I Think that I'll Crash

Twas the week before Christmas
and all through the days
We bustled and scrambled
in so many ways.

The kitchen was humming
with the sun still in bed.
With yeast set to proofing
For Sugar Plum Bread.

First beat it then knead it
Then set it to rise.
The citron within it
Will make it a prize.

Now make the plain Jello
With coconut cream.
Pour over the cubes of
Red, yellow, and green.



Fill the filters with water
To clean it all up
For coffee or chocolate
Or tea in their cup.

Quick put on some breakfast
Before pastors arrive.
Alas, not the doorbell!
“Lord, help me survive!”

Delayed by the pastor,
Ready or not,
Quick cut up the cookies
The oven is hot.

Gulp down some cereal,
Sweeten the tea,
Punch down the bread dough
And pray, “Lord, help me!”

Set the loaves up to raise,
“Wow! They look great!”
Once over the classroom,
Chairs are all straight.

Oops! Fill up the Igloo,
Put in the ice,
Make sure that the mugs
Are all arranged nice.



My tea’s gotten cold,
My fruit is now hot
But ready for pastors
Is something I’m not.

Not the doorbell again!
“Lord, why today?
Tuesday and Thursday
Were sure not this way!”

The cookies are cooling.
The bread’s in the oven,
How many are coming?
Fifteen or a dozen?

Put my tea on the warmer,
Sit down with a sigh.
Dare I start the computer
Before more arrive?

Tangerines and bananas!
They’re still in the bag!
Put them out, all arranged,
“I must look like a hag.”

Half my breakfast still waiting,
My hair yet uncombed,
Glaze the bread while it’s hot -
It turned out nicely domed.

Devotions. No time yet!
But get them I will.
At the end of this bustle
I’ll take time to be still.

I’m thankful I wakened
Scripture verse in my head.
It sure makes a difference
As I serve up the bread!

It’s the third time this week
That I’ve raced down this trail.
“Lord, I am tired,
But nothing is stale.”

Chinese cabbage half frozen!
What do we do now?
Shall I race to the store?
Naw, we’ll manage somehow.

Cabbage! Mix in with bean sprouts,
We’ll chop it up small
Add some carrots and onions
It’s not bad at all.

Yummy smells fill the kitchen
As chicken thighs bake,
Mix honey, ginger and soy sauce
And use it to baste.

The rice! It’s not cooking!
I wonder why’s that?
The power bar wasn’t turned on!
We’ve now time to chat.

Fely fries Shanghai lumpia,
Serves up the thighs,
We take out the salad
And hear the, “Oh, my”s.



Unmold the Jello onto the plate,
(It looks oh so pretty)
If the pastors don’t eat it
It will be such a pity.

It’s been like this all week,
Been there, done that.
Late nights, early mornings
I think I’ll fall flat!

With homework assignments
To check and record,
And cooking and teaching,
You help me, Lord.

You give me strength when
the going gets tough,
But I’m glad that it’s Friday.
I’ve had enough.

Next week it is Christmas,
Year’s gone in a flash.
But this week has done it –
I think that I’ll crash!

A Trip to the Bank

We have 33 of our 44 pastors needing assistance with their travel expenses every week. In order to give each one exact fare requires a specific number of each denomination each week. With Monday being the day we are not allowed to use our vehicle in an attempt to have 1/5 fewer cars on the congested roads every day, Tuesday is banking day. Paul is teaching, so the task falls to me, Patty.

Last week I arrived at the bank to find a very long line curling around the interior of the bank. I dutifully took my place at the end of the line, behind a nice grandfatherly (now that I am a grandmother I am inclined to say "great-grandfatherly") gentleman. He promptly turned to ask where I was from. When I told him he launched on a monologue about his life and family that ended only when it was his turn with the teller.

