Turkey Under the Blue Roofs

We drove over to Pensacola for Thanksgiving. It was my first time to see my hometown after hurricane Ivan hit back in September.

FEMA has a "Blue Roof" program where they will come to your house and cover your roof with a blue tarp until a roofing contractor becomes available. I estimated that 1 out of every 5 roofs had a blue tarp.

Some Pensacolians are a little skeptical of the government's newest faith-based program.

Run for the Hills!

The International Museum of Cultures sponsored a 5K Run and 1.5 mile walk. It included a couple miles on the road and then a mile on the trails at our center. Several of us from our MDOC class decided to participate. I ran in the 5K and had a lot of fun! Here are a few pictures from our time out there!



Our happy MDOC participants who ran for the Hills!



Dan took this picture! You can see in the background where a group is about to play Ultimate Frisbee... Dan was very supportive though and took some pictures before he went and played!

Newsletter 2

Our second newsletter should be arriving in mailboxes and inboxes today. Along with letting you know about what we've been up to, it actually features three different languages (including, of course, English).

Tagalog blends into the titlebar at the top of the newsletter, and Hawaii's Pidgin English is featured elsewhere in the body. The Hawaiian Pidgin may be hard to read at first, but if you really study it, you should begin to understand the meaning, and you'll also begin to understand why it would be so difficult for people from that area to read a Bible written in American English.

We hope you enjoy it! If you don't get a copy, and would like one, just let us know!

Part of the titlebar as seen at the top of our newest newsletter--note the Tagalog in the background.

Chattanooga wedding...

One of my dearest friends got married this weekend. Paige and Johnny were wed in Chattanooga on Saturday and all of my best friends from high school were there. The company was fantastic, it was really special to be together, especially since we live in all different directions around the country. The wedding was beautiful, and it was such a joy to see them join in marriage!



The happy couple!!



Here are the six of us enjoying being together!

Congratulations, Jay & Anne!

One family has helped us tremendously while we have been living in Dallas. Last Wednesday, Jay, Anne, and their oldest daughter Sarah Grace, welcomed a new addition to their home. Check out some pictures of their newest, Hannah!

Nov 11, Wycliffe's World Day of Prayer

A long time ago, when the Wycliffe organization consisted of only a few people, the founder was stopped at the Mexican border and was not allowed to enter.  Immediately, he and his partner began praying that God would allow them to go into Mexico to continue the translation that they had begun.  After they finished praying, he remembered a letter that the Mexican Minister of Education had given him years before.  He showed the letter to the border guard, and they were immediately let through.

 

Now, almost 70 years later, all 7,000 members of Wycliffe around the world stop what they are doing on the anniversary of that day at the Mexican border to pray that God will continue to open doors for Bible translation.

 

If you get a chance, pray that God will protect all missionaries who are overseas and at home, and that we will do this work with His strength, and not our own.

The Generosity of Plano

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the generosity of others? So overwhelmed that you didn't know how to adequately thank them? Today, about a half-dozen families in Plano, TX joined together for a huge garage sale, with ALL of the earnings going towards our ministry in the Philippines. It wasn't something that we had suggested or even asked for--but all of these families decided to donate some pretty big items. For all of you in the Plano area who helped be a part of this, thanks.

We have some pictures from the day, but I'm just too worn out to put them up right now. We were at the garage sale all day today, and I'm beat. Hopefully I'll have some time to put them on tomorrow--but for now, I'm going to bed.

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OK, here's the pictures--sorry it's taken me so long to get them up! There were actually TEN families that donated items for the garage sale, and many others that helped--I wish I could have gotten a picture of everybody!



This picture was taken at like 4am. OK, maybe it was 8:30. Either way, I learned that you've got to get up really early to do a garage sale.



Jay and Anne (left) were the masterminds of the operation. Cazel and Jerry (right) provided the garage. For lunch, Cazel (a Filipina) cooked up some real Filipino dishes--they were awesome!



Luke, Sarah-Grace, and Lucas help Ginny with her lunch.

Mom's in Dallas!

Yesterday Mom came in town for a short visit on her way to visit friends in Houston. She came and saw our apartment, came to class with us, and met many of our new friends! It was so special to have her here! This week our topic has been crisis management, so we were a little bit nervous about Mom being in class, but she was brave, and it was just comforting to here all the plans that our organization has in place in case of a crisis.



Our beautiful center where we have our classes!