November Prayer Letter

Just a few Experiences

Once, shopping with my friend in Manila I bought something from a Filipina at her stand. She gave me a good price since I was the first customer of the day, but what she did with the money I gave her was the interesting part. She proceeded to take my money and fan/touch all of her products that she was selling and mumble something.

I said to my friend, “Did you see what she did?”

She didn’t notice, but as we watched her I explained that the vendor was blessing the rest of her things so that she would have good luck in selling many items and getting rid of any bad spirits.

This also happened when I was pregnant and I was able to get good prices on many things because pregnant ladies must be good luck!

Spiritism is a very real part of everyday life in the Philippines. Even though it is considered to be a Christian country because of Catholicism, the Filipinos as a whole believe very strongly in spirits and the influences that they have on everyday life.

Another example- one day when we were taking an evening walk, while I was pregnant, this lady told us to hurry and get home. I was wondering why she said this, as it was the only nice time to walk since it wasn’t hot. My language teacher explained to me that she was referring to a spirit that she believed could harm and even take the baby of a pregnant lady if outdoors past dark.

Even watching the TV shows (which portrays people being transformed into other creatures and spirits) will confirm that the beliefs in these things many times control the lives of the people in this country- mainly through fear.

I am just scratching the surface here, even after being in the Philippines for more than two years as to the differences in core beliefs between Westerners and Filipino’s (I don’t want to say Asians because I don’t have enough experiences with other Asian cultures but I do know many are very similar to the Philippines). I don’t want to go into the whole history lesson on why things are this way, but I do want to paint a better picture for you as to what we are dealing with on a day to day basis. Understanding how the people think that you are trying to reach, is maybe, the first step to being able to share with them.


General Update

We are all doing fine here. We just got home from a 4 day SEND Annual Conference followed by a few days at the beach for a much needed vacation. Now it’s back to the busy schedule and day to day life.

Gilmer is very busy keeping up with the youth and college groups- and all that involves. Plus, he is helping teach the Bible classes in schools and sometimes with the music at our church on Sundays. He enjoys all of these things but sometimes the needs are hard to balance with family time as well. There just seems to be endless needs and its hard not to want to do it all yourself. The youth group is growing and we even had a day picnic at the beach with them last month (see picture below). They are planning on visiting an orphanage this December and we are hoping that it will help them see the needs of their own people.

I am continuing to plan the women’s fellowship which they named WOW (Women of the Word) after my home church’s women’s group- they just liked it so much. We meet monthly and I am hearing great things from the ladies that come. It is a much needed chance for them to grow together, have fun, encourage each other, and share each others burdens (for which there are many).

Kids Corner

The kids are doing great. Thank you for those that prayed for Nhaya. She is doing great at school and making friends now. She comes home saying, “Mommy I am friends with everyone at school now!” She loves to learn and although she still has a hard time with some things overall she is doing well.

Caleb is enjoying being a boy and playing with the many bugs we have around here. He even picked up this HUGE dead spider the other day and tried to scare his Mommy with it. (It worked too- cause I hate them!) He will be 5 in January and is looking forward to going to Kindergarten to be BIG like his sister.

Josiah is 10 months now and crawling all over the place. He is pulling up on all the furniture and is such a happy baby. The teenage girls at church just love him (since he’s white I think) and many of them have put their pictures with him on their Facebook. Many times I have to look around at church to find him because he just loves to go with everyone.

Prayer and Praises

Praise

-For our safe travels and the time with fellow SENDers and a family vacation (see picture below).

-For the different ministries that we are involved in and the way God is able to use us to reach the Filipino’s

-Nhaya was able to make friends and is doing well in school.

-His provision and all of you who pray for and support us! We are so blessed to have people who have a heart for the Philippines behind us and making it possible to be here.

Prayer

-To be able to balance ministry needs and schedules with family needs. We are new at this crazy schedule of Gilmer being gone most evenings and are working to find something that works well for our family.

-For continued growth and direction in the different ministries that we are both involved in. It is our desire to train the Filipinos to reach each other and not to be dependant on us as missionaries.

-Support. Our monthly support levels have been quite low and we are in need of more than $1,000 a month. This is for different reasons- inflation, a new family member, rising medical costs, and many supporters than are not able to continue supporting.

To be honest this has been a big burden on us so pray that we will trust God to provide all that we need. He already knows it!

