Dear Friends,
Lorrie and I arrived in the Philippines last month and are now in Virac at the school. It is always great to be back and engage with the students and staff.
We are blessed to have Noel and Heather (our daughter) Cammack and children with us. This is Noel’s first time to the Philippines. Noel is teaching at the school and preaching on Sundays and Heather is volunteering as a nurse at the local government hospital. Lorrie, Amy, and sometimes me are babysitting our grandchildren as well as doing the normal things of life in Virac at the school.
Below is a letter from our daughter Amy:
“I am constantly amazed by what God has been doing through me. Whenever I began thinking of what has been accomplished this past year I can only shake my head in astonishment. Truly, He has chosen the foolish to confound the wise! Through our weakness, His strength is demonstrated and shows strong. I would have never expected to be ministering in the Philippines when I was younger – but God knew all along! As we reflect on the past year and make our resolutions for this year, remember that man plans, but the Lord directs our steps! I am a planner by nature; I like to have everything down on a list, ready to be crossed off as the day goes by. Sometimes I have way too many items on my list for the day (OK, most of the time!), but I am trying to let God direct where He wants me to go, rather than having everything needing to go according to my plan. When I allow Him to work through me, the results are always so much better than whatever I had in mind! When I look back on my life and all the circuitous ways that I have taken to get to where I am now, it is a path that I would have never expected to take, but God knew where I needed to go and directed me here. I have been teaching a lot, as well as speaking at the Sunday services most of the time. It is such a joy to interact with the students, as they are eager to learn and open to hearing from and about Jesus. Though it has been a very stretching experience, it has been very, very good.
It’s so easy to start stressing out and get distracted, thinking that we have to make sure that everything goes the way it should in our life, and so miss what God is doing all around us. If we can just relax in His presence and let Him take care of it, life gets so much easier! If we can come before Him with the willingness to see what He has planned for us and accept it like a child receives what is given from their parents. Last December I went to Manila and was blessed to be a part of Children’s outreaches for Christmas. Jesus said that we must be like little children to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. We need to learn to interact with our Heavenly Father as children react with such incredible joy at the very simplest of things. When we realize He has the best in store for us, life is filled with wonder and anticipation.”
We are thankful for your friendship and support!
Nels, Lorrie, and Amy