God at Work Among the Nations

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We trust you had a special Christmas!

Here’s a quick update on our lives and ministry…

50 Years

We must be getting old. In September we attended Donna’s 50th high school reunion, then Bill’s 50th reunion followed in October!

All Dressed Up at Donna’s 50th Reunion

Global Forum

In November we were blessed to attend an international conference in Thailand with nearly 300 delegates from our ministry all over the world.

The Hills of Chiang Mai as Seen from our Hotel Window

It was exciting to get in-person updates about what God is doing through our mission in places no one can talk about openly because it would put missionaries and converts at risk. Christ is building his church!

We also got to personally meet several of Bill’s students from the online missionary training courses he recorded a while back. These 3 students were from the very first graduating class and took his classes in late 2021. They are from closed countries in SE Asia and wanted training to reach unreached people groups in their region. They told Bill he was their “favorite teacher”! One of them even started quoting all Bill’s examples and illustrations, telling us how he is already teaching the same material to others! That really made our day. A second group has already graduated, and the videos are now being watched by the third group who enrolled in the course, with students from 9 different countries.

Engage CLA Program and Stages App

During the forum Bill had a chance to give a presentation to everyone about his team’s project.

Presenting an Overview of CLA for the Main Conference

Then after the forum, Bill and his team spent 3 days presenting their new CLA (Culture and Language Acquisition) materials and app in more detail to over 80 field leaders and language consultants. This was the LONG-AWAITED FIRST STEP in the launch which will make these materials available to missionaries everywhere! Bill is busy getting ready for a big launch event in late May.

Holidays and… Sickness

We got home from Thailand just in time for Thanksgiving and Bill’s birthday, starting our family’s busiest season (8 birthdays and 3 holidays in two and a half months!) Some family members had some sickness in December, but are recovered now.

Looking Ahead with Thankfulness

2023 looks to be a full and excited year. Bill will be leading his team as they finish final details of their CLA materials; there will be lots of travel in the US and internationally, as well as on-line conference meetings, etc., to train consultants how to use them.

Thank you for your interest in our ministry. We appreciate you and value your prayers and partnership!

Here’s a strange thing… we published a ministry update a couple months ago. Our blog’s server was having technical difficulties, but in the end, it seemed to have sent, and we got a copy of it by email. But somehow it is now missing on our blog’s server and we can’t find record of it, so it makes us wonder! We hope you received it. If you did not receive that missing update, we’re sorry for how long it may have been since you heard from us.

Bone, Kids and Skin

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Here is a quick update here so you can be praising and praying with us…

Bones: Bill’s Knee

It took a couple months, but Bill was able to see a rheumatologist. A mere 4 hours (yes, FOUR HOURS) after the first dose of prednisone, the PAIN WAS GONE! The doctor has already almost completely weaned Bill off the prednisone and we’re hoping the pain will not return. Please pray about that.

Kids: Tomorrow’s Missionaries?

This morning we were able to share with several youth groups who were doing a work project in Tijuana Mexico with a ministry called Caravans. Bill talked about how God worked in his life to become a missionary. Please pray that God will continue to speak to those kids’ hearts and that they will respond to let him use their lives however he desires.

Skin: Bill’s Face

It’s not as dangerous as Donna’s recent melanoma, but Bill’s dermatologist found a basal cell carcinoma on his face. He’s had several of these in the past. Tomorrow he will be getting a MOHS procedure to remove this one. The last time Bill had a MOHS (on his forehead in 2019), his face swelled up for a few days like he’d been in the ring with a heavyweight boxer. Please pray that this time they will get all the cancer, but that Lord willing, the recovery won’t be so long or painful.

Stay Tuned

Our next update will move away from health issues and feature some good news… we’ll share how the Palawan church is thriving, young men are helping to lead the church, and how they are using the Palawano translation!

Update on Donna

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Successful Surgery

Thank you all for praying! Donna’s surgery, under local anesthetic, was done quickly and without incident. She’s home now, resting while I pamper her.

Now we wait…

The doctor said it might be up to 11 business days before we get the biopsy results. Then we’ll know if they need to cut out a wider area or not.

Please pray that this first one was enough. We’ll keep you posted.

-Bill for us

Health Concerns

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Sometimes an apple a day isn’t enough, and this is one of those times. We would appreciate your prayers.

Skin and Bones…

No, we haven’t gotten skinny (too bad!) But we do have some health concerns involving skin and bones.

Donna…

A routine annual dermatology exam about three weeks ago found an unusual mole on Donna’s thigh, and this was confirmed by a biopsy to be melanoma. We’re thankful that it is only “Stage 0.” So the cancer is in situ, which means that it is still only on the surface of the skin.

Please pray with us as Donna undergoes an outpatient surgery on Thursday May 5. The doctors will cut out a larger area just to be sure that no stray cancer cells are left. Pray that all the cancer is removed and that the procedure and recovery won’t be too painful.

