assignment due just before Christmas break begins 11/16. However, on a positive note, her basketball team recently beat their opponent (Asuncion High School) in two consecutive games: 26-25 & 37-34.
BCA has 415 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program.
Present need: $64 for repairs ofr BCA’s Bus “F”: $8 for oil filter, $24 for engine oil, $7 for air filter, $5 for T-fitting, $20 for B/M repir Kit 7/8. |
| 12/9/2016 | Pray Please- for PJ, as he performs these 2 weeks in New York City, off-Broadway in the musical “West Side Story”. Calendar:
BCA has 415 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program.
Present need: $703 for 2 BCA projects: $281 for brush-up painting supplies for BCA campus, & $422 for refill of, & brackets for BCA’s fire extinguishers. |
| 12/1/2016 | Pray Please- for the surveyors of the 4-acre property which BCA is purchasing for its new campus. From Tuesday through Thursday last week Elvie inspected with the surveyors & the sellers the parameters for the title. The estimate is that it will take 3 months to process the results. Please pray that this time period will be shortened so that the title can be signed & we can have an architect draw up plans for the first building. Since Trump was elected a few months ago, the American dollar has gotten very strong on the international market, due to renewed confidence, having a businessman (and not a politician) “at the helm” of the USA. 12/4-25 Barners attend twenty-three Christmas celebrations/Presentations in various churches, giving out gifts & food to destitute children. 12/12-14 Third Periodical Exams 12/20 BCA Student Christmas Party, Presentations, Program and Gift-Giving Activity 12/21 BCA Faculty/Staff Christmas Party 12/25 Christmas Day: Faith Fellowship Church Christmas Cantata/Play 12/26-1/2/17 Barner Family in Guam to renew Elvie’s visa BCA has 415 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program.
Present need: $191 for renewal of registration for BCA’s Bus “L” & Bus “M”. |
| 11/24/2016 | Pray Please- for Elvie this Tuesday & Wednesday as she overnights in the foothills of Mount Apo (the tallest peak in the Philippines). There in Subasta where she grew up, she will be assisting government surveyors as they map out the parameters of BCA’s new 3-acre campus (fifty miles from the present one). This past week we made a 25% down payment on the land. Calendar: 11/23-25 Bimonthly Summative Exams 12/1-25 Barners attend twenty-three Christmas celebrations/Presentations in various churches, giving out gifts & food to destitute children. 12/12-14 Third Periodical Exams 12/20 BCA Student Christmas Party, Presentations, Program and Gift-Giving Activity 12/21 BCA Faculty/Staff Christmas Party 12/25 Christmas Day: Faith Fellowship Church Christmas Cantata/Play 12/26-1/2/17 Barner Family in Guam to renew Elvie’s visa BCA has 415 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. PJ's going “Off-Broadway!” Enjoy him in an incredible presentation of the Broadway musical “West Side Story” in New York City at the American Theatre of Actors at 314 W. 54th Street, NYC (212) 581-3044. You can Get your tickets now at https://nyackcollege.ticketleap.com/nyack-college-west-side-story/dates] the cost of tickets is $25 each ($30 at the door) and the 7 dates of the show are Dec. 2-4 & Dec. 8-11 at 8pm. {PJ is playing “Action”, with “A-Rab's” lines added}. Barner family [Guesthouse/Family Home] Christmas wish list: A) $467: security grill-work, B) $1,098: air conditioners, C) $2,001: bathrooms, D) $1,010: cement work/culverts and walls, plumbing, electric, conduits, septic & sewage, E) $897: windows, doors, F) $1,256: kitchen, counters, G) $543: furniture, rugs, H) $391: beds, I) $1,522: roof, J) $2,061: walls, K) $1,368: foundation, tiles, floors, L) $1,290: washer, drier, M) $600 for solar water heater: Total- $14,504. |
| 11/17/2016 | Pray Please- for the resultant transitional decisions that have to be made corresponding to the decisions that Elvie helped make in the city of Koronadal, as a member of the (NBOT) national Philippines Missions decision making body for the CAMACOP over the past few days. Praise God- that Manny Pacquiao, a Filipino national hero, once again won his boxing match, this time against Jesse Vargas in the world featherweight title match. He was declared the victor by unanimous decision after twelve full rounds. Praise God as well that a friend of a friend in Indiana has agreed to not only cover the sponsorship of the child “left behind” by a deceased sponsor, but also to cover a second sponsored child! Yay God! Praise God too that our church’s youth group woke up around 3am to come over & serenade Abby & I for 2 hours on the early morning of our birthday 11/9! Note: please see end of this email for 2 new links: 1 of the Lifepopint Arizona’s recent missions trip to this ministry, and the other to get tickets for West Side Story next month. “Glorify God’s Goodness!” As over 600 BCA students, parents and faculty joined BCA’s annual Foundation Day Parade, Abby, Elvie and I headed off the half-mile procession, followed by a large banner with the year’s theme, “Glorifying God’s Goodness”. The phrase was emblazoned on the colorful t-shirts which matched the team color of each child as he or she marched in their sections of red, white and blue. Marching drums were accompanied by bells & lyres as residents came out of their houses to watch the procession & barking dogs accompanied the music by their own fanfares. Finally arriving at the community outdoor basketball court, dignitaries approached the stage and the others each found their seats. Christian songs, performances by the children & staff, and lunch were all accompanied by an inspiring message by one of our pastors, Jeremiah. “Parents be an example to your kids!” Quoting from Joshua 24:15, Pastor Jeremiah exclaimed, “Glorify God’s Goodness by making this your family moto: ‘As for me and my house we will serve the Lord!’” Abby was excused for a half day from the missionary school with this note: “Please excuse Abby tomorrow as she will be the guest of honor at her birthday in a parade of hundreds of BCA children.” While she was turning “Sweet Sixteen,” I turned fifty-five. Two other very special events occurred which made our important day extra glamourous. First, halfway through the ceremonies and performances, a runner arrived from the school building and between breaths announced; “They are here! The Department of Education [DepEd] inspectors have arrived for their annual surprise inspection of the campus!” Oh-whoah! Elvie & I excused ourselves from the hundreds of participants at the Foundation Day ceremonies as we piled into the pickup truck & jaunted over to the campus where three inspectors awaited. By the time they had finished their evaluation of the campus, one of our secretaries did a little dance of happiness, as she was the first to be informed of the good news that the government was once again allowing us to include up to fifth grade at BCA! After a little cajoling the three ladies agreed to pop by the Foundation Day ceremonies to greet the hoard gathered there. When a DepEd rep stepped up to the microphone, what did she do, but lead the kids & others in a rousing chorus of “Happy Birthday to You!” When the events finally were over & families were just milling around, I glanced at my watch & excused myself so that I could rush over to the BCA campus & find out who had won the United States presidential elections. When I turned on the internet computer up on the third floor of the BCA campus, the US map showed most of the states colored in red, & just a bit of reading later verified the incredibly delightful news that the American people had collectively voted overwhelmingly to shift the government, with Donald Trump at the helm, back from liberal to conservative! Yes, this has got to be one of the best birthdays ever! Driving back to the missionary school to pick up Abby, I called out the car window to passers-by, “Trump won! No more Clintons! Yay!” It is a true delight to “Glorify God’s Goodness”, when He so very often reveals that precious goodness to us, His children! Until next time… Let the islands rejoice! |
| 11/10/2016 | Happy 19th Foundation Day, Barner Christian Academy! (11/9) Happy 55th Birthday, Paul! (11/9) Happy Sweet 16th Birthday, Abigail! (11/9) Pray Please- for the landowners with whom Elvie & I are transacting the purchase of property for BCA’s new campus. They still have to re-survey the land, as it is larger than what we require (nor can afford) for the BCA campus. Praise God- that a dear family in Maryland already has purchased tickets to attend PJ’s performance in New York City of “West Side Story” and are looking forward eagerly to seeing PJ. Praise God as well that, even though my dependable laptop computer is increasingly showing signs of “giving up the ghost”, I do have a backup (quarter-century-old) refurbished laptop which I had purchased a few months ago, to which I am transferring my files. Praise God too that workers digging the canal outside of BCA’s guest house loved the oatmeal cookies I (Paul) made…complete with pumpkin-spice chips which I had shipped from the USA! “Kids, as kindergarteners, you are leaders in your homes!” Teacher Eli had resigned from his 3 years on BCA’s campus as one of our preschool teachers, since he had been accepted for a job at a high-paying local government school. Before his departure, since he may never see these pupils again in this lifetime, he made sure his students had developed leadership skills they would need, to tackle the challenges of over a decade of classes & also, life. “Lord,” prayed Eli, “Please help me, during these last few hours with my kids, to engage them through different activities, like the letter & shape cutting, collages & reading sessions, to have improved memory capacity.” Hours in the day continued to fly by. As Teacher Eli worked with the kids, there was a wonderful camaraderie among the students as they learned & absorbed the essential lessons that each pupil needed to acquire to succeed. Eli always has been somewhat reflective in his teaching approach. He thinks everything thoroughly through first instead of reacting immediately to situations. Both types of faculty are present on the BCA campus: the pro-actors & the re-actors. Both are greatly appreciated & needed. Eli explained in his last “teacher’s journal” entry, “I have succeeded when I can impart my knowledge to students holistically as a person. Slow learners are a true joy, for in helping them I can see vividly as they catch up with their classmates in the lessons of the day.” After Teacher Eli’s departure, God sent a capable replacement teacher for his classes. God had sent a “re-actor” as a teacher, which made the balance especially thorough for the students’ learning package. Saying goodbye to faculty is never final, since they often return (as outsiders) to visit the BCA campus where they had received their first experience in teaching. This first week in November revealed another type of Filipino goodbye, the “All Saints Day” festivities. Dozens of two-way roads throughout Davao City were transformed (via roadblocks) to one-way streets, often without previous warning. You may be driving a few minutes down a road and end up facing a sign that says “No Left Turn” when a right turn will bring you right back to where you started. On Oct 31-Nov 3 in the Philippines, the shortest distance between two points is NOT a straight line! While Abby attended basketball practice at her school, Elvie & I attended a family reunion at the gravesite of her parents & brother. Millions of families around the country had set up tents on the graves of loved ones & played cards, cooked meals & even slept round-the-clock for the few days known as “All Saints” from Oct 31-Nov 3. Entrepreneurs of all ages sold balloons, food, candles, water & trinkets at cemeteries to bring a carnival atmosphere to the holiday. However, thunderstorms abbreviated our stay (after some chatting & eating), as we had not brought a tent big enough to house all of Elvie’s relatives. En route back to the city, traffic was caused by an accident where a public passenger multicab had hit & killed a crossing pedestrian. The victim had joined the saints of the past on All Saints Day. As we drove past, we could see the guy or girl wrapped up from head-to-toe in a plastic foil blanket, being pelted by raindrops on the blacktop. As Teacher Eli had penned in the last days of his journal a few days previous, “I have succeeded when I can impart my knowledge to students…” When that victim on the cement had headed for the cemetery that morning to remember loved ones who had passed on, little did he know that he would be joining them before the sun had set. It is crucial to savour the days and use them to the fullest to fulfil our calling to “impart knowledge to students” of all ages who surround us. Until next time… Let the islands rejoice! |
| 11/4/2016 | Pray Please- for a replacement sponsor for eight-year-old BCA student Angelito. We just received a letter this week from a close friend of Angelito’s sponsor that the New York sponsor, a member of a missions committee in New York, died in July.
BCA has 416 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program.
Present need: $42 for 3 gallons of engine oil ($23) and an oil filter ($19) for BCA’s Bus “L”. |
| 10/27/2016 | Pray Please- for our “Father’s House” for street children. During the recent visit of a delightful team from Arizona, USA, members of the team taught the 13 kids how to play the ukulele. We then purchased a ukulele and a recorder for each child, as well as a locking cabinet to keep the instruments protected from theft. Now the children are practicing to perform during Christmas and Foundation Day festivities in November and December.
BCA has 417 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program.
Present need: $630 for fuel for BCA school buses during the month of September: $179 for Bus “C”, $86 for Bus “Ph”, $70 for Bus “L”, $37 for Bus “Fo”, $180 for Bus “M” and $78 for Bus “Pr”. |
| 10/20/2016 | Pray Please- for our church plant, as we develop evaluation techniques to train new preachers in the best presentation and study designs to use in relaying Biblical truths. Most of these new preachers came to us years ago as unbelievers. We then led them to Christ and trained them in Bible study and evangelism. Aside from preaching skills, my associate (Callem) and I are also training these new leaders in church management/counseling skills. While they are not allowed to baptize nor perform marriages/baby dedications until ordained, they are thrilled to teach Sunday School and preach. “Mama, my work at Barner Christian Academy is such a blessing!” On her day off, Teacher Rea was “chikka-chikka” (sharing) with her mom about the delight it has been to teach BCA kindergarteners. “Is your preparation for classes taking away from your quiet time with God?” asked her concerned mom. “Oh no, just the opposite!” replied Rea. “I daily thank the Lord for His untiring love and support. He is always there to renew my strength.” “What about BCA’s recent Christian Education and Gym day?” “Oh, Mama. I was so very happy to see my pupils participating in the activity. Our memory verse was Exodus 20:12 “Honor your father and your mother.” “Oooohhh,” Exclaimed her mom. I like that verse.” “I am a little concerned for one boy, Mama. His name is Roldan. He just can’t seem to keep up.” “Okay, my little angel. Let’s pray for Roldan.” Mama and daughter quickly embraced and then held hands while Rea’s mama prayed for many BCA kindergarteners, by name. A few days later was the weekend. “Oh, Mama! It is so exciting! My students did very well after you prayed!” “…And how about Roldan?” asked Mama. “Are his grades shaping up?” Rea beamed. “Not only that. He even volunteers in class now! Sooo….” Mama could see something was coming. “Yes?” “Well,” suggested Rea, “How about praying for two more of my students, Dal and Lasko?” “Certainly!” responded Teacher Rea’s prayer-warrior Mama. Consider it done!” and the two pals, mom and daughter, clasped hands and came back before the throne of God… Until next time… Let the islands rejoice! Calendar:
BCA has 416 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program.
Present need: $636 for BCA Bus “Fi”: $338 for used engine block FGA (with papers), $14 for cylinder head gasket, $30 for piston ring set 0-25, $14 for valve seal set, $5 for oil filter, $19 for 1 gallon Havoline oil, $2 for silicon gasket, $2 for 4 pieces of sandpaper, $5 for 1 quart brake fluid, $188 for a crankshaft assembly and $19 for a main bearing STD set. PJ's going Off-Broadway! If you would like to attend his presentation of the Broadway musical “West Side Story” in New York City at the American Theatre of Actors at 314 W. 54th Street, NYC (212) 581-3044, [http://www. americantheatreofactors.com/ ] the cost of tickets is $25 each and the 7 dates of the show are Dec 1-3 and 8-10 (Thu-Sat) at 8pm, and Dec 4 (Sun) at 2pm. {PJ is playing “Action”, with “A-Rab's” lines added}. Barner family [Guesthouse/Family Home] Christmas wish list: A) $467: security grill-work, B) $1,098: air conditioners, C) $2,001: bathrooms, D) $1,010: cement work/culverts and walls, plumbing, electric, conduits, septic & sewage, E) $897: windows, doors, F) $1,256: kitchen, counters, G) $543: furniture, rugs, H) $391: beds, I) $1,522: roof, J) $2,061: walls, K) $1,368: foundation, tiles, floors, L) $1,290: washer, drier, M) $600 for solar water heater: Total- $14,504. 2016 Christmas Project: OCS- “Operation Christmas Stocking”- $15 each for 416 students- per class, with a field trip to the mall, to buy shoes, socks, and have lunch at McDonalds with their class. Total goal: $6,240. |
| 10/13/2016 | Pray Please- for BCA’s new guest house. One of the three bathrooms has sprung a leak in the shower…and also the toilet is clogged! The request is not only that the two challenges be solved, but also that, since the bathrooms are new, the beautiful tile work will not need to be destroyed to access the pipes to remedy the needs. As to the solar panels on the roof, they are not yet functioning, and might require renovations in the wiring of the entire building, along with updated permits form the electric company, before the house can expect to have hot water. Also please pray for a very gifted young Davao mom (and Elvie’s long-time friend) who over the past decade has had a heart for the homeless on Davao’s streets. The “Father’s House Arm” of BCA’s benevolence ministry is considering hiring this former seminary professor part-time to inform homeless street children of our Samal Kids’ Home. Before we drove the team to the airport for their flight back home, they showered us with many cards af gratitude. For many this was their very first missions trip, and they were ecstatic in their praise. “Aaah-choo!” Blowing my nose on one of Elvie’s good beige bathroom towels, I continued to work in my BCA office. The project was to revise returned addresses of the letters that had come through during the family’s 14-months visiting and speaking at American churches. Due to threats of identity theft, I recently purchased a very efficient paper shredder for my office. Each time I revise addresses in my database, I shred the envelope so that nobody else can jot down the info. As I shredded away at the envelopes and continued to make use of Elvie’s very soft bath towel to ease the effects of my cold, I glanced down to my horror and saw that I had shredded part of Elvie’s towel! Gratefully, she forgave me…later! BCA’s Teacher Hazel also experienced forgiveness of the part of her third grade students. While the bulk of her class is quick on the uptake, there are those “special few” who are slow learners. Rather than allow them to drain precious class time, these students are very happy to write down any math questions they have for their special “One-on-one” time with Hazel during recess. Hazel has noticed that these special meetings help them to really understand the lessons, improving their effectiveness on quizzes and exams. She did make a mistake though. Her day had begun with a personal prayer: “Help me Lord to be an answer to prayer for those who need help. Help me Lord to become a blessing and bring forth your righteousness and faithfulness to these loved ones. And please, please help my two sick students, Fretz & John. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.” Later in the day, when the students became particularly rambunctious, she huffed, “You guys are soooo very, very hard headed!” But then she apologized, “Oops, I am so sorry I said that, class. Please forgive me.” The students were all smiles and responded in unison, “Yes, Teacher, we forgive you!” Forgiveness seems to be a contagious trait! |
| 10/6/2016 | Pray Please- for our international team from Arizona, Belize and Mexico, as they head back to North & Central American lifestyles after their twelve days abroad. “Oh look! There goes a homeless boy now!” Although the blinding rain had drenched the city of Davao just moments before, the sky had now cleared making it possible to see down streets where children and adults were sleeping along the sidewalks on pieces of wet cardboard. Then as Dean, Ikay and I passed a vacant street at 10:30pm, sure enough we spotted a ten year old boy dressed only in a t-shirt and grubby shorts, moseying down the mud-puddled street. We offered him a piece of chicken barbecue and brought him to the home of a pastor in the area. At such a late hour, Pastor Rick nonetheless answered his door and let us in, along with the nine members of our visiting Arizona team (a yellow-haired clown among us). Armand stayed with Pastor Rick’s family overnight and the boy’s social history was researched over the next day as a runaway who had escaped from many homes for street kids. We really wanted Armand to join our 13 “Father’s House” kids on a field trip to a (real) “bat cave” and also to enjoy sliding down some local waterfalls. However, the government said “not at this time” as any possible accidents would make us liable until the proper, tedious paperwork was filed. Although Armand missed out on the festivities, we bussed the other 13 “Father’s House” kids to the mainland so they could enjoy “United Nations Day” at BCA. Students from preschool through fourth grade dressed in the colorful costumes of citizens from many nations worldwide. Peru, Puerto Rico, Africa, etc. were represented. “We are the World” sang the fourth graders, who were preceded by a skit enacting the hope for the future even though bleak situations threaten the present kids of the planet. BCA’s students had been blessed with the fine examples set by our international visitors over the past week and a half. The visiting team of nine had spent two days welding the damaged steel railing alongside the drainage canal which borders the school, and also stuffed envelopes for mailing, reorganized BCA’s thousands of shelved library books and alphabetized BCA’s 2,000 tape video/CD/DVD section. They also went along the city streets at night, passing out Gospel bracelets and balloons, sharing the precious plan of salvation to hundreds of Filipinos. Rea is one of BCA’s Kindergarten teachers. As she led the weekly Bible devotional for her fellow teachers a few weeks before the arrival of our international guests, she explained to her co-faculty that “Serving God does not have any requirements or training to be done. Anyone is allowed to serve Jesus.” She explained from Scripture that while serving God, we should #1- love the overlooked, #2- be aware “white flags” & #3- do something selfless every day. The very next day she had a new student join her class: Dare. Dare was far behind his classmates in all areas. Rea remembered the lesson she had given during devotions and applied them to teaching Dare. As she taught Dare English and Filipino vowels & consonants, she remembered to keep an eye on Dare’s attention span and “watch for the white flag” of surrender when he had reached full capacity of learning for the day. As she taught Dare mathematical numbers, she overcame frustration at his slow learning by loving this overlooked child who was coming to BCA with absolutely no educational background whatsoever. As she taught Dare in science the parts of the body, she was grateful that even though we hold in high regard the care for parts of our body through proper hygiene, excise, rest and nutrition, we nonetheless help others selflessly each and every day. Then, just a few weeks later the visiting missions team exemplified just that truth to Rea, Dare and the entire campus by sacrificially taking time out of their busy American schedules to shower love upon the Filipino people in teaching ukulele, performing skits, teaching from scripture and embracing the orphans, the destitute and the fatherless. Who could possibly ask for a better object lesson than that? |
