David n Sarah

the summer in pictures

David and I have been slacking in our updates and there are many reasons for it! Here's the past couple of months in pictures:

 

Goodbye John, Welcome Shane + Tiffany!

Earlier this month, John, our housemate of one year, moved out. He and Julia Styles are getting married next month with David as his best man and me as Julia’s personal wedding assistant. Best wishes to John and Julia. Our prayers are with you as you build on your future together!

Just this weekend, we welcomed newlyweds, Shane and Tiffany! Shane, our housemate of two years, just got married last weekend. He and Tiffany are going to live on the second floor of our house. We are very happy and excited to have them.

Shane and David were classmates in School of the Bible back in 2001. David had the honor to stand up at Shane’s wedding as a groom’s man. Tiffany is for Oregon. She did her DTS in the Philippines and continued on to Madison to attend School of the Bible in 2005. Shane and Tiffany are wonderful and we are so excited for what the Lord will have for us as a house this year with our little community.

 

thoughts on post-its

I became a serial scribbler the year I was in Bible school. Apart from using up 9 journals in a 9-month period, I wrote on anything I could get my hands on. In class, I had my notebook for notes, my journal for some thoughts and scrap paper for those special burning thoughts.

These thoughts are quite special and have earned the spot as one of my favorite habits. It is an indication of a profound change happening in me. I scramble to write these thoughts down because I feel that if I wait another second my heart would explode. I scramble to find anything I can use to unload words on coffee shop napkins, old receipts, back of used checks.

Over the past three years, I have accumulated (with continuing results) many of these little notes. Some thoughts I've forgotten about, but most are like little bricks building onto a vision and the dreams that had begun a long time ago, stirring and forming by the use of these little notes.

Lately, I've been scribbling about the atrocious trafficking of children--- enraged by people who do not want to do anything and judge people who do intervene because doing anything about it would make one be an arrogant neocolonialist. Scribbling about the meaning of "restorative justice" (Desmund Tutu).

Do you scribble? What about?

 

At Last, A New Post!!!

Hello everyone! It must have been our longest hiatus from blogging! I still can't believe how long its been since I last posted anything! Life has accelerated into full speed. Do you ever feel like your life is going so fast and you are two steps behind, running to catch up to it? Yep, that's how its been for us.

So here's what's been going on with us...

-What School is for anyway---

David is has finished the Spring semester of school and is enjoying his few days of vacation from University. He comes home everyday with a provoking worldview issue that he encountered or had heard in school that stirs our thoughts and continually keeps us going back
to asking God for answers. Since school let up, he's been doing upkeep to our home and relaxing.

- Community-
Our little community is changing-- John, who lives upstairs, is graduating this May and is getting married to Julia in September. Shane, who also lives upstairs, is also getting married. He is getting married to Tiffany, a YWAMer, in August. They will take over the whole upstairs part of our house and live with us! Scott, who lives in the basement, has just been signed to a record label! Congratulations to all our housemates!!

-Visit from friends-
We love having people stay with us! This past few months, we've had a number of people come and stay with us. It's been so great to share our community and our house with our friends and sometimes, strangers. Our most recent guest was Ashleigh, my roommate during School of the Bible. She is from Zimbabwe, now teaching in YWAM Texas' school.


More updates to come later! Here are some pictures to enjoy!


me, bekah and ashleigh


ashleigh and i at pedro's for some yummy mexican food

love you guys! sarah + david

 

Love and Tolerance Quote

"The tolerance of love is not unimpeded acceptance but careful restraint governed by conscience and wisdom to bring about the greatest good. Complete restraint is tyranny and total acceptance is anarchy."

 

Trip Video Update

Support - Expenses
We are so thankful for those who have supported Sarah and I in our pursuit to spread God's Kingdom in Asia. The longer I am here the more I see God's dream to transform peoples lives and what we are supposed to do about it. Thank you for supporting us financially: Kay, Mom, Heidi and Troy, BaBa and Rudy, and Lola.
----- We still owe $1,000 but it's coming down piece by piece. ---------------

Support - Prayer
Many of you have committed to support Sarah and I in prayer. This is integral in order for us to accomplish all that God has for us here. Already, I have felt those prayers make a difference in the airport and while traveling through dangerous areas at night. Please let us know any revelation you receive on our behalf no matter how small it seems. If you decide to support us in prayer please write us and let us know.

