Salisbury Stories
Greetings all,
It has been a while since our last newsletter and a lot has happened over the past couple of months. We are thankful for all your continued prayers and support!
Family
We had a lovely Christmas with Jordan's parents in the (cool) mountains. It was a relaxing and refreshing time for our whole family. Soon after the new year, Jordan's parents left to return the US as Larry received the call to a pastorate in Allendale, Michigan. We are thankful that we were able to spend much time with them before they left.
The boys are both very active and love playing together. They spend a lot of time playing with construction vehicles in the dirt and running through the house crashing cars into each other. Tobiah is a capable communicator now and is often singing. Ezra is beginning to make himself understood with his small vocabulary (play, open, up, please, bubbles, that, etc.). His favorite activities involve playing with water.
We ended up finding a nice place to live in Bacolor, Pampanga. Our move was on February 15, but the two weeks on each side of that was full of packing and unpacking. It went fairly smoothly as the company we hired to help us move was very proficient. Our new place is a nice little two-story house in a safe subdivision with lots of outdoor spaces to play and places to walk.
We ended our Tagalog study when we moved, but Joci will continue lessons via video chat soon. We will have much more exposure to Tagalog here in the province as well.
Ezra saying goodbye to "Lolo" (Jordan's dad).
Ministry
Before the new year, we had another Action 3.0 youth retreat for churches in the Manila area. Thirty-five youth attended and were encouraged through fellowship and the teaching of God's word. Pray that God continues to work in the lives of the youth and their leaders.
Our team was busy every weekend of January with Action 1.0 training events involving many churches. Jordan taught several trainings about how to use and encourage youth to use the different components of our program. We currently have 22 Activate youth groups with plans to expand to 30 in the next month.
In the middle of January, our Missions 3:16 director, Mike Allen, and his wife, Lisa, visited in order to see our ministry and future camp. Our whole team was greatly encouraged by their visit. We were able to observe a particularly effective youth group held at Christ Springfield Ministries in Calumpit, Balucan with Mike. They have multiple trained leaders who are using the program to reach their youth. Their zeal for God's word was infectious. Praise the Lord for their faithfulness!
Here is a report from CSM regarding one of their faithful youth:
"Chabelita has grown so much in the Lord despite difficulties in her life. Hardships only brought her closer to Christ. God has used the Activate Youth Program in her life to strengthen her faith as well as teach her serve by helping lead the youth. She has such joy for the Lord. Praise the Lord!"
Jordan and Tom have begun helping BCCP in San Fernando (the church we now attend) with their Activate youth program. They have 40 mostly unchurched kids that attend their newly formed youth group. They are a wild bunch with a lot of passion, and we are excited to see how God works in their hearts.
Our next few months will be busy with visiting of youth groups and meeting with youth leaders. We also have plans to run several more trainings/promotional events. Ultimately, we desire that the youth of the Philippines be on fire for the Lord: seeking Him, serving His kingdom, and sharing the gospel.
One group of youth from CSM during their lesson.
This is a short satellite GIF zooming out from the property.
Camp property
We have continued to develop our camp property in Paniqui, Tarlac. After finally receiving our official land title and building plans, we are getting very close to starting construction on our first building. Two weeks ago, we received some very good news that the first two buildings (the bathhouse and dining hall) will cost significantly less than the roughly $300,000 that was initially estimated. It could be as low as $140,000. With the list of materials and labor costs, the engineer now estimates the bathhouse to cost around $40,000 and the dining hall to be around $100,000. This is due to some changes in the designs as well as the engineer having a better idea of what we actually wanted. What a great gift from the Lord!
Below, you can watch our updated drone video that shows the new bulldozed areas of the camp as well as the trees we planted in December and the new fence.
Here is a drone video of our property from mid-January.
In mid-January, Jordan helped choose the location of the camp's well. At 90 feet below ground level, the drillers struck a confined aquifer. This means it is a flowing artesian well, which is great news for our water source. We have plans to install the water system (Tank and electric pump) in the coming months.
We plan on starting construction of our communal bathroom facility once we receive our building permit and finalize our contractors, hopefully within the month.
As a reminder, Titus Far East (our organization's name here in the Philippines.) desires to build the first Christian camp in the Central plains of Luzon. The goal would be to provide the region's churches with an affordable, nearby Christian camp to use. Also, Titus Far East would run our own camps/ programs and have a missionary training school there.
Ultimately, we want the Gospel and good news of Jesus to be proclaimed to even more people. May it be so!
This is our hand pump well. It will be replaced by an electric pump when we get electricity.
Thank you all so much for your generous giving to the camp! About $40,000 has already been raised. God will surely use these funds for His kingdom.
Here are some additional financial needs for the camp:
-Basketball court: $15,000 to $20,000
-Dining hall: $110,000-140,000
-Water system: $3,000-$5,000
Consider giving to join God's work here in the Philippines. To God be the glory!
This is the engineer rendering of our bathhouse building.
Personal financial Update:
We have officially been in the Philippines for a year! We wanted to thank you all for your continued giving to our ministry as well as praying for us. Thank you for using your gift for the kingdom of God.
Our monthly support is at 65%. We do receive sufficient support currently because of our reserve fund. However, this is not sustainable, thus we pray for 100% of our monthly support. Please consider giving to God's work in the Philippines through TFE and Activate youth groups. Thank you so much!
To give by mail: Make out check to Missions 3:16 with our names on the memo line.
Missions 3:16
PO BOX 6765
Charleston, WV 25362
Prayer and Thanksgiving:
- Our ministry received the official land title.
- The building estimates are much less than originally thought.
- We had a wonderful time with Jordan's parents during the last month.
- We found a great house to rent, and our move went smoothly.
- Pray the next steps for building our communal bathroom go well (Building permit and contractors).
- Continue to pray for Joci's Tagalog learning.
- Pray for the BCCP youth group to grow.
- Pray as we continue to settle into our new home and town.
- Pray as we plan our next trip to the US. (Logistics, planes tickets are pricey post-covid, car to borrow, etc.)