Update on my health

I just wanted to write a quick update on my health and thank all of you for your prayers!!!
Most of you know I have been struggling with a serious infection for over a month.
Currently I am on my fourth round of antibiotics and I an finally improving!  Praise God!
I am so grateful for all of your prayers and support!
Please continue to pray for complete healing as I finish up the last of the antibiotics, and that it will not return!!!!

Update

Hello everybody :)
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Years!!!  I am so excited to see what the year 2013 holds :)
Most of you know I had the opportunity to travel to Australia for the holidays.  I had such a blessed time there!!!!  It was  fun to relax and get refreshed.
I met a lot of amazing people and made some great friends....And I got to pet a kangaroo...SCORE!  :)

School is back in session and we can see light at the end of the tunnel...only nine more weeks left!!! Wow! This year has flown by!

Construction on our school/ministry center is ongoing.  Here are a few pictures from this week.  There is always work for willing hands around here :)







   

We are working on building two more classrooms on the back of the school.  We hope to have them finished by the time the next school year begins.

Please continue to life all of us up in your prayers.  Pray for strength to continue the work God has called us to here on Boracay .  And also for wisdom- Many of us are facing some major decisions.
As always I send my love and thank you to everyone back home.  I miss each and every one of you!

Loving the children

Sometimes ministry is cuddling a child who needs some extra love

 Sometimes it's just a shoulder for them to rest on

I was leading songs at a feeding site a couple weeks ago and I noticed this little girl off to the side crying...I went over and picked her up and before I knew it she was fast asleep.  She slept through the entire feeding in my arms.  I love these children so much!!!

But Jesus said, "Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matt. 19:14

Prayer request

Every day my roommates and I have the opportunity to minister and reach out to our neighbor kids.   Many of them attend our school and we have become very close to them.
They love to come to our house and play games or read stories - we love spending time with them!!  Acouple times a month we have "Movie night"....Sometimes we have 30 kids packed into our tiny living room :) 
I would like to ask for prayer for these kids.  Most of them have wonderful parents and a great home life-  but they don't know Jesus as their personal Savior.  
Please pray for opportunities for us to share the gospel with them and that their hearts would be open to receive it!

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us,^[a] not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 2nd Peter 3:9

 Angel, Aletcha, Shane, Kevin and Jake playing cards on our front porch

 One of the days Anneke and Alyssa were here we had them over and made bead bracelets :)

 I am so thankful for each one of these children...God uses them in my life to teach me so many things!

 

Anneke and Alyssa's visit

The past two weeks have flown by!  It has been so amazing having Anneke and Alyssa here!  They have been such a blessing to me!!  Here are just a few pictures to show what we have been up to!  There are lots more to come too! :)

 Alyssa and Anneke leading songs at the Malabanoot feeding site.  The children were so excited to see them and enjoyed the new songs they taught them :)

 They brought a flannel graph board to use for the stories.  It was something we have never had at the feeding sites before so it really captured the kids attention.

 The coloring sheets are always a big hit with the kids :)

One of the biggest things we challenge people to do is just love the kids.  So many of them just want to hold your hand or sit on your lap and receive some much needed attention...Here is Alyssa doing just that :)

 Besides doing the ministry work we have also enjoyed some bonding time :)  I am going to miss them both so much when they leave!!!

They are hereeeee!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday morning I flew out bright and early to Manila.....Anneke and Alyssa's flight was not coming in until 9 pm but I had a little shopping I wanted to do before they arrived.  Traveling to Manila includes- a trike ride, a boat ride, a two hour bus ride and a one hour plane ride.  It is always an adventure :)

Manila feels alot like cities in America...except usually you are the only white person in sight and everyone is staring at you haha :)
It was exciting to walk around the mall and to enjoy an American meal :)

At 8:30pm Dan and Tori's driver, Adore, and I headed to the airport...I was so excited I could barely sit still. I felt like I was ten years old and I was getting to go to the county fair for the first time lol! ;)
It still didn't seem real to me that I was actually going to be seeing Anneke and Alyssa in less than an hour!
Adore dropped me off at the front of the airport and I raced inside....I stood next to the glass window and reminded myself to breath....I went over and double checked at the information desk that I was at the right terminal and gate.....I paced back and forth chewing my nails furiously. Suddenly people began to pour out of the stairwell...My heart was pounding.  Five minutes passed, then ten..still no sign of them.  I went back to the information desk...The woman told me to be patient.  Just as I was beginning to get nervous I saw them come around the corner....It was so shocking, there they were!  I pushed and shoved my way through the crowd leaving my manners far behind me as I fought my way to the entrance of the gate. I ran right past the security guard and into the "secured" part of the airport....He was not pleased. We hugged and and jumped up and down and smiled ...It was a beautiful moment :) And then it hit me that this was for real!!! They were really here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 This is a reenactment of when I first saw them :)

 So so so happy :)

 It has been almost six months since I have seen my family :)

We are thrilled to be together again and are looking forward to the next three weeks :)

Love to all back home!!!!! :)

I am alive :)

I do apologize for the quietness on my blog this past month...
I had a great month it was just very busy!  The highlight was finally getting a long awaited box from home that my family and friends put together for me...It took three months to get here but it was worth the wait!  My Moms homemade raspberry jam was just what I needed to drive away the bout of homesickness I had been going through :)
School is going really well.  I fall more in love with the kiddos every day :)  Teaching has proven to be very stretching for me but I do love the challenge :)

I am looking forward to welcoming my little sister, Anneke and our friend Alyssa, to the Philippines on October 18th....I seriously can't even tell you how excited I am!!!!  Please pray for them as they prepare for their trip :)  They will be here for Three weeks serving at the school and feeding sites.

It is hard to believe that you are going into Fall/Winter....The weather here is hot, muggy and rainy.  I am slowly getting used to it...I will definitely miss the snow this year!  I never thought I would say that hahah :)

I will end with a verse that was a huge encouragement to me this month.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  James 1:2-4