Our furlough in the States has been great. We met a lot of wonderful people, saw a lot of interesting places, ate lots of delicious food and slept in many comfortable beds. But now the time has come to return to the Philippines.

Before we left on furlough, I gathered all our student missionaries and gave them some advice. I told them that, whenever we went on furlough, things tended to get tougher, and they should be prepared. However, this time, the challenges began two days before we left the Philippines. Circumstances required that we evacuate all personnel from Kemantian, our main project site, and it ended up being two months before they could return. I don’t have space here to explain all the challenges our team faced during our absence. During a phone conversation the other day with Carrie, the student missionary we left in charge, she asked me whether things always got this bad whenever we left on furlough. I had to honestly say, “No, in the 18 years we have been on this project, we have never seen challenges like these.” In spite of all the hardships, our student missionaries are hanging in there and doing a very good job.

It has been frustrating to try to handle the challenges and encourage and support our team long-distance over the phone, and I am looking forward to returning to Palawan. However, with our expected furlough time ending soon and $2,700 in monthly pledges still to raise, you might say we are between a rock and a hard spot. As a compromise, Leonda is returning to the Philippines while I stay in the States to finish fundraising. I don’t relish the idea of extending my stay in the States while Leonda and Jilin try to hold down the fort in the Philippines. But already God has brought in pledges much quicker than I anticipated, and I am confident that He will bring in the rest in due time.

So I appeal to you to pray about our situation and ask God what He would have you do. Follow His instructions. If He lays it upon your heart to be a part of carrying on this work, ask Him how much. If He has other marching orders for you, listen carefully and follow those. In the meantime, I will do my best to remember that God is in control of all things, and it will all work out more wonderfully than we could ever imagine.

We are working on building Gideon’s army. Will you join the small band that supports this work each month? We would love to have you, and we know God will honor your sacrifices.

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