Gilmer will be working on contacting some individuals and churches that seemed interested in what we are doing, so please pray for him as he includes that in his daily schedule.


Again, thank you for reading this prayer letter and keeping up with what, and how, we are doing. We pray that your time this month with family and friends for Thanksgiving would be wonderful. We also will celebrate and I was even able to find a turkey and bring it back from Manila with us!

In His Service,
Gilmer, Julie, Nhaya, Caleb and Josiah Paden
I Cor. 15:58
SEND Philippines


Lunch with the Youth at the beach, notice the native, no plates or forks, style.


Playing a game at youth group.


Fishmen at the beach.


On our vacation at the beach.


Josiah is getting so big! And cute too!


The WOW (Women's fellowship) group had a yard sale to raise money for our building project at our church. They raised 17,000 peso's ($350.), which is a lot here.


Last month Gilmer's parents were able to come for a visit and meet Josiah for the first time.

September Prayer Letter

(see bottom of letter for pictures)


Hello from the very rainy Philippine Islands. We have been back now for about a month and are still trying to settle in! Thank you all so much for your prayers as we traveled back. The flight back was SO much better as the kids were able to get some sleep on that long 12 hour flight to Hong Kong. Thank you also for your patience for us writing an update, we feel like life is going 100MPH and we are just holding on trying to keep up the pace.

Our time in the States was great. It was so nice to see our family, (old and new members!) friends, and supporters. We were so blessed by people who gave of their time, houses, cars, etc- while we were back. It’s not always easy coming back to no car and no house but we felt that God provided all that we needed through His people and even some that we didn’t know.

We were only in the States for a short 2 months (that seemed to fly by) and are sorry that we did not get to see more of you guys. We did have a chance to visit different churches almost every Sunday though and share a little bit about what we have been doing here in the Philippines.

Speaking of the Philippines- we are as excited as ever to get back and be in full swing of ministry now. This really is the first time that we can fully concentrate on what we felt called to do here. Before was language school, having a baby, recovery, moving, working on paperwork back to the States, then our trip home. Now that we have all that taken care of, we are excited how God will use us here. Not saying that He has not been using us and teaching us things that we needed all along but especially Gilmer, feels excited to start working full-time with the youth and other things that are a real need here.

Just to give you a quick glance. We were able to hold our first ever (in this church) High School youth program last Friday night. We had about 35 youth and for many it was their first time in church. Three of them even accepted Christ for the first time. Also during the week Gilmer will be teaching Bible in the public schools. This program is called VOICE (Values Orientation In Classroom Education), then in the evenings also being involved in teaching some Bible Studies. I, besides taking care of my kids, am organizing our Women’s Fellowship and helping Gilmer with the youth when I can.

Kids Korner
The kids are doing fine, they were excited to be “home” and see all their toys and pets. Nhaya started 1st grade right when we got back, she likes it but is having some trouble socially- making friends and things. She does great with the academic part though and is having fun learning to paint and do crafts. The other Filipino schools don’t do much of that- and this is a missionary school so they have an American curriculum.

Caleb is home with me and Josiah and is trying to learn his ABC’s, which he has absolutely no desire to do! Playing in mud and getting dirty is his joy.

Josiah is now almost 9 months and is still such a good baby. He is just now learning to crawl and has the inchworm move mastered. He has 4 teeth now and loves to play with his older brother and sister.

We also have 9 puppies (who can go under this section since they are as much work as kids) and we have been busy taking care of them since we got home. Now we just need to find good homes for them- which is hard to do here. The rest of the world does not seem to have the same idea about pets as Westerners (which includes Americans) have.

I would love to just write all that we have been doing and make this prayer letter 4 pages long but this is already way over due and I know many of you are so busy that 4 pages might not ever get read. So to keep it short I will go right into our prayer and praises-

Praises-For a safe trip to and from the States. We had a great time and were so blessed by those we were able to see.
-For all the youth that came last Friday, especially the 3 that accepted Christ. We also have some great help from our College Group that seem to have a heart to reach the High School.
-That the kids are doing well and getting adjusted to the new (yet again) schedule. Also that we were able to find Nhaya a good school to go to. You can check it out if you want, here is the link http://www.christianacademybaguio.org/home

