Manila Monthly: From Everywhere to Everyone September 2018 As I grow into my role as an international missionary serving with Companion With the Poor (CWTP) and International Ministries (IM), I continue to see more and more that God's mission is from everywhere to everyone! Over the last two months I have been back in the United States. My time has been divided between sharing about my ministry with CWTP and IM (along with five of our CWTP Filipino missionaries), spending time with my family (including celebrating my mom’s 60th birthday), and having a follow-up surgery to remove the hardware/rods from my back that were put in last year after my accident. By God’s grace, the surgery and the other parts of my trip went well and I am planning to head back to the Philippines this coming September! Here are some highlights from my last two months... Promoting CWTP and IM I had a chance to share about my ministry in the Philippines at the IM World Mission Conference in Green Lake, Wisconsin to a group of about 300-400 people. In addition to sharing at the general session, I was able to lead two workshops about our ministry. I got to travel with five of our Filipino missionaries in the US for a month to share more about our ministry in the Philippines. This picture was from a small house church in Chicago working to make the gospel known in their neighborhood of Bridgeport! One highlight of the groups time in the US was at the Washington Street Mission in Springfield, Illinois. This is a picture with the new director of the mission who is doing a great job of carrying on the mission’s 100+ year ministry of serving the poor and homeless in Springfield! The primary purpose of the teams trip was to help facilitate our first meeting with our CWTP US Board (representing 6 states!). We discussed ways for them to help promote and raise money for our missionaries and projects in Manila. Family We were able to celebrate my mom’s 60th birthday in style this year at Broadway's Hamilton in Chicago, followed by a surprise party for her with many of her friends in Springfield! I was also able to spend a couple weeks visiting with my family in Illinois (while recovering from my back surgery). I particularly enjoyed seeing my three nieces, and am amazed at how much they grow each time I am back in the States. Happening Back in Manila There will be a lot to get back to in Manila this coming September. Included will be continuing with one of our ten church planting teams, helping train our new missionaries, and continuing to help with our project of building a new Center for Training and Spiritual Formation. We have finally completed the first phase of our training center and were able to move into the building! Pictured here are some of our staff that will help run the training center and do other administrative work for CWTP. This is a picture of my church planting teammates at a prayer retreat this past July. Pictured second from the left is Johnlee, one of my former host brothers in Montalban, who has now committed to serving with CWTP as a missionary! He’s been assigned to work with my team in planting a church in Pugad Ibon, where I spend half of my week when I am back in Manila! Prayer I’d appreciate your prayers as I head back this September. Please pray for continued healing for my foot and back (I am close to 90% for both!). Please also continue to pray with CWTP as we work to develop our US Board to help us have a more visible presence in the United States, and possibly extend our ministry one day to North and South America. Please also pray for our work in Metro-Manila and Cebu, and the possibility of getting more connected to other countries in Asia including Indonesia and India. We really appreciate your prayers!