Just a quick update!

Baby Angel is in town getting tests today to clear her for the next surgery! We are so grateful to the Lord for missionary Dr. Scott Nelsen who has been our guide in this process. Please pray for all tests and chest x-ray to be clear so that she may have surgery in the next week.

Our World Race Team has returned from Puerto and are debriefing before moving on to India for the next month. Pray that what they have seen here develops a deeper understanding of the poor, a love for others, and an attitude of awe for God. Pray that we inspire in them a love for the Lord and a love for His people. We are very grateful for Pastor Al and his family who so willingly open their home and lives to these World Race teams.

Slowly but surely Threads of Hope is getting more organized due to the long hours put in by Jim and Julie Marsh. They are bringing us into the computer sharing age where much of our working information is now available to all involved. This will help tremendously in cutting down error due to lack of communication. Continue to pray for their support! We are hoping they will come back to the Philippines with us this October!

Chris has been busy with her shutter button, doing photos for the basketball teams at Faith, senior pictures, and family portraits for missionary families in Manila.

Relationships continue to build with the church we attend. We hope someday they will also be involved in providing a missionary support team as needs grow down in Aninuan Village.

Pray for safety as the permit is just about complete for our new school to be built. It could possibly begin next week. So far, only ground preparation has been accomplished.

Thank you to all of you who pray and support what God is doing through Threads of Hope in the Philippines and around the world!

January started with a gunshot. First order of business was to pick up 14 World Racers at the airport and transport them with their luggage to Puerto Galera. (It was a stressful trip for our ministry vehicle and one of the tires completely blew up on the way. Fortunately Alex was able to maintain control of the vehicle, and no one was injured.)

The World Race organization takes you for eleven months to eleven different countries to join with missionaries in their current work. Two of these small teams were assigned to us for the month of January. Since Pastor Al and his family were out of the country at their arrival, we played the host for the first couple of days, getting them some rest after their long journey from the heart of China and settled into their new home for the month.

Soon after their arrival, the back-hoe began its work preparing the area next to our ministry center for a brand new addition. One more small piece of land was purchased to give us room to add this onto the current facility. This new building will have 6-8 classrooms. Yes, it seems the next order of business for benefiting this community is to start a Christian School! Please pray with us for the Lord to bring in leadership and teachers as this project progresses.

The World Race Team members are also helping with the process.

January also marked the first surface shipment for Threads of Hope. Until now, we have been using DHL Air bi-monthly shipments to send our bracelets back to their distribution center (Alex’s parents’ house). But we are hoping to save some cost by doing monthly surface shipments, reducing the number of DHL shipments. It takes about one month for this shipment to make it’s way from door to door.

Pineapple crop update: Our first pineapple was stolen, so pray for integrity and protection for this investment Aninuan Christian Church and Threads of Hope have made. They expect the first major crop to be ready in April.

Our first pineapple that we were able to harvest!

We are moving forward with the next surgery for Baby Angel. An MRI has been done, plates have been printed and brought to her doctor. Now we wait for him to tell us his plan of action. We also had her slides looked at by a specialist in the states. His conclusion was as follows:

First, Angel has myelomeningocele aperta. This is the most severe category of spina bifida. She should have been closed up at birth when they did the other shunt on her head. (As you know, Angel did not have surgery at birth, she was over one year.) Now, it will be more difficult, but nothing they can’t handle in Manila. They may need to add another shunt. She will need continual checkups over the years because the shunts can stop working properly.
Reasons for the surgery to close up the spinal canal:
1. If she gets a cut there, spinal fluid can leak out causing Angel to contract meningitis.
2. In the past, when children didn’t have this operation, there was a significant chance of developing skin cancer due to all the cells being reproduced. These children usually died of skin cancer in their 20′s.
Angel is currently tethered. This means that her spinal cord is held back or connected. When the surgery is done to close up her opening, this will also de-tether her cord allowing her to grow without further damage.
It is highly unlikely she will ever walk according to our neurosurgeon.

Please pray for Angel to get the best care possible, and that God will do even more than we ask or imagine!

Angel being taken to get sedated for her MRI.

God welcomes the team to Puerto.

Fearless Team Leader

It had been a loooong day.

Today we picked up 14 World Racers from the airport, crammed them into the Kia and our car, and headed to Batangas.  Along the way, Alex (driving the Kia) got a flat tire!  We were ahead of him, so Sarah prayed for them to find a jack and we kept going toward the port.  I called Alex when we got there and they had changed the tire and were not far behind us…Thank you, Lord!  We quickly bought tickets for the last boat headed to Puerto Galera for the day.  Alex took the Kia and all the luggage on the ferry, while I took the team with me on a bangka.  Much later after Alex arrived with the luggage, one girl realized she was missing a bag.  We are praying it shows up tomorrow!  We aren’t sure how we lost it.

So the team will be living in the village for the next month, ministering to Pastor’s family as well as the rest of the village and families who attend the church.  We plan to start construction on a new building that will house classrooms…perhaps to be a Christian school in the not-too-distant future….Lord willing.

A long day…time for bed…it’s after midnight.  Looking forward to sunshine tomorrow.

The 4th of July Threads of Hope had a booth set up at three festivals.  Communityfest in Neenah, Wisconsin, is pictured above.  Praise God for sales coming in that day that will take care of two families for a year!  The story of what God is doing was shared and He was glorified!  We are grateful for what He is doing!

This image, along with other information regarding Threads of Hope, will be submitted into the Neenah 2012 Time Capsule.  Some day people will look back and see what God has done!

This past weekend we made our first road trip to visit volunteers who faithfully sell Threads  of Hope bracelets at festivals.   We brought a couple booths with us to make their lives a little easier.  Here are some of the people we met!