Internationalizing Member Care 

                                  At the United Nations 

Pastoral care for cross cultural workers has become quite a competent ministry in the 'western' church. However, with an increasing number of cross cultural workers originating in Asia and Africa, organizations like TEAM have a growing desire to 'internationalize' their member care staff. 

So, when our former boss in TEAM's member care department contacted us to see if we had any suggestions for an Asian member care couple, we immediately thought of our Malaysian friends from Chiang Mai, Vincent and Helen. 

Prior to Covid, Vincent and Helen were visiting Christian outreach training centers in Asia, doing teaching and pastoral care. As we have shared in earlier blog updates, Covid shut down their travel and led them into the anti-human trafficking ministry. This link  is to their ministry: (https://www.thewhisperingwillow.org/) 

We just learned that Vincent and Helen have been appointed by TEAM as Regional Member Care Coordinators for Australasia. Though their anti-trafficking ministry keeps them very busy, they have graciously offered to give a portion of their time to the care of TEAM's cross cultural workers. Please pray for them as they bring their cultural and ministerial expertise to TEAM. 

 

Prayer Requests: 

1. Pray for Alberta's "Equipping Women Int" course, currently underway online. Most of her participants are teachers so there has  been a need for scheduling changes. This course will finish in person in the Philippines. Pray for good online bandwidth and good connections when Alberta flies on April 30 for the in-person portion of the training.

2. Pray for Steve's new men's coffee group. We meet monthly at a local coffee shop - 5 guys from our church meeting for fellowship and prayer. 

3. Pray for my (Steve's) preparation of messages for Bethany's Joint Minister's Conference in San Jose, Mindoro, Philippines and the School of Ministry graduation (May 14-20). I will join Alberta in Manila on May 11. 

Serving Christ with You, Steve and Alberta 

 Surprise at 75!

It was the morning of my (Steve's) 75th birthday, and Heather peeked in my office and asked if I could open my zoom account on my computer? "Yes, but what for?" I answered, still in wake up mode. I opened my zoom account and there on the screen were friends from the past zooming onto my screen. 

When we started a church in the Philippines 30+ years ago there were a number of young people just graduating high school that joined our fledgling youth group. Before my eyes several appeared in adult form. Humphrey, now teaches high school science in Brazil at a Christian high school. He said "you came to the Philippines and brought the Gospel to us, now we are bringing the Gospel to families in Brazil". 

Melo (upper right) joined the US Navy and has been deployed around the world. She recently married and lives in Northern Virginia, about a 6 hr. drive from us in Tennessee. Others still live in Gappal and attend the Filipino church we started.

Many others popped in from around the world to remind these aging missionaries that the Gospel is the gift that keeps on giving and keeps on reaching out into our needy world. Our hearts are full with the testimonies of those whose lives we have impacted. Thank you for all the birthday wishes that flowed in from all points of the globe! 

Prayer Requests: 

1. Pray for Alberta and her co-facilitators as there were some snafus in communication for the first session of their current training. They were able to adjust to meet the needs and begin anew next week. 

2. Pray for me (Steve) as I facilitate a new men's meeting here in Johnson City. We had three guys at our first get together and we hope to have 5 on March 22. 

3. Pray for Beth, our missionary house guest as she canvasses NE Tennessee - to possibly settle here after 42 years of missionary service with TEAM. Housing, social security, health insurance, moving from missionary support to other sources of income - all daunting tasks for someone who has lived outside of the US for long stretches of time. 

Serving Christ with You, Steve and Alberta 

 BlessingJoy (BJ) Goes to Germany

                                   Pastor Elias and BJ

In a previous blog update we highlighted one of our former students, Elias, in the Bethany School of Church Planting (SOCP) in the Philippines. Pastor Elias, was an older student with a troubled background and limited education. He struggled with academics and tuition fees. He was a hard worker though, always looking to pick up work opportunities to cover his expenses. 