In the meantime, an equally older woman entered the bank and joined the line behind me. She was wearing an expensive cream-colored pants and jacket with a fun little hat with flowers on it - not bad. I sensed that she wanted to talk to me, but since I was already politely listening to the gentleman in front I was not available. She was creative in her attempt to get my attention: She started off in what was probably a professional voice in her prime, "Around the world in 80 days. I traveled on and hope was gone...", loudly serenading the entire bank through all the verses at least five times! The music stopped the moment the gentleman in front stepped to the counter. "And where are you from?"

Today I entered the bank to see a well-dressed lady with a large floppy hat filling out her bank form at the counter. I took a moment to take a closer look and quickly turned around, muttering to the guard manning the door that I would return in a few minutes and took off like lightening!

A Great Day!

First allow me to apologize for the wrong planet! I thought it was a little strange that we could actually see Pluto much less so clearly, but I didn't think about looking on the web for verification. Yes, the large one was Jupiter and the smaller one Venus. Makes a lot more sense!

We have lost a couple of pastors in the discipleship groups. Paul now has 15 on Tuesdays and 14 on Fridays. I have lost one lady that really shouldn't have been in the group to begin with so I have 12. This is week 7. We will break for 3 weeks after lesson 8.

One of the pastors has been especially difficult for us to deal with outside of class. He, bless him, is a single dad with a twelve-year-old and a six-year-old, both daughters. His little one has been sick since we have been meeting. He lives on an island in an inland lake east of Manila and has struggled with someone to care for her while he comes on Fridays. Ten days ago he stayed to ask for financial assistance as she had fever and the government doctor had ordered a chest x-ray, diagnosed pneumonia in both lungs, and ordered an expensive antibiotic. We urged him to take 1,000 pesos ($20) to be sure and have enough medicine, but he would not take it. Sure enough he ran out after 8 days. To make a long story short, the doctor was mad at him and he came back to us, dragging his daughter who now had fever again. We were frustrated as he just didn't seem to listen nor understand. I was ready to pull my hair out! I finally called a missionary doctor last Thursday and asked how to get this poor pastor into his clinic. If I took him and was physically present, they would see little Lenny Mae without the wait. We decided on Monday - today.

In the meantime, Paul received the authenticated documents for the import of the discipleship workbooks. Shipping documents also arrived from the printer in Hongkong the end of last week. He called the forwarder and scheduled a meeting in the ACTION, Philippines office for today. He prepared the paperwork for the Philippine government and had our director sign them at the Christmas party last Saturday.

We prayed this morning as we went to the vehicle - prayed for both our days. I specifically prayed for understanding and a still heart as I dealt with Pastor. Both Paul and I agreed he was difficult to deal with because he was distraught. We prayed for Paul's day, not knowing if the paperwork would be complete or not.

I waited for Pastor and Lenny Mae outside the gate of the clinic. Lenny Mae was dressed up in a lovely Christmas dress when they arrived. As we stood outside waiting for the doctors to arrive we had a wonderful talk. He was relaxed. He was not trying. I discovered he is a college grad, a professional who forsook that to pastor a very poor little church on the island. The doctor looked at the x-rays, listened carefully to her chest, gave her a TB skin test and new medicine. Then she turned to Pastor. She made a chart for him and the doctors gave him the once over, a skin test, and antibiotics! They promised to supply the TB medicines if they have positive tests. Pastor was very, very happy and is confident that they will be healthy again!

Paul and the forwarder (a bi-vocational pastor) met at the office. The paperwork was all there and complete! No changes. They needed a check for P4,500 (almost $100) and since it was Monday, the right person was present to write the check! The workbooks have arrived and we should have them by the end of the week.

What a day! We were both home for lunch and praising our Faithful God. Romans 15:5 calls God the God of Encouragement and Endurance (ESV). I love that. He changed our hearts and then met us there today.

Planets

Tonight I received a text from a young missionary friend of Bobby (our eldest) instructing me to go outside and look at the moon. Venus and Pluto were just above the moon. Awesome! Who would have ever thought that we could see two large planets forming the "eyes" of a smiley face over the moon in the middle of Metro Manila! Adam took some pictures for me and I'll try to post those this week. Did anyone else in the world see this?