Bill…

Donna’s situation is our bigger concern, but Bill has had some issues lately, as well. Since the beginning of the year, he has had a severe arthritis flare-up, unlike anything in the past. The biggest issue has been his right knee. He has experienced swelling and a lot of pain, which has also affected his mobility.

It took a while to work through the protocols, but he’s now seeing a rheumatologist and getting some tests done to determine the cause, and explore possible solutions. Please pray for him and for the doctors to find a way to bring relief.

God is Good… All the Time!

We’re thankful for God’s loving care and that nothing takes him by surprise. And we know that “nothing is too hard for the Lord.” We’re also grateful for high-quality medical care.

And we are thankful for each of you. Thank you for your part in our ministry, and thank you especially for praying for us in these coming weeks. We’ll keep you posted.

We also want to report that things are going really well on the ministry front. We’re excited to share some of what God has been doing in another update soon. But we wanted to get these prayer requests to you today so you could be praying.

Lini’s Surgery

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Your Generous Gifts, 1st Installment

Success!

Lini had her surgery and it was a success and she’s already feeling better and able to walk a bit. Thanks for praying!

We learned that she was taken to the better of the two hospitals in the town of Brookes Point. So she’s at the Leoncio private hospital. We’re thankful, because this means she will get a much better quality of care there. It will cost more, but the Lord has so abundantly provided through generous donors, this will not be a problem.

❤️ It really seems that more than enough money has come in. So please check with us before sending any more gifts ❤️

Lini’s nephew Tato is handling things and running errands for them. Lini’s husband Lito is with her inside the hospital and he can’t leave the hospital and get back in due to COVID protocols. Tato picked up the first installment of your gifts from the remittance office. One of the many place he was able to get the cash was the Palawan Pawn Shop. It’s amazing how easy it was to send the money. And the transfer was INSTANT! Literally 2 minutes after I click “send,” the money is there and can be picked up.

Over the years, in our updates you have heard the names Abil and Arturo and Susing. They have been Palawano church leaders and some of our main translation helpers. Susing was the voice for the audio recording of the New Testament. So you might be interested to know that all three of those men are Lini’s brothers. And Tato is Abil’s son.

In the pictures, you can see your dollars turned into the pretty colors of Philippine pesos. I didn’t ask for these pics, but Tato sent them to verify that he had gotten the money!

Tato Picking Up Cash

Why That Hospital?

This is an “interesting” story and illustrates a lot of the culture and how things work on Palawan.

The closest hospital to Lini’s home is run by a foreign mining company. It has pretty good care and international doctors. The mining company is supposed to provide lots of benefits for Palawanos like Lini since they are mining on Palawanos’ ancestral land. (Don’t get me started, but this is an environmental nightmare, if nothing else.)

However, some of Lini’s family members are tribal leaders who are anti-mine and trying to stop the illegal mining planned for their side of the mountain. That is the lush river valley where we lived and ministered for all those years. Because of that, those Palawan men are not on the mining company’s “happy list.” So the local government “civil servants” who are supposed to give Lini her papers to prove she is “native” Palawano refused because they are in the pocket of the mining company. So Lini would not get the native discount at that hospital, and every aspect of the experience there would be difficult because of a lack of cooperation at every turn.

Leoncio General Hospital

So we had her taken to the town of Brookes Point. We have contacts in Brookes where Lini and the others can stay. After she is released, she will need a place to rest and regain her strength until she feels up to traveling home on a bumpy dirt road.

It was recommended by our missionaries on Palawan to try to get her into the private Leoncio General Hospital. That hospital at first refused to admit her because she didn’t have the cash yet to pay up front. But Lini’s husband Lito said, “Please admit my wife. A person’s life is worth more than money. And God will provide.” So Lini was admitted. She’ll get better care, and because of your generous gifts, it will be a testimony to the hospital staff that God provides, and that these poor-but-honest Palawanos will indeed pay their bills in full.

Why So Little News?

There are several reasons for this. First of all, the Philippines is 16 hours ahead of California, so there are only about 4 hours a day where it is waking hours simultaneously for us and the Palawanos. Sometimes Bill has been checking his phone and writing messages at 3 a.m. to keep the ball rolling.

Also, the Palawanos are communicating via Facebook Messenger. They are writing in Palawano, and Bill is fluent (he was the Bible translator for this language, remember!) However, they use shortcuts and “textspeak.” They misspell words and leave out critical punctuation. So deciphering their messages is sometimes quite a puzzle. Good thing Bill likes puzzles!

And then they don’t always provide the information we were wanting. They tell us what seems important to them and assume we know things. So we have to ask more questions, and then wait until the next time the Palawanos are awake to answer. Also the hospital is very slow to give them information and Palawanos are too culturally timid to demand answers.

So patience is a good virtue to have in these situations!

More updates coming as we learn more!