God Reveals His Purpose---The Lives We Are To Touch

Hello,

We wanted to compartmentalize our latest updates so you can read them at your leisure.  Thanks for taking the time to read this post.  Hopefully it will inspire you to look locally and see who you can help today even in what you think might be in the slightest way.  We never know how what we do will affect the lives of those around us who need our help.

Although our role in the Philippines is primarily business, God has chosen people for us to minister to in a few ways that we have been praying about for years.  Jim is much more of an evangelist than I am, so I have prayed that the way we live our lives would make a difference to the people who observe it. We have the opportunity several times a week to be amongst the masses here. It feels like we are living in a fish bowl sometimes.  We know that people are watching us everywhere we go and everything we do.  We have heard comments through the huge grapevine, and directly from the observer, that people are motivated by what they see in our marriage.  We are even the topic of the occasional sermon although just about all we understand of the message is our names.  Afterwards, we ask Pastor Al why our names were mentioned to get the English translation.  His first response is always entertaining.  Then he tells us the truth about our inclusion in his sermon.

There are also a handful of key people we spend time with that God has allowed us to minister to by being the hands and feet of Jesus. I must admit, sometimes it is them ministering to us as well.  A couple of them are vendors on the beach named Abdul and Gabby.  Both come from Muslim backgrounds.  Abdul makes and sells his own version of Gospel bracelets (as you can see on his wrist-->) and tries to share the Message of Hope with his fellow beach vendors.  Gabby has not made a decision for Christ, but he has heard the message and has people praying for his salvation.  He is a very sweet soul.

 Both men have families to support.  Abdul has 5 children and Gabby has 1 daughter.  They show up every day on the beach, rain or shine.  This week was rainy and they stood outside on the beach for hours hoping to find someone to sell their jewelry to.  We have been able to help both of them financially when they needed the help. Sometimes they ask for help and sometime the Holy Spirit tells us to help them today.  For Abdul he has needed money for rice and a headlight for his motorcycle when there were no tourists to sell to.  For Gabby he was building a house and we gave him money for building materials.  He gave us free Tagalog lessons when we first got here.

Around 6 months ago, Pastor Al introduced us to a gal named Marilyn who's husband, Ed, was ill. He was having heart and lung issues.  He was a Pastor without a church.  His medical expenses were high and he didn't always get the treatments he needed because he didn't have the money. We have found that to be a very common occurrence here.  It happens every day.  Ed was doing OK for a while and then he developed a sore on his leg and it started turning black.  Again there was no money for medical expenses and they contacted family members to help.

The family didn't send money, instead they sent for Ed.  So, we made a bed up for him in the back of the church van, drove to Calapan, which is 48 kilometers of switch backs over several mountains.  We then boarded a ferry to get to the island of Luzon.  We took him, Marilyn and baby Timothy to Laguna, to his family, which is on the way to Manila.  Lola (Grandmother) Choling had the two older boys with her here. By that point Ed was yellow and delirious. He passed away 2 days later, on September 25, leaving Marilyn, 39, with no income and three young sons with no father.  The oldest, John Jacob, is 7. (not in this picture)  The middle son, John Napthali, is 5 and the youngest one, John Timothy is 2.  They all live together with Marilyn's mother Choling.  Ed had previously already incurred a large medical debt with Pastor Al that still remains.  Choling forfeited the title to her land to cover the debt to pay his medical bills.  A motorcycle was forfeited to cover the debt as well.  The family would like to pay off the debt and regain the title.  They have not been able to make a dent in the outstanding amount and it has been over two years already since those medical expenses were incurred.  This is the property Pastor Al holds the title for.

Since being introduced to Marilyn and Ed we have tried to come up with creative ways for her to help us so that we could pay her for her services.  She started by making Gospel bracelets, and for a short while she was giving us Tagalog lessons.  Now she cleans our apartment (very well I might add).  We also order bracelets from her to create some more income. Recently, we starting having her come clean the Threads of Hope store and storage room.  She is also wanting to restart a business that her family used to do making rice cake and banana chips.  We bought her a couple of essential tools to get the business going again as a Christmas gift.  This is a little stove they call a kalan used for steaming the rice cakes.  They are not like the rice cakes we are used to in the States.  They are like mini rice muffins I think.  We are waiting to try them.

Please pray for Marilyn and the boys.  She is trying to find a job.  She is even considering going overseas so she can make some decent money.  That is another common occurrence with the people of the Philippines.  The wages are not good so they are willing to break up their family if it means a chance to improve their financial situation for a while.  If the Holy Spirit moves you to make a donation to their family you can go to the Threads of Hope site and make a donation in Marilyn's name.  It would be awesome if we could help her pay off that debt to get the title to the land back!
See the link at the bottom to make a donation.

The needs are great here, as you can see.  They are not so great in the fact that they require a large sum of money.  They are great in the sense that there are MANY who have needs.  That is why Threads of Hope is such a vital part of this community.  Everyone wants a roof over their head and food to eat, a bed to sleep in and clothes to wear, of course.  This livelihood project helps provide for their basic needs.

We have found that we are doing a good job, but can do it better.  So we are gathering the data that we need in order to provide more fully for the families who have Threads of Hope as their only income. We are working on starting extra funds for medical expenses and also for school expenses for the high school and college student.  We will also be revamping the criteria we use for handing out orders starting with the widows and working down the list through single moms and those married with no other income, etc.  Those changes will go into effect gradually.

Time to sign off of this post.  Thanks for tuning in.
Blessings,
Julie and Jim

The link is www.threadsofhope.com.ph/payment.htm
 to go directly to the payment/donation page.  Please put "Marilyn-Land Debt" in the memo/purpose for donation area.