On Tuesday Hope and Kelsey went to Twinville to teach the children at the tutorial there. I went on down the street to have a one-on-one Bible study with one of the parents that morning. We took several things to the printers to have them duplicated, exchanged money, deliberated on where to eat our dinner, all the while exchanging stories, experiences, and lst time observations.
Wednesday was spent at the condo working on materials and booklets for the ML. We also packed and prepared for our trip to the island of Mindanao and Davao City. We arrived in Davao on Thursday and my first stop was to my long-time dentist. I had chipped a tooth several months earlier and just prayed that it could survive until I reached Davao. Later I met with Joel Carpio to check up with him about the tutorial kit that he and his wife and 2 daughters were using on another island for summer tutorials.
Thursday and Friday were filled meetings, counseling, visits and securing our visa extensions. Of course, this is where Matthew and Hope grew up so they were never at a loss as to what to do or where to go!! I did have an orientation meeting with 3 Christians from the CDO congregation which is on the north side of the island. They took an overnight bus to come to meet with me while I was in Davao. They will be starting a children’s tutorial this coming June, so they had many questions and concerns to talk about. It is such a blessing for me to see the enthusiasm and desire that so many have to learn more about the “Missing Link Tutorials”. Indeed, God is opening many doors of opportunity and using so many congregations to reach out to their communities.
Sunday, Matthew preached at the congregation that Dale began when we first arrived in the Philippines 22 years ago. We were touched when the one who got up to give the announcements said that he was so indebted to us because Dale was the one to baptize him many years ago. We used the rest of the afternoon to visit with as many as possible and to help counsel so many who were experiencing struggles in their lives. We pray that God was able to use us as instruments of encouragement and peace with all those we were with during our trip there.
We returned to the airport only to find out that our flight had been delayed due to bad weather. We were fortunate though because after we returned to Manila we heard that many flights had been canceled because of the weather. We arrivedk back at the condo safely around 1 am. We quickly unpacked, repacked, and got a few hours rest for Jun Patricio was to pick us up the next am early for our trip to the southern part of Luzon. Until later…..Prissy