| 9/29/2016 | Pray Please- for the Lifepoint Ministry team which is flying to Davao this weekend. Their schedule will be as follows: 10/1-3: fly to Davao, 10/3: settle-in and lead dedication ceremonies for Bucana preschool’s new kinderschool roof and also BCA’s new Guest House, 10/4-5: build the walls for BCA’s “Father’s House for Street Kids” two new cottages, and give presentation for BCA kids in Samal Island Kaputian schools, 10/6: day off at the beach, 10/7-8: BCA work-welding, office work, library work, visit children’s classrooms and give seminars. Evenings- evangelistic street ministry for kids, 10/9: minister in two of BCA’s churches (Laverna & Oceanview), 10/10: BCA United Nations Day celebration: participation with the students, representing various countries globally, 10/11: visiting Davao zoo, jungle & orchid park, 10/12: shop and then fly back to USA. Praise God as well that, when the title is signed over for the property of BCA’s new campus just before Christmas, many of these workers (parents of BCA kids) will also have the income of building the new classrooms. 10/1-12: Lifepoint, Arizona (USA) Missions Trip to Davao’s BCA & Father’s House Home for Street Children: welding, guitar, ukulele, face painting, balloon sculpture, crocheting, clowning, construction of cottages for Father’s House home for street kids, street ministry, dedication of Bucana sister-school’s new roof, dedication of BCA’s new guest house (s well as our new residence), preaching and youth evangelistic outreach. 10/10: United Nations Day Performances and celebrations at BCA with Lifepoint American team. BCA has 416 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B, C & D): Present Goal $143,000:
Present need: $ 497 for Miscellaneous repair & maintenance of BCA buses: $ 17 for Bus “N”, $ 206 for Bus “H”, $ 7 for Bus “M”, $ 108 for Bus “L”, $ 120 for Bus “Fi”, $ 39 for Bus “Ph”. If you would like to attend PJ’s presentation of the Broadway musical “West Side Story” in New York City, the cost of tickets is $25 each and the 6 dates of the show are December 1,2 & 3, and 8, 9 & 10. |
| 9/22/2016 | Pray Please- for those worldwide who will be watching on CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network) the Bible message I (Paul) gave last Sunday (and Abby wowed with a solo too!) at the church of the survivor of the wife and son who died in the recent Davao City Bombing. The bomb was caused by an assassin hired by a frightened mayor who is on the president’s “death list” for dealing drugs. Praise God- that although we lost a sponsor in New York, we gained one in North Carolina! “When it is most difficult to pray, that is the time when it is most important to pray.” Challenging our BCA teachers from Matthew 26, I led the staff devotional. “When Jesus was at Gethsemane, his disciples fell asleep. When you fall asleep in prayer, be sure to continue praying once you wake up…oh, and you might as well dream about praying when you do doze off!!” Waking up is often a challenge, but like most challenges, once good habits are formed, the task becomes easier. Our son PJ has developed the habit of waking up early (a miracle for him) to pray with others at college. Their morning prayer group has blossomed from half a dozen to over sixty! Another prayer item he takes very seriously is his new position as “Resident Assistant,” in charge of every student on his floor in the dormitory. He goes outside the door of every student and prays for them by name as they sleep! He called his mom Elvie on her birthday and explained that there is an incredible sense of love and revival on campus! PJ wasn’t the only one to wish Elvie a happy 49th birthday. At 3:30 in the morning, we heard singing outside our door. Sure enough, ten or eleven worshippers from church were at the door to serenade the “birthday girl!” Some had had to wake up pretty early, since they have no car and had to find a ride in the wee predawn hours of the morning! They also stayed for over an hour, praying with and giving well-wishes to Elvie. And of course we supplied the traditional birthday coffee, Milo and bread (prepared the night before, “just in case” serenaders should come). One funny thing about the serenaders is that, to remove the chill of early morning, they had found some of Elvie’s unused clothes in an outer storage closet and each wore a different item! They looked like Elvie’s wardrobe was walking around! A few hours later as BCA’s school day began, Teacher Rea drew blue, light blue and red lines in colored chalk across her kindergarten blackboard. She wanted the kids to write the consecutive capital letters from A to Z along the blue line, lower-case letters from a-z on the light blue line, and numbers from 1-10 on the red line. (She was also teaching them the importance of learning how to draw straight lines.) At first they were just “not getting it,” so Rea told a story. Lining up a third of the students along each line, she instructed them to write the next number or letter along the line when the word she emphasized was in their category. “Once upon a time there was an armadillo.” Kayle immediately drew the lower-case letter “a” on his light-blue line. “Very good, Kayle. The armadillo’s name was Arnold.” Cyrille drew a capital letter “A” at the beginning of the dark-blue line. “Well done Cyrille. Arnold had only one very-best friend, Bob.” Daryll drew a “number one” at the begging of the red line, and Barb wrote a capital letter “B” on her line, and so the story went on until all the lines were filled. “You have to get up pretty early in the morning to outsmart a kindergarten teacher” quipped Teacher Rea, under her breath. Student Mytha overheard her and yawned, responding with, “Well, I was up very, very early this morning, at 3:30am, singing Happy Birthday to Principal Elvie!” Teacher Rea laughed, “Okay, Mytha, consider me effectively outsmarted, smarty-pants!” Until next time… Let the islands rejoice! Calendar:
BCA has 416 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B, C & D): Present Goal $143,000:
Present need: $382 for Bus fuel used in August: Bus “H”: $33, Bus “L”: $60, Bus “Fo”: $13, Bus “Pr”: $25, Bus “M”: $69, Bus “Fi”: $130, Bus “Ph”: $52. If you would like to attend PJ’s presentation of the Broadway musical “West Side Story” in New York City, the cost of tickets is $25 each and the 6 dates of the show are December 1,2 & 3, and 8, 9 & 10. Barner family [Guesthouse/Family Home] Christmas wish list: A) $467: security grill-work, B) $1,098: air conditioners, C) $2,001: bathrooms, D) $1,010: cement work/culverts and walls, plumbing, electric, conduits, septic & sewage, E) $897: windows, doors, F) $1,256: kitchen, counters, G) $543: furniture, rugs, H) $391: beds, I) $1,522: roof, J) $2,061: walls, K) $1,368: foundation, tiles, floors, L) $1,290: washer, drier, M) $600 for solar water heater: Total- $14,504. 2016 Christmas Project: OCS- “Operation Christmas Stocking”- $15 each for 416 students- per class, with a field trip to the mall, to buy shoes, socks, and have lunch at McDonalds with their class. Total goal: $6,240. |
| 9/15/2016 | Pray Please- for the students at Barner Christian Academy. In between studies, they are practicing their songs and presentations for a “United Nations Day” celebration during the second week of October when an American short-term missions team will be present. Also the fourteen kids in our “Father’s House” home for street kids are memorizing Bible verses and songs to present to our visitors. The team will be building two cottages for these kids on the nearby island of Samal. Praise God- that construction of five work projects are under way by capable and qualified BCA parents: 1) Agdao Guest house, 2) Bucana (sister school) roof, 3) Samal “Father’s House” cottages, 4) BCA second-floor chapel over the gym, and 5) BCA’s new campus. Praise God as well that the church choir has survived yet another week of my conducting. Their anthem was. “Amazing Grace”. Next Sunday we will sing in a round (“All to Jesus I Surrender”), with parts. After that we will start practicing for a Christmas cantata. Praise God for over a dozen large boxes that arrived from New York this week, filled with stuffed animals, clothes, books, kitchen stuff, medical clinic stuff and school supplies for BCA kids. “It’s a boy!” Dennis and Minnie were a young couple and so very looking forward to starting a family of their own. Now, as a gift from heaven, their newborn baby made his entrance into the world with a belting cry. “Something is wrong!” declared Minnie. “My baby’s voice does not sound right.” After cleaning him up, the doctor held the newborn’s face up to his mom, as she saw the infant’s disfigured lip: cleft palate. Still, as his loving mom, she nursed him tenderly. Her baby had arrived! “What shall we name him?” inquired Dennis. “It should be a Bible name, so that as he grows up, the hero in his life will be his namesake.” Minnie, cuddling her strong baby boy was deep in thought a few moments before she perked up and said, “I’ve got it…he will have many walls which will stand as challenges due to his deformity, so we will name him after a man who trusted God to knock powerful walls down…his name is Joshua!” And so over the years Dad and Mom both protected and encouraged their growing boy to be a leader, despite his cleft palate. Since surgery is often free for those with “hair lip-cleft palate”, they provided surgery as soon as he was old enough to do so. Yet while only a tiny scar appeared outside Josh’s mouth on the outside, he still lived with a speech impediment. Through his elementary years, Joshua did quite well in Christian school. Since his voice was different from others, he was especially good at telling jokes. Telling jokes requires a good memory, and this pastime empowered his studies as well. Everybody loved to see Joshua. No matter the situation in life or the weather, he was a bright and shining light who would open the clouds to allow the sunshine in. Often his antics would have his friends and teachers in church or in the Christian school they attended rolling with laughter. This young man might one day be a leader. Maybe a public speaker like Helen Keller, or maybe a preacher to portray the depths of Scripture in a meaningful way. When Josh turned eleven last year, Elvie’s mom died. Hundreds attended her funeral. Josh’s dad Dennis offered use of his flatbed truck, and carried sixty in the back, all the way to the cemetery. Josh and his mom were in the front cab while the others were in the back. Last Friday, after a week day of work, Minnie had an idea. “Anak (son), how would you like to stay with us at a hotel tonight?” Joshua asked, “Why, Mommy? What is the occasion? Is it somebody’s birthday?” Minnie responded, “Family bonding. Over these past two weeks I have been to a ladies’ retreat for church, and Dad was at a men’s retreat before that. It will be nice to have some quality family time together.” Always ready with a joke, Josh responded, “A Baptist preacher went on vacation. He could go anywhere he wanted, so where did he choose?” Once at the hotel, they got settled in. Dennis was quite exhausted from a busy day, but Minnie and Josh really, really wanted to go to the open-air fresh market: lots to do there, amidst hundreds of people. It was almost like a street fair; the perfect venue for family bonding. “And we could both get massages” coerced Minnie. Lots of blind masseuses ply their trade of massaging those who are tired and weary. They seem to be able to find hurting muscles and veins better by touch than by sight. As 10pm arrived, Dennis and Minnie felt like they had new bodies, the hands and fingers of experts having effectively done their job. Joshua was between the two beds, starting one of his jokes, when a few bed/tables down from there, a customer paid his masseuse and a new customer flopped down on the table. Nobody saw the backpack that was left by the previous customer under the table. Nobody knew that inside the backpack was a bomb. Suddenly an incredible explosion ripped through the night air. Shrapnel and pieces of broken wooden beds went flying. Something solid thudded against the chest of Dennis, knocking him off the table. Screams and cries of pain surrounded the silent lifeless bodies of the masseuses, lying in pools of blood. Sirens brought dozens and dozens of bodies to the hospital. An hour after the crime had hit, Minnie and Joshua were in adjacent hospital beds. Dennis was to be treated for possible internal injuries, yet the brunt of the blast had been cushioned by the body of his son. Josh’s body had shielded his dad’s. Shrapnel had entered through Joshua’s side and into his twelve-year-old heart. He was bleeding internally. Flying debris had also broken Minnie’s back. Both were dying. The unique voice of Joshua whispered breathily, “Daddy, I can’t breathe…” Minnie looked on in horror as the doctor got out bellows to force air into the child’s lungs. Although her back was broken, her heart had been spared…but not her “mother’s heart”. That was broken. Watching her only child, who’d brought twelve years of joy to her and all others he met, was too much. Her spinal cord severed and her body expired. A few minutes later the bellows stopped and mother and son were given brand new, perfect bodies in heaven. Seventy-two victims were in the hospital Friday night. Sixty lived. Josh was the only child who died. The news cameras interviewed Dennis as he remained confined a few days for tests. “Do you want to get vengeance on the terrorists who took the lives of your family?” They pried. “No,” was his distraught response. “Mine is not the place for vengeance. I miss my family incredibly, but God says that vengeance belongs to Him.” The President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, is the former mayor of Davao City. He happened to be in town, so immediately drove to hospital to see those recovering. As he approached the lifeless bodies of Joshua and his mom, the president of the country bent over Joshua’s face and kissed his forehead, tears streaming down the president’s cheeks. Joshua’s body had been a wall of protection for his dad, and through his father’s trust in God had torn down a wall of hostility. Joshua had lived up to his namesake. Until next time… Let the islands rejoice! Calendar: 9/21-23: BCA Summative Exams 10/1-12: Lifepoint, Arizona (USA) Missions Trip to Davao’s BCA & Father’s House Home for Street Children: welding, guitar, ukulele, face painting, balloon sculpture, crocheting, clowning, construction of cottages for Father’s House home for street kids, street ministry, dedication of Bucana sister-school’s new roof, dedication of BCA’s new guest house (s well as our new residence), preaching and youth evangelistic outreach. BCA has 416 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B & C): Present Goal $118,000: Phase A: 3-Acre Property/Need: $56,000 Raised-PTL! $56,000 Remaining: $0 Phase B: Administration Bld. /Temporary Classrooms/Multipurpose Wing-East: Phase C: Classrooms Phase One (First Floor South Preschool Wing/Cafeteria) Present need: $373 for an industrial-strength portable electric paper shredder machine to use in destroying correspondence addresses of sponsors of BCA kids. These addresses and financial files must regularly be destroyed to keep personal information away from the public. Barner family [Guesthouse/Family Home] Christmas wish list: A) $467: security grill-work, B) $1,098: air conditioners, C) $2,001: bathrooms, D) $1,010: cement work/culverts and walls, plumbing, electric, conduits, septic & sewage, E) $897: windows, doors, F) $1,256: kitchen, counters, G) $543: furniture, rugs, H) $391: beds, I) $1,522: roof, J) $2,061: walls, K) $1,368: foundation, tiles, floors, L) $1,290: washer, drier, M) $600 for solar water heater: Total- $14,504. 2016 Christmas Project: OCS- “Operation Christmas Stocking”- $15 each for 416 students- per class, with a field trip to the mall, to buy shoes, socks, and have lunch at McDonalds with their class. Total goal: $6,240. |
| 9/8/2016 | Pray Please- for Filipina, the wife of our associate minister Her cancer is causing her great pain, nausea, weakness and sickness. Praise God as well that our daughter Abigail led the worship time at church and the week before was a member of the tambourine team on stage during church. Until next time… Let the islands rejoice! Calendar: 9/1: PJ begins as Resident-Assistant (and student) at Nyack (Bible) College 9/9: Elvie’s 49th Birthday/ BCA’s Parent/Teachers Consultation Day 9/21-23: BCA Summative Exams 10/1-12: Lifepoint, Arizona (USA) Missions Trip to Davao’s BCA & Father’s House Home for Street Children: welding, guitar, ukulele, face painting, balloon sculpture, crocheting, clowning, construction of cottages for Father’s House home for street kids, street ministry, dedication of Bucana sister-school’s new roof, preaching and youth evangelistic outreach. BCA has 416 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. Phase A: 3-Acre Property/Need: $56,000 Raised-PTL! $56,000 Remaining: $0 Phase B: Administration Bld. /Temporary Classrooms/Multipurpose Wing-East: Phase C: Classrooms Phase One (First Floor South Preschool Wing/Cafeteria) Present need: $258 for miscellaneous expenses at BCA: $65 for Tribal mountain outreach to distribute Pillowcase dresses to destitute girls & $193 for replacement (and installation) of large “trapal” shade on BCA’s open-air 2nd floor hallway. |
| 9/1/2016 | Pray Please- for our brand-new church choir. Last Sunday we had our first church leaders’ team meeting, since Elvie’s and my return from the USA. During the meeting I mentioned that I’d shipped the black choir robes which my home church’s choir in New York had used forty years ago. Right then and there we practiced “Onward Christian Soldiers” and agreed to perform it (with me as choir leader!) this next Sunday! Missionaries wear many hats! BCA has 439 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B & C): Present Goal $118,000: Phase A: 3-Acre Property/Need: $56,000 Raised-PTL! $56,000 Remaining: $0 Target goal for land purchase: December, 2016 Phase B: Administration Bld. /Temporary Classrooms/Multipurpose Wing-East: Phase C: Classrooms Phase One (First Floor South Preschool Wing/Cafeteria) Present need: $324 for miscellaneous spare parts and labor for BCA buses: $15 for Bus “Fi”, $10 for Bus “C”, $66 for Bus “Ph” (including repairing flat tire), $12 for Bus “M”, $174 for Bus “N” (including overhaul) and $47 for Bus “L |
| 8/25/2016 | Pray Please- for the upcoming “Construction & Street-ministries” American team which will be arriving in October for two weeks. Their major construction project is to build 2 ($3,000) cottages for our Street Children’s Home, the “Father’s House”. In preparation for their arrival, we are digging and pouring the concrete for the foundations. One cottage will be for ten girls and one for ten boys, with 5 bunkbeds each, including dressers and bathrooms. During their stay they goal will also be to find half a dozen more abandoned street kids to fill the empty beds in the new cottages (2 boys and 4 girls). The kids will then use the existing multipurpose building for meals, homework, devotions, church services, games, family time, etc. The present “house parents” (Mom and grown-up son) will chaperone the two cottages and the multipurpose building will be locked in the evenings. Since our family has been ordered by the government to move our belongings off the BCA campus, we are purchasing the former girls’ home and renovating it as our residence. Until next time… Let the islands rejoice! Calendar: 8/25: (Albany, New York) Franklin Graham’s “Decision America Tour” leads New York believers in prayer for the nation, on the State Capitol steps 8/26: BCA’s Annual Philippine Culture Day Performances and Competitions BCA has 438 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. Phase A: 3-Acre Property/Need: $56,000 Raised-PTL! $56,000 Remaining: $0 Phase B: Administration Bld. /Temporary Classrooms/Multipurpose Wing-East: Phase C: Classrooms Phase One (First Floor South Preschool Wing/Cafeteria) Present need: $88 for miscellaneous BCA upkeep: $10 for labor of cleaning BCA air conditioners, $61 for electrical materials, and $17 for repair (parts and labor) of the school’s amplifier. |