 

Meetings and Reunions

The Fight for Flight
I missed my connecting flight from Detroit to Manila! So, I had to stay a night in Detroit and wait to fly stand-by. All the flights were full the next day from Detroit so my chances were slim for leaving the next day. After some intense prayer I got it in my head to check with the airline myself. I did check with the airline and I got a flight for the next day. The next day didn't prove to be any picnic. I'll put it this way - if I didn't listen to that still small voice telling me to catch the shuttle to the airport immediately and abandon my free meal at the hotel, I would have missed that flight too. I arrived an hour early, forgoing my free meal, when I realized I might need to make sure my luggage would follow me. The gate attendant told me "I've never worked in baggage you should probably go back through security down to luggage claim and ask." So I did. Luggage claim told me "We know where everyone is. Don't worry you luggage will be in Manila when you land." Turns out I didn't even need to leave the gate. I went back through security again. This time they stopped me and told me that my boarding pass had expired and I needed to go back to the check-in counter and get new boarding passes. Boarding for my flighhad just begun. You can imagine my panic. But to make a long painful airport story short, I got new passes rushed through security for the third time and made it just as the flight finished boarding. Now I'm here in the Philippines and this time with Sarah! Glad I didn't listen to the rumblings of my stomach instead of that still small voice.

Up to Now - Meeting with Sarah's Family

Up to Now - Meeting with Past DTS Staff and Students
Discipleship is one of the keys in the pushing the Kingdom of God forward. Since returning to the Philippines I have been meeting with past DTS staff and students following up with them. I have established some great relationships here in the Philippines. To some of them I am a teacher and friend, and to others a student. There are incredible men and women of God serving in YWAM and in local churches here. It has blessed me so much to see how previous DTS students have chosen to remain on fire for God. Many of them have chosen to be missionaries with YWAM while others have felt God's call in other spheres of society like education, the church, and family. You may remember Lehnnon, the DTS staff I took with me to Baguio to help me teach in the DTS there. He is contemplating finishing his degree in University or going to Madison to attend a School of the Bible. I am excited for him no matter what he decides because I know he will make his decision with God.

Coming Up
On Friday, we will meet with staff and students from both the past DTS's 2005 and 2996 here in Antipolo to follow up them and have a time of fellowship. This Sunday I will be speaking in a church in Caloocan. I am excited to meet with this congregation because it was started my Sarah's Aunt. Our invitation to speak at the University here fell through due to complications but there is plenty for us to do. Next week Sarah and I travel to Palawan for some much needed rest but while we are there we plan to meet with the YWAM base leader to discuss working together in the future. More on the outcome of these things in the next update.

Support - Expenses
We are so thankful for those who have supported Sarah and I in our pursuit to spread God's Kingdom in Asia. The longer I am here the more I see God's dream to transform peoples lives and what we are supposed to do about it. Thank you for supporting us financially: Kay, Mom, Heidi and Troy, BaBa and Rudy, and Lola.
----- We still owe $1,000 but it's coming down piece by piece. ---------------

Support - Prayer
Many of you have committed to support Sarah and I in prayer. This is integral in order for us to accomplish all that God has for us here. Already, I have felt those prayers make a difference in the airport and while traveling through dangerous areas at night. Please let us know any revelation you receive on our behalf no matter how small it seems. If you decide to support us in prayer please write us and let us know.

Hope For the Future
It will take many short trips like these before Sarah and I make the long trip that keeps us in Asia for years at a time. Equipping those to travel where we cannot is our mission. We cannot hope to go out alone without yours and God's help. Only strategically and together can the Kingdom move forward. We are excited to discover what God has for us here and the part we play in the moving forward of His Kingdom.

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