Heart Languages

SAFELY ARRIVED…
We’re thankful to have arrived safely back in the Philippines. The plane trip was long, but uneventful. Now we’re here, already over jet lag, but still readjusting to the heat. Bill will attend some field leadership meetings this next week before we head to Palawan and get going on translation again

WHILE IN THE USA…
While we were in the USA for these past two months, God totally amazed us with his provision for us and so many encouragements. We want to pause to look back and thank him for everything. Airfare, housing, a car and cell phones to use, generous gifts to cover all Bill’s medical expense deductibles, dental care, meals and fellowship… all were graciously provided. Several church groups and one of our doctors laid hands on us an prayed for us, our health and the Palawanos. The home fellowship that provided the phones even brought dinner and helped us clean our apartment the night before we left. Wow.

And then, Bill was able to get in to see doctors on very short notice, and to get tests and procedures scheduled, all within a two-month time frame! The best news of all being two biopsies came back benign, his heart was pronounced healthy, and his kidney stones… vanished. Yep, the CT scan showed the stones to be gone. We feel God simply dissolved them in answer to everyone’s prayers. Again, wow.

And of course, we got to experience the life-changing and indescribable joy of becoming grandparents. We’re thankful for Max’s healthy arrival and how he’s growing and developing. Now we’ll miss him terribly, but he’s well cared for there with his Mommy and Daddy!

We also got to spend some time with Bethy and Ricky and be a part of the initial planning for their wedding.

PLEASE PRAY WITH US…

for adjustment to the intense heat this time of year
to quickly get settled and fully back into translation
for God’s wisdom and guidance every day

Reaching Palawanos together with you,

-Bill and Donna

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PRAYERS ANSWERED… WITH JOY
God provided and opened up airline bookings for us to get to San Diego. Then our healthy, beautiful grandson Max was born last week on Feb 2, weighing 9 lbs 3 oz, and 21″ long. We’re so thankful and can’t get enough of holding him and even just looking at him!

WHILE IN THE USA…
Besides seeing Max and helping Elisa and Chris a bit, we’ve been able to connect with some friends and supporters and churches. Bill has been working on translation in the in-between hours.

We are also using this time to follow-up on Bill’s kidney stones and some other health issues. Praise God he was able to get appointments with top-notch specialists on very short notice. Now the doctors are all working together to try and get the necessary labs, CT scans, etc., done with time to do the kidney stone procedure. It will be an endoscopic laser technique this time, which should be more effective that the “sound wave blasting” that did not work back in early 2008.

All this will be expensive. We have good insurance with the mission, but our plan has a high deductible/copay. One church has already provided $1,000, which is half of our out-of-pocket share of the total. So we are asking the Lord to provide the rest (another $1,000).

PLEASE PRAY WITH US…
We are thankful for all that God has done:

a healthy delivery of our grandson Max
good visits with family, friends and supporters
provision of half of our $2,000 medical copay
appointments with top doctors on short notice

Please pray with us about scheduling all the test and procedures, provision of the remaining copay and that we would be able to get everything scheduled in our few remaining weeks, or that God would give us wisdom as to whether we should delay our return to the Philippines by a few weeks in order to get it all done

Reaching Palawanos together with you,

-Bill and Donna

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Bill and Donna on Facebook

PLEASE PRAY WITH US
We have been planning to travel to California to be there for the birth of our first grandchild (due Jan 22) and would appreciate prayer about the travel plans

We are thankful how things are coming together for this trip. God has already provided:

a place to stay in San Diego
one (or maybe two) cars to use while we are there
someone to housesit for us in Puerto
some special gifts so that now have nearly all we need for airfare

However, we were waiting to see what we could afford before booking tickets and now most of the dates are fully booked and waitlisted. Please pray with us for wisdom in making the right decisions here as to booking and pray that dates would open up with a confirmed booking that is within our budget or that God would provide, to give us more options.

Besides the potential inconvenience, another issue with waitlisted flights is that they often open up at the last minute and our mission office in Manila needs about a week’s notice to process our immigration exit permits. So please pray about the timing issues, too.

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Reaching Palawanos together with you,

-Bill and Donna

TRANSLATION UPDATE…

Thanks to the Lord, we were able to finish the comprehension check of the book of Luke with even a little time to spare! God graciously got Bill over his respiratory infection, and our two translation helpers, Nursalyn and Arlyn really put in the effort with hours of mentally taxing work so we could finish after losing two days due to sickness. We even had electricity all week long… praise God.

The book checked out well, too. No major understanding problems found.

Now we can relax a bit and think about Christmas, and joyfully ponder the Christ of Luke who in the space of those 24 chapters went from eternity past, to the manger, to the streets of the poor and needy, to the cross, to the tomb, to the right hand of the Father and the hearts of those who love him.

Looking ahead, please keep us and the Palawanos in your prayers as we partner together Reaching Palawanos in 2010.