| 8/18/2016 | Pray Please- for a shipment being sent soon from friends in North Carolina. Enclosed will be 375 children’s books (for the BCA library) and 5 stuffed animals (for BCA kids’ Christmas). Please also pray for the healing of my tongue. I bought a sheet of sandpaper to sand down the sharp edge of one of my back teeth, which had been bothering my tongue for three years. However, the hole that the tooth had made in my tongue is quite painful as it heals up. Praise God- that an American supporter donated a needed $20,000 recently for BCA’s construction project, in memory of a friend who passed away. A Filipino landowner is “clearing” the land title presently to prepare it for real estate transfer and sale for BCA’s new campus. After the title is transferred, the architect will evaluate and revise my floorplan for the area. Construction should then begin after permits have cleared, sometime in February. “Are you a doctor?” As BCA’s fourth-grade Teacher Neil’s student (Rose) looked up at him with big brown eyes, the heart of this new teacher swelled with pride. While the students played tag in the school gym, Rose had fallen and hurt her finger. Teacher Neil rushed over and massaged Rose’s hand as her classmates looked on. The pain subsided, and Rose leapt up and joined her friends. “Thank you so very much, Teacher Neil! You are more than a teacher- you are my doctor too!” For the past few weeks at school, Neil had struggled with depression due to traffic on the way to school, continual rain, and continual questioning by the parents on what was to be taught that week. On top of that he felt a throbbing headache coming on, but there was no temperature rise nor diarrhea, so he had no excuse to stay home from classes. If that was not enough to pull him down, Teacher Neil’s visit to the Teacher Licensing Office (he’d misplaced his documents) as well as the Social Security office (they had lost his picture) brought more questions than answers. Knowing that it was imperative to maintain a sense of “community” in the classroom, Neil prayed daily, “Oh Lord, please make me effective in my communication of your care for these kids under my care, even when I feel under the weather.” Neil began to see cooperation amongst the kids, but then he got queasy again. “Are they really learning?” he asked himself. “The best way to find out is to ask…” Neil approached Ramelito in class. “Ram,” (his nickname) “If you have four apples, and I have two apples, what do we have?” Of course Ram responded, “Christmas!” (Apples are common at Christmastime in the Philippines as a gift, since they have to be imported). “…and also six apples!” Just when all seemed to be okay, that bothersome depressive feeling returned…and then, on top of that it was his day (on the rotation) for leading the weekly teachers’ devotional! Whoah, all those mature Christians, and I have to lead them? And then the next day he was to lead the school PTA meeting as well as his homeroom mtg. How could he do it? But all his fears subsided when three days later the tasks were finished and all were satisfied with his performance. “Ok, so maybe things are not all that bad after all. My kids are spelling well, adding well, and on top of all that, they think I am a doctor! I guess I can handle this teaching thing after all!” Meanwhile as our family was settling into being back in Asia, we unpacked our personal belongings which had been boxed up in a school storage closet for fourteen months. Many from church helped us unpack, and the work, added to jetlag, sapped our energy. On day three I got up early and decided to start up a cup of coffee. Since the coffeemaker was not yet unpacked, I reached for the “French Press” that a friend had sent us a few years ago. It didn’t seem right to have coffee without a filter, so I found a filter in the cabinet and inserted it into the press. “Amazing how much these filters look like fabric softener sheets that you put into the dryer” I quipped. The hazelnut aroma filled the air as the press did its work. Oooh, what a nice cup of coffee that will be…a great way to start the day. When it was finally dark enough to satisfy, I grabbed a mug and started to sip the brew. The more I sipped, the more I realized that there was an added ingredient. Coffee I could taste, and hazelnut too, but…what was that disturbing taste? SOAP! “That was NOT a coffee filter in that press- it was a dryer softener sheet!” Okay, one cup of (otherwise perfect) coffee down the drain. Doris (one of the parents) knocked on the door a few hours later. “Somebody been washing clothes? Smells like laundry detergent!” Gee, thanks, Doris. “Everybody makes mistakes. Yet sometimes things are a tad obvious, if only we keep our heads about us.” “You are a doctor, Right Pastor Paul?” continued Doris, as Elvie listened in. “You should know. Here, can you correct my speech for our village meeting that I have to give?” I looked at the speech intro and quipped, “It is perfect! You are the one who sounds like a doctor!” This was her speech intro: “Ladies and gentlemen, we are here today… Yup, better than a doctor, Doris. Better than a doctor, Neil. You’ve got what it takes. Keep on keeping on! Until next time… Let the islands rejoice! Calendar:
BCA has 438 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B & C): Present Goal $118,000:
Present need: $98 for Repair of BCA’s Bus “L”- $15 for labor and spare parts, $5 for engine oil, $5 for emergency brake repair, $3 for radiator cap, $5 for bulbs, bulb socket, wire & toggle screw, and $65 for oil change. |
| 8/4/2016 | Pray Please- for Filipina, BCA’s “Ladies’ Discipleship” chairwoman. We visited her in her jungle hut the day after arriving back in Davao. That day was her 54th birthday, and she is struggling with Stage Four cancer. Although confident that our prayers for her healing were heard by God, we are also ready for her departure, if God should so choose. Please pray that she and her family remain strong from day to day. Praise God- that our daughter Abigail slid right into classes at Faith International Academy, just nine hours after arriving home from our global flight. She has already tried out for, and is now an athlete on the high school ladies’ volleyball team. “Let the little children come to Jesus…” Teacher Hazel, who instructs BCA’s Third Graders, was sharing creative teaching ideas with one of BCA’s new teachers- Sheena, who runs the nursery classes. “Here are some of my books which you can borrow. In fact, in this box are materials that I have used for this age in years past.” After discussing together a few creative ideas in how to work with little children, Hazel’s day was off to a delightful start. She felt really good, as often happens when a believer helps another believer along. But the day was cold (relatively that is, being in the tropics) and rainy. Between classes Hazel reached into her desk drawer to get tape and large sheets of folded plastic to cover the door of her classroom. This was to protect the decorations on the door from tearing due to many little hands and fingers brushing past every day. At the end of the day, various parents had inquiries regarding assignments and class requirements. As the last parent departed, the initial positive attitude of the day had worn off and Hazel was worn out. Yet the overwhelming exhaustion subsided as she went over the day backwards in her mind from end to beginning. When little Ronny had shared about his quirky Summer vacation, the class roared with laughter. Husky Gabriel had introduced himself as one of God’s chosen angels to help his dad fix the leaky roof of their tiny shanty back home. And then there was Mateo…who had cheered the loudest and led the class in a chant of congrats to the newly-elected classroom officers for the year. As Hazel retraced her day, the weariness had entirely worn off. And the “cherry on top of the cake” was her memories of the beginning of the day when…interrupting her reflections, a quick tap at the newly-covered door brought in a very cheerful Sheena, the Nursery teacher. “Inday (respectful Filipino term for and older female), all your ideas worked like a charm! Thank you so very much!” Yes, thought Hazel, this day at BCA had truly been a delight! Meanwhile on the other side of the planet, Elvie, Abby and I were tearfully hugging and saying our goodbyes to PJ. In every year past, when we got to the airport, there would be four of us. But since PJ is staying in the USA for his second year of Bible college, after all the hugs and security checks, we remained as only three. Waiting at the restaurant near the departure gate, four seats were at the table, but one was empty. In the middle of my prayer for the food, I choked up a little when I glanced over to see that empty seat, remembering how, over the years, that little guy in the seat at the airport would fill in more and more of the chair as he grew. And then, when he was fully a man, instead of filling it up even more, the chair was empty. Yeah. Well, we knew this day would eventually come. Our little boy is now a man. Other missionaries had shared with us before we left for the USA fourteen months ago how challenging this moment would be, and this assisted us somewhat. But it was a “growing pain” on our part that we would brace up for and endure. Only three seats at the table. Only three seats occupied together on the plane. Only three passports to carry. Only three. Over the next three days as we passed through eight airports from Albany to Davao, the time seemed a blur. A smelly, fiery flat tire on the runway after a bumpy landing in San Diego kept the fire trucks at bay and brought over a dozen policemen to join with us on the tarmac. The delay caused us to almost miss our next flight, so we ran to the next gate and through an emergency security scan, settling down into our seats on the plane only moments before liftoff… gratefully, Southwest Airlines would grant us each a hundred-dollar voucher for the next flight, when we would next come to the USA and be a foursome again… After finally arriving in Davao, my head sinking down into my pillow to rest at around midnight, I looked back over the past half-week of travel. The exhaustion of jetlag and trying to communicate in Chinese airports faded into a blur as a smile appeared on my face. Why? Well in my mind’s eye I could still see the shocked expressions on the faces of our BCA staff when I had walked through the door of our BCA apartment. Such a delight! Like they had seen a ghost. Although our plane had landed on time at 8pm, the BCA staff thought it might have been delayed since we had not called them from the airport. So nobody was there to pick us up when our plane landed. After searching the airport and parking lot repeatedly for the BCA bus, Elvie, Abby and I agreed that I would walk the mile from the airport to the school, and drive back to get them. We couldn’t call our staff since our phones only worked in the USA and besides, most of the staff had changed their cell numbers over the past fourteen months since last they saw us. Wending my way up the stairs I had arrived at BCA’s third floor and opened the door to the refurbished sixth grade classroom which is now our family’s residence. Yes, Teacher Hazel, life does have its dreary times, but as we look on the sunny side of life, there is joy awaiting us around the next corner. And the surprised looks on the faces of our staff who hadn’t seen me for over a year and suddenly I walked through the door, well it was just priceless… I wonder, when the Lord suddenly returns, in the twinkling of an eye, if He too will grin at the delightfully excited and yet surprised looks on the faces of His children? It will make all the exhausting waiting on our part fade into the background as we see Him face to face. Until next time… Let the islands rejoice! Calendar:
BCA has 437 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B & C): Present Goal $118,000:
Present need: $442 for repairs to BCA Bus “C”: $15 for oil change with filter, $8 for brake analysis, $12 for labor of brake pad replacement, $48 for 6 liters of Mobil oil @ $8, $23 for replacement oil filter element, $7 for brake cleaner, $275 for replacement front brake pad, $7 for shop service charge, $47 for tax. |
| 7/29/2016 | Pray Please- for our good Kentucky friend, 83-year-old “Grandma Flo” as she plans to visit BCA school again early this next year. Praise God- that “Grandma Flo” a Kentuckian octogenarian, before shipping pillowcase dresses to our ministry in Davao, is sending “sterilization wraps” to Africa. Praise God as well that while traveling down south, a ministry in Virginia donated hygienic supplies for ladies, as well as over a hundred stuffed animals. We found a shipper in Maryland and boxed up the items to send from there, before filling the van again with donated supplies (books, music, Corelle, clothes, etc.) en route to ship it from New York. “ God is soooo incredible, students! He always deserves the very best of our thanks and praises.” BCA’s Teacher Rea was teaching the Kindergarteners and preschoolers the importance of making prayer a major part of our daily routine. Kids, it may be raining outside our school building today, but inside of your heart it is warm and comfy when God is there! Laurence and Mike were called on to represent before the class the topics of “Knowledge and Wisdom”. Laurence stood before his classmates to give an example of Knowledge, and Mike’s task was wisdom. “When I memorized John 3:16, that was knowledge” said Laurence. Let’s recite that verse together…”For God so loved the world…” Then it was Mike’s turn. “Okay, so we know the verse. Great. But what are we going to do with it? Yesterday I was playing ‘dirt basketball’ with my neighbor buddy Geneford, and he told me I threw like a girl. He said nobody could have a friend who couldn’t shoot a basket. But I told Geneford that in John 3:16 God says that He loves everybody…good shooters or not!” After the BCA school buses were loaded up and the school was empty of children, BCA’s Officer in charge (Minmin) reinforced once again the importance of attending prayer meeting and also sharing our prayer requests with friends. “And Teacher Rea, great job sharing with your kindergarteners that fact today…it is wisdom to praise God for what He has done!” Nobody missed prayer meeting this week! What a joy it was when they all collectively prayed together as the Family of God! Meanwhile on the other side of the ocean in the State of Maryland, the Barner family was speaking at a local Evangelical Free church. Then after visiting ministries (of various denominations) and families in the states of New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New York, We were asked to perform a funeral the day before flying out of the country. “Paul Joseph was sick over this last year” I began, before many of his family and friends. “But God used Paul’s illness to bring him to God. When I visited him in the hospital, I asked him, ‘If you were to die today, would you go to heaven?’ He answered a flat-out ‘NO!’ When I asked him if he would like to pray to God to apologize for his sin and to promise to follow God, he agreed. His sins were washed away by the blood of Jesus.” Because Paul had used God-given wisdom (along with Holy Spirit- inspired direction) to process his knowledge of salvation, he is now in heaven! During Paul’s funeral, PJ, Abby and their Aunt Ginger sang duets and solos. After the funeral was finished, many approached our family and declared, “I never saw a funeral like this before! You truly celebrated Paul’s life, as well as his death. I want to seek God more in my life now.” That’s wisdom! A few days before the funeral, severe headaches began throbbing in my head. During Wednesday’s prayer meeting those present laid hands upon me and prayed for healing. Later that evening, in response to their prayers, I used my recently-purchased blood pressure monitor to check my “BP”. It registered 203 over 113! I was rushed to the hospital and stayed for six hours (four of which were in the waiting room). In the wee predawn hours the doctor put me back on blood thinners and let me escape. I had been on medication most of this past year, but realized that I could not think well enough to preach while on medication. So I prioritized preaching instead of good health, and didn’t take any medication at all for five months. Knowledge has taught me that traveling thousands of miles on speaking engagements along the USA’s east coast, eating lots of junk food along the way, my “BP” was bound to rise substantially. So Teacher Rea’s advice to add wisdom to my knowledge led me to respond to the docs’ strong advice: if you want to live, take your medication. “Clear headedness is important in preaching, but it is not possible to preach without staying alive.” Let’s lean on the Holy Spirit’s wisdom whenever insights into God’s knowledge appears! Until next time… Let the islands rejoice! Calendar: Present need: $596 for fuel for BCA’s school buses during the month of July: $50 for Bus “C”, $165 for Bus “Fi”, $173 for Bus “L” and $208 for Bus “M”. |
| 7/22/2016 | Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!) Pray Please- for us to be able to pack up all the items donated to BCA during our travels: clothing, toys, children’s books, puppets and stuffed animals…and get them ready for shipment to the Philippines before our own departure 7/31. Praise God- that while attending the “Together” half-million-member prayer gathering next to the Washington Monument in Washington DC, We had the chance to kneel for over six hours in broad daylight, side by-side with hundreds of thousands of fellow believers, in prayer for our great nation. Praise God as well that PJ and Abby were able to fly to Missouri and join 6,000 high schoolers at the “Life Momentum” Christian Youth Conference. During PJ and Abby’s subsequent presentations at churches along the USA East Coast, they exclaimed, “It was like Bible Camp…on steroids!” Praise God as well for granting us opportunities to speak at both Rotary and Kiwanis Clubs in North Carolina during our USA travels. “Students, God is Good…very good!” In an effort to exemplify the attributes of God, BCA’s Teacher Neil shared that due to the fact that we have a God who can be always trusted to be Good, we should therefore magnify Him through our lives. “Students,” explained Teacher Neil, “Our thankfulness reinforces our faith.” Neil then reflected from his own life how God had given him knowledge and wisdom through hardships he had faced. “Every time God allowed me to face painful experiences in life, I could look back later and see that I had learned through the pressure and had become a better person. What verse did we learn that reflects this?” Students Rainer and Ejhie called out in unison the verse for the day, “First Thessalonians 5:18!” Meanwhile on the other side of the globe our family was traveling through some of the Southern States of the USA. Stopping at a thrift store, Elvie and I picked up great discounts on used clothing, books and small toys for BCA’s Filipino children. But when we carried our treasures over to the checkout counter, we were surprised when the clerk responded, “Your money does not work here.” I asked, “Would you prefer pesos instead?” Then I noticed the smile beaming across his face as he quipped, “Since you are serving God overseas, it is a privilege to let you have these whole three bags of items for free!” Truly, our God is a Good God! Two weeks later, after sharing at churches in NC, NJ, VA, PA & MD, I shared from the book of Ezekiel how we are chosen by God to be watchmen on the walls of life to warn people of the onslaught of wickedness and sin, to build up a defense against these evils. “We should not strive to make the church look pretty as much as to make sin look ugly.” I explained. At that same time, a war was brewing in Mindanao, Philippines. Government troops, backed by rocket-firing helicopters and artillery fire, killed up to nine Abu Sayyaf extremists in fighting after the new military chief warned of a "shock and awe" offensive to wipe out the militant group known for its brutality. One soldier was killed and six wounded as government troops battled about 130 Abu Sayyaf fighters in the jungles of mountainous Patikul town in Sulu province. The militants were led by one-armed Abu Sayyaf commander Radulan Sahiron, who has been blamed for bomb attacks and kidnappings for ransom. Truly, we are at war in this life. Evil lurks at our door. Instead of candy-coating sin, we are called to remind the world that true goodness only comes from God. As Techer Neil had reminded his BCA students, the world stands amazed at the integrity of our lives as we live for Him. He even surprises us occasionally with free gifts from thrift stores! Until next time… Let the islands rejoice! Calendar:
BCA has 436 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B & C): Present Goal $118,000:
Present need: $67 for snacks for visitors during a student outreach to the poor: $22 for cupcakes, $19 for juice, $15 for crackers, $3 for lollipops, and $8 for lunch for the staff who participated. |
| 7/18/2016 | Pray Please- for the Holy Spirit’s direction to be clear for PJ and Abby this week as they fly to Missouri for the week-long “Momentum” triennial youth conference with 6,000 high schoolers. Praise God- that as the first month of classes came to a close at Barner Christian Academy this past week, one of the teachers declared during testimony time, “I praise the Lord for everything He has done! I am so thankful to be a part of this institution, the Barner Christian Academy. As I have worked with new teachers, staff and workers, I am so extremely thankful and glad knowing they are all kind and very approachable.” “Pupils, today we will be playing “Pinoy Henyo”. BCA’s Preschool Teacher Sheena Mae made preparing for social studies easy for her young students by playing a game before their “Araling Panlipunan” periodical test. She cut out colored paper shapes and glued to them index cards with words related to the lesson, as well as a few funny words, shuffled in. Dividing the class into 2 groups (Davids versus Goliaths) Sheena Mae picked leaders for each group. The two groups each developed their own secret “codes or signaling” to guess the words easily. “Okay Goliaths, you extra-tall students you…you go first!” Pulling out a purple mango-shaped paper, Goliath-leader Khale yelled out the phrase, “first national hero of the Philippines!” Teacher Sheena Mae interrupted with, “Sorry Khale, but you cannot speak out your hints. Just use charades…body language!” "Forfeit!” called out Ashley from the David team. To which Teacher Sheena Mae responded sympathetically, “Oh no, that was just a practice. Try again, Goliaths…” After two correct answers in a row, the Goliaths were stymied. Finally Rhonny from the Davids “stole” the answer as he called out, “bananas!” The Goliaths were confused, so Teacher Sheena Mae explained, “If you remember my rules, I told you that every once in a while there will be a funny word thrown in.” The whole class cracked up with laughter as Rhonny responded with, “It is now my turn…but I did think that maybe we had a president named ‘Banana’…” The game continued until there was no paper left in the basket. Davids emerged to be the winner, although it was pretty close: 13 to 11 at the end of the game. Teacher Sheena Mae later shared with the rest of the BCA staff in their Friday meeting, “Praise the Lord for the wisdom He gave me so I could get the kids to smile and laugh while learning!” Meanwhile on the other side of the planet in Mexico and Arizona, friends were making plans to come out to Davao for a short-term missions trip this coming October. Dean (in Mexico) sent an email to Trish (in Arizona) from Lifepoint Church- “Since we are not carpenters, we will hire Filipinos to help us use steel and concrete block construction (no wood) to avoid termites. I will fly ahead of you to prepare… ” Since there will be two main construction projects for the team (a local preschool roof as well as cottages for our “Father’s House” for street children), Dean wanted to clarify the priorities of the projects. A little like the charades of BCA’s preschoolers, it was crucial to get all the facts straight… “I will arrive early to prepare labor and materials for the kinder school roof, to avoid being strapped for time to finish.” Meanwhile on the same side of the planet, but on the other end of the continent in Pennsylvania, the Barner family was between speaking engagements and peering out the window of the family’s centuries-old farmhouse. Panes of glass were thicker at the base than at the top, and a discussion arose whether glass is liquid or solid. Finally I made the suggestion, “Maybe the glass is thinner on top because it gets more use from us looking through it!” Well, laughter ensued that day on both sides of the ocean with that “banana-type suggestion… Until next time… Now through July - Missions messages in USA churches.
