We have a date!

"Keep steady my steps according to your promise ..." (Psalm 119:133).

Our departure date is set: Monday, September 16th

The Lord is faithful, and we now have a confirmed date for our departure to Cebu! Praise be to God, we leave on September 16th! Thank you all for your prayers and support. Please continue to pray with us as we enter our final month of support-raising and saying our good-byes.

Last Sunday we had the blessed opportunity of sharing at First Baptist Church in Cambridge, MN. This loving and faithful community of believers has been one of the pillars for the Children’s Shelter of Cebu, giving generously and praying ceaselessly for decades. It was great to connect with long time friends and supporters of CSC, as well as Paul’s mother Millie and his sister Liz! I can see now where Paul gets his sense of humor 😉. (for those who don't know Paul Healy, check out the video at the end of this post)

Since many folks at First Baptist were already familiar with the ministry of CSC, much of the time there was spent getting to know people, and allowing others to get to know us. I can say this for certain about FBC: as a missions minded community, they know just how much the world needs Christ, and; as long-time partners of CSC, they know the particular needs that Filipinos face and the daily hurdles that Filipino kids need to overcome just to survive.

"Over half of all Filipinos are living in poverty, and it's estimated that over 13 million of those people are children under the age of 15 ..."

The Philippines, in many ways, is a land of stark contrasts. It’s rapidly developing, with new shopping malls, shiny office buildings, and fancy condos springing up left and right. However, over half of all Filipinos are living in poverty, and it’s estimated that over 13 million of those people are children under the age of 15 (according to the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, PIDS, and the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF). If you’ve ever been to the Philippines, then you’ve seen the sprawling squatter communities in major urban areas like Manila and Cebu. As is common in nearly every culture, children that do not have a family (orphaned and abandoned kids) are among the most vulnerable. Our mission, and the mission of CSC, is to help these children by sharing with them the love of Christ, providing the medical, emotional, and spiritual care that they need, and helping them to find their forever families.

Cebu City, Philippines (the view from Banawa eastward)

To Pastor Dan and everyone at FBC, THANK YOU for having us! We can’t wait to be with you all again to share stories of how the Lord is working in Cebu.

This weekend we are out in Montana speaking at the Evangelical Mennonite Brethren Church (the church that Heather grew up in). Please continue to pray with us for safe travels as we share the mission and vision of CSC with even more wonderful folks before we leave. If you want to try catching us on a Sunday, here is our schedule for the next three weeks:

• Sunday, August 18th – Evangelical Mennonite Brethren Church, Lustre, MT

• Sunday, August 25th – Emmanuel Baptist Church, Mora, MN

• Sunday, September 1st – Faith Life Community Ministries, Winnipeg, Canada

Prayer Requests

• Please continue to pray for safe travels as we share the mission and vision of CSC with even more brothers and sisters in Christ!

• Please pray with us for our support-raising efforts; that the Lord would allow us to hit our goals for support-raising before we leave for the Philippines on the 16th.

• Pray that God sends a buyer for our home in Richfield. The house has been on the market for a little over two weeks and we’ve had a ton of showings. Pray with us that the home would be a blessing to its next owner, and that even through this (the selling of our home) God would be glorified and made known.

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRAYERS, LOVE, AND SUPPORT! Thank you Hjellming’s (Gordy and Sheryl) for allowing us the time at your cabin; your “little slice of heaven on earth.” Thank you Erickson’s (Rich and Juliet) for the blessed time we could spend together at the Wisconsin Dells. Thank you to all of you who are praying with us, and for us, ceaselessly as we pursue this calling that the Lord has on our lives. Thank you for partnering with us and supporting us financially as we seek to love and serve the children of Cebu. May God continue to be the glorified in all these things!

Learn more about the Children's Shelter of Cebu here.

Support us: https://cebushelter.org/give?p=staff-243.