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Mission News Update October 2007

Dear Praying Friends and Faithful Partners,

"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord." 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17

As is the custom in the islands, whenever someone leaves, we get together for food and fellowship. Thus, we were at a Restaurant, to say farewell to Rahel Bugmann from Switzerland who faithfully served as volunteer here at PMA Guam. Mel Pelayo, a member of our Pacific Mission Fellowship core group, shared that Guam is such a hard place to live. Why? Because people come and go and it is so difficult to say good-bye especially when you have established relationships and friendships. I soberly reflected on this fact. In my 20 years of stay here on Guam - I have said good-bye to many, many friends. I am always the one left behind and if I dwell on that, it can be very discouraging. However, the Lord enabled me to recall the verses above. A great encouragement, because one day, He will come for me and those who belong to His family, and thus I will always be with Him - never to be left behind again... never ever having to say good-bye again. The Lord further reminded me - that this is why we encourage those that are in our Pacific Mission Fellowship (PMF) church family - to not forsake assembling together with all the saints: in mid-week prayer meetings, group Bible studies and Worship services. Because this encourages, lifts up and builds up one another. Pray for us in the islands as we sometimes grow weary with the transient nature of it - that God will strengthen our resolve to persevere in loving all people, building the body of Christ and discipling the faithful.

GUAM
Saturday is Kids Klub Day and we are thankful for the children who come. Last Saturday, in one of the groups (Achievers - Boys), Donovan asked Wiley where he lived. Wiley said, "Dededo" - a village north of Guam. Donovan who lives in Tamuning, center of Guam, exclaimed, "That is so far!" (PMA's PMF church is also located in Tamuning). Wiley's answer encouraged his teachers: Esther and Leeman: "It is worth it!" (to come to Kids Klub). We thank God for these children ~ for their desire to learn and grow in their relationship with the Jesus Christ. Most of them come to church without their parents. Please pray with us that their parents will have the desire to join them in Worship services and most especially, have a personal relationship with the Lord.

PHILIPPINES
We thank God that we finally received our SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) registration for PMA Philippines. This will replace the name Flying Medical Samaritans (FMS) which has been the name we used since our inception in the Philippines in 1982. The people in the islands still know us by our old name, as the "Samaritans" - but that is alright - it tells people who we are. One of our pilots shared with us a story about one of the island children who was asked in Tagalog (the local language), what "airplane" is in English - the boy answered with confidence: "FMS"! We are so very thankful to the Lord for 25 years of service in the outer-islands of the Philippines. He has provided for all our needs and has allowed us to touch so many lives for eternity! Thank you dear partners for being part of the ministry in these islands.

BAHAY KALINGA ORPHANAGE
Malcolm Cleope received an email from a "Happy Dad" who had adopted "Joshua" two years ago. He is growing fast, enjoys pre-school and Sunday school, loves to pray at mealtimes (and rarely does anyone else get to say grace anymore), says "please" and "thank you" sings "Jesus Loves Me" before going to bed, plays baseball, prefers running over walking. We are so very thankful that Joshua has found a home where the Lord Jesus is the center and where he has found love and acceptance.

PALAU
Thursday evening, the men gathered for Bible study and celebrated ending "Foundations of Faith" studies. They also invited the rest of the men who missed the lessons and encouraged them to participate in the next Bible study series. After each Bible study session, the men break into small groups to discuss the study more intensively. Praise God that a new group has been added composed of Palauan men so they can discuss the study in their own language. Please pray for the men as they seek to live a Christ-like life in their work places and community, and be spiritual leaders in their homes. Pray for the facilitators that they will be faithful in taking care of the small group entrusted to them. Pray for Pastor Bambit as he disciples these men that they may deeply know the Lord Jesus Christ and make Him known to others.

YAP
"Pray... very stormy weather, but Peter (Reichert) and Amos (Collins) are flying to Ulithi to medivac a young girl with severe bleeding," was Esther Reichert's email to me that afternoon. We thank God that they arrived safely back on Yap. Peter and Esther then visited the patient that evening and found out from the doctors that she lost so much blood from bleeding internally and was in critical condition. (Vince Davis even donated some blood). She had to be medivaced to Palau the following day. Two hours later she passed away. Sometimes one wonders, was these all for nothing? But wait, the family, from the Roman Catholic faith, called Pastor Bambit and asked if he could share during the funeral service. So, after the priest spoke, Pastor Bambit shared about eternal life in Jesus and how one can have real hope. Our prayer is that the family will find rest and assurance in our Lord Jesus Christ.

POHNPEI
"God is starting to answer our prayers for the youth," shared Pia Kaufmann. "Slowly, I can see some changes in their attitude. But of course, this still needs lots of prayers. And God is so good. We gave them an assignment for quiet time to be done everyday until the next meeting and ten brought their papers back! I was so very happy and thankful for this as my desire is for them to make a daily habit of quiet time with the Lord." Let us continue to pray for these youth that they will desire to grow and mature in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thank you dear partners for your personal involvement in God's work in the islands. You are a great encouragement to all of us. Your faithfulness is a blessing and a sweet aroma to our Lord Jesus Christ. May He bless you and may you know the reality of His great love and grace everyday of your lives!

In Him we live and move and have our being,

Melinda R. Espinosa
PMA HEADQUARTERS