BCA has 428 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B & C): Present Goal $118,000: Phase A: 3-Acre Property/Need: $56,000 Raised-PTL! $56,000 Remaining: $0 Phase B: Administration Bld. /Temporary Classrooms/Multipurpose Wing-East: Phase C: Classrooms Phase One (First Floor South Preschool Wing/Cafeteria) Present need: $125 for maintenance of BCA’s Bus “M”: $52 for oil change, $5 for installation of propeller bracket, $24 for a new jack, $18 for replacement headlight bulb, $10 for additional engine oil, $2 to repair a flat tire, $2 for a replacement rubber bushing and $12 for a new replacement tire tube. |
| 7/1/2016 | Pray Please- for the twelve boxes which were just shipped this week to Davao. It typically takes three months for the shipments to arrive (by boat) overseas, and inside the boxes are over a thousand volumes and Bibles for our BCA library and also for distribution among the new believers there. There are also stuffed animals, school supplies and other things which are needed in the Philippine ministry. Please pray that the shipment arrives before Christmas and also that it is not damaged while at sea. Praise God- that Abby made the high honor roll for her fourth and last semester at American High School, with a 94% overall average for the year! Praise God as well that during our family’s recent visit to speak in Westerlo (New York), a musician approached Abigail with bright acclaim for her musical prowess, and offered to mail her solo material for future performances. Another believer offered PJ a few valuable guitars for the blossoming orchestral program at Barner Christian Academy. “Be positive… Be inspired!” BCA’s teacher Juvy challenged her second-grade students with bright words of encouragement during their first day of school, and also with other creative means. Just entering the classroom, the students have their creative juices at work, for each BCA classroom has the name of a Bible book over its door. Juvy’s classroom is “2nd Grade Psalms”. Teacher Juvy had been almost finished setting up her 2nd Grade classroom, but had yet to affix the charts and decorations to her classroom walls. As the students began to arrive the first day of school, instead of focusing the students upon her half-prepared wall decorations, she handed out to each student construction paper, glue, scissors, etc to make “POP-UP” books entitled, “My ABCs”. Little second-grader Azalea pored through the stack of construction paper (which had been donated and shipped to us by friends in Utah). “A-ha! Here it is! Perfect.” Azalea had in her hand a deep blue sheet of paper which she slipped out from halfway down the stack and proceeded to trace her hand upon and follow her teacher’s directions with special props of poster-board, folded carefully (accordion-style) to “pop-up” after the folded paper card was opened. “I have got to ‘HAND’ it to you Azalea,” complimented Teacher Juvy (itentionally accentuating the word “hand”), “You have done ‘A+’ work on this project! “ As an enormous smile brightened up Azalea’s face, her encouraging teacher added, “And what letter of the alphabet does this pop-up of your HAND demonstrate?” Since she was expecting Azalea to say “H” for “Hand, she was surprised when this artistic and exceptionally creative student blurted out, “My project represents the letter ‘J’!” Carefully attempting to conceal her disappointment at the mistake in her teaching abilities, and wondering about the aptitude of the teachers of Azalea’s former grades, Teacher Juvy stammered, “Why Azalea, p-please explain to the rest of the class how your HAND represents the letter ‘J’…” Teacher Juvy’s composure and confidence in the teaching system was immediately restored as her astute pupil Azalea matter-of-factly quipped, “J is for Juvy, my beautiful teacher who hands to me the baton of learning!” Teacher Juvy spent the rest of the class period basking on “cloud Nine” enjoying the privilege of instilling into the minds of these future leaders the basic truths needed to empower them to bring knowledge of God’s creation into daily life. Meanwhile on the other side of the planet in New York, Elvie was teaching in a local preschool. PJ, Abby and I were busy as well as we drove to Proctor’s Theatre in the “Electric City” of Schenectady. I was scheduled to be guest speaker at a local ministerial fellowship meeting, so we were dressed in formal Filipino garb. As hundreds of people entered the theater, we brought in our suitcase filled with our display of Filipino cultural “artifacts”. Most of the hundreds who were at the theater that morning had not come for the pastors’ meeting, but for the graduation ceremonies of the local city high school. Nonetheless, we could imagine that these multitudes had come to hear about the Philippines… PJ and Abby sung beautifully and I challenged the pastors to be focused on the need to promote God’s Great Commission to reach the entire planet for Jesus. PJ also presented a PowerPoint presentation of God’s work through us in the Philippines. Midway between two slides, PJ paused for effect, and then (as if on perfect cue) we heard thunderous applause from nearly a thousand people (from the other theater)! We’ve got to “HAND” it to God…He so wondrously compliments us with reminders that what we do before even just a few dozen pastors, is applauded and acclaimed by legions of angels and Spiritual hosts in high places! Until next time… Now through July - Missions messages in USA churches.
BCA has 428 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B & C): Present Goal $118,000:
Phase A: 3-Acre Property/Need: $56,000 Raised-PTL! $56,000 Remaining: $0
Phase B: Administration Bld. /Temporary Classrooms/Multipurpose Wing-East:
Phase C: Classrooms Phase One (First Floor South Preschool Wing/Cafeteria)
Present need: $428 for fuel for BCA’s buses for the month of June: $113 for Bus “C”, $80 for Bus “Ph”, $123 for Bus “Fi”, and $112 for Bus “M”. |
| 6/23/2016 | Pray Please- for our main (Laverna Hills) church plant in the Philippines as they are planning an evangelistic “Welcome Home” celebration for our return the first week of August. Interpersonal celebrations of anniversaries, birthdays, welcome parties and “despidita” (going-away) parties are very big in the Philippine culture. Many people often attend and there is always lots of food to share. Specifically our prayer is that the church creatively finds ways to use this tool as an outreach to the lost souls in our community. Also please pray for Elvie. She needs to change her diet to eat more salt. The doctor said that her slight goiter is caused by a lack of iodine. The Filipino diet includes lots of fish, which is high in iodine. However all salt, including iodized salt, is often cautioned against by Filipinos, due to the high incidence of kidney disease and heart ailments. Praise God- that the Philippine government, although delayed until just a day before the beginning of the school year (last week), finally released the annual permit for operation of Barner Christian Academy. Praise God as well that we successfully transported (and packed-up to ship overseas) five hundred Bibles (and other evangelistic materials) donated this past weekend from friends in Kentucky. “God is faithful.” BCA’s Teacher Eli led the students’ devotional from Genesis 12, where God promised Abram, “I will make you into a great nation… I will bless those who bless you…and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” The students and staff had separate times of devotion with Teacher Eli, as he shared with both groups from the life of Abraham that, “God’s promises come with clear guidance.” The speaker’s co-teacher Neil is over the fourth graders at BCA. As Neil led the students in their lessons for the day, he had a surprise for them. “Class, for Art period we are going to make and color cards for your sponsors!” He asked students Juhn and Nel to pass out blank cards as the fourth graders got their pencils, sharpeners and crayons out from their boxes. “Be sure to write your name at the bottom of your card” directed Teacher Neil. Nel responded, “But Teacher Neil, I do not yet know how to write my name.” Shocked that this new student had gotten all the way to fourth grade and still could not even write her very short name, He pointed to the “Alphabet Line” above the blackboard and had the class sound out the nineteen letters in the Filipino alphabet from “A” to “Z”. It was obvious which students were former BCA kids and which had come from other schools. Brightly gleaming as they sounded out the letters, most of the class confidently breezed through the letter sounds. But four or five new students totally clammed up. The next day in school, three of these kids were absent, all at once. Since the fourth day was scheduled for the NAT (National Achievement Test), Teacher Neil contacted all the parents to be sure their kids were present for the review sessions. “Oh Lord,” prayed Teacher Neil that morning on the third day, “Please give special grace to those students who are behind, so they can catch up.” As the bell rang for first period to begin, Neil took attendance and was thrilled that nobody was absent. Giving special attention to the ones who had challenges previously, he looked at the students’ cards and gently corrected those who had made mistakes. After reviewing their numbers and prep-quizzes, Teacher Neil also gave notes to each child to glue into their “Communications Notebooks” for their parents to review with their kids for the NAT the next day. Since many of the parents were just as illiterate as their kids, he was sure to lead the class over and over in reading the brief note, which they were to re-read to their dads and moms when the BCA buses brought them home from school. “Oh Lord,” prayed Teacher Neil, “Please make these children a blessing to their illiterate parents and also to do well in their NAT tomorrow!” Meanwhile on the other side of the planet in New York, the faithful car that a friend had lent our family for nearly a year now was due for inspection. Conveniently the “check engine” light lit up on the dashboard just about that time, so I went to the shop to get it checked. They charged a few hundred dollars doing this and that, and then sent me on my way. Then the red “check oil” light blinked on the dashboard as I was driving the family down the highway to a Bible study that evening. I got out of the car to check the dipstick, not knowing that the car had sprung a leak in the oil filter. A bit ago the plastic handle of the dipstick had broken off, and I had not yet gotten it replaced. Reaching under the hood, I reached for the stick, and it read “full”. But I had checked the transmission fluid by mistake, not knowing the car was almost dry in oil. I went ahead and put some oil into the engine anyway, not noticing it trickled right through to the ground. A few miles later the faithful car, which had gotten us through nearly forty thousand miles, ground to a halt on the side of the road, with the engine “seized up”. After calling my brother to tow the car to my dad’s place, we borrowed Dad’s car until we could rent one for our weekend travels. Heading out over a thousand miles to four different destinations, our first stop was Pennsylvania. During our family reunion there, PJ and Abby graced the occasion with the duet and solo, “The Prayer” & “You Raise Me Up”. As Elvie passed out copies of the BCA newsletter, I shared about oversees ministry among children in the Philippines. After lunch, one of two ladies who had driven up from Maryland approached us kind of tired-looking and the one in blue (Donna) sighed, “I need a MAP.” Since we had one in the rental car, I inquired, “For which state: NY, PA or MD?” To which Donna replied, “Not a MAP, but a NAP. I need a NAP.” Since PJ and Abby had sung an appropriate (Sarah Boynton) duet a few years ago in the Philippines, I replied, “We have just the thing for you.” Right on cue as if they were main characters in a musical, PJ and Abby started singing, “Oh the sun is too high in the afternoon sky…now I know what it is that I need… I need a nap!” We were all laughing so hard by the time the duet was done, that nobody was sleepy anymore. The ladies pulled up song after song on their iPhones as our kids sang along and we all joined in on the choruses. After we prayed together for each other’s respective journeys and hit the road, Eli’s BCA devotional lesson on Abram came to mind once more. In blessing others, we also are often blessed by God. Whether the “bless-ees” happen to be students who are learning to spell their names, or else tired friends who need a cheering-up, we need to check our correct “dip stick” to be sure that we ourselves are living in God’s promises.
Until next time… Now through July - Missions messages in USA churches.
BCA has 427 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B & C): Present Goal $118,000:
Phase A: 3-Acre Property/Need: $56,000 Raised-PTL! $56,000 Remaining: $0
Phase B: Administration Bld. /Temporary Classrooms/Multipurpose Wing-East:
Phase C: Classrooms Phase One (First Floor South Preschool Wing/Cafeteria)
Present need: $181 for miscellaneous repair needs on BCA’s buses: $2 for Bus “H”, $8 for Bus C”, $166 for brake fluid and rubber cap and other needs for Bus “M”, $5 for fabricating ignition for Bus “L”. |
| 6/16/2016 | Happy Father's Day (6/19) Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!) Pray Please- for BCA’s “Father’s House” for 13 street children. As they begin a new school year, they are also planning for the October arrival of a two-week American work crew which will, after working each day on building simple cottages for the children and also reconstructing the rotting roof of an urban school, visit the streets to find other abandoned children. These kids are often a challenge to locate, as they hide in alleyways, fearing interested people as being child traffickers, drug dealers, predatory gays, terrorists or prostitutes. Praise God- that after we spoke and sang at two different New York churches this past weekend (just over an hour apart in distance), we have a new sponsor for a waiting BCA child, and also a gentleman is seriously considering visiting BCA on a short-term missions trip in 2017. Also many agreed to pray for God’s wisdom in our location choice for the new BCA campus this August-December. “Class, the first ones to answer correctly are the first ones to go out to recess!” Teacher Hazel brainstormed new techniques to get the students interested in their studies. Noticing that when the bell rang for recess and for lunch the kids scooted out as fast as they could, she stood at the door an hour before the bell was to ring and announced, “Time to study adverbs. I will ask you a question and when you get it right, you can leave. If not, you go to the back of the line.” The students all pulled out their study sheets and frantically engulfed the information so that they could engulf their food sooner. As soon as the bell rang, the line formed. “Jenny, Cite an adverb describing how you walk at night when everybody is asleep.” When Jenny replied with “Quiet,” Teacher Hazel prodded, “End of the line. Adverbs end with the letters L & Y.” Most of the kids got the questions answered correctly right away and at the end of the quick game everyone got to eat and had learned. Between gulps of food, Jenny asked Teacher Hazel, “What will be our next game? I just know I will do great!” Teacher Hazel hadn’t anticipated the popularity of the “game approach” and finally beamed with her newest idea: since it was time for gym, they accompanied another class with an assortment of used Pepsi bottles. “Each team will have a spoon and a cup of water. You need to run the relay and fill the bottle one spoonful at a time!” Jenny inquired with just what Teacher Hazel had anticipated. “What will we learn from this, Ma’am?” Now the teacher was just hoping to tire out the kids so they would be ready to dig into their studies for the next class. But being the incredibly creative young woman that she is, without skipping a beat she declared, “Oh, well of course you have to approach the bottles speedi-LY to win! And call out adverbs along the way. Once you run out of adverbs, you have to stop…either speak slow-LY and run slow-LY, or come up with lots of adverbs and run quick-LY” Use your imagination to figure out what lessons were learned next when they played “Hop Hop Like the Grasshopper” game when each student hopped around a circle to a chair placed 15 feet away... Sure enough, at the end of the day everyone was exhausted and… they were smiling-LY smarter. Meanwhile on the other side of the planet in New York, our dear octogenarian friend Flo had emailed us from 800 miles away in Kentucky. She’d just had her 64th wedding anniversary and celebrated by packing 3 boxes to ship to the Philippines. Two were filled with books &recycled/new greeting cards. The 3rd box carried notebooks, pencil sharpeners, erasers & afghan yarn. Then she surprised us with the news, “Our church raised funds to buy & ship to BCA 500 complete Bibles!” Whoah! How exciting! Every family in our school will have a Bible of their very own! While the BCA kids were inspired to study to get to lunch quicker, we’re inspired to get back to the Philippines in August and open those boxes to distribute the Bibles… Until next time… Let the islands rejoice! Now through July - Missions messages in USA churches.
BCA has 426 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B & C): Present Goal $118,000: Phase A: 3-Acre Property/Need: $56,000 Raised-PTL! $56,000 Remaining: $0 Phase B: Administration Bld. /Temporary Classrooms/Multipurpose Wing-East: Phase C: Classrooms Phase One (First Floor South Preschool Wing/Cafeteria) Present need: $272 for rooftop needs at BCA: $213 for repair of gymnasium roof (leaks) as well as classroom doors and 3rd floor sink, $38 for nylon netting to keep birds out of (and shade sun from) BCA’s rooftop garden, $21 for materials and labor to replace colorful rooftop flaglets which circle the uppermost portion of BCA’s roof. Paul’s USA cell phone in New York # (518) 488-9601 |
| 6/2/2016 | Pray Please- for four new teachers at BCA, as they adjust to the Christian learning environment before the new school year starts next week. Praise God- that the cancer biopsy tests on Elvie’s neck came back negative! Also praise God that during our fourteen month absence from the mission field, my assistant pastor Callem was able to act on suggestions from Elvie and I to keep things running smoothly. This came into play recently when a mother in the church pulled another’s hair in a squabble over who would play the tambourine on Sunday. After Elvie and I called Pastor Callem (through the internet) with advice, the ladies forgave each other. “I look like God!” First grade pupil Rhena Strutted around her classroom with her nose in the air proclaiming in a loud voice BCA’s Bible verse for the day, “God created man in His own image.” (Genesis 1:27) Teacher Harmon had to stifle his chuckles as the other students watched this show of authority from their proud classmate. It was just a few days before classes were to end for the Summer School, and their brief 2-week “End of Summer” break would begin. “Rhena, you know that your classmates are also made in the image of God, not just you.” interjected Teacher Harmon, between Rhena’s breaths of enlightenment. Kayle is one of Rhena’s classmates and the class’s newest student. He is a prodigy since in just a very short time he already can write his name, count numbers one to ten and identify shapes. His quip caught Rhena’s attention, “Renren (Rhena’s nickname), Jesus was not only in the “image of God”, but He was and is God. I love Him so, since He didn’t strut around like you are doing. Instead He died for me on the cross.” That quieted down Rhena as she went back quietly to her seat. Harmon’s mirth had turned to amazement at the depth of meaning in this student’s insight. Gaining his composure, Teacher Harmon made a detour in the day’s lesson, to teach a necessary hands-on immediate truth. “Class, Kayle is right. Since we are made in God’s image, we should show our love to Him by loving others as He loves us. What could we do in school and at home to share that love as we live “in God’s image?” This time it was not Kayle, but Rhena who responded. Sheepishly she suggested, “Maybe not bullying others?” Harmon congratulated Rhena for her fine answer, and then, “Anybody else?” Little JunJun piped in, “Maybe by not picking on others because they are tall…or maybe even kinda short?” “Exactly!” said Teacher Harmon. “Since we are all equally made in God’s image, then even though each of us is unique, we nonetheless are to appreciate and accept all our friends and classmates’ ‘flaws and awes’ because God created us in His own image.” Meanwhile on the other side of the planet in New York, our family was speaking in two churches over the weekend. On Saturday we shared about God’s call to missions in a Messianic congregation which meets on Saturdays. And then on Sunday we shared at a church that aggressively reaches essential needs in their community. In both churches the four of us (PJ, Abby, Elvie and I) were dressed in Filipino outfits. Before each service began, I made arrangements with the audio-visual crew to prepare the church’s sound system for our presentations. That Saturday, Travis (the sound guy) was located in the balcony. Since extra wiring was necessary to get my remote to function, I made many trips up and down the stairs. Each time I opened the door to the stairway, I greeted three elementary-aged sisters playing together on the landing. On about my fourth trip the oldest girl (Jenna) looked up at my dressy Filipino Barong with mother-of-pearl buttons and caught me off-guard by asking, “Are you a prince?” “Well, not really. “ I responded. But then, remembering BCA’s verse of the day, I suggested, “But actually, I guess I am a prince. Since Jesus is my Savior, I am a child of God. And since God is the King of the Universe, that does make me a prince, doesn’t it?” Jenna and her two sisters shook their heads yes and smiled as I added, “And if you three have accepted Jesus into your hearts, you too are not only made in the image of God, but are princesses too!” Thanks Rhena, Kayle and Harmon for making a Bible truth clear to kids your own age, halfway around the planet! Until next time… Let the islands rejoice! Now through July - Missions messages in USA churches.
BCA has 424 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B & C): Present Goal $118,000:
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| 5/26/2016 | (Memorial Day (5/30)
Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!) Pray Please- for BCA’s faculty which is prepping up the classrooms & working on their lesson plans for the 2016-17 school year, to start at the beginning of June. Teacher Rhea has begun each school day before leaving her house with a short prayer; “Oh please Lord, may your Holy Spirit shine through me to these children so that they will be warmed by the comfort of your encouragement.” Sure enough as the last day dawned, the students all made their way up to the stage for their presentations and even the formerly antsy ones received their certificates and gave delightful presentations of song and drama on stage before their new friends and loving parents. PTL, no more tears! Meanwhile on the other side of the planet, Elvie, the kids and I were driving 300 miles from New York to a prayer conference in Pennsylvania. “Is there a tool we can use,” I inquired at one of the meetings, “to maintain a balance of inward spiritual growth (prayer, meditation and Bible Study) and outward service to our Lord and King?” My concern was that we as believers would not be “so heavenly minded we are no earthly good” while at the same time not “burn out” from too much outreach with no quiet time with God. Helping people can be a form of worship, but needs Spiritual empowerment. On the way back to New York we stopped into a familiar church of believers for “spiritual refreshment.” This particular congregation has been praying for BCA’s ministry since before PJ and Abby were born. After the kids sang few songs and I shared a Bible message, the pastor had our family of four stand before the congregation as they encouraged us with a beautiful time of prayer and consecration. “Did you turn on the car lights?” I had asked PJ on the original trip south. He has his “learners permit” to drive a car, and we’d taken advantage of a portion of our trip to help him put in a few hours of practice. Yet since the journey back up north was fraught with road construction, foggy drizzling rain and twilight, I took the wheel. Around the halfway point near the state border we stopped at McDonalds to consider switching drivers, but decided I’d continue manning the wheel. Half an hour later I saw flashing lights in my rearview mirror. “Do you know why I stopped you?” inquired the state trooper. “No sir. I know I was not speeding.” The officer agreed that I’d been driving within the speed limit. “In New York State, when your windshield wipers are on, your lights must also be on.” He inserted. Looking down at the dashboard controls I realized that sure enough, I had forgotten to turn the car headlights back on after our stop near the border. Quickly correcting the situation, I apologized to the cop. “Traveling?” he asked after noticing the luggage in our back seat. “Yes officer. We are on our way back home after speaking in a church in PA.” “Well, it is getting dark, and now that your lights are on, it would be a good idea to get back on your journey. I will not issue you a ticket this time.” Heading back onto the highway I considered how my inquiry at the prayer conference was just answered. The world notices when our spiritual light is getting dim. Without adequate time alone with God, our “lights go dim”. Like BCA’s crying little Mythia who after time with strange new classmates and teachers longed for time with her mommy, even so we need that special time with our Redeemer. Let the islands rejoice! Now through July 2016- Missions messages in USA churches.