Prayer Requests-Gilmer and Nhaya are sick right now. Please pray for them to get better soon and that the rest of the family will not get sick. It has been raining and cold since we arrived and that doesn’t help all the sicknesses going around. We have not seen the sun for 4 days in a row! We have had 9 typhoons (hurricanes) so far this year and usually the season does not end until October.
-Nhaya to make some friends at school and do better socially.
-The Youth work and also our Women’s ministry, along with Gilmer’s VOCIE program in the schools.
-SEND International has made some changes to their Purpose Statement and we went down to Manila last weekend to have a meeting on what that means for our field. We have a conference in October and will discuss it more. But please pray for wisdom and guidance for all as we strive to follow where we feel the Lord is leading us.
-Please pray for more supporters, those of you who do support- THANK YOU. We know that times are tough in the States right now and that also seems to be affecting what people can continue to give. We were able to share with some new people while we were back so Lord willing maybe some feel called to partner with us to reach the Filipinos.
-My sister Jessica seems to be in some really bad trouble (of her own making) right now and could use our prayers.

Thank you all so much for reading our update and keeping us in your prayers. We surely need them here on the front line of so many of Satan’s strongholds. Next time I will write about some Filipino experiences and culture so you can get a better idea of what we deal with everyday. We would love to hear from you also so please don’t hesitate to let us know how we can pray for you too!

Love to all of you,
The Paden’s
(Gilmer, Julie, Nhaya, Caleb, and Josiah)

P.S. Just looking at our last post I feel like I need to tell those of who don’t know, how we got back into the States… We were very nervous going, thinking that maybe they could stop us or send Gilmer back to the Philippines if they didn’t except our explanation, etc. Well, praise God that we did get back ok. The flight was awful since they separated us on the long 12 hour flight, but we survived to be held in immigration at LAX (in California) for 3 hours (which made us miss our next flight to Tucson). We didn’t write about it when we got to the States because we were so frustrated and didn’t want to come across to strong. Let’s just say we have never been treated as badly as we were during those 3 hours and hope that we never will again. They were not even willing to let either one of us finish a sentence let alone explain what happened. Then when it was all said and done all they could have done was give us a fine, which they ended up waving anyways. All this to say that now Gilmer will need to make a quick trip back to the States again next year, so this same thing will not happen again and we will not have trouble obtaining his citizenship in 2 years when we are home for our home service. Again we do praise God for not more trouble than we had, we were expecting the worst just to be prepared. Thank you all for praying for us during that stressful and uncertain time.

Since a picture is worth a 1,000 words- here are just a few from our trip.


Yeah, we were able to celebrate the 4th of July with family and friends and see some fireworks.


Nhaya and Caleb were so excited to spend some time with their cousins. These are two of the four.


Nhaya was also able to have a princess birthday party with some of her friends.


We took a family vacation to the Grand Canyon.


It was so nice to be there for my Grandma's birthday.



With My sister Aimee and her family in Colorado


Girls night out.


My sister Shawna and her daughter Autumn


My parents, at the airport as we are getting ready to leave.


Now a few since being back in the Philippines


The 9 puppies that we came home to. Cute but a ton of work.


This is the new work to expand our church building. We are out growing it!


One of the classrooms that Gilmer is working in teaching the Bible.


Our first High School meeting. Gilmer is in the back just hard to see.


This is the team of people we work with at the church (CBCF- Cordillera Bible Christian Fellowship). There are 5 missionaries, including us, plus members of the church.

June Prayer Update

Update on US Trip

As of a couple days ago we now have tickets to travel to the States! We are scheduled to leave on June 18th and return to the Philippines August 14th. As you can imagine we are very excited but at the same time still a little hesitant. Let me explain why.

We bought tickets based on what the man at the Embassy said but we still have no documented proof that everything will go as he said and as we hope. So, we are taking every step possible to be ready for whatever situation might come up during our travels. We have called the Homeland Security again (and have a funny- long- but funny story about that!) and tried to get anymore information about our problem based on the fact that Mr. Lee from the Embassy said we can just board the plane.

As of now we will still plan to go but we need all of your prayers for everything to work out. We can not be fully relaxed until we are through immigration in the States and on a plane to Tucson! This is a very stressful time for us as we have all the preparations for the trip, scheduling speaking engagements, and still dealing with the fact that Gilmer could not allowed to enter the States. We will continue to do all we can to prepare and not stop calling and talking to anyone that might be able to help us until we get on the plane.

