Figuring out Furlough

As we finish up our current 3.25 year term, we are starting once again to prepare for a 10 month furlough. Over the last 11 years of serving in the Philippines, we have always looked forward to furloughs. We are still excited to return "home" and see our familes and meet all of the new nephews and neices that have been born since our last time stateside. We are also excited to see all of the friends who we only get to generally interact with on social media when we are in the Philippines. Then, we do need to address some financial needs and raise funds for some one time expenses and ongoing minsitry and family needs.

This furlough has been a little bit tougher to prepare for, because of everything we are leaving in stand still or handing off on this side of the world. Our kids will leave great friendships for the school year, and enter into a public school where the best hope is some of the kids recognize Mackenzie and Bella from our last furlough. Deacon is jumping into a brand new school and will have to forge new friendships. Val is terribly disappointed to leave her volleyball players, especially those who will be seniors whom she has worked with since they were middle schoolers. Josh has the same struggles with the basketball team. As we seek to build relationships and create scenarios where we can bring people to the Gospel, it takes a step back when you are gone for 10 months. Just as we have experienced when we left the USA 11 years ago, people keep on living their lives when you are gone. The same thing happens when we go on furlough. There are also a handful of pastors and churches who we are involved in projects with, and while a portion of that will continue, it becomes a challenge to manage things and organize from Kansas compared to being on the ground in Rizal, Philippines.

We sorted through all of the options, and looked at what it would mean to take a shorter furlough, but there are too many unknowns. We have to raise funds, we NEED to see our family and friends and reenergize from the difficulties of living in a foreign culture. If we don't manage these financial and emotional needs, it will only be a matter of time before we lose any effectiveness we have. So we push forward, nervous for the kids, sad for the relationships we leave on hold, but trusting that God will use this time as He desires, to bring new ministry partners and recharge our batteries to come back in June be His hands and His feet.

As we prepare, we ask that those of you who are supporting us financially consider carrying that support on through our furlough. The schedule we must keep to visit with supporting churches and individuals, as well as connect with new potential donors leaves little opportunity to find and keep a job. We will be travelling as much as we can, meeting with anyone and everyone who will listen to our story and hear about the opportunites God has placed in front of us in the Philippines.

Buhay Sports is going to have a busy summer. Currently, Buhay Sports has a team in the Sampaloc Summer Basketball League where Josh is playing with a handful of pastors and church members in a 22 team tournament. Our current record is 4-2, but win or lose, every one of the 500 people who show up to watch get a Gospel tract, and are connected with the pastors on our team in some way. There is a high school basketball team coming out from Covenant Christian High School in early to mid June. They will play a handful of games against some of the top high schools in Manila, then they will travel to Subic Bay to play some local barangay and city selection teams. Another team of local missionaries will take a team to Tacloban to play in 8-10 games over 5 days. Then, we have another team coming in from Adelaide, Southern Australia for 10 days. Then, a group of Faith Academy graduates is hoping to do a 4-5 day trip sometime in June.

While this is the most fun part of the year for Josh, it is also the most frantic. Ordering uniforms, tracts and giveaways, scheduling housing and transportations have to be done weeks to months ahead of time. Then, managing the game set up and the schedule leading up to and during each teams visit takes a lot of texting. Time is irrelavant here and so even as things are planned for weeks, they are constantly changing.

Please join us in prayer, even now, that as teams fund raise, make plans, book flights and organize from their home countries, that God would bless their efforts and desire to bring people to His kingdom. Also, that as we work on this side to arrange opportunities to share with the lost, God would give us wisdom and direction. Even before the team arrives, pray with us that God would give each of our players the words to say, and most importantly, that the Holy Spirit would open hearts to the truth of Salvation. We value these prayers more than you know... thanks for praying with us!

The Joys of Immigration

When we arrived in the Philippines in May of 2005 we started the process of applying for a 9(g) missionary visa. A year later, on May 19, 2006, we were apporved for a 10 year missionary visa, with required renewal every 2 years within that 10 years. When that visa expires after the 10th year, if you are in the country, you can pay a big chunk of change to downgrade to a tourist visa, or you can just be out of the country. Given the comparable costs, when we found cheap flights to Singapore, we decided the money would be better spent going to LegoLand in Malaysia (1 hour drive from Singapore airport) than giving it to the Bureau of Immigration. So we jumped on the specials and had everything taken care of months in advance. However, we never mentioned anything to the kids. We contacted their teachers and made sure everything was arranged, then we woke them up on Wednesday and headed to the airport. Then the fun began. Even though we were assured by our immigration reps that we were good to go, we arrived at the airport in Manila to discover that because Caleb only had 5 months left on his passport, we would not be allowed to board the plance (6 months minimum required to enter Singapore). It was sad, and everyone was upset, but the reality was, we HAD to leave the country to clear our visa issues. A LOT of logistical work later, we had flights to Hong Kong and a friend there who were going to put us up for a couple nights. Its always wild to think of the traveling experiences we have had in our time as missionaries. How many families show up to the airport to go one place, then ending up in another? We talked to the kids while we were waiting to board the flight, 6 hours after arriving at the airport, and we all agreed that it didn't matter where we were going, just as long as we were together. It proved to be SO true, as we had a great time in Hong Kong, and returned to Manila 3 days later under a tourist visa, which we will stay on until we leave the country for furlough. We will start the year long process to get a missionary visa once we get back to Manila in June of 2017.

We are so thankful for your prayers for our family. Even though this happened so fast and we didn't have time to ask for specific prayer, we know that the many of you who are praying for us regularly, contributes when these potentially devastating scenarios work out for good.