BCA has 424 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B & C): Present Goal $118,000:
Present need: $49 for Vehicle maintenance of BCA’s buses: BCA Bus “Ph”: $2 for rubber bushings// BCA’s Bus “Fo”: $1 for charging the battery// BCA’s Bus “L”: $1 for charging the battery, $15 for rubber bushings & Center Bearing Assembly, $3 for oil seal, $12 for coil spring, $7 for standby box wrench, $8 for fabricated bushing, $2 for K Wrench, $7 for spring bushing, $3 for bolts. |
| 5/19/2016 | Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!) Pray Please- for BCA teachers Hazel, Eli, Junrey, Rhea, Harmon, Ella & the rest of the staff & parents as they clean up mud in their homes from waist-deep flooding this week due to heavy rains. The waters did not enter BCA school, which was fortunate since they’d just spent a week cleaning up the school in preparation for the next school year in June. Praise God that we plan to purchase new property for the building of a new campus in a “No-flood” area upon our return after July. Praise God- that when I (Paul) was a guest speaker during the annual “Career Day” at a Middle School, the 160 children in the 7 classes where I share were great listeners. Firemen, Nurses, businessmen & even the city mayor were there! PJ videotaped the event & I thanked each class for saving their bottles & cans to recycle to send the funds to Davao City, Philippines to feed our BCA kids. One can’s income feeds 3 BCA students! Praise God as well that PJ finished the first day of his summer job at a local preschool. “Are the Vegetarians here yet?” As Elvie, PJ, Abby & I drove from New York down to New Jersey & Pennsylvania over the weekend, we visited many delightful friends & made many new ones as well between speaking engagements. On Saturday evening we stayed with a family of 5. The 3 kids were very excited, peeping out the windows every few minutes to see if we’d yet arrived. Since we got there after their bedtime, the parents told the children to get some shuteye to be bright & chipper when they would meet us Sunday morning. After brushing his teeth & getting changed, Christopher asked one more time, “Are you sure the vegetarians are not yet here?” In his excitement he’d gotten the words “missionary” & “vegetarian” mixed up. Meanwhile on the other side of the ocean at Barner Christian Academy, Teacher Junrey was leading his class in making cards for their sponsors. Many parents werein clas that day to guide their kids. But Aika’s mom was absent. Since Aika was alone, Junrey was concerned that the card would be sloppy. But she followed all of his instructions, and the final product was incredible! She stayed in the lines as she colored the pictures. “How did you do it, without supervision?” asked Teacher Junrey. Aika replied, “I know that this card I made will be submitted to my beloved sponsor in America! This card I made is flying in an airplane all the way to America! It has to look good.” “What a joy to spend time with these kids in this project,” quipped Teacher Junrey. “Even my hyper students Rys & Jay are enthusiastically leaping into these cards!” Then he had a second clarifying thought, “But the most creative are Arfil & Yvan. Their cards are truly works of art & should be in museums!” Another teacher, Rhea added, “But Margeaux really, really was stubborn & did not want to participate. It was like pulling teeth to get her to color. She only wanted to distract her classmates, playing & suroy-soroy (roam around) the classroom. I did what teachers do best: motivated her to do that thing. God is good because He is with me. He gave me wisdom to motivate Margaux to color, and sure enough, she got the project done.” Praise God that, on both sides of the ocean His “vegetarians” er…missionaries, are touching lives of all ages in their service for Him! Until next time… Let the islands rejoice! Now through July 2016- Missions messages in USA churches.
BCA has 424 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B & C): Present Goal $118,000:
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| 5/12/2016 | Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!) Pray Please- for the remaining few weeks of Summer School at BCA, before regular classes resume the first week of June. Often, due to the less-structured nature of Summer classes, students ask their instructors religious questions and are more prone to make spiritual decisions during this time. Please also pray for Elvie, who is recovering from strep throat after a sick child she was caring for sneezed into her face. Please also pray for PJ’s fellow schoolmates as they mourn the sudden death (heart attack) of a Nyack student in NYC. Praise God- that our speaking tour schedule in July now includes Maryland! While there, we may present a Bible challenge, a duet by PJ and Abby, a brief video of God’s work in Davao, a missions skit and a PowerPoint presentation of BCA and our home for street kids. Praise God as well that PJ finished his first year in college with close to a 4.0 average, and Abby received “high honors” for the third time on her quarterly report card in high school. “P-P-P. Students, I pronounced a letter three times. Write that letter on your papers. Now, choose a word from the list on the board which starts with that letter.” As BCA’s Teacher Ely quizzed the students on Friday morning, they conscientiously followed his instructions. The following Thursday, as each of the students received their corrected papers, Teacher Ely asked one of his students, Angela, to stand. “Today’s exceptional student is Angela. She only made 2 mistakes out of 15 questions. Anglea, could you share with your classmates the answer to your first question?” All eyes were on their exceptional classmate as Angela obediently and clearly recited, “P-P-P. The word ‘President’ begins with the letter ‘P’.” Meanwhile on the other side of the world in New York, Elvie was watching the returns coming in from Monday’s presidential elections. Excitedly she announced, “Palolove [sweetheart]! It is now official! Our godfather Rody was just elected president of the Philippines!” Sure enough, the former mayor of our Philippine City of Davao had just received the highest position in the Republic! As he was interviewed by his pastor on Facebook, President-elect Rodrigo Duterte made a few promises. “I apologize for having such a foul mouth. I realize that I now represent the entire nation before the world, so I will try my hardest, as I clean up the crime in our country, to also clean up my language.” Leaders in both nations seem to be making a moral about-face in response to the consistent prayers of God’s righteous people. Last week as I participated in Albany, New York’s National Day of Prayer ceremonies, Legislators, Senators and Representatives each approached the microphone to appeal before our Creator for His blessing as these leaders repented of their sins and asked for wisdom to uphold righteousness in response to 2 Chronicles 7:14 & Proverbs 14:34. This week I attended the Franklin Graham planning session for his upcoming “Decision America” tour to visit this city (New York’s state capital) in August. Honesty and integrity are revealed through what our leaders say and do. As both countries (Philippines and USA) face major transitions in leadership this year, we can see God’s sovereign hand directing believers toward integrity with responsibility. A few weeks ago the US Postal service decreased postage on letters, due to lowered expenses from decreased fuel prices. As I was mailing letters that Friday, the clerk suggested, “If you wait until Monday, you can save five dollars…” I replied, “Most definitely, ma’am. With those five dollars I will feed two hundred students in our Philippine school!” She was incredulous as her eyes opened wide and she stated, “Really? I can’t even get one meal for that much for lunch!” When I returned the following Monday, the clerk responded, “So, you came back.” Then to her buddies behind the counter she exclaimed, “This man can miraculously feed two hundred poor Filipino children since we decreased our rates!” People do not forget when we impress them with God’s work in our lives. Angela, there are other words which also start with “P,” that President Rody will be blessed as he upholds: “Perseverance, Preservation of Marriage, Preservation of Israel & Preservation of family”…to name a few. Until next time… Let the islands rejoice! Now through July 2016- Missions messages in USA churches.
BCA has 424 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B & C): Present Goal $118,000:
Present need: $33 for maintenance on BCA Bus “Fi”: motor oil: $9, bonding of brake shoe: $6, rubber cups: $6, refacing of brake drum: $12. Note on gifts sent to sponsored kids: while it is best to send cards, stickers, letters and/or small items to sponsored kids, the list suggested in a recent email was in response to a few inquiries by sponsors. These gifts to the children are never expected, yet always appreciated. The reason why we do not usually suggest that the sponsors send items to their “kids” is to avoid jealousy by their classmates. However, the items suggested, due to a few decades of experience, seem to be pretty “safe” in that regard. |
| 5/5/2016 | Happy Mother’s Day (5/8)! National Day of Prayer (5/5)
Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!) Pray Please- for the DepEd (Department of Education) Regional office which is delaying next year’s educational permit for BCA until they can receive Elvie’s picture & official teaching license renewal claim stub, which are both presently in the mail from New York. Praise God- that during a funeral I conducted this week in New York State, the deceased (Betty) was such a strong Christian that it was a simple task to present the joyful life that believers lead. Her children, grandchildren & great-grand children clearly understood the Plan of Salvation as we reflected upon the 88 wonderful years she had lived for her Savior. Praise God also that this week PJ finished up his freshman year of Bible college! Yay, we get our son back until we leave for Asia in July. Praise God as well for a friend in Minnesota who just sponsored four BCA students: two boys and two girls! Praise God also that as we attended the City rescue mission this week, 8 people responded to the Gospel message to receive Jesus into their hearts! “The first word is a proper noun…” All of Junjun’s fellow high schoolers at BCA tried to figure out what the noun was. “I know! It is a dog!” Teacher Hazel: “No, ‘dog’ is a concrete noun. A proper noun is one that starts with a capital letter.” Teacher Hazel: Junjun, go ahead and start your charades. Junjun then matched the motion of his left arm with his right. “The letter T!” Junjun shook his head no. “I know- a cross!” Junjun shook his head ‘yes,’ but then motioned for more. Quizzical looks appeared on all faces until finally, one of the church elders’ sons cried out: “I got it! Jesus!” Sure enough, Jun called out, “Ayos!” which is Filipino for “Finally!” Techer Hazel: Class, now you understand the difference between different nouns: Proper, Abstract, Common, Concrete & Collective. See? Learning can be fun! Tomorrow we will cover pronouns.” Meanwhile on the other side of the planet, Elvie & Abigail were spending hours sifting leaves & stones out of the sand in the church preschool’s playground sandbox while I was using a motorized blower machine to clean up leaves & dirt from the parking lot. It was the church’s annual Spring Workday. We were experiencing different types of cleaning: common, abstract, concrete, proper & collective. While others had more “Proper” tasks like cleaning up the kitchen or toting wheelbarrow loads of woodchips, Elvie & Abby were busy cleaning up the “Common” sand. When I finished with the lot, I rejoined the ladies so that we could “Collectively” finish up the sandboxes. Finally, after four hours of work, our backs felt like mush. After cleaning up & before visiting a friend’s house for dinner, we all took catnaps with a collective “oooohhhh.” Until next time… Let the islands rejoice! Now through July 2016- Missions messages in USA churches.
BCA has 424 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B & C): Present Goal $118,000:
Present need: $397 for fuel for the following BCA buses for the month of April: Bus “L”:$43, Bus “M”: $129, Bus “Ph”: $92, Bus “Fi”: $133. Want to give a gift to your sponsored child, but don’t want to have to pay postage? Here are some ideas, which you can specify on your next monthly payment: A) School Yearbook: $25, B) Extra Uniform: $15, C) Lollipops for his/her class: $2, D) Miscellaneous extra school supplies: $5, E) Gift certificate for school snack shop $5, F) 50 Kilogram sack of rice for child’s family: $50. When designating these extra gifts, please include a note on what the added amount is for. All of the students’ needs are already provided. These are “extras”. |
| 4/28/2016 | Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!) Pray Please- for safety for our BCA families, after the Abu Sayyaf terrorists beheaded a Canadian a few miles from our school, leaving his head in a bag on another island in the Southern Philippines. Praise God- that, a few days after Elvie’s exhausting 3-day journey around the globe, her speaking engagement was very well received as she challenged hundreds of ladies in New York to trust in God’s Spiritual guidance for their lives. “BSoD- your computer has been hit by the Blue Screen of Death!” Suddenly, in the middle of my office work, the screen on my laptop computer went blank, and then turned blue, with the keys refusing to function. “Alert!” came a voice. “Please call the following number to fix your device.” After calling the number, the service technician “took control” of my laptop! He was likely in another country, but was able to look up files on my computer & move my curser around remotely. It was incredible! And he got the BSoD fixed! Yet not before the technician scolded me over the phone with, “Don’t touch your mouse or keyboard, or it may mess up what I am doing to fix your problem.” How often do we find that our lives are malfunctioning & we cry out to our God (whom we cannot see) & in response He says, “Give me complete control of your life, & I will make it function again!” And He does just that. As Summer School is in full swing at our Philippine BCA school, parents have regular consultations with the teachers. BCA’s devoted parents are receptive to the comments about their children. BCA faculty thank God for the privilege of working with these destitute parents while presenting plans to help the children improve. After two days of long exams, teachers were thrilled that there were no absences. They were all able to take the tests. God had provided for each student their needs for protection, guidance, knowledge, wisdom &patience. The parents trusted the teachers to “bring their kids’ systems back to normal again” amidst trying times and troubled economic conditions. “Pastor Paul... Hi from south of the border! Do you know a competent, affordable & trusted builder in Davao, Philippines?” I responded that Richard (one of BCA’s engineers) will work together with the volunteer LifePoint Arizona/California/Mexico construction team flying here in October to build cottages for abandoned “Father’s House” kids & also to install a metal roof at a small Christian preschool in Davao City. It is truly amazing that when we release full control to God, He miraculously brings together people from many different countries to carry out His purpose! On our own, we wear out & face the “Blue Screen”. Yet with God in control, He gives us His “True Scene”. Let the islands rejoice! Now through July 2016- Missions messages in USA churches.
BCA has 421 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B & C): Present Goal $118,000:
Present need: $ for repairs to BCA’s “Bus Fo”: $44 for motor oil $4, clutch relining $6, battery charge $1, battery terminal $1, spark plug $11, ignition switch $7, plug-in fuse $2, clutch cable $3, I. terminal (HD) $1, carburetor overhaul $8. |
| 4/21/2016 | Pray Please- for Elvie as she recuperates from her travel sickness. The three-day series of flights took a lot out of her. Also please pray for the BCA staff as they return from the funeral of the dad of one of BCA’s secretaries. The funeral took a ten-hour bus ride each way to attend. BCA’s Summer classes begin next week. Praise God- for a young couple from the church we spoke at last week, who are seriously considering a short term missions trip to BCA the following year after their wedding. "Do you know Jesus?” As Elvie flew last Sunday from Davao Philippines to Albany, New York USA, she took every opportunity to share Jesus with her various seatmates. Her three-day journey (with layovers at airports) required four different airplanes: Davao-Manila-Tokyo-Wash, DC-Albany. En route to Japan, the plane was a lot colder than tropical Davao weather, and even with the skimpy airline’s blanket she was shivering. Dozing off, she suddenly noticed that her elderly seatmate had taken his own blanket to “tuck her in”! She returned his kindness by inquired as to his spiritual condition. Angels were present on that flight as she told her seatmate of Jesus Christ’s miraculous work on the cross to purchase our eternal pardon. Meanwhile on the other side of the planet, a few days before Elvie’s flight, I (Paul) joined a dozen pastors at nearby Camp Pinnacle, which rests in the Helderberg Mountains alongside Albany. There, during our day of fasting and prayer we lifted up the various ministries and denominations represented, and then drove to the edge of a cliff overlooking a hundred miles of countryside. From the lofty peak our small group of pastors viewed and prayed for the vast sight: schools, factories, government office buildings, businesses, homes and stores. There was snow present, so after the time of prayer ended of course I shot off my last snowball of the season at a pastor buddy… On Sunday morning Abby and I visited the church of a high school friend of mine. We hadn’t seen each other for over three decades. I had been reminding him for the past month of my visit, so he was expecting me. He informed his pastor of my presence, and sure enough, that pastor had been one of my prayer partners at the Pinnacle prayer time! At the inception of the service, Pastor Dave announced, “We have a visiting missionary, and we will let him tell about God’s work overseas.” After a time of singing, the pastor approached the pulpit and shared, “God spoke to me as we sang, telling me that Paul will be the first to share, and if there is still time, I will give the message I have prepared.” Abigail sang a solo, and after a brief video of God’s BCA ministry, I presented a summary of some Filipino children whose lives have been transformed through our answering Christ’s Great Commission Command in Matthew 28:18-20. Pastor Dave still had ample time for his message (with communion), & he even had the ushers take a special offering for BCA! God has so many delightful surprises for us, whether the opportunity to share about Him is in an airplane or on the ground; at work or at school; in pain or in pleasure. Let us always be “ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15). Until next time… Let the islands rejoice! 4/22-23: Elvie speaking at the CMA Northeastern District Great Commission Women Spring Refresh Conference at Holiday Inn, Auburn, New York. Now through July 2016- Missions messages in USA churches.
BCA has 421 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B & C): Present Goal $118,000: Phase A: 3-Acre Property/Need: $56,000 Raised-PTL! $56,000 Remaining: $0 Phase B: Administration Bld. /Temporary Classrooms/Multipurpose Wing-East: Phase C: Classrooms Phase One (First Floor South Preschool Wing/Cafeteria) Present need: $445 for a replacement laptop computer (present one has a broken CD-drive & SD (card)-drive (plus I forgot its password to add/delete programs). |
| 4/14/2016 | Pray Please- for Elvie’s national trustee meetings this week, followed by her international flight halfway around the globe back to New York where she will be a speaker at a statewide Ladies’ Missions Conference. Praise God for 6 large bags of stuffed animals, books & clothes (donated for us to ship to Filipino children) at various churches we have visited these past 2 weeks! Praise God as well that PJ & his cousin Emily did excellent in their college drama team performances this past week. “Kini ang adlaw, gibuhat sa Dios!” (This is the day that the Lord has made). The children at church were Americans, but Abby had trained them to sing in Filipino. At the end of my Sunday morning message, Abby brought the kids to the stage in the church where we were guest speakers. Then, the parents had the privilege of hearing their own kids sing in a foreign language, praising God. It is a joy to travel from church to church around the Northeastern United States of America. These kids also remember years later what they were taught. Recently I received the following letter from a boy in Missouri, even though it had been a few years since we had visited there:
No matter where on the planet you teach kids, you are investing in their entire lives. This past week Elvie realized this, as she travelled over a hundred miles back & forth crisscrossing Davao Province through jungle, city, fishing villages & mountains, directing Vacation Bible Schools. Sometimes in the city the heat was unbearable; due to the power company’s planned blackouts…right in the hottest part of the day! Still, since most of the VBSes were outdoors, the Holy Spirit continued to move the hearts of children to respond undistracted to the daily Gospel presentations. Tuesday…can it be? Over 300 children at one VBS alone. Then in the evening, instead of all the staff going home, they often stayed, dozens of them sleeping side-by-side on mats on the floor, so they could get up early to begin preparations for Day #3. Before the week began however, Elvie & friends drove up to a mountain tribe to give out pillowcase dresses to children. The town, no kidding, was called “NamNam”. The “Datu” (tribal chieftain) came out in full tribal regalia to offer his thankfulness. Although it is cooler in the mountains (dipping down into the 70’s), the tribal kids are used to being barefoot & wearing next to nothing. Yet now in the lowlands, heat was approaching triple digits…& no electricity for fans! (while Abby and I were in six inches of snow in New York) Typically, a Davao day begins with VBS, & then followed up by Elvie interviewing parents of BCA’s potential new students. Next the kids themselves are tested to determine their level of scholastic aptitude. Following that is a visit to the homes of those families which pass, to see if they are really poor enough to join the sponsorship program. Even as the tribal chieftain in the mountain village appreciated Elvie’s visit, the pastors of our various church plants also appreciated Elvie’s visit to their VBSes. Different languages, different cultures, different places on the planet…but all with the same message: Kini ang adlaw gibuhat sa Dios! (This is the day that the Lord has made). Since we have the privilege of using this day to share the love of Jesus, truly, “We will rejoice and be glad in it.” Until next time… Let the islands rejoice! 4/17: Visit New Hope for Life Ministries, Nassau, NY 4/17: Elvie returns from her month-long ministry trip to the Philippines, as BCA Graduation Speaker, also to interview poor families as prospective students, and finally a delegate at CAMACOP’s quarterly NBOT Trustee Meeting. 4/22-23: Elvie speaking at the CMA Northeastern District Great Commission Women Spring Refresh Conference at Holiday Inn, Auburn, New York. Now through July 2016- Missions messages in USA churches.