I will keep this short and just list our prayer needs and praises. We do hope to see many of you while we are back (Lord willing!). We will be in Arizona almost the whole time with a short trip to Colorado. We are sorry that we can not travel more to see every one of our supporting churches but it is just not as easy now with 3 kids.

Praises:

- That we were able to get plane tickets at a reasonable price so soon.

- That we were able to find someone to stay in our house for most of the time we are gone to take care of the animals. (Also, here in the Philippines you don’t want to leave a house vacant.)

- For Julie’s first Women’s Fellowship and planning meeting that she was able to help start last month. The women are so craving this kind of ministry and we are excited to see how the Lord will use it.

- Gilmer was able to start training the leadership of the youth group that he now leads. They have some great things planned.


Prayer:

- Gilmer’s paperwork issues still are not solved and won’t be until we get to the States and they let us past immigration.

- Preparations for our two month trip to the States and many chances to share what we have been doing in the Philippines these last two years.

- For more people who feel led to partner with us financially and prayerfully. We are in need of more supporters due to a number of different circumstances and are required to raise additional funds. Example- the fall of US Dollar, a new addition to the family, increase in medical insurance premiums, and a number of supporters who had to stop their giving.

- For people here to take our places in the ministries that have so recently been started.

- For us to find a school for Nhaya.

Thank you all for taking the time to read our updates and remember us in prayer and/or financial support. We pray for God’s guidance for all of you, our friends, as you also seek to follow Him.

Fellow Labors,

The Paden’s


Nhaya and Caleb with our team leader Mike Ballast at Nhaya's ballet recital


Nhaya was so excited for her dance, she also has a new hair cut!


Women on our Planning Team for the new women's ministry meetings


Leading the planning meeting


Josiah is getting big and is now 5 months

Exciting News

Dear Everyone,

We have some really exciting news! Thank you all for your prayers for us concerning Gilmer's papers to get back to the States. We said in the last email that we hoped somehow God would be glorified by our situation and we believe that He was today. Let me try and recap what happened at the Embassy this morning...

We went early and waited in line at the Homeland Security window, after talking to the man there he referred us to the US Border Safety (or something like that) since they are the ones that control the transportation Letter we were told to get. The security guard there said to wait outside, and when they came into office they would call us by who came first (there was a big stack of papers). Since we also needed to get Josiah's SSS number (Social Security) we did that while we waited. After that was taken care of, we were waiting outside and I went to check to see if there were seeing people yet, which they weren't. Gilmer, by then, had made friends with another guard inside and he asked Gilmer what we were waiting for. That guard (since they were friends of course!) told a secretary, who asked us about our situation. We explained a little and then said, "but don't we need to wait outside?" She said "No, no, come on in!" So we did! And met the American man in charge who took one look at Gilmer's Green Card, listening to a little of our problems, then proceeded to say. "But your Green Card is not expired!" "We know," we told him, "but they have told us that we can't get back without this re-entry permit." He then told us that we were fine and could travel whenever we want, we didn't even need this Transportation Letter. He even gave us his name and told us to have them call him if there were any problems. He apologized for the way we were treated on the phone (they have been very rude to us all the different times we called) and explained a little more about the whole situation. Which, by the way, would be too long to write here.

So altogether we were there only 2 1/2 hours and were able to really see how God just put us in the exact right spot to talk to the right person. I think we would still be waiting there had it not been for that "chance" meeting! We are now working on a schedule for going back to the States, getting tickets, taking care of our ministries while we are gone, etc.

We hope that through our story you might be able to see how God answers prayers and is faithful in all situations. We are sure that there were some reasons that we were delayed in our plans, and though we might never know for sure, (we can guess a few already) we are always excited to see how God can work out things that seem impossible to us! Again thank you for your prayers on our behalf, we hope that this might encourage you in your own situation to trust and wait on God to work out whatever you might be facing (and we are all facing something, right?).

We will keep you updated on when the exact dates we will be back in the States will be. Please remember that we would love to share with you in person about what we do here when we come back. So let us know if you what to schedule us to come and share with you and/or a group. We will have at least 4 weeks to do just that!

Your Partners in Christ,
The Paden's
(Gilmer, Julie, Nhaya, Caleb, and Josiah)

P.S. Oh yes, Nhaya! We are not back yet (we leaving in the morning) but many of you said you were praying for her too. She is having so much fun that she hardly has time to talk to us on the phone! It sounds like she's having a great time.