WHAT A YEAR!
We praise God for all he’s done this past year. Here is a quick summary as we look back with praise and thanksgiving and look ahead with joyful anticipation…

FAMILY UPDATE…
Most recently, we just enjoyed a brief vacation and were blessed to have family visit us. Bill’s niece Melissa and her boyfriend Chris came over. And our daughter Bethy and her boyfriend Ricky came, too, overlapping with Melissa for one week. They were all here for Bill’s birthday and Thanksgiving. We were glad to be able to meet Ricky at last and really enjoyed the time with all the “kids.”

Max!! And of course, the other big news in our life is that Elisa is due with our first grandchild in January. Maxwell Olson Schlink is due on January 22 and we’re so excited we can hardly wait! We want to be there for his birth and are already checking for good deals on airfare.

OUR MOVE AND TRANSLATION UPDATE…
In January, following God’s unexpected leading, we shifted our base of operations to the city. God opened the way and we moved into a house and were able to get set up here for efficient progress translation project. We were able to buy a vehicle (necessary when in town) and the owners graciously allowed us to pay for it over one year. Praise the Lord, we just made the last payment this month, which will free up our budget quite a bit!

Our Palawano translation helpers are glad to come up on a regular basis and we’ve seen good results working here in town! We finished Ephesians and 1 Peter, and this coming week we will have Luke (2nd longest book in the New Testament) ready for its final consultant check. Meanwhile, we’ve gotten 1-2 Timothy coming along, as well.

MINISTRY UPDATE…
Bill has been able to help with regional leadership responsibilities over our missionaries here on Palawan. This has not taken much of his time and he does it mostly in off hours, after translating all day. Last year, one person was trying to handle all of this, but having Bill and one other man join the leadership team has really helped.Besides working on translation, Donna has been able to help with the work of several committees which give oversight to our mission home and planned our Palawan regional conference, and she is doing some of the mission’s regional bookkeeping.

HEALTH UPDATE…
Bill will need to get procedures done on his kidney stones. They bother him often, but so far no emergency or crisis. Lord willing, we can wait deal with them early next year, so it’s all during one year and we only have to pay the deductible once.

PLEASE PRAY…
As always, we need your prayers for us and this ministry. Please continue to lift us up to the Lord.Pray in particular for our final checking step on the book of Luke next week. We want to find any last portions which are unclear so they can be revised before we send the whole book to the consultant.Please also pray that Bill’s kidney stones would not cause too much discomfort or a health crisis until we are able to deal with them medically.

And we’d appreciate prayer for wisdom in planning and for God’s provision for airfare before Max is born, and for the medical expenses on the horizon.God is so good and this year once again has proven his faithfulness. And we appreciate your part in our lives and ministry, as well, as we partner together Reaching Palawanos.

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Bill and Donna on Facebook

Reaching Palawanos together with you,
-Bill and Donna

UPDATE ON TRANSLATION…

We praise God for the progress going on with the translation lately. Bill finished the first draft of the final chapters of Luke last week before the four Palawano men arrived. While they were here, he went over those chapters with them, as well as various revision steps on the earlier chapters. Six full days of work, but encouraging both in terms of how much was accomplished as well as how well the translation is communicating. Donna worked with Susing some each day and got some good oral drafting recorded on a number of chapters.

Now, until the next batch of translation helpers come up, we are reworking some of the middle parts of Luke while Bill is drafting 1-2 Timothy.

HEALTH UPDATE…

It’s been two years since we were dealing (unsuccessfully!) with Bill’s kidney stones. So he just followed up with a doctor and the ultrasounds show that the stones are still there and they have grown larger. There is the original one on the left side, and the two pieces of the one on the right (it split but did not shatter or pass through). They cause mild discomfort sometimes, but so far nothing worse.

UPDATE ON PIDI

Many of you have been praying for Pidi and asking about him. It looks like he will be coming up this week for surgery on his melanoma. Most likely he will lose most or all of his foot, but he is willing since the pain is so bad now. What is needed is a second Palawano companion to come up with him while traveling and taking turns sitting with him in the hospital.

PLEASE PRAY…

Every update we ask for your prayers for the translation work. It is so vital that the Lord keep us focused and healthy, full of energy and wisdom. It can be tiring work, and of course our enemy does not want to see God’s Word completed for the Palawanos. Pray especially that God would give Bill insight into his Word and into the Palawano language as he drafts 1-2 Timothy, so God’s message will come through clearly!

Please also pray that Bill’s kidney stones would not cause too much discomfort or a health crisis. We’re asking God to allow them to “behave” until some time in the future when we can afford the time and expense of dealing with them once and for all.

Pray for a second companion for Pidi and for his surgery and recovery. Pray, too, that we can easily find a donor for any blood he might need (in the system here, you do not buy blood from the hospital, you have to go find a willing donor with the correct blood type.)

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Reaching Palawanos together with you,

-Bill and Donna

Heart Languages

Because everyone deserves to hear in their Heart Language!

Davis Update Apr 2

Davis Update Feb 12

Davis Travel Plans

Checking of Luke …done!

Checking Luke …and more!

Translation Progress

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