BCA has 421 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B & C): Present Goal $118,000: Phase A: 3-Acre Property/Need: $56,000 Raised-PTL! $56,000 Remaining: $0 Phase B: Administration Bld. /Temporary Classrooms/Multipurpose Wing-East: Phase C: Classrooms Phase One (First Floor South Preschool Wing/Cafeteria) Present need: $28 for maintenance needs of BLC’ “Bus Fi”: motor oil $13, Bolt & Sandpaper $2, Rubber Cap $4, “O”-ring $1, Wheel Cylinder $8. |
| 4/7/2016 | Pray Please- for our college son PJ this weekend. He is in a major play and also has papers and exams to prepare. Please also pray for BCA’s 20 VBSes this week. Over a thousand children in the depths of poverty are daily hearing the Gospel & also challenged with the theme, “God Can Use Me!” Praise God for our delightful host family Abby and I stayed with during the weekend Soring Mini Missions Conference where we spoke in Fulton, NY. Parents of missionaries themselves, they were extremely caring and kept us on schedule, even after Abby and I decided to build a 3-foot high “snow ant” Sunday morning before church. “A child only cares how much you know when he knows how much you care!” As each prospective new teacher came into his or her appointed interview, Elvie & the other BCA faculty in our Philippine BCA school evaluated their content, poise, demeanor, technique, purpose & deep passion. Elvie, being principal of BCA, enjoys the annual privilege of evaluating all teacher demonstrations before the beginning of each new school year. Just in time too, for we needed the extra staff for our Vacation Bible Schools which began this week. We have 20 church plants, & instead of transporting all 600 students to the BCA campus, Elvie has presented the curriculum & “God Can Use Us” theme to Pastor Abam, Pastor Joaquin, & the others… (each of the pastors of all those churches), spread over a 50 mile area of Davao City & surrounding areas. Meanwhile in New York Abby was handed a microphone, & before hundreds of parents & fellow high schoolers gathered in a public school gym, she approached the center of the expansive room as a hush fell upon the crowds & she glimmered in her glisteningly breathtaking Filipina gown. Tingles could be felt as she crisply sang the “Lumpang Hinirang” (Philippine National anthem). During the evening of International singers, Samurai & Irish dancers, speaker, food & displays, none could compare with the very first rendition, that of our 15-yr-old angel of sunshine; Abigail. The very next day she & I drove 3 hours to our speaking engagements for the weekend: a 3-day Spring Mini-Missions conference. The very first speaker, to share the Word of God to dozens of ladies present, was Abigail. Earlier in the week during a Bible study, Abby was asked, “what do you think we should study tonight?” She chose James 1:1-4 “Consider it pure joy…when you face trials…” That was also the passage she chose to speak from at Friday evening’s womens’ meeting, sharing the trials & triumphs a missionary kid faces (especially at airports), with the understanding that it can be “all joy” when we view it in God’s perfect perspective. As we spoke to over half a dozen different groups of people throughout the snowy weekend, Elvie was on the other end of the planet traveling in sweltering tropical heat traversing dirt paths to a remote village of little tribal mountain girls. Dresses creatively designed from pillowcases by American church sewing clubs were given to girl after girl as they patiently waited in line, some to receive the first dress they had ever owned in their lives. Back in New York, Abby & I closed up the week & began another. Monday was “City Mission Night” & I was informed as I headed out the door that I was to be the evening speaker. The 1st passage to come to mind was that of the Bible Study & Abby’s message from James. Looking out over a hundred or so men & ladies who had fallen onto hard times, I quoted, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when we face trials of many kinds!” By the time I closed in prayer half an hour later with an altar call & blessing of the food, 5 men had raised their hands to become children of God! Even as our new BCA teachers declared in their teaching demos that students are first concerned with “how much you care,” even so, the men at the rescue mission, the little girls in the mountain village, & yes, even the great crowds of listeners blessed by Abby’s angelic voice, are reminded by our lives that truly our God cares…Cares enough to send you…& me…to tell them about Him. Until next time… Let the islands rejoice! 4/10: Speaking at Great Bend CMA Church, Great Bend, PA 4/17: Visit New Hope for Life Ministries, Nassau, NY 4/17: Elvie returns from her month-long ministry trip to the Philippines, as BCA Graduation Speaker, also to interview poor families as prospective students, and finally a delegate at CAMACOP’s quarterly NBOT Trustee Meeting. 4/22-23: Elvie speaking at the CMA Northeastern District Great Commission Women Spring Refresh Conference at Holiday Inn, Auburn, New York. Now through July 2016- Missions messages in USA churches.
BCA has 416 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B & C): Present Goal $118,000: Phase A: 3-Acre Property/Need: $56,000 Raised-PTL! $56,000 Remaining: $0 Phase B: Administration Bld. /Temporary Classrooms/Multipurpose Wing-East: Phase C: Classrooms Phase One (First Floor South Preschool Wing/Cafeteria) Present need: $ Fuel for BCA busses- $967: Bus “H”- $10, Bus “F”-$126, Bus “L”- $392, Bus “M”- $156, Other buses- $283. |
| 3/31/2016 | Pray Please- for Elvie to get her swollen tooth pulled soon in the Philippines (I affectionately call her "chipmunk cheeks") and for me to get a dental bridge or implant. Also please pray that Elvie will retain her strength to carry her duties while in Asia over the next 2 weeks:
After she returns 4/17 she will speak at a ladies’ retreat in New York, then travel with us the next day as we speak and sing in Vermont. Abby and I will be presenting a Mini Missions Weekend at the Fulton Alliance Church this weekend. It will be an exciting time with a variety of opportunities to share a variety of drama, music, multimedia and Biblical challenges for multicultural evangelism for age-sensitive groupings throughout the weekend. It’ll be so exciting! Both she and I will be very busy. Please pray for our focus throughout the 6 to 8 times we will be presenting throughout the three days. Abby also is presenting food and culture and clothing from the Philippines this evening at Columbia High School in East Greenbush, NY Thursday evening 3/31 at 5-7pm. Praise God that our PMBMI ministry, after nearly 3 decades of operation, finally has its own bulk rate permit for discount post office mailing. “I still have 133 things to accomplish!” Elvie was a tad frustrated in the Philippines, as she had a long list of things she set out to do during her four week round-the-world trek: from interviewing hundreds of prospective students & teachers to representing millions of retired pastors & ladies at a quarterly national leadership board meeting. That’s when her face started swelling up from an abscessed tooth. “Oh no, not now…” She had scheduled ahead with our Barner Academy staff for interviews in mountain regions and ocean villages…from Tucanga to Kaputian & from Matina Crossing to Lasang: urban cities, roadside highway shanties, and remote villages. “Well, I am a jungle girl, aren’t I? I’ll just bite the bullet and grimace at the pain!” So that is what she did, armed with antibiotics and pain killers she interviewed family after family and pastor after pastor in church after church. As time went on, the Holy Spirit made the activity keep her mind off the upcoming tooth extraction. Meanwhile on the other side of the planet in New York, I (Paul) was preparing for a dental bridge after my own tooth extraction (the joys of middle-age). On Good Friday as Abby and I looked out over the congregation, donned in our choir robes, we were pleasantly surprised to see none other than her brother PJ who surprised us by popping in from college (3 hours away) unannounced for the Easter cantata and for the whole weekend! We celebrated by going ice skating the next day, visiting the sick & also getting up at 4:30 am to visit the state capitol for an Easter sunrise service in the chilly morning air (15 degrees wind-chill feels blistery when you are used to the tropics). A few hours later we were on stage singing at church. There were many visitors. On Monday after picking up Abby from the school bus we visited a Vietnam vet, Jimmy and his wife to wish him a happy 72nd birthday. I had prayed with him a few months previous to accept Jesus, and he was also at the Easter Sunday Worship Service. After studying the Bible together, he had an insight of his own from Sunday’s Resurrection message. “Could it be that God may have told us through that scripture to vote Republican in November?” This definitely caught me off-guard, but knowing Jimmy, I should have seen it coming. With a glint in his eye, he quoted, “And the TRUMP shall sound…” and gave me an enormous bear hug which I couldn’t refuse. “It’s right there in the Bible, brother!” Until next time… Let the islands rejoice! 4/1-3: Speaking (both Abby and Paul) at Fulton Alliance CMA Church Spring Mini-Conference, Fulton, NY 4/10: Speaking at Great Bend CMA Church, Great Bend, PA 4/17: Visit New Hope for Life Ministries, Nassau, NY 4/17: Elvie returns from her monthl-long ministry trip to the Philippines, as BCA Graduation Speaker, also to interview poor families as prospective students, and finally a delegate at CAMACOP’s quarterly NBOT Trustee Meeting. 4/22-23: Elvie speaking at the CMA Northeastern District Great Commission Women Spring Refresh Conference at Holiday Inn, Auburn, New York. Now through July 2016- Missions messages in USA churches.
BCA has 416 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B & C): Present Goal $118,000: Phase A: 3-Acre Property/Need: $56,000 Raised-PTL! $56,000 Remaining: $0 Phase B: Administration Bld. /Temporary Classrooms/Multipurpose Wing-East: Phase C: Classrooms Phase One (First Floor South Preschool Wing/Cafeteria) Present need: $36 (labor and materials) to repair sign on the roof of Barner Christian Academy: termites damaged the wooden struts and wind blew the parts of the sign. Scaffolding had to be built before repairs were done. |
| 3/21/2016 | Pray Please- for our family as we are balancing both the Philippine ministry and also the promotion in churches for acquiring more interest in student sponsorships stateside. In a brief five months we will be back in Davao and I have just been informed that I’ve been once more nominated to be considered for the School Board of a local missionary school there. Praise God that we have 7 new sponsors for a total of 416 students sponsored at Barner Christian Academy. Praise God as well that a New York friend who recently donated forty brand-new Bibles to BCA for the discipleship program of some of the families of its six hundred students! “Weng and Lito, you are incredible leaders!” My associate Pastor Callem presented to the congregation appreciation for many of the parents of the BCA students who are growing as fast spiritually as the students are intellectually. These two men (Weng and Lito) in particular are voraciously devouring the Word of God in Bible Studies and discipleship groups. Particularly in our jungle church, it is a challenge to fit into the Sunday schedule time to zip out there before or after preaching at the main church which meets in the BCA gym, 12 miles away. Weng and Lito have been a Godsend since they delight in researching the Bible to prepare messages to preach for the small congregation in the bamboo-and-coconut (and partially cement) building there. Along with additional parents chosen by the congregation to lead the men’s and ladies’ groups, the excitement is intense as we watch maturing believers take on the responsibilities of Spiritual leadership. They grow much faster as they teach others! Many hours before Palm Sunday this week (early Saturday morning) Elvie arrived from her three-day series of flights across the face of the planet. Traveling from New York to Manila involved traversing various countries, airlines and layovers, but upon arriving in Manila, she was waiting in a long line for quite a while before realizing that of the four different airports in the city, miles apart from each other, she was at the wrong one! Oh, she ran and ran to catch a shuttle and a 2am taxi in the dark to get to her 4am flight to Davao City. I’d given her a six hour layover just in case such an event should occur. The taxi took a shortcut and detour. After a bunch more running she made it to the correct airport and ticket counter and caught the last flight. Minutes later she was exhausted and dizzy on the plane, watching out the window as the lights of the city disappeared into the early morning air, and also listening to her seatmates’ snoring. As Elvie spoke during Sunday morning in Asia, it was early morning in New York. Abby and I were putting together a 500-piece puzzle to glue to a big trifold poster-board for Dad’s 87th birthday…a very unique homemade card. After church, Dad loved the card and set it up on his couch for all to see. Meanwhile on the same side of the planet in Kentucky another friend was finishing up the taping and labeling for four large boxes to ship to BCA. The first has office supplies and stuffed animals. The second has Bible Study booklets and cloth, homemade tote-bags. The third has yarn dresses and shoes, while the last has calendars, greeting cards, Gospel booklets, candy, children’s vitamins and other witnessing tools. Like the way that God has sent Weng and Lito to be much- needed leaders in the church, God provides many people to carry out His mission to reach the lost. Like the card that we made for Dad, many people participated: some helped piece together and glue the puzzle to the card while others signed and colored the large card. Like the trip that Elvie took across the planet, it took a succession of many flights and shuttles to travel those thirteen thousand miles. If any one part of the journey was eliminated, the others would have been worthless. All were necessary. Like Flo in Kentucky who put the boxes together and the shipper who brought them to the peir, and the truck which receives them when the boat lands three months later and brings it to BCA, every portion of the journey, every person along the way, is critical. In twenty years thousands of children have heard of Jesus and also receives a quality Christian education. Yet it took thousands of sponsors and hundreds of teachers and millions of hours of class time. God’s intricate network of global conquest is a delight to behold, and an honor to be a participant in. Each one is equally important. Thank you for being a part of it, for going, for giving, and for praying. Until next time… Let the islands rejoice! 3/25 & 27: Singing at Pineview Easter Cantata (Paul and Abby), Albany, New York 3/27: Happy (Easter) Resurrection Sunday!. Sunrise Prayer with hundreds on Capital steps, Albany, NY 4/1-3: Speaking (both Abby and Paul) at Fulton Alliance CMA Church Spring Mini-Conference, Fulton, NY 4/10: Speaking at Great Bend CMA Church, Great Bend, PA 4/17: Visit New Hope for Life Ministries, Nassau, NY 4/17: Elvie returns from her monthl-long ministry trip to the Philippines, as BCA Graduation Speaker, also to interview poor families as prospective students, and finally a delegate at CAMACOP’s quarterly NBOT Trustee Meeting. 4/22-23: Elvie speaking at the CMA Northeastern District Great Commission Women Spring Refresh Conference at Holiday Inn, Auburn, New York. Now through July 2016- Missions messages in USA churches.
BCA has 416 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B & C): Present Goal $118,000: Phase A: 3-Acre Property/Need: $56,000 Raised-PTL! $56,000 Remaining: $0 Phase B: Administration Bld. /Temporary Classrooms/Multipurpose Wing-East: Phase C: Classrooms Phase One (First Floor South Preschool Wing/Cafeteria) Present need: $50 for BCA Bus “M” repairs: battery terminal $4, battery lug $1, brake fluid $5, rubber cap $5, ¬teflon & switch $3, fuse tube $2, wire, bulb & socket $5, labor¬-troubleshooting/rewiring $25. |
| 3/17/2016 | Pray Please- for the hundreds of BCA students who are finishing up their final exams in preparation for graduation next week. Praise God that BCA’s staff is teaming together with many parents and other volunteers to start Vacation Bible School right after the Easter break. Following VBS will be Summer school. Praise GOD as well that enough friends have donated books, stuffed animals and other items needed at BCA that we were able to ship thirteen boxes back to the Philippines this week! “As very select special students completing remedial reading this school year, you have had the advantage of finally knowing how to read!” BCA’s students are excitedly anticipating graduation exercises next week. Without exception, all the kids on every level of intellect are studying for the final exams so they can “move up” in BCA’s March ceremonies. Elvie is flying to the Philippines as she has a month of meetings, including being the main speaker for BCA’s graduation exercises. When dropping her off at the airport Thursday, a friend from church joined our circle of prayer for the trip. Then, in the middle of our prayers, an unknown believer joined the circle as well. When we got to “Amen”, we looked up as Cindy introduced herself to us. “I couldn’t resist a little extra prayer,” she quipped. Cindy was a godsend, for the two ladies chatted in line while awaiting and subsequently enduring extensive embarrassing security checks and scanning. The flight takes the better part of three days (International dateline considered), since Elvie is traveling to the other end of the planet. After the first leg of her five-plane journey, Elvie sent a facebook reply from the airport in New Jersey: “My flight was so scary. It was so bumpy. The baby across my next seat flew up high then fell on the floor. The mother had laid the baby on her lap, but surprisingly the plane hit the cloud...then dropped off. Many passengers threw up, I didn’t because of my motion sickness medicine. It was scary. I thought there was a problem with the plane. But we got to our first destination safe. Thanks for praying!” Rough sailing can be expected whenever starting something new. Our son PJ was home this past week for Spring break and since he has his new driver’s permit, we had him drive a total of five hours or so. To say that there was marked improvement as the week progressed would be pretty accurate. I did learn that when giving instructions I need to be clear and precise. Once PJ veered the car into the (empty) lane of oncoming traffic, thinking I had asked him to cross over the yellow line. Actually I meant to say, “You’re pretty close to that yellow line.” Two drivers: one with four decades’ experience and the other with four hours’ experience, both teaching lessons to the other! When the shipper came to my dad’s house to pick up thirteen boxes of stuffed animals, clothes, books and other items, Dad noticed the man’s shirt had the name “Christian” on it. Dad has been a believer for over six decades, and when Raffy explained that he was wearing a friend’s shirt, Dad saw it as a God-given opportunity to share the plan of salvation with the fine gentleman. The joy of being in a constant learning and teaching mode is even felt by Abby, our fifteen year old freshman high school daughter. She was not only nominated and elected from 500 students as January’s student of the month for her freshman class, but also was on the Principal’s High Honor Roll for being in the top 5% of her freshman class the second semester in a row, thereby receiving a handsome “school letter” (fabric) to put on a sweater or jacket. Her proud grandfather, a retired teacher himself, was personally congratulated by the principal after the ceremony. Whatever level of education we find ourselves; in remedial reading like some of the BCA kids, or high honor roll like Abby, every day God teaches us new lessons. From those lessons we teach others. Until next time… Let the islands rejoice! 3/17- 4/17: Elvie visits the Philippines for one month: BCA Graduation Exercises, interviewing poor families for prospective students, and CAMACOP NBOT Trustee Meeting 3/20: Visit Sonrise Bible Baptist Church, Rotterdam, NY 3/25 & 27: Singing at Pineview Easter Cantata (Paul and Abby), Albany, New York 3/27: Happy (Easter) Resurrection Sunday!. Sunrise Prayer with hundreds on Capital steps, Albany, NY 4/1-3: Speaking at Fulton Alliance CMA Church Spring Mini-Conference, Fulton, NY 4/10: Speaking at Great Bend CMA Church, Great Bend, PA 4/17: Visit New Hope for Life Ministries, Nassau, NY 4/22-23: Elvie speaking at the CMA Northeastern District Great Commission Women Spring Refresh Conference at Holiday Inn, Auburn, New York. Now through July 2016- Missions messages in USA churches.
BCA has 409 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B & C): Present Goal $118,000: Phase A: 3-Acre Property/Need: $56,000 Raised-PTL! $56,000 Remaining: $0 Phase B: Administration Bld. /Temporary Classrooms/Multipurpose Wing-East: Phase C: Classrooms Phase One (First Floor South Preschool Wing/Cafeteria) Present need: $19 for BCA Bus "Fi” repairs: Motor Oil $4, bolt & sandpaper $2, ¬rubber cap $4, O-ring $1, ¬wheel cylinder $8. |
| 3/10/2016 | Pray Please- for Elvie as she packs up her bags for her month-long trip back to the Philippines to lead the BCA graduation ceremonies next week. She will also be representing the licensed women in ministry in thousands of churches around the Philippines in a tribal area of the Philippines in Southern Mindanao in Early April before returning to New York to speak at a conference of Women in late April. Praise God that my tooth extraction went very well! Also praise God that many from my home church in New York attended Abby’s high school musical performances, and she did wonderfully. We had the opportunity to give our testimonies at the “Faith, Hope and Love” church in Renssleaer, NY, where PJ & Abby also sang a duet of “My Prayer”. “You mean that I can have this Bible to keep?” It was just a Gideon Bible that was sitting on a shelf in the library at BCA. A man had stopped by the school a few years ago and popped in, out of curiosity. When we struck up a conversation, one thing led to another and he became a Christian. I asked if he owned a Bible and he said, “Well, no…” So I asked him to hold on a moment, and I slipped into the school library and saw a Gideon Bible on the shelf and brought it out to him, signed and dated it and handed it over to him. He was a shipman, so he was not going to be in town long. But he would be sure to include it in with his few items that he’d carry in his belongings to lift him up on his long seafaring voyages. Thus it was nice that we recently received on the other side of the ocean an email from our dear octogenarian friend “Mama Flo” in Kentucky that she had tucked a few extra Bibles in her recent shipment of Baby crochet yarn…and also some lollipops and colorful Gospel bracelets as well! Meanwhile Abby was singing on the third night of her high school musical, “Anything Goes”. It was Sunday afternoon, and we had been to two different churches in the morning. She and her brother PJ had sung a duet in the second church, and I had given a brief synopsis of our Philippine ministry. When we returned to the missionary apartment, a half hour later there was a knock at the door. Immediately, even though I had not seen her in over three decades, I recognized Patty. “Come on in! Who is your friend?” Bringing Rosemary inside, we brought out treats of cookies, tea and whatever else we could find in the fridge. It was a grand old time of chewing the fat of nostalgia. The message at Rosemary’s church was on the Prodigal Son. I love that story, since the dad was so intensely loving, transparent and forgiving. “Rosemary, if you were to die today, would you go to heaven?” A few minutes later Patty’s friend had a beautiful smile on her face as she had the greatest assurance that a human being can have…that of being bound for eternity with Jesus! I looked over on our bookshelf and found AW Tozer’s book, “That Incredible Christian”. So I signed it, dated it, and told her, “Happy birthday, Rosemary!” On Monday morning I was in my office and, while going over the schedule of the day, noticed that it was the first Monday of the month. My home church is responsible for the worship service at the city rescue mission that evening. So when Abby got out of school, and when Elvie got out of work at the preschool, I informed them that we were all going to go (with PJ, who was on a week’s break from Bible college) to the mission…and that Abby was to sing a solo…her choice of songs. PJ had just the backup music on a flashdrive for “You Raise Me Up” which she had sung at a church in Yorktown Heights, NY a few weeks ago. She practiced in the car. When we got to the mission, I informed the speaker, a cool guy (Patrick) in his 70’s from South America, of the revision in the program. PJ got the sound stuff to the AV guy. The chaplain made the introductions and Patrick introduced our family. Abby did an incredible job on her solo, with lots of “Amens” among the tears from the hundred or so of the down-and-outers in the city mission. Patrick was about to head toward the mike, but noticed I was headed there first, so stayed seated. “Friends, Abby had a message for you this evening. Jesus does raise us up. Yesterday there was an unexpected knock at our door. A woman needed Jesus. She was like the prodigal son. She had been searching for him, but couldn’t find Him.” Over the next two or three minutes I shared about the deep love of the father of the prodigal son and also the joy of Rosemary when she found Jesus. When Patrick took the microphone, an enormous smile beamed from his face, for there on the big screen behind me was the script for Patrick’s message “Luke 15:11-20: Another Chance: The Prodigal Son”. Is God incredible…or what? Seven men prayed to become believers Monday night at the Capital City Rescue Mission! Until next time… Let the islands rejoice! 3/13: Speaking at Clearview Alliance Church, Schodack, NY 3/17- 4/17: Elvie visits the Philippines for one month: BCA Graduation Exercises and CAMACOP NBOT Trustee Meeting 3/20: Visit Sonrise Bible Baptist Church, Rotterdam, NY 3/25: Singing at Pineview Easter Cantata (Paul and Abby), Albany, New York 4/1-3: Speaking at Fulton Alliance CMA Church Spring Mini-Conference, Fulton, NY 4/22-23: Elvie speaking at the CMA Northeastern District Great Commission Women Spring Refresh Conference at Holiday Inn, Auburn, New York. Now through July 2016- Missions messages in USA churches.
