Full of Life
On February 19th at 11:30 am (00:30 am Brasilia time) our daughter Vivian, which means full of life, was born.
Vivi brought us a lot of joy after a long and difficult labor and delivery.
We had the privilege of welcoming Noemi’s mother in February to help with all the preparations and first 3 months. The local team has also offered us support both in the bureaucratic issues of documentation and in the logistics of going to the hospital for appointments, etc.
We appreciate all the prayers and affection we have received since we announced the pregnancy, keep praying for the new phase and for 2023, a year that has already started differently!
Challenges
In April, in the midst of our new routine with our newborn, we had problems with our two computers, which were not new, but were completely unusable.
This fact greatly limited our work, especially as we work on the final parts of the TUSfY course and the many online meetings we need to attend.
Despite the delay in finding a suitable price, we managed to fix at least one of them temporarily. With all the expenses from this year, our budget was very limited to buy a new computer, so together with SMI we have purchased a laptop for the youth mobilization coordination in the meanwhile, which Caleb and I will share during this year.
TUSfY Trial
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. (1 John 5:14)
We would like to express our gratitude for all the prayers and support we have received for the development of this project. As the verse above states, God answers our prayers when we are in accordance with His will and that is our confidence! We experienced this in the first trial phase of the TUSfY course - The Unfinished Story For Youth.
We had 31 participants from 7 churches from Butuan City and region for two days in the SMI Center. The pilot course is our opportunity to test the materials and consider areas for improvement in both the content and dynamics of the course. We received great feedback, see this testimony:
“My favorite aspect of the course was the learnings that we can use them to evangelize others and be reminded of our mission. I also like the activities to be fun, enjoyable and engaging.”
After this adjustment process, we consider that the course is ready to be launched at our International Conference, in September in Thailand. So far we have more than 50 delegates from 30 countries.
Conference Preparations
With the International Conference approaching, Max (International Director) and Dorothy Chismon arrived from New Zealand to take part in all the preparations. With the full team for the first time since the Pandemic, our meetings have been largely face-to-face.
Geof is not featured in the photo here as he has resumed traveling abroad to assist our Global teams. He has visited teams in Costa Rica for their national conference, and Papua New Guinea where he led training for the local team. We are all very grateful to God for the success of the trainings as these will also be launched at the Conference.
Brazil
We will be traveling to Brazil after the Conference in October. We are so excited to spend the end of the year with our family and friends after these 2 years working in the Philippines, even more now for Vivi to meet you all!
As you may remember, if you've been with us since January last year, we had a problem with the airline that made our first trip (when we needed to return) and unfortunately we haven't been reimbursed yet (the lawsuit is active). Therefore, we lost our return ticket that we would now use on this trip.
We are buying our tickets for October as a step of faith, but we would like to ask that those who can specifically pray for this purpose or contribute, please contact us, as we do not yet have the full amount to cover all expenses.
Our journey starts on the 17th of September when we leave Butuan and involves 7 flights and 7 different hotels, it will be a great challenge and a family adventure with Vivi who will be 7 months old.
We are also excited to record, translate and launch TUSfY in Portuguese while in the country this year, we will be working with volunteers from our hometown church.
Prayer Focus
Pray for Noemi’s full recovery from birth, for her health to be fully restored.
Pray for Vivian’s growth, health and safety.
Pray for the International Conference planned for September, over 400 registered from 90+ countries.
Pray for the development of the course “The Unfinished Story for Youth”, for all the young leaders involved. Pray especially for the launch during our International Conference.
Pray for the development of our roles in the movement, especially for the next year as we develop our project to better support the growth of Youth Mobilizers in the Global Regions.
Pray for our trip to Brazil after the conference, for a safe journey and blessed time with partners, family and friends.