Urgent Manila Trip

Dear Praying Friends,

We have a urgent prayer request that we would like to share with you.

If you have been reading our updates you know of the problems that we have been having with Gilmer's paperwork to get back to the States. Things right now continue to look grim. We spoke to an Immigration Officer last Friday and, according to her, there is no hope that the re-entry permit will be reissued. This comes as a shock to us considering we have spoken to 3 other Immigration Officers that said to just wait. They did not say that there was no chance. She also told us that the only thing we could do is ask the Embassy to give us a Transportation Letter. We had not heard about this letter before even though we asked them repeatedly to let us know if there was anything else we could do.

So feeling like we need to exhaust all our options, and at least find out if there is anything the Embassy can do, we are headed for Manila in the morning. We could not send this out earlier due to a typhoon that passed close to us and caused us to be stuck in the house for 2 days with no power for half that time. Thankfully there was no damage, just a lot of clean-up.

Nhaya will stay here with one of the girls from the church since her ballet recital is on Saturday and she can't miss her practices!

Please pray for us, (and Nhaya) as we travel (6 hours)
- that we can talk to the right people at the Embassy, we will go on Wednesday morning but for most of you that's Tuesday night.
- that they would look favorably on our situation and help us find a solution
- and for us to have wisdom to know how to proceed if the Embassy can not help us.

We are not sure why we are still here, not being able to get back to the States as we had planned- but God does-and we trust that there is a purpose for all of this. Even during this time of waiting we are encouraged at how God has been using us here. Gilmer is doing some great things with the youth, and excited about working with them, as well as being involved in some weekly Bible Studies for new believers. I was able to help start our first ever Women's Fellowship this last Saturday. It went very well, and I am excited to see these women encouraging each other, learning, and growing together. So we also praise God for all that He has done while we wait and just pray that somehow this situation will bring about glory to Him.

Thank you so much for all your prayers and for partnering with us to reach the Filipino's for Christ.

Serving Him,
The Paden's
Gilmer, Julie, Nhaya, Caleb, and Josiah
I Cor. 15:58

April Prayer Update

Baguio - our new city!


As you can see Baguio City has a lot of people. It is always very crowed here.


We dressed up in traditional dress with friends when we went sight seeing one day.


In A New City

“There is no way!” said Gilmer when one of the church members at our new church told him he would be wearing the tribal dress called a “bahag.”

Traditionally this clothing is worn by the mountain peoples. One group being the Ifugao. It is just a small piece clothing worn around the waist, almost like a loin cloth, and is to be worn with nothing else underneath!

We had a great time last month as our new church named Cordillera Bible Christian Fellowship welcomed us - complete with a tribal dance, (see pictures below)also when they asked Gilmer to wear the bahag. They made us get up and try the dance too! Even though we looked rather silly, it was fun.


The church members show us part of their culture.


We are glad to be here at our assignment and are excited to see how God will use us to reach these people. There is such a need for Christ here and it is so evident. Every time you turn around you see an idol or a small trinket (necklace, pendant, ornament, etc) in which people worship and honor in hopes of healing from sickness, good fortune, solutions to problems, protection from evil spirits or just for the fact that if they don’t they believe that something bad will happen to them.

There is a perfect example of this right on our street. When we used to walk the kids to school in the mornings and afternoons we would see this life size statue at the start of our street and almost every day there are fresh flowers in front of it as an offering. You can also see from our house the steps up one of the mountains to a famous “grotto” (as they call it here) or statue of Mary. Here is a web site where you can see pictures and read a little bit about it if you want - http://www.cityofpines.com/lourdesgrotto.html. These are evident reminders of why we are here.

Complications to Trip Home

These last months have been ones filled to overflowing as we moved and have been trying to get settled. Some of you might be wonder why we are not in the States yet as we had wanted to be there by now and even set up many speaking engagements at different supporting churches. Well… there are a few different reasons.

One being that it took a very long time to get Josiah’s birth certificate from the Philippine National Statistics Offices. After Gilmer made numerous trips back and forth (having to take an overnight bus to get to Manila), waiting in huge lines all day, being tossed back and forth between different offices, praise the Lord we were able to get it the day before our interview at the US Embassy. Without that we would not have been able to apply for Josiah’s passport, which we were able to do last week and now just wait for it to be sent to our house.

