From Prissy:
Ok folks, we did arrive in Manila after several mishaps. Once in St. Louis, as we were unloading our bags at the terminal, we discovered that we had left 3 bags behind. Of all the years that we have been doing this, this is the first time that this happened. Since we are about 1 1/2 hours from the airport, we had no recourse but to leave without them. Oh my…God was certainly allowing us to be tested. Upon searching I realized that the box and bag that contained ALL my clothes and personal items were 2 of the 3 that we left. I usually always pack a change of clothes in my carryon, but at the last minute I had taken them out in order to add some last minute teaching materials. I never let my teaching items out of my carryon because then if something happened, I would be up a creek. While on the plane, one of the stewardesses spilt coke on me. So there I was to wear my “spotted clothes” for the next however many days!! A very humbling experience.
We did get to our place of stay without any more mishaps. The next day we left out to work out details for our phone sims, internet connection, money exchange, and grocery buying. It took the whole day to execute those details. We found out that since the Pope was in town much of the internet service was deterred. The cell phone service was halted, and all schools and some businesses were closed. On Monday there will also be “no fly zone” at the airport. Saturday, we headed out to begin shopping for many of the materials and supplies needed to set up our office to begin working on the missing link kits to be distributed to the local congregations.
Ok…we have experienced our share of frustrations of not beings able to get on the internet. For some reason our equipment tells us that it is hooked into internet, but service has been really bad. I have been able to do more in the past 30 minutes than the whole time we have been here. Just completed making muffins for the expected 90 ladies at our 3rd annual Manila Ladies’ Retreat that we will be having over the next two days. We pray that the Ladies will be challenged as they learn about “Fruit Bearing For Jesus”. Until later…
From Hope:
Arrived safely in Manila, Philippines. Thank you Lord for keeping us safe in your arms…Today we will be setting up and getting adjusted to time zone…Thank you for all your prayers during our trip!!
Leaving now for the 3rd Annual Ladies Day. We are so excited to see how God is going to work in the lives of all the attendees. This year, the numbers have tripled since last year!!!! Praise God!!! Please keep up in your prayers. Mom will be the main speaker for the two day event, Kelsey Sellers will be our song leader, and I will be serving where God need me! The theme this year is “Bearing Fruit For Jesus, One Day At A Time” taken from John 15. It has been such a blessing so far! The last two days Kelsey and I had the privilege to teach school at one of the tutorials so that the teacher could prepare the final exam for the children. The children had fun listening to us, and we had fun teaching them; they were so attentive! It was a joy! Until next time!
From Kelsey:
Just got back from the Ladies’ Retreat! I’m sure many were convicted with what was taught, and this was our biggest year yet! I’m working on setting up our mission blog; bear with me as our internet has been practically non-existent, making it hard to keep in touch and up to date on our work here. As soon as it is running and updated with new posts I will put the url here and on the MLM Facebook page, which you can find by typing “Missing Link Missions” in the search bar at the top of your screen. Thanks for all the prayers and support thus far; it is greatly appreciated!