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Mission News Update March 2009

Dear Praying Friends and Faithful Partners,

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have the opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers" Galatians 6:9, 10

When a missionary pastor conscientiously prepares his sermon and only a few people attend the service on Sunday, when a Youth or Bible study leader arduously prepares for the lesson and no one seems to be paying attention, or when you pick up children for Kids Klub and their parents have not prepared them or allowed them to join that day - it can be pretty discouraging. Thank God that our strength and motivation comes from the Lord and He enables us to press on. I was reading a biography of a famous preacher and read that as a young lad of 13 he attended a church in England where everyone was snowed in, including the pastor and only about 15 came to church including an elder. The Elder, though unprepared, and never preached before but because of this one visitor, decided to preach on the text "Look unto Me, and be saved, all ye ends of the earth." He invited then this young man to "Look to Jesus". And this young man did and gave his life to the Lord. The name of the young man? Charles Haddon Spurgeon known as the "Prince of Preachers" and who impacted many lives for Christ. Yes, when we do not give up but continue the work God has tasked us to do - He does reward - that elder never realized what his faithfulness accomplished... And we can never know how the Lord will use our faithfulness to bless others. We just need to keep on being faithful.

GUAM
Several missionaries came through Guam in February: Vince Davis and son Andrew (for Vince FAA Flight physical); Amos and Heidi Collins (enroute to the Philippines for Amos to assist in the assembly of a donated aircraft that he disassembled in the States last year, and then back to Guam for his FAA flight physical); and Pia Kaufman from Pohnpei, enroute to meet her sister in Laos to celebrate her birthday. We thank God for the opportunity for all of us here on Guam (including our PMF church, and our Executive Board) to spend time in fellowship them. We are also thankful that both Vince and Amos passed their flight physicals.

PHILIPPINES
You may remember that a generous donor from the Washington State gave PMA a twin engine Piper aircraft, PA-30. This was disassembled by Amos Collins in September of last year, and shipped in a container to the Philippines, arriving in Manila on November 30. The next two months, our PMA Philippines, headed by Malcolm Cleope was faced with many challenges to have the airplane cleared and delivered. Our mission has a policy not to pay bribes and so this somehow extended the time the airplane was withheld. In the end, our waiting on the Lord paid off and the plane was released and delivered in February - in time for Amos to go to the Philippines to assist in its re-assembly. Amos had high praises for Fred Ranada, our Chief Mechanic in the Philippines (together with his on-the-job trainees) for a job well done. The day before Amos left for Guam, they were able to do a test flight of the aircraft. God is good!

BAHAY KALINGA ORPHANAGE
"Angelo" our cerebral palsy child continues to be in a Home for Special needs. He is now six years old and according to our Social Worker, Estelle, he is the most handsome among the children. He still needs a lot of therapy as he still is unable to walk. We continue to provide for his living expenses and medical needs and pray that we can find a permanent home for him.

PALAU
Pastor Bambit Balayo wrote to ask us to pray for the ministry in Palau - that God will use the PMF church to be His instrument of peace and love in the island of Arakabesang beginning with Meyuns. That the community in this island will come to know Jesus Christ and live a committed life for Him. Pray for those who come to play in our Gym during the week for opportunities to share the good news to them, and for hearts to be open.

YAP, MICRONESIA
The month of February, all the local evangelical churches including the PMF church celebrate the annual Church Thanksgiving. Pastor John Malimai shared that people brought their first harvest and other handicraft as thanksgiving offering to God. All of these offering were then distributed and shared with sick people in the hospital, to prisoners and to others who were in need. This is one event that brings the outer-island people closer to the people who live in the main island of Yap. John prays that in time "there will be no Greek, nor Jew nor Gentile". With the caste system so strong, only the love of Christ can break this barrier.

POHNPEI, MICRONESIA
We are thankful for the inroads Waldemar Rakowski is making among the youth. He is thankful for the growth of the boys in the discipleship program (Pia Kaufman leads the girls discipleship activity). Although there have been challenges in attendance, there are now more boys attending the Bible study and are getting interested in spiritual things. Pray for him that he will continue to be comfortable communicating in the English language (Waldemar is German). Pray for the boys that they will truly desire to have a personal relationship with the Lord.

We thank God for His promise that He will always be with us. We know that apart from Him we cannot do anything and would not be able to continue the work in the islands - praise God for His daily strength and the encouragement we receive from His Word. Thank you dear partners for your prayers and for standing with us as we persevere in sharing the Gospel of hope and love. We know our labor is not in vain. God bless you richly!

In Him we live and move and have our being,

Melinda R. Espinosa
CFO/Administrator
PMA Headquarters