So one problem down, now there’s another one. We are missing a very important piece of paper that allows Gilmer to enter the US (called a reentry permit). We had thought that my Mom had it this whole time, but come to find out it is not the right one (we had to apply for two different ones before we left). She has one but the other one was missing. This is posing a big problem and we have been on the phone to the Homeland Security and the Embassy many different times. Now we wait for an answer. Which they said will take until the end of April.

He needs this paperwork because if he is out of the country for more than a year they cancel his green card – thinking that he no longer wants to be a permanent resident. We knew this and did everything correct but after further discussion with Homeland Security we were able to find out that it was sent to the wrong address, returned, and then- in their words “destroyed.” Since it was sent to the wrong address we were able to talk to one immigration officer that said he would request that it be reissued. It is valid until August so will you pray with us that they reissue it and quickly. If they do not reissue it we are not yet sure what it means for us but it would be very bad. They said we would need to reapply for a new green card (which took 3 years and thousands of dollars to get in the first place but since we are here means that he can’t go back to the US until it goes through).

It just seems to be one thing after another with this trip and we are getting very discouraged about it. We know that God is in control so we will trust that there is a purpose even if we can’t see it now. Please keep us and these things in your prayers though. We need a big miracle to get back any time soon.

You might be asking why we want to come now and not later. Well mostly for the kids school. Their break is from the beginning of April to the beginning of June, if we leave for the American summer (June – August) that could mean the kids missing two months of school. If at all possible we would like it to be a normal school season for them. There is also a family reunion that we were trying to get back for, that can’t be rescheduled, at the end of April. These things are all not really life or death issues but important to us none-the-less. The biggest thing now though, is Gilmer’s paperwork for his Green Card.

Thanks again for your continued prayers,

Julie – for all of us


Nhaya loves being a big sister and helping with her baby brother.

Praises

-For getting settled in our new house, school (which is finished now though until June), church, and ministry team.

-Gilmer’s had the opportunity to do many things with the team here including, teaching Bible studies, preaching, youth ministry, being trained to teach the Bible in public schools next school year, and many others. I was also able to have a preliminary meeting with some of the women of the church about starting a woman’s ministry- my area being starting a Mom’s type Bible Study/ Support Group.


Gilmer's in front playing for the Baptism service last Saturday.


Mike Ballast - our team leader- baptizes new christians from our church.

-The kids are behaving better – thanks for your prayers for them. Maybe all of this is happening just so they might have a chance to get settled a little more before we embark on yet another stressful time of change and travel. Right now they are at VBS (vacation bible school) which is the only reason I have the chance to write this update. :)

-That Josiah is growing, healthy, and SO cute! Also, that we were approved to get his passport and able to get his birth certificate in time (a real miracle!).

-Everyone has been healthy even though there have been some viruses going around.

-For you- our supporters and prayer partners. Without which we would not be able to be here. Thank you all!

-For Nhaya's 6th Birthday coming up this Saturday! She's very excited.


Josiah is 4 months old now and so cute!

Prayer

-Gilmer’s Reentry Permit to be approved quickly and without further problems or complications.

-For travel plans once we do get all the paperwork needed, setting up speaking engagements, plane tickets, a car to use, and someone to stay in our house and take care of our animals while we are gone.

-For Gilmer as he decides about what permanent ministry to be involved in. For open doors in starting new types of ministries if that is where he feels God is leading him.

-For me as I try to balance everything that needs to be done in a day (all of which is harder living here- from cooking to shopping) and three kids. As you can see this prayer letter is way overdue and it’s because of the above reasons. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed.

-The SEND office in Michigan has told us that due to the raising cost of medical insurance Stateside, a new member of the family (Josiah), some previous supporters that can not support anymore, and the fall of the dollar in exchange to peso’s- we are in need of raising more support. Please pray that God will provide those that wish to partner in His work here in the Philippines through us.

February Prayer Update

Dear Prayer Partners,

These last couple months have been overwhelming for us. Well… as I think about it, this last year and a half while we have been here in language school has been overwhelming. We want to thank you for your part in helping us get through with your prayers. We are only here because we know that this is where God wants us, not because it’s easy. Sometime we have to keep reminding ourselves of this on a particularly hard day.

