We arrived safely in Romania to meet the team.  Then, we traveled to some villages/towns where we have partnered with church plants.  We had the opportunity to be a part of a Saturday evening worship service in Rogova, Romania.  Then, on Sunday morning we had a great service in Severin, and a wonderful time of fellowship and lunch.  That evening, we travelled to Lupsa where we were part of a church service and amazing time of testimonies.  It was great getting to all squeeze into a small church and see how much energy was in the room.  What an amazing way to spend Father’s Day!

After I dropped the team off at the airport in Bangkok, I boarded a plane to Tokyo.  I had a wonderful trip to Japan and I was blessed to spend time with some great people.  I was able to meet a friend of mine from South Carolina who flew in to visit our project in Karuizawa, along with Bruce O’Neal.  While in Japan we were able to attend several church services in Tokyo and meet some incredible people.  We spent our time with Lavern Rodgers, who is the longest serving missionary with the BBFI.  He has been in Japan for 67 years!  It was great to just listen to him tell stories of the years of ministry in Japan.

While we were in the morning church service we were made aware that the great granddaughter of Saigō Takamori, the Last Samurai, was in attendance.  Obviously Hollywood took some cinematic liberties when they produced the movie, but it is based around him. You just never know who you are going to meet on a mission trip, or anywhere in life.  Or, what you will do.  In between hearing stories from Lavern, and visiting the youth camp that MANNA supports, I got to knock down a hornets nest from the top of the 3rd story of his house.  It was the size of a watermelon! Here are some pictures from our stay there.

During our trip to Thailand, we were able to work with several soccer clubs that are used as an outreach.  We helped with some English Clubs and multiple church locations and shared our testimonies. We attended a church service that was in Thai and Thai Sign Language.  I was able to play the bass guitar with the praise team as well.  Then, we took part in a Pakistani service.

We had an unbelievable time in Myanmar with the people.  We work in two villages with the Akha and Lahu tribes.  We operate a school and help feed the people. On this trip we provided clean water systems to the villagers, did lice treatments, foot washings, and fed both villages.  It was such a wonderful time of fellowship with the believers and a chance to serve them. We were also able to show the Jesus Film in Burmese.

I took a picture of a few of the pages from Reaghan’s passport (see below). I don’t know if either of them have fully processed all that they have seen and done in their short lives.  But, I can’t think of anything that could make a parent prouder than watching their children serve.  They are pretty tired from their travels, but they are troopers and we would not have been able to serve nearly as effectively without them.  They were able to do things we could not, and they engage the children in ways we could only dream.  They are already eagerly anticipating the next trip as a family.

We finished out our trip to Asia by spending time at one of our projects in southern Thailand with a great church from Ohio.  Part of the group worked with the kids each day to help with teaching and lead games and activities.  The other part of our group worked to build a concrete walkway between two of the buildings.  We were able to visit families one night in the village to do a Bible Study outreach.  It was a real blessing to meet these people in their homes.  The Community Development Center project we are partnered with helps teach 220 children during the day and takes care of 60 more with an afternoon program.  MANNA is partnered with them to provide breakfast, lunch and dinner at the center so that the children are able to eat.  If they did not have the opportunity to eat, they would not be able to go to school.  This school provides an education to children from Burmese families that are not able to go to the public schools in Thailand.  Without the school, these children would have no access to education.

On the last day with the children, we provided an ice cream party for them and we washed their feet and gave them new shoes.  It was such a blessing to be a part of.

We got to spend some great time with the Gotcher family in Metro Manila.  We we able to go to church with them, then visit several of the MANNA Feeding Centers in the area.  Lance and I were able to attend the first feeding of the new school year at a school in Manila.  He was allowed to share the Gospel and many of the kids accepted Christ!  We visited a feeding center that was several hours outside of Manila and Kim got to use her physical therapy skills to help a man that had a stroke to walk again.  Our time in the Philippines was a tremendous blessing to us and a great opportunity to serve as a family.

Happy 4th of July from the Philippines!  It is always interesting to celebrate our nation’s independence day while in another country.  As everyone in America is beginning their day of celebration, we are winding down, having spent a day celebrating the 4th of July.  We were able to celebrate with some great friends, and meet some new friends.  We love our nation, and we love each of you.  Thus far in the Philippines we have been able to be a part of a youth service, and Sunday morning services at two different church locations.  It has been a great opportunity and our girls are making some great new friends.