We apologize for the lack of posts. I have been sick for two weeks - and trying to keep up with all the responsibilities. I am on the up-side now and anticipate keeping up.

Week two has ended. What a week!

Week two has ended. What a week!

Our goal for enrollment was three groups of twelve – two men’s groups and one ladies’ group. As the applications came in we began to realize that our former learners were busy telling others about the training we offer. Wow! Paul has fifteen on Tuesdays and sixteen on Fridays. Patty has thirteen ladies! This does not include the two ACTION missionaries who are also attending!

There are already 29 on waiting lists for next June. This work is much bigger than we are. We could sure use another couple to come and duplicate what we are doing now.

Thursday, Marife arrived with Glenda in tow. “I am a pastor’s wife. Fe told me about the training and shared what she is learning and I really need this training too!” How do you say “no”? She is already there.

Our plans were to move to another area at the end of this session and train pastors there. Hmmm. It looks like we will be here for a while longer. We just desire to be where God wants us to be at any given time.

We were planning to teach just the first two weeks of December as Christmas is such a big celebration here. The pastors have requested we teach until the 19th of December! We will, and we will serve special meals to celebrate the birth of our Lord with them. That is great timing as it will allow us to complete the first section of the training material.

(Some pastors are missing in this photo)

Wednesday November 5, 2008

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

It is election day still in the US. We have had a terrible time getting our ballots to the ballot boxes, but it looks like we finally succeeded. It would help if the Registrar would put them in the mail a few days sooner! We have prayed. Some have fasted. Now we remember that God is sovereign and He is the One who sets men on the thrones and takes them down. Voters are merely His means of doing that in a democratic setting. I keep remembering that the Great Commission clearly tells us that God is with us “even to the end of the age.” No matter how ungodly any country is, God is with those who follow after Him. What a promise!

Paul has not been able to get back to the doctor yet. We are still trusting in the Lord for healing, trusting that He is leading us as we seek to do what we need to be doing. He has completed all the tests ordered so far. The next step will be to see the doctor and get the orders for the sputum cultures. Those can take quite a while “as the [germs] are slow-growing”. In the meantime we are optimizing our nutrition, making sure we don’t work until we drop into bed at night, and pressing on.

Please pray for Pastor Dande, (Dahn-day). He is an older pastor who fell while making a purchase and is currently in the hospital under observation for his head injury and a huge gash from breaking glass. He lost 2 units of blood before they got him “fixed-up”. He missed class yesterday so Paul and two pastors from the Tuesday group went over to visit and pray with him.

Our camera broke last time we met, but it is now fixed. We’ll get pictures up soon. In the meantime, how would you like to be shopping for a piece of luggage in this store?

…And We’re OFF!!!

Recent weeks have been busy printing letters of invitations and applications, addressing envelopes, folding the letters and apps, stuffing the envelopes, trips to the post office, and trips to other ministries, etc. Applications have been returned. The first class began Tuesday, October 21 with sixteen pastors with a goal of twelve. I expected fifteen ladies on Thursday and Paul expected another fourteen on Friday but due to unforeseen circumstances for some of them, 9 showed up. In all, 33 pastors have been wait-listed for a session to begin in June 2009!

Before I go on with the future, allow me to share the events of a few weeks ago.

Paul and I parted ways going to different events on October the 8th. He went to meet with 40 pastors and collected applications while I went to the dedication of the brand new Dick and Helen Cadd Fine Arts Building at Faith Academy. Dick and Helen taught music to missionary children at Faith for many years as OC International missionaries and then transferred mission boards to ACTION. They were very gracious and hospitable and encouraging to these Ellis greenhorn missionaries in 1981 and 82. Dick is with the Lord, but Helen flew in to cut the ribbon and share in the dedication of the incredible building. She called to invite Paul and me to be her special guests. What an honor! I sat in the front row! It was a wonderful day for both of us.

