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Mission News Update March 2008

Dear Praying Friends and Faithful Partners,

"I will make an everlasting covenant with them, promising not to stop doing good for them." Jeremiah 32:40

I met Katie Pace for the first time February 3. She came through Guam on her way to Pohnpei to serve with us from February to May of this year. The morning of February 6, I dropped her off at the Airport with a prayer that she would be a blessing and that her time there would be well spent. A few hours later, she called me from the Airport - she was not allowed to travel. Her passport was not updated. So I went to pick her up and saw how great a disappointment this was to her, as she cried as we drove back to the PMA Haus. Our devotions for that morning led us to the verse above. It reminded both of us - that no matter what happens in our lives, God does not stop doing good. That our steps as well as our stops are all according to His plans. And indeed, as the days went by, as we waited for her new passport - we saw why God detained her. She was a great help in our PMF church, involved in teaching Kids Klub, providing special numbers during worship services, was a great help around the house and was a good companion. She assisted me in printing our Sunday school and Kids Klub Curriculum from the Old to the New Testament, organizing and filing them. She also created crafts for the remaining month of February up to the month of April, all emphasizing lessons learned for the day. Days went by so quickly that when the time came for her to go - we had already formed a bond and it was hard letting her go. Now in Pohnpei, she continues to be of great help to our staff there. We thank God for Volunteers that come to serve with us. We are always in need of Youth workers, Children ministry helpers, as well as practical helps such as repairing and maintaining facilities and equipment, and many others. Pray that we may have many more volunteers that can help meet the needs in our islands of ministry. More important, we need full time missionaries to serve with us because "the work is plentiful, but the laborers are few."

GUAM
The month of February brought Amos Collins and Vince Davis to Guam from Yap for their annual Flight Physical examinations. We praise God that both of them passed their exams. While here, Amos checked out our generator and made sure that it was working (ready for use when we have a typhoon), and also did some work around the house. It was also good to hear fresh news from the Yap mission field from both of them and about their families, ministry and their work. Vince was able to share a testimony in our PMF Sunday service which was a blessing to everyone. It is always good to be with our fellow workers, fellowshipping and praying together. We thank God for these rare opportunities.

PHILIPPINES
"Praise the Lord as He continues to give us strength and patience in His work," shares Brother Jun Mandreza, PMF worker in the island of Jomalig. "The Lord continues to show us answers to our prayers. Many people are coming back to church as a result of prayer and fasting. We also thank Him for the protection of our family. Please pray as we make plans to have women’s prayer meetings, Bible studies and prayer and fasting in people’s homes. Pray for God to open up homes for these. Pray that we may continue to be diligent in serving the Lord - for strength and wisdom for all we need to do."

BAHAY KALINGA ORPHANAGE
We continue to pray for three of our special needs children. "Lenny" was recently sick but is now getting better. Jess is energetic and still behind in school, but with love surrounding him, he continues to press on. Angelo, now 4 years old with cerebral palsy, continues to reside in another care facility that can care for his special needs. The support we receive from our generous partners of Bahay Kalinga enables us to care for special children such as these. We are truly thankful for their generosity. Please pray that there will be those whose hearts will be big enough to adopt these children that they may have a permanent home soon.

PALAU
The "Celebrate Recovery Program" began mid February and we are thankful for those attending the program. Please pray for Jim Long who leads this program that his life may be a blessing to those he is teaching and training - that the teaching will translate in a practical way and that his life will manifest how our Lord Jesus Christ has been and continues to work in his life. Pray for Pastor Bambit and his core group of leaders as they too attend this weekly program that they can use it, first in their lives and in reaching out to others who need to recover from addiction of whatever form. Pray that our Lord Jesus Christ will be glorified as people receive freedom in Jesus!

YAP, FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA
We are so very thankful that Simon Hämmerling is now back from his furlough. On his way back to Yap, he came through Guam so we had a good time of fellowship with him. It was good to hear of his visit with family, friends and supporters in Germany and glad that he did have a productive time there. While on Guam, just for a day, he assisted us in Kids Klub, encouraging the young boys in being attentive to the story, memorizing scripture and working with them on their seat work and craft. Simon has served with us for more than three years as a volunteer, and now he has committed to serve full time for a term (three years) with us. We are thankful for his commitment and pray that God will honor that by using him in his work as aircraft mechanic and to bless others through various ministry outreach he is involved in.

POHNPEI, FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA
We are thankful to God for Roland Weibel who has served with us faithfully in Pohnpei. He started with a 10 week short term service, or so he thought, but God had other plans for him. He extended his stay in Pohnpei for over three years. He found mission work to be full of challenges and was tasked to do a variety of things from construction work, to videography, to serving with the Sea Haven, assisting our doctors, to working (of course, since he is an IT) with the computer - preparing programs and helping the Headquarters, Mission Offices and Good News Press. As the world advances in technology, the mission needed to grow in that area as well. God in a timely way, provided and used Roland's talent and training to help the mission press on technically to be more effective and efficient in its ministries. Just yesterday, March 4 - we said farewell to Roland, with a prayer in our hearts that he will be back. He is off to visit friends in the Philippines, Hawaii and the U.S., and also go on a bicycle tour in the U.S. But more importantly, it is his goal to seek God’s will for his life. Will you please pray with us that Roland will have a discerning heart, open to the Lord’s prompting and that he will know for sure what God wants him to do and where God wants him to be?

In His time, God is out to do us good. Time after time - God shows us that His timing is perfect - He is never delayed and we need to wait on Him. It is my prayer that as we wait for His answers to our prayers that we will diligently occupy, do His work joyfully and be a blessing to those we serve. Thank you for serving with us.

In Him we move and have our being,

Melinda R. Espinosa
PMA HEADQUARTERS