So much has happened this last month or so that it is hard to recap for you. We had Josiah, got a different car, had our second Christmas away from home, my Mom came to help for a month, we traveled to Baguio looking for a house, Gilmer’s brother left, we started packing to move, went to a team planning retreat, and so many little things I can’t even say.

Needless to say, you get the picture – we have been busy! That is also why we have not been able to update more like we wanted to. We do want to make sure that we say thank you to all who responded when we had the baby. We are sorry that we have not had a chance to reply to each of you individually, but want to make sure that you know how much it means to us that you sent a short note. You might not realize it but it is so refreshing to hear from home and those praying for us. Again thank you.

So having said all that, this month we will keep our prayer letter short and sweet with just prayer and praises. We do look forward to sharing so many more things about the Philippines and our time here with you, but that will have to wait until a later time.

Praise:

• Josiah’s birth went well and he is a healthy growing little guy. Julie also healed well and is able to resume normal activity (which is good for the moving part).


• We found a house in Baguio (six hours north) that we think will be good for our family for the next couple years and were able to work out the details with the owner (it took a while and we thought that we weren’t going to be able to get that house).


• We really like the new team that we are going to be working with. We just got back from a planning retreat and enjoyed getting to know them.


• Caleb is ok after he slipped and hit his head on a step at the water slide at the retreat mentioned above. He had to get three stitches. There was a hospital close and we were able to get in and out even though the actually procedure was quite traumatic (maybe for Mommy as much as Caleb!). We are thankful it was not worse.


• We were able to get a bigger van to seat all the kids in their car seats. It is also an automatic which is so nice as Baguio is much like the streets in San Francisco, very steep! We still need to sell the other one so please pray for a buyer soon.
  
  Prayer:
  


• For packing and moving this week. We move Friday and still feel like we have so much to get done. Not easy with three kids!


• Adjustments in our new city, church, and school. As of now we can’t get to our new house when we move because we aren’t familiar with the city! – Funny yes, but a picture of how clueless we are. We did look at a small school next to our new house that will be good for Nhaya and Caleb during the next two months they have left of school. (Summer break here is April and May). Gilmer will be busy trying to find out where he fits into the team and what ministries are best for him. Right now we think it will mostly be youth work. Julie will be trying to unpack and be a Mommy of three kids.


• We are returning to the States in April and May for a short deputation time and also for Gilmer to renew some paperwork for his permanent residence visa (green card). We are excited to be back for a couple months but there is so much work involved in scheduling etc. We would love to share what God has been doing in our lives and that of the Filipinos with you when we are there. Unfortunately since this is a short trip we are only going to be in Arizona, so if you would like us to come and share, please let us know as soon as you can so we can get our schedule down. Here are the dates we will be available:
  April 4th - 24th and then May 11th – 18th.

li>With returning to Arizona there are logistics that need to be worked out. Please pray that we can find a car to use while we are there and also housing in Tucson for a couple weeks since Julie’s parents live a little too far from all the appointments we will have. If you know of anyone that might be willing to let us use or rent their vehicle please let us know, remember we will have three car seats so it needs to be able to fit those.


• We have a lot of paperwork that needs to be taken care of before we can come back to the States. Josiah needs his passport and citizenship papers worked out. Nhaya needs her passport renewed. All of that requires a lot of work and trips to the American Embassy in Manila. Things like that are not easy in this country. It seems like everything takes at least twice as long to accomplish. For example two weeks ago we went to Manila (which is one hour away) at 9am for a doctor’s appointment and a stop at our SEND office and ended up not coming home until after 8pm. This is due to the traffic, waiting (no appointments allowed), and crowds.

We hope that you and your families are doing well, and until next time, may God bless you.

Your Partners in Reaching the Filipinos,

Gilmer and Julie Paden

New address:
Gilmer and Julie Paden
P.O. Box 1255,
2600 Baguio City
Philippines

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Josiah at 6 weeks

My Mom and Gilmer's brother during Caleb's birthday at the mall

Our cute boys!

The kids at Nhaya's school were so excited to see Josiah. See the crowd?

We thought it was so funny how interested they were. This is our new house, it's a duplex so the left side is ours.


Nana (my Mom) and Nhaya. They loved having her here and showing her their life in the Philippines




Nhaya and Caleb at an outreach that we went to in Gilmer's old church planting area. A short term team from Canada was here doing a presentation.