Today, Pastor Elias and his wife Josie oversee 4 churches. By God's grace their 2 children are following the Lord and have been able to  complete high school and the oldest, on to college. 

Their daughter, BJ, has been selected to represent the Philippines at the Mennonite "Global Youth Summit" (GYS) in Germany in May. Here's a link to BJ's challenge to her fellow youth, traveling to Germany from all over the world. If you can't hear the audio, click on the speaker icon at the top of the fb page: 

https://www.facebook.com/reel/924534656517479 

Praise God with us for how much God has done in Elias and Josie's family and ministry since their studies in the SOCP and pray for BJ, as she takes her next step in God's plans for the next generation of followers of Jesus.

Prayer Requests: 

1. Continue to pray for me (Steve) as preparations are made to start a new men's coffee gathering to share and pray together (Saturday Feb. 22). We hope our 4 current attendees will grow to 6. 

2. Pray for Alberta's Equipping Women training as they finalize plans for before they begin the online portion March 4. Also pray that the participants' schedules will allow them to fully engage in the training, both online and, later in person in May. 

3. Pray for Heather as she interviews for an employment opportunity in England. 

Serving Christ with You, Steve and Alberta 

Establishing "Equipping Women" in the Philippines

 As we gear up for our trip to the Philippines, Alberta will begin the online facilitation process of a new group of Filipina women  starting  March 4th. This 14 week training will conclude on May 9th onsite in the Philippines (Alberta leaves April 30). 

When she and other facilitators from the Philippines were being trained in Thailand, they, along with the regional leaders, envisioned a time when Filipinas would not have to travel outside the country to be trained. That vision is becoming a reality as more and more Filipinas have finished their training to become facilitators themselves. 2 Timothy 2:2 is becoming a reality as they train others in what they have learned. 

The training team envisions centers in Northern Luzon, Manila and in the south in the Legazpi area. In order for the graduates of the program to finish their practicum training they need to travel to an area where the training is ongoing (this year in Isabela). Once these gals have finished their practicum, they will lead trainings in their respective regions. 

To this end, we would like to raise $1000 to help these 3 facilitators in their travel and lodging expenses this year. Our hope is that in future, they will not need to travel outside of their own regions and so, won't need help for their expenses. Most of these women serve in their churches in a volunteer capacity so don't have regular salaries. Here's a link if you would like to send a gift to us - to pass on to the Equipping Women training: 

https://give.bethanyinternational.org/fundraiser/2787576

If you do send in a gift, email us to let us know your intentions and we will direct the gift accordingly. We will send a specific email to let you know when we have reached our goal.

Prayer Requests: 

1. Pray for Alberta and her co-facilitators as they prepare their lessons. Also pray for the two "Facilitators Pursuing Certification" (FPCs) as they join the team and learn the ropes. 

2. Pray for me (Steve) as I am organizing a men's group from our church - our first get together at a coffee shop will be Feb. 22. 

Serving Christ with You, Steve and Alberta 

 Connecting at the Bridge Over the River Kwai

One of the guys I (Steve) have a weekly check in with is our friend from Chiang Mai, Vincent. He and his wife, Helen, founded an anti-trafficking ministry during Covid that continues to grow by leaps and bounds. https://www.thewhisperingwillow.org/

Vincent and Helen drove home to Malaysia from Chiang Mai to spend time with their families. Thinking we wouldn't be able to have our Zoom call due to their travels, I asked if we needed to skip Jan 6. "Not necessary" Vincent said. "We'll be stopping at a hotel next to the famous bridge over the river Kwai. We'll have internet so lets have the call". 

I had to do a double take - realizing how amazingly far communications have come in the last 30 years! 'Back in the day' we used VOIP providers like Dialpad, Net2Phone, Vonage and later Skype to varying degrees of success. Sometimes we had more echo than real communications! Certainly, there are a lot of abuses of the internet in our day, but for missionaries - the advance in communications has meant we can maintain relationships and deal with crises wherever we are in the world with a great degree of confidence and consistency. 