On the following day, we arranged the living room, set up extra tables, counted chairs, carried furniture from room to room, cooked spaghetti sauce with hot dogs, baked a pan of brownies, made crazy cut jello molds, and filtered gallons of water, etc. Paul prepared the guest list for the guard at the lobby of our building, studied for his message, helped me a lot, and spent a lot of time texting pastors on his cell phone, etc. I left the kitchen at 9 PM, showered and hit the pillow.

The next morning came early at 5 AM. It was pouring rain. By 5:30 I was in the kitchen stirring up another pan of brownies, finishing up the jello molds, and filtering more water, etc. Friday was The Day! Learners from the groups last year were coming for a reunion! Paul and I sat down to breakfast at 7:30 AM and immediately received a text from the first arriver asking if she could come up – she traveled ten hours by bus to be here. They are church planting in a new area. Of course we fixed fruit for her. I finished breakfast and returned to the kitchen. Very shortly more alumni arrived. We started the noodles cooking, heated the sauce, and I sliced and buttered the Italian bread. And the rains came down. Our friends from college, long time missionaries with SIL in other countries, came to share in the day. The 10 AM start time came and went. The alumni leaders were not here. 10:30 and still no leaders. Paul held himself back from taking charge and starting. When the rains came down, the floods came up! Everyone was patient. They finally started about 11 AM.

Meanwhile, I was serving, filling water dispensers, hugging, clearing, chopping, drying dishes to put out again, straightening the dining area, mixing, putting lunch out, and drying more dishes. When the meeting finished at 4 PM, we were busy visiting and saying good-bye. At 4:45 I turned to our SIL friends and told them we would like to take them back to their guesthouse because I had to get out of the house! Chairs were helter-skelter, food was spilled, and cups were scattered. If I stayed home I would work and I was tired! I told my helper who was just washing the last few items to “leave the kitchen as it is, clean the bathrooms, sweep the floors, and GO HOME! You are as tired as I am! I will finish the kitchen and cleaning tomorrow.” And we walked out the door.

We spent the next three hours just visiting our friends. What a wonderful time we had! We shared and learned how the Lord had been working in our lives over the years. We shared God’s faithfulness, grace, restoration and victory. Our hearts were full as we drove home – a great day and a delightful evening! What more could we ask the Lord for?

We rolled out of bed at 7:10 the following Saturday morning. I was putting dishes away by 7:30, putting water on for tea, picking up the stray cups, etc from the living and dining rooms. We decided to have breakfast and then our devotions. By the time we had breakfast ready I was feeling like a very soppy rag – limp and listless from weariness. Bed was beckoning. Five minutes into our breakfast the doorbell rang. A pastor was here to submit his application for the next training session! Paul went to the elevator while I quickly pulled out left over spaghetti and bread, set a place, etc. To my shock, five pastors came into the house! I scrambled! (Oh no! I don’t have enough coffee packets!) Two and one half hours later, we said good-bye to new friends. I couldn’t believe it: I had served with energy and joy! God instantly took me from that limp “wet rag” state to fully able to meet the need of the moment. Isn’t He awesome?! I was so thankful that I had done the work before breakfast so the house was in some semblance of order. After lunch and devotions we returned the moved furniture to their places and finished the “restoration” of our home.

It is a blessing to have a home that is useful for ministry like ours. Of course the drawback is the flow of unexpected guests, especially when we do not have a helper living with us – someone to help with the load of cooking, serving, and cleaning. Fely has a family herself and comes to work five days a week. Without her we could not do ministry the way we do. She loves serving the pastors and working quietly behind the kitchen door. She is such a blessing.

The next week was very hectic with reviewing the last minute applications and preparing for three new batches of pastors. We had several days of pastors arriving at the house with applications in hand. Most of those are wait-listed. We covet your prayers as we begin. It has been with prayer that we made the selections, asking the Lord for those men and women who will apply themselves with diligence and be faithful in using the lessons in their ministries and discipling others as they have been discipled.

We are now off on our next round of pouring our lives into the lives of church leaders here in the Philippines. Thank you for praying.

Patty