BCA has 409 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B & C): Present Goal $118,000: Phase A: 3-Acre Property/Need: $56,000 Raised-PTL! $56,000 Remaining: $0 Phase B: Administration Bld. /Temporary Classrooms/Multipurpose Wing-East: Phase C: Classrooms Phase One (First Floor South Preschool Wing/Cafeteria) Present need: $212 for BCA Bus "M” repairs: radiator assembly $88, radiator hose $60, radiator repair ¬ labor $10, battery terminal repost $5, bulb & electrical materials $9, bumper light $11, switch circuit $4, labor¬starter repair & electrical wiring $25. |
| 3/3/2016 | Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!) Pray Please- for many people who have used Bibles to donate them to BCA so that we can ship them to the Philippines. How ca people study the Bible when they do not own a copy? Can we use it if it is in English? Of course? What is if is KJV or NIV or GNB or RSV or NASV? Yes. All are good teaching tools. Also please pray for my tooth extraction 3/2 at 3:30pm EST. Praise God that our daughter Abigail’s high school “paper cutting illustration” art project has been accepted (among others) for the “Four Seasons” Art Show at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, March 11-April 3. “Sorry if I am following too closely in front of you…” Dad and I smiled at the “tailgating” bumper sticker on the car in the parking lot at the dentist office, even though my excruciating pain was so incredibly intense. I considered our leadership of the Philippine ministries, how it has been that the more freedom we have given to leaders, the more they have shined. Rev. Cayao’s practice in the small villages of Kaputian, Bandara and Sian on nearby Samal Island over the past dozen or so years has been to visit the huts of nearby fishermen’s families and lead the families to Jesus. He was effective in doing so, and yet the sustainability of these families to maintain their discipleship promises would often fall by the wayside when their workload became greater, or when the fishing became poorer. We entered the picture when our BCA free schooling program entered their area and “Presto!” instant congregations! Pastor Cayao’s church, as well as those of many other pastors on the island, are overflowing with hundreds of faithful parishioners who come out every Sunday. Their children are now more intelligent, due to the quality schooling program they are receiving through BCA; and also God is blessing their businesses due to their faithful tithing to the churches and conscientious participation in community outreaches to show God’s love to their neighbors. By “Spiritual Inertia”, we have started the ball rolling, and have been pleased to watch and see it grow from there. Still, we have to keep it in check to be sure that the education part of the picture is kept in check. Meanwhile on the other side of the ocean, my tooth was falling apart. I’d been driving a few hundred miles to a speaking engagement in the center of New York when suddenly severe pains shot through my gums. About four or five years ago I had had a root canal and crown in the Philippines. Seems that it cracked. It has infected and spread to the gums. For three days I couldn’t eat anything solid, not even bite down for pain would shoot from the top of my head to the soles of my feet and the pain and headaches would throb all over my head and wouldn’t go away for hours. The first dentist I went to said I should write a letter to an endodontist sixty miles away to work on the root canal and he could likely see me in three months. Huh? That very night at about 2am the pain was so intense I called Medicaid (CDPHP) and they said it was an emergency and that I needed to go to the hospital IMMEDIATELY. So Elvie and I called my sister and we all headed to the hospital where they injected…ahhhhh morphine. “Don’t get used to it” the nurse said. I was back home within five hours, but needless to say, we got a second opinion from a different dentist. They are pulling the tooth Wednesday, MARCH 2 at 3:30pm. When my teeth come together at just the right times, goods things happen. When ministries come together at just the right times, fantastic things happen. When cars align just right while driving and/or parking, good things happen. But when any and/or all of these come into contact incorrectly…oooooohhhh the PAIN! Let us pray that we have the discretion to always consider “Am I following the correct distance in front?…” Until next time… Let the islands rejoice! 3/4,5,6: Abby’s High School Musical Performance 3/6: Visiting Faith, Hope and Love Church, Rensselaer, NY 3/13: Speaking at Clearview Alliance Church, Schodack, NY 3/17- 4/17: Elvie visits the Philippines for one month: BCA Graduation Exercises and CAMACOP NBOT Trustee Meeting 3/20: Visit Sonrise Bible Baptist Church, Rotterdam, NY 3/25: Singing at Pineview Easter Cantata (Paul and Abby), Albany, New York 4/1-3: Speaking at Fulton Alliance CMA Church Spring Mini-Conference, Fulton, NY 4/22-23: Elvie speaking at the CMA Northeastern District Great Commission Women Spring Refresh Conference at Holiday Inn, Auburn, New York. Now through July 2016- Missions messages in USA churches. 4/24: Speaking at Jericho Congregational Church, Vermont. 5/8: Speaking at Andover Alliance Church, New York 5/20-21: Attending “Seek: Prayer and Missions Focus” CMA Retreat at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, PA 5/22: Speaking at St Thomas Independent Brethren Church, Mt Pleasant Mills, PA 5/31: Completion of duties as Missionaries-In-Residence at Pineview Community church (CMA) in Albany, New York, USA. 7/24: Speak at Pineview Community Church, Albany, New York 7/25-28: VBS Pineview Community Church, Albany, New York 8/1: Return to the Philippines. BCA has 403 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B & C): Present Goal $118,000:
Present need: $477 for BCA school bus fuel for February: Bus “Ph”:$103, Bus “Ch”:$38, Bus “L”:$47, Bus “Fi”:$147, Bus “M”:$142. |
| 2/25/2016 | Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!) Pray Please- for “Hank” and Annmarie, two new souls led to the Lord this week: that they grow in their newfound faith. Please pray that God lead many strong and vibrant Christians across their paths to assist them in their new lives of faith in Him. Praise God that the recent rebel uprising with helicopter gunships & warplanes in Lanao del Sur Mindanao Philippines, did not spread to Davao City. “Thank you for your prayers!” In his quarterly report from the Philippines, my assistant Pastor Callem was overwhelmed with gratitude for the prayers that people had lifted up for his wife’s cancer surgery. “Thank you very much…the success of her operations…we know that there were many who prayed! We extend our heartfelt gratitude to them.” Meanwhile on the other side of the ocean in New York God was also performing other miracles. “Elvis is in the house!” came the familiar voice of my lifelong friend from halfway across the country. As I am here in New York, a buddy in Arizona is a few time zones away and about twenty degrees warmer. As teens we joked that he had the nickname Elvis. A few weeks ago the daughter of my seminary professor emailed me that he had some books to donate to our school in the Philippines, if we could pick them up from Arizona. Just happens to be that her grandchild is being born this week, and if I could get the books, they are being stored in a church that needs the room for Sunday school this week. Urgently, they need the books to be moved out. Praise God for the phone call that “Elvis is in the house!” “Elvis” also has a buddy in Arizona with a pickup truck who retired last week and helped him move the 47 boxes onto pallets in his garage until they could be shipped to Davao. It’s been said that “A friend in need is a friend indeed.” Whether it is prayer for a pastor’s wife with cancer in the Philippines or moving boxes in Arizona, a friend is a friend is a friend. Recently in New York the new pastor in the church I grew up in decided it was time to start up a men’s group once again. The turnout was incredible! All ages showed up for the breakfast, and what did we discuss? How we could help the community, and networking so that if a neighbor needs a fence built (for example) then we can call a few buddies and get a few bucks together and get it done…no charge! It was great! Glory to God. On Sunday we had to drive a distance to get to the church we spoke at, so a sweet Filipino couple treated us to a fine restaurant and we were brought to a nice hotel on Saturday night. As I waited for Elvie and Abby in the hotel lobby on Sunday morning, I asked the hotel clerk if she minded working on Sunday morning, and if she was a Christian. “I was baptized as a baby.” She responded. A few hours later and miles away in church the pastor said, “And now our missionary will introduce his family.” I approached the pulpit and began, “Actually, you are all my Christian family, for those of you who are believers are my brothers and sisters in Jesus! But you have a brand-new member who isn’t in this room right now. Her name is Maryann. She is the Front desk Clerk at the hotel which we stayed in last night. She is also a brand new Christian. This morning she prayed with me to be a Christian and is now a member of our Forever Family!” The pastor and some friends bought us lunch and Elvie, Abby and I drove to PJ’s college to see him. A friend in need is a friend indeed! On Tuesday I visited the hospital to see a retired man who had had a very bad reputation in his younger years. Due to his criminal history, I will not use his real name but call him Hank. Hank had been in a terrible car accident with severe permanent injuries. Yet God spared his life. I knew that the visit was going to be a challenge for me, so I preceded it with a visit to a pastors’ prayer meeting with a few close friends of mine. We prayed for Hank: especially since Hank had had such deep bouts of depression recently that he’d attempted to end his life. Supernatural entities did not want me to visit Hank. I couldn’t find his room. I finally realized after about half an hour that I was even in the wrong hospital. When I located his place, he was not ready for visitors. But I did not feel like leaving and coming back, so I waited. Hank finally greeted me with a kind smile. After pleasantries I read to him from the book of Samuel how little David conquered enormous Goliath by God’s great power. “Hank, you too can have God’s great strength. Are you willing to turn your back on the life of sin that you have lived and to give your all to Him?” There in that hospital bed, with the nurse watching from the chair nearby, this hardened criminal, who should have by all means been killed by a fatal car crash, was spared by the grace of God and not only that, was reborn as a child of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. “Repeat after me Hank. Dear Jesus…” Hank painfully moved his lips to respond, “De..de…dear…Je..Jesus…” Waves of emotion coursed through my body as I considered what the Holy Spirit was accomplishing at that very moment in time, erasing decades of pain, blotches of sin and nights of painful torment in the 50’s…60’s…70’s…80’s…” I…I…Didn’t hear…you…” I had to repeat myself, since I was speaking so softly and Hank wanted to be sure he spoke every word exactly correct. A friend in need…in need of a prayer for your wife in cancer…in need of a fence to be built…in need of a pickup truck to move some boxes to your garage…or even to overlook your life of sin to see into your heart of need to tell you of a Savior who can make you whole…is a friend indeed. Until next time… Let the islands rejoice! 2/28: Speaking at Hillside Alliance Church, Ithaca, NY 3/4,5,6: Abby’s High School Musical Performance 3/6: Visiting Faith, Hope and Love Church, Rensselaer, NY 3/13: Speaking at Clearview Alliance Church, Schodack, NY 3/17- 4/17: Elvie visits the Philippines for one month: BCA Graduation Exercises and CAMACOP NBOT Trustee Meeting 3/20: Visit Sonrise Bible Baptist Church, Rotterdam, NY 3/25: Singing at Pineview Easter Cantata (Paul and Abby), Albany, New York 4/1-3: Speaking at Fulton Alliance CMA Church Spring Mini-Conference, Fulton, NY 4/22-23: Elvie speaking at the CMA Northeastern District Great Commission Women Spring Refresh Conference at Holiday Inn, Auburn, New York. Now through July 2016- Missions messages in USA churches. 4/24: Speaking at Jericho Congregational Church, Vermont. 5/8: Speaking at Andover Alliance Church, New York 5/20-21: Attending “Seek: Prayer and Missions Focus” CMA Retreat at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, PA 5/22: Speaking at St Thomas Independent Brethren Church, Mt Pleasant Mills, PA 5/31: Completion of duties as Missionaries-In-Residence at Pineview Community church (CMA) in Albany, New York, USA. 7/24: Speak at Pineview Community Church, Albany, New York 7/25-28: VBS Pineview Community Church, Albany, New York 8/1: Return to the Philippines. BCA has 402 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B & C): Present Goal $118,000:
Present need: $124 for miscellaneous repairs on BCA’s school bus annual upkeep and preventative Vehicle maintenance: Bus “L”: $56, Bus “Fi”: $18, Bus “Ph”: $2, Bus “Fo”: $1, Bus “M”: $47. |
| 2/18/2016 | Please pray: (as you stay on your knees, we’ll stay on our feet!) Pray Please- for preparations for BCA’s graduation exercises next month. The hundreds of students are studying for their final exams now so that they can perform their very best. Praise God- for a new sponsor who has decided to cover not one, but TWO new students at Barner Christian Academy this year, bringing the school’s sponsorship total up to 392! Praise God also that a friend took Abby on a shopping spree for new clothes and another friend donated an accordion to BCA for its tribal mountain evangelism ministry! Also thank God that after many have prayed for recovery from my persistent headaches and memory lapses, I had an MRI of my brain and the radiologist found nothing…that wasn’t supposed to be there J. So now the doctor has revised my medications and the migraines and coughs have decreased. Whew. “C’mon, temperature gauge, you can do it! Hit negative one!” The delightful car we have borrowed here in the USA has digital thingamajigs that tell all sorts of facts like GPS, radio stations and even the names of the singers of the songs being sung! Included as well is how hot or cold it is outside. We really wanted to see what it does if the temperature goes below zero Fahrenheit. Sure enough, on Sunday night as we drove to a church to teach a Bible study, the little hyphen lighted up before the “1” on the dashboard! And then the unexpected happened…the car turned off by itself just after we parked! Oops! At prayer meeting we prayed for the car as well as we studied the Bible book of John. Meanwhile on the other side of the planet in the Philippines, students and staff were just waking up and getting ready for their Monday morning classes. “Lord, please bless our rice and our fish, and bless our President, Doctor Paul and his family in New York too…” These hundreds of kids and their teachers are so very precious. We love them dearly and think of them constantly as we travel from church to church across the USA to challenge believers to come out and join the ministry of spreading the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the globe. Pastor Bill, the new pastor in the church where I grew up, handed me a box of Bibles and asked, “Can your school use these?” Boy, can we! And a thousand more! Saturday morning a family from another church came over to my dad’s house and spent four hours with Elvie, Abby and I as we boxed-up thirteen jumbo cardboard containers filled with those Bibles, many books, stuffed animals and other odds and ends people had donated for the Philippines, which we’d collected from friends over the past two months. Little Talia sorted out books into stacks of different sizes while her brothers and sister packed everything into every nook and cranny of the boxes. What a team! Even Dad, at 86, rushed out to get snacks, including chocolate-covered strawberries…yum! In answer to the Filipino kids’ prayers, God started up the car. Within minutes the outside temperature hit -4, yet still the engine overheated, sending the temperature gauge went way up into the red. We rushed to Walmart to buy oil and antifreeze. Afterward we popped over to our brother’s place to see what was wrong. Upon opening the hood he exclaimed, “You have no radiator hose! You never would have made it home, and would have been stranded in sub-zero weather!” Praise God for answering the kids’ prayers by keeping it cold enough to make the engine not overheat too much before getting us to my brother’s place to fix the car. Is God good, or what? Oh, and the muffler also had to be replaced. J Until next time… Let the islands rejoice! 2/19: Speaking at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, Colonie, New York 2/21: Speaking at Calvary Bible Church, Yorktown Heights, New York 2/28: Speaking at Hillside Alliance Church, Ithaca, NY 3/13: Speaking at Clearview Alliance Church, Schodack, NY 3/17- 4/17: Elvie visits the Philippines for one month: BCA Graduation Exercises and CAMACOP NBOT Trustee Meeting 3/20: Visit Sonrise Bible Baptist Church, Rotterdam, NY 3/25: Singing at Pineview Easter Cantata (Paul and Abby), Albany, New York 4/1-3: Speaking at Fulton Alliance CMA Church Spring Mini-Conference, Fulton, NY 4/22-23: Elvie speaking at the CMA Northeastern District Great Commission Women Spring Refresh Conference at Holiday Inn, Auburn, New York. Now through July 2016- Missions messages in USA churches. 4/24: Speaking at Jericho Congregational Church, Vermont. 5/8: Speaking at Andover Alliance Church, New York 5/20-21: Attending “Seek: Prayer and Missions Focus” CMA Retreat at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, PA 5/22: Speaking at St Thomas Independent Brethren Church, Mt Pleasant Mills, PA 5/31: Completion of duties as Missionaries-In-Residence at Pineview Community church (CMA) in Albany, New York, USA. 7/24: Speak at Pineview Community Church, Albany, New York 7/25-28: VBS Pineview Community Church, Albany, New York 8/1: Return to the Philippines. BCA has 392 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. (two new sponsors!) BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B & C): Present Goal $118,000:
Present need: $153 for BCA’s “Bus M” Radiator repair: 1. Radiator assembly $88, 2. Radiator hose $6, 3. Radiator repair labor $10, 4. Battery terminal repost $5, 5. Bulb & electrical materials $9, 6. Bumper light $11, 7. Switch circuit $4, 8. Labor starter repair & electrical wiring $20.