We thank God for our connections to our friends, ministry partners in Asia and to You. 

Prayer Requests: 

1. Thank you for continuing to pray for our parent organization, Bethany International, as they complete the sale of their property in Bloomington, MN. Continue to pray for the completion of the sale and the issuance of a clearance from the state's environmental office. 

2. Pray for our partners in Bangladesh, Omar and Shana (not their real names). There work is expanding and they are meeting together this month with their leadership team to plan their ministry for the coming year. 

3. We have our flights booked for our next trip to the Philippines in May. Pray for us as we prepare for our ministry there. Leaders from Isabela in the northern Philippines will travel to San Jose Mindoro to fellowship with the leaders of Bethany Mindoro for their first joint conference in 6 years. 

Serving Christ with You, Steve and Alberta 

 The Spirit of Christmas 

As our family gathered for Christmas this year (Alberta coming from an emergency trip to Canada, Heather from Scotland via Atlanta with Krista) we recognized what a precious time Christmas is to be together. 

Alberta's brother, Peter, passed away peacefully December 19th. When asked if he was ready, Peter said "I can't wait to leave this body that is failing (me) and to be with Him". It was such a joy for us to hear this affirmation from Peter. Please pray for the Lubberts family and especially Peter's wife Sherry as they adjust to his passing. 

I (Steve) wrote a devotional for Bethany's missionaries that we would like to also share with all of you at this special time of the year. Here is a link:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1N8ZsUp_vYsI-kSm0nMzbaxB56zvm8Bfs/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=101847034265841338570&rtpof=true&sd=true

May you experience the leading and power of the Holy Spirit in your lives afresh in the coming new year.

Serving Christ with You, Steve and Alberta 

 Vacation with a Hiccup 

In late October we headed to Scotland to spend time with Heather. We took a train to the northwestern town of Oban and Heather's boyfriend, Spencer, met us there. From there we rode ferries and ended up on the tiny island of Iona. 

Iona is famous as the first outpost of Christianity in Scotland established by an Irish Abbot, St. Columba in the 7th century AD. After a wonderful 5 day visit with Heather and Spencer, we traveled on to Barcelona, Spain. Alberta and I have been talking about doing a 're-positioning' cruise where a ship is moved from a summer season location like the Mediterranean to a winter season location like the Caribbean. These cruises tend to be less expensive with fewer ports of call and more shipboard time, which suited us! 

The 'hiccup' came about 3 days out in the Atlantic from Portugal on our way to Tampa Florida. I (Steve) developed what doctors on the ship suspected was a bowel obstruction. I was confined to the sick bay of the ship for 3 days and hooked up with all the monitors and tubes they could muster. The doctors, in consultation with the ship's captain, considered diverting the ship to Bermuda to get me to a hospital but a storm mysteriously developed with forecasts of 20-30 ft. seas, squashing that idea. 

To make a long story short, I started improving and the idea of putting me ashore early somewhere faded. Alberta was able to send out some prayer requests with complimentary internet service and we are thankful that so many prayed for our situation. There is still some mystery as to what kind of blockage I experienced.  We've met with our primary care doctor and I'll be getting further testing in the coming days. It is Thanksgiving Day and we are surely reminded how thankful we can be for a Great God and praying friends and family. Here is wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving to you and your family. 

Prayer Requests:

1. Pray for Steve's follow-up medical evaluations that we can determine the cause of this medical emergency and anything that will help to avoid  a repetition.

2. Pray for our family as we gather in Johnson City to celebrate the Christmas holidays. We look forward to having both Heather and Krista with us.

3. Pray for our parent organization, Bethany International as they complete the sale of their headquarters property in Bloomington, MN and move to new offices. This will streamline their overhead and help them adapt to the new environment of full online training for Bethany Global University. We are grateful that the Bethany Missions continues to send and support missionaries to reach the unreached as envisioned 80 years ago.

Serving Christ with You, Steve and Alberta