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| 2/11/2016 | Pray Please- for me (Paul) to finalize the remaining tax receipts for all who have donated to this ministry in 2015, and get them into the mail by Valentine’s Day. Praise God- for a new sponsor of a BCA child this week! (Actually two. A sponsor has decided to sponsor two more kids…for a total of three, and paid the whole year in advance! Awesome!). Praise God as well that Abigail’s new passport finally arrived, so we can begin purchasing tickets for our return flight to Davao this summer. Praise God too for twelve boxes of books that were donated to BCA this week! “My teacher, Miss A-Cel is so very pretty and has taught me to love Jesus more!” Teacher A-Cel’s students, along with all the classes, presented flowers, cards and songs to BCA’s teachers & staff this week. BCA’s Annual Teacher Appreciation Day falls on Valentine’s Week each year. This week most of the kids wore red shirts, dresses or at least a red scarf to recognize the day. Pastor Callem and his six year old son Apec were also in bright red shirts. Callem played guitar as he and his son sang “Jesus Loves Me”. Apec’s mom (she’s the one you prayed for, who had cancer surgery a few months ago) beamed with pride at her son’s song of love for Jesus. Meanwhile on the other side of the planet in Florida a retired couple who sponsor a BCA child and also regularly supply funds for the weekly “Diary needs” was explaining to a prospective missionary friend about what we do. “They are church planters but have built a school to minister to the poor in the city… They are amazing what they have done…Why reinvent the wheel when you can learn from them? I highly recommend you contact them!” Hopefully these precious people who want to take short-term missions trips will follow-through and visit Davao City! As God makes connections, children’s lives are transformed. While about to drive to a pastors’ prayer meeting this week in New York, I (Paul) peered into the closet and debated whether to wear a striped dressy, or a plaid flannel shirt. Making my choice, I zipped off to the meeting. Once there, I stood up to introduce myself. “I am Paul Barner, a missionary to the Philippines.” Immediately a man two tables away beamed with an amazing smile on his face. After an hour or so of prayer, we broke into small groups to chat and have lunch. The “smiling man” scooted over to my table with a huge smile on his face. “Hi Paul. I am Jim. This morning God told me to go to the Pastors’ Prayer Meeting and meet a guy named Paul who would be wearing a plaid shirt! Here I am! Can your family have dinner with ours this next week, so we can discuss your ministry?” Wow. Kind of like Ananias in Acts 9:11 when he, too went to look for a man named Paul (Saul)! What an amazing God we have, that He has planned our lives perfectly, right down to the design of shirt we will wear! This past Saturday Elvie, PJ, Abby and I visited a dying lifelong friend in a local nursing home. Eleven minutes after we left, she departed into heaven. While we were had been visiting, our kids expressed to Harriette their deep love and appreciation for this octogenarian/prayer warrior who was always in New York to greet us when we would come home on furlough. A few days later I sang tenor alongside my dad at Harriette’s funeral. “I will cling to the Old Rugged Cross, and exchange it some day for a crown!” As my mind went back to seeing my kids’ heads resting upon Harriette’s shoulder, I considered how Harriette now may have her head resting on the shoulder of her precious savior Jesus in Heaven. For eighty-nine years she has been anticipating this festive occasion. The reunion with her dear sister (a missionary to Japan), and other loved ones, fade yet in comparison to her finally meeting her dear Redeemer. What better way to spend Valentine’s Day, than with Jesus, quoting Song of Solomon 6:3, “I am my Beloved’s, and He is mine!” Until next time… Let the islands rejoice! 2/14: Visit Victory House of Praise Church, Schenectady, NY 2/14: Teaching Evening Bible Study (John 7) at First Baptist Church, Rensselaer, New York 2/19: Speaking at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, Colonie, New York 2/21: Speaking at Calvary Bible Church, Yorktown Heights, New York 2/28: Speaking at Hillside Alliance Church, Ithaca, NY 3/13: Speaking at Clearview Alliance Church, Schodack, NY 3/17- 4/17: Elvie visits the Philippines for one month: BCA Graduation Exercises and CAMACOP NBOT Trustee Meeting 3/20: Visit Sonrise Bible Baptist Church, Rotterdam, NY 3/25: Singing at Pineview Easter Cantata (Paul and Abby), Albany, New York 4/1-3: Speaking at Fulton Alliance CMA Church Spring Mini-Conference, Fulton, NY 4/22-23: Elvie speaking at the CMA Northeastern District Great Commission Women Spring Refresh Conference at Holiday Inn, Auburn, New York. Now through July 2016- Missions messages in USA churches. 4/24: Speaking at Jericho Congregational Church, Vermont. 5/8: Speaking at Andover Alliance Church, New York 5/20-21: Attending “Seek: Prayer and Missions Focus” CMA Retreat at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, PA 5/22: Speaking at St Thomas Independent Brethren Church, Mt Pleasant Mills, PA 5/31: Completion of duties as Missionaries-In-Residence at Pineview Community church (CMA) in Albany, New York, USA. 7/24: Speak at Pineview Community Church, Albany, New York 7/25-28: VBS Pineview Community Church, Albany, New York 8/1: Return to the Philippines. BCA has 390 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. (two new sponsors!) BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B & C): Present Goal $118,000: Phase A: 3-Acre Property/Need: $56,000 Raised-PTL! $56,000 Remaining: $0 Phase B: Administration Bld. /Temporary Classrooms/Multipurpose Wing-East: Phase C: Classrooms Phase One (First Floor South Preschool Wing/Cafeteria) Present need: $114 for repair of BCA’s “Bus L”: Hose $1, Fuel Filter $2, Spark Plug $11, |
| 2/4/2016 | Pray Please- for the many members of churches we have visited, that each of those who have expressed interest in sponsoring a BCA student will follow-through & send in their sponsorship forms so that we can assign to them their respective children. Praise God- for one new sponsor of a BCA child this week! (Actually two new sponsors, but another sponsor dropped her sponsorship, so we are “one-up”. Praise God as well for a friend in New York who is giving us the accordion of her aunt for PJ to use at Nyack. Praise God that, out of nearly 500 freshman students, Abby was elected by the teachers in her New York public school as “Ninth-grade Student of the Month” for January! The categories of her excelling are scholastics & citizenship. Yay, Abby! She and her basketball team also won their game this Tuesday. “Revival starts inside the circle.” At a recent pastors’ prayer meeting in New York, the speaker made a small masking-tape circle on the floor around himself to challenge us to be sure that we practice what we preach when we ask God to bring a thirst for holiness to the world. Meanwhile in the Philippines, Barner Christian Academy had a special guest from New York: A psychologist couple, Tom & Evangeline. Dr. Tom began tutorial lessons in the local Cebuano dialect from Alex, one of the BCA staff. “I only wish that Alex had taught me 33 years ago when I first visited this country.” quipped Dr. Tom. “He is an incredible teacher!” Another BCA teacher, Eli (kindergarten) shared with the staff that his purpose at the school is to “enhance knowledge and skills as a professional teacher, molding young minds to develop their full potential & to earn a living as well. In kindergarten, we do a lot of Activities to further enhance their understanding about letters, letter sounds, writing, reading & word recognition. Young students learn best when the teacher leads by example through his actions.” Sponsors of the BCA children have exemplified their commitment every month by sending in $25 for each student. One very young mom, Jackie had her second child just after Christmas and with her newborn infant in her arms tearfully spoke up at prayer meeting last week. “I am so very amazed that God has touched the heart of a total stranger on the other side of the planet to put my son through school, already into second grade. And now, when this daughter of mine gets older, God will surely find a sponsor for her too!” Filled with emotion she exclaimed, “Not only have my children found an education, but through the BCA staff I also have been introduced to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ!” The very next day on Sunday evening Jackie had a stroke & went into a coma. On Monday this 26 yr old mom was in heaven with her Lord. How long do we have upon this planet to “Start revival in the circle of our lives?” At the pastors’ meeting during the announcements time pastors presented schedules of exciting events coming up in April, May & June. I couldn’t resist the temptation, so I stood up. When called upon I announced, “Tomorrow, January 30, Jesus is coming back. All other events will be cancelled…unless you happen to still be around?” The fellow pastors understood the urgency of the calling that we have. If a 26-yr-old mom is here today & tomorrow is in eternity, & if Christ’s return is so imminent that it could be tomorrow, then the appeal to start a revival of holiness “inside the circle” of our lives is critical! Until next time… Let the islands rejoice! 2/7: Speaking at New Beginnings CMA Church, Poughkeepsie, New York 2/14: Visit Sonrise Bible Baptist Church, Rotterdam, NY 2/14: Teaching Evening Bible Study (John 7) at First Baptist Church, Rensselaer, New York 2/19: Speaking at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, Colonie, New York 2/21: Speaking at Calvary Bible Church, Yorktown Heights, New York 2/28: Speaking at Hillside Alliance Church, Ithaca, NY 3/13: Speaking at Clearview Alliance Church, Schodack, NY 3/17- 4/17: Elvie visits the Philippines for one month: BCA Graduation Exercises and CAMACOP NBOT Trustee Meeting 3/25: Singing at Pineview Easter Cantata (Paul and Abby), Albany, New York 4/1-3: Speaking at Fulton Alliance CMA Church Spring Mini-Conference, Fulton, NY 4/22-23: Elvie speaking at the CMA Northeastern District Great Commission Women Spring Refresh Conference at Holiday Inn, Auburn, New York. Now through July 2016- Missions messages in USA churches. 4/24: Speaking at Jericho Congregational Church, Vermont. 5/8: Speaking at Andover Alliance Church, New York 5/20-21: Attending “Seek: Prayer and Missions Focus” CMA Retreat at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, PA 5/22: Speaking at St Thomas Independent Brethren Church, Mt Pleasant Mills, PA 5/31: Completion of duties as Missionaries-In-Residence at Pineview Community church (CMA) in Albany, New York, USA. 7/24: Speak at Pineview Community Church, Albany, New York 7/25-28: VBS Pineview Community Church, Albany, New York 8/1: Return to the Philippines. BCA has 388 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. (one new sponsor!) BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B & C): Present Goal $118,000: Phase A: 3-Acre Property/Need: $56,000 Raised-PTL! $56,000 Remaining: $0 Phase B: Administration Bld. /Temporary Classrooms/Multipurpose Wing-East: Phase C: Classrooms Phase One (First Floor South Preschool Wing/Cafeteria) Present need: $596 for fuel for BCA’s buses in January: Buc “C”: $50, Bus “Fi”: $165, Bus “L”: $173, Bus “M”: $208. |
| 1/28/2016 | Pray Please- three BCA teachers will end their contracts at the end of the school year in March to take up jobs as government school teachers. With the probable newly- added grade 4 this year on our main campus, we will need four new teachers before the new school year in June. Praise God- that the BCA Microfinance loan program for destitute families to start small businesses has received enough repayments of loans to supply two more mini-loans for destitute BCA mothers (Bing and Nitz) who are now starting small businesses. “Those four kids are sleeping out in the rain!” A destitute family lives near Myrlin, (a fellow church member in Davao), and often the kids are forced to sleep outside. Being from a poor family, they are quite skinny, sick and not able to afford schooling. “Why not bring them into our Father’s House (FHF) home for street kids?” asked Myrlin. The board quickly met and approved the decision. First stop (after their parents’ “Contract of Surrogate Guardianship” was signed) was to give them a bath, then bring them into our “Used Clothing Room” on the BCA campus. Cleaned up and clothed, the next step was to feed them. This was touch-and-go, since they would get sick if they ate too much, too quickly. Deworming, enrolling them in one of BCA’s schools, etc. is in process now. But by Valentine’s Day these four siblings should be a healthy addition to our growing “family” at the Father’s House. And their parents will enjoy their weekly visits to see their kids. By Philippine law, parents can get their kids back at any time, as stipulated in the FHF contract. Meanwhile on the other side of the ocean in New York, the doctor said my (Paul’s) cholesterol was getting high and I needed more exercise. I was recently given a discount at YMCA, so started 2 hours (3x/wkly) of swimming, cycling and use of their track. My routine includes 20 minutes of walking, so I read my Bible and review the church prayer sheet en route. Last week two grandmothers (Ernestine and Grace) stopped me to inquire, “You read your Bible…are you a pastor?” The Bible reading was put on hold while I was able to share my faith and also the Philippine work with these two delightful ladies. Now they look forward to my time of praying for them during my walk. Often others request prayer as well. There is no end of aches and pains of members at the Y, in the process of getting back in shape. “You have your own mission field here at the Y!” quipped Ernestine. “You know, I think I will dust off my Bible and start reading it again… and start going to church again too! Every day God has surrounded His children with those in need of Him. We are called to bring the needy “out of the rain” and into the cozy comfort of the fellowship of believers. Whether in the Third World where physical needs are great, or in the Western World where Spiritual apathy is rampant, all can be welcomed with the open arms of the delightful Body of Christ…His Church. You can get the missionary out of the mission field, but you can’t get the mission field out of the missionary, for sure. Until next time… Let the islands rejoice! 1/31: Teach Evening Bible Study, John 6, First Baptist Church, Rensselaer, NY 1/31: Visit Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Albany, NY 2/7: Speaking at New Beginnings CMA Church, Poughkeepsie, New York 2/14: Visit Sonrise Bible Baptist Church, Rotterdam, NY 2/19: Speaking at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, Colonie, New York 2/21: Speaking at Calvary Bible Church, Yorktown Heights, New York 2/28: Speaking at Hillside Alliance Church, Ithaca, NY 3/13: Speaking at Clearview Alliance Church, Schodack, NY 4/1-3: Speaking at Fulton Alliance CMA Church Spring Mini-Conference, Fulton, NY 4/22-23: Elvie speaking at the CMA Northeastern District Great Commission Women Spring Refresh Conference at Holiday Inn, Auburn, New York. Now through July 2016- Missions messages in USA churches. 3/17- 4/17: Elvie returns to Philippines for one month: BCA Graduation Exercises and CAMACOP NBOT Trustee Meeting 5/31: Completion of duties as Missionaries-In-Residence at Pineview Community church (CMA) in Albany, New York, USA. 7/24: Speak at Pineview Community Church, Albany, New York 7/25-28: VBS Pineview Community Church, Albany, New York 8/1: Return to the Philippines. BCA has 387 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. (we are breaking even, as sponsors drop, we also gain sponsors) BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B & C): Present Goal $118,000:
Present need: $193 for long, retractable tarp, hardware, lumber and installation to keep BCA’s second-floor open-air hallway dry during the heavy rains, and cool during hot, sunny Days. Tarp: $118, hardware, lumber and installation: $75. |
| 1/14/2016 | Pray Please- for BCA’s hundreds of students who will be this week (1/20-22) taking their Summative exams. Graduation is scheduled for March. Praise God- for the BCA Parents and Teachers Consultation Day (1/15). BCA’s parents enjoy participating in the operation of God’s will in this Christian school. Junrey explained that he is committed to quality by giving his life 100% to Jesus through teaching from his obedient life and words. “A Christian School like BCA schedules devotional and spiritual activities both for the students and staff to keep us sharpened in the faith! We are values-centered, striving to make these children agents of change!” While our teachers are daily providing instruction for hundreds of BCA students, other believers worldwide are also providing tools for this to remain a reality. Church was cancelled one Sunday in a Kentucky, USA Baptist church. But that did not stop their seniors group from sending funds for BCA to purchase a much-needed brand-new computer printer and ink. They also sewed together and shipped 50 dresses made from pillow cases for poor BCA girls. On New Year’s Eve, a dear 93-yr-old saint in New York had recently gone on to Glory. At her New Year’s Eve funeral I mentioned, “This woman of God has served her Lord for nearly a century! She has been one of our delightful prayer warriors, having us share at the weekly Bible study that had met at her home for three decades. Now, as tonight we count down the seconds until 2016, can you imagine in Heaven a week ago when they finished the countdown and threw confetti and cheered as they rejoiced at Shirley’s arrival there…3-2-1…Shirley’s here!” Embraced by her husband, by many who had been in her Bible study over the years, and especially by those nail-scarred hands of her loving Redeemer, Jesus. Our son PJ also had opportunity to rejoice, as he shared his testimony and Bible truths at the city rescue mission. Albany, New York has a new law that states that when nights get cold enough to be dangerous for beggars and “street people,” they must be brought in from the cold…even arrested by the police to keep them in a warm jail and off the cold bleak streets so they don’t freeze to death. On the Monday night when PJ spoke, it was the coldest day of the winter so far- 9 degrees Fahrenheit! Due to the new law, the Mission was packed, with hundreds of beggars and street-people. After PJ gave his testimony and a friend also shared from the Bible, eight of those present became believers! God is warming-up frigid souls across the planet, in the Philippines, in Kentucky, in New York and where you are through the lives and testimonies of His own! Until next time… Let the islands rejoice! 1/17: Visit Grace Fellowship Church, Latham, New York 1/17: Teach Evening Bible Study, John 6, First Baptist Church, Rensselaer, NY 1/ 24: Visit Loundonville Community Church, Loudonville, New York 1/31: Teach Evening Bible Study, John 7, First Baptist Church, Rensselaer, NY 1/31: Visit Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Albany, NY 2/7: Speaking at New Beginnings CMA Church, Poughkeepsie, New York 2/14: Visit Sonrise Bible Baptist Church, Rotterdam, NY 2/19: Speaking at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, Colonie, New York 2/21: Speaking at Calvary Bible Church, Yorktown Heights, New York 2/28: Speaking at Hillside Alliance Church, Ithaca, NY 3/13: Speaking at Clearview Alliance Church, Schodack, NY 4/1-3: Speaking at Fulton Alliance CMA Church Spring Mini-Conference, Fulton, NY 4/22-23: Elvie speaking at the CMA Northeastern District Great Commission Women Spring Refresh Conference at Holiday Inn, Auburn, New York. Now through July 2016- Missions messages in USA churches. 3/17- 4/17: Elvie returns to Philippines for one month: BCA Graduation Exercises and CAMACOP NBOT Trustee Meeting 5/31: Completion of duties as Missionaries-In-Residence at Pineview Community church (CMA) in Albany, New York, USA. 7/24: Speak at Pineview Community Church, Albany, New York 7/25-28: VBS Pineview Community Church, Albany, New York 8/1: Return to the Philippines. BCA has 387 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. (we are breaking even, as sponsors drop, we also gain sponsors) BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B & C): Present Goal $118,000:
Present need: $610 for fuel for BCA’s school buses in December: “Bus Ph”: $13, “Bus N”: $27, “Bus H”: $25, “Bus Fi”: $173, “Bus L”: $171, “Bus M”: $201. |
| 1/7/2016 | Pray Please- for a team from Arizona, Mexico and California which plans to visit Davao this October to build cottages on our “Samal Island home for street kids-Father’s House”. A movie star from the tv series “Everybody Loves Raymond” plans to join them and they would also like Elvie and I to join our BCA staff in the evenings for drama/music/basketball/clown ministries to street kids (10pm-2am). Also please pray for our staff as they attend the funeral of the father of our computer teacher Dexter. Funerals are often times when the staff can show their solidarity of Christian comradery, lifting up each other through life’s processes. The staff all share songs and testimonies and Biblical truths during the festivities surrounding funeral events. It is often an hours-long “road trip” opportunity in the BCA school buses. Some students often tag along and perform a song or two as well. Praise God- that after a recent clergy prayer meeting, another pastor informed me that since the defroster/heater/aircon in the car we’re using doesn’t work 90% of the time, and since plastic scrapers are not effective at scraping bowed windows, I can scrape the frost/fog off the windows with the top edge of a Tupperware container! Too bad he didn’t tell me I should empty out the spaghetti first (only kidding). Another praise- the local Fire Dept. has finally recently approved BCA's annual Fire Safety Inspection Certificate. There was a long delay, due to needed renovations after new government regulations. This permit was necessary for the following year’s annual operational permit renewal. “Rest in God’s Sovereign power to make 2016 a victorious year for you!” BCA’s Teacher Hazel was leading the weekly faculty/staff Monday morning devotions from Isaiah 43, challenging her fellow leaders to trust in God’s character to bring about saving activities and a freedom to be open to whatever may lie along our 2016 pathway. Each day facing dozens of preschool & elementary students can be a daunting task. Yet to view it through the lens of God’s incredible masterplan, we approach every day as a new and amazingly exciting adventure in faith. With this same attitude on the other side of the ocean in New York, I was thrilled, on January 2, 2016 to already have fulfilled two of my year’s “16 goals for 2016”. Imagine- only less than ½ of 1% of the way into the year (remember we have an extra day this year: leap year) and already 12.5% of the goals accomplished! Yes! That still gives me 364 more days for the remaining 14 (please see the bottom of this email if you are interested in the complete 2015/2016 lists). 2016: Now, why was that second goal never on the list before? Because there is no snow in the hot, humid, tropical Philippines. But this year a dear couple who are lifelong friends (and who also lovingly sponsor two BCA kids) treated us to ski lessons, rentals and lift tickets. Yes! Since I have skied before (albeit 3 decades ago) I left Elvie & the kids to fend for themselves through beginner ski lessons, while I tried out some more advanced slopes. 2 hours later the 4 of us sat side-by-side on the mechanical chair lift up to the breathtaking peak of the…bunny slope. PJ and Abby seemed to take to it quite naturally. But Elvie was more hesitant, not wanting to break or bump into anything or anyone. My solution was to remove her left ski and my right ski. Hand-in-hand we skied down the slope. It was her first (and last) time, and she was victorious! God has already made us victorious over 2016. It seems daunting to us, with so many unknowns. But with God holding our hand, it is a cinch. Just as I removed one of my skis to assist Elvie, even so Jesus put aside His godly attributes to be born, live and die as a man. Even as Elvie let me remove one of her skis, even so we have to let God remove our sin and doubt and hold onto His confident grasp. A yeare from now at the beginning of 2017 we will look back on the past year and maybe, just maybe, God’s Holy Spirit will whisper into our ear, “See, it wasn’t so bad after all, was it?” Until next time… Let the islands rejoice! 1/7: Sharing at Bruderhof ministry, Albany, NY 1/10: Speaking at New Life Assembly of God Church, East Greenbush, New York 1/17: Visit Grace Bible Church, Latham, New York 1/17: Teach Evening Bible Study, John 6, First Baptist Church, Rensselaer, NY 1/ 24: Visit Loundonville Community Church, Loudonville, New York 1/31: Teach Evening Bible Study, John 7, First Baptist Church, Rensselaer, NY 1/31: Visit Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Albany, NY 2/7: Speaking at New Beginnings CMA Church, Poughkeepsie, New York 2/21: Speaking at Calvary Bible Church, Yorktown Heights, New York 4/22-23: Elvie speaking at the CMA Northeastern District Great Commission Women Spring Refresh Conference at Holiday Inn, Auburn, New York. Now through July 2016- Missions messages in USA churches. 3/11- 4/15: Elvie returns to Philippines for one month: BCA Graduation Exercises and CAMACOP NBOT Trustee Meeting 5/31: Completion of duties as Missionaries-In-Residence at Pineview Community church (CMA) in Albany, New York, USA. 7/24: Speak at Pineview Community Church, Albany, New York 7/25-28: VBS Pineview Community Church, Albany, New York 8/1: Return to the Philippines. BCA has 387 sponsored students. As God sends new sponsors, we will add more out-of-school children to the sponsorship program. (we are breaking even, as sponsors drop, we also gain sponsors) BCA’S New Campus Fund (Phases A, B & C): Present Goal $118,000:
Present need: $37 for fire alarm replacement and fire drill materials on BCA campus. 2015 Goals (Paul) tally= 10/16 = 62.5%
2016 Goals (Paul)
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| Archived news from 2015 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002 Last edited
December 25, 2016
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