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Newsletter – May 2014

Dear friends,

Last Sunday I spoke at a church on “Hope.” I Peter 3:15 tells us, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” Three things stand out to me, one, we must “sanctify” ourselves which means “to be set apart.” Do we deliberately follow after God in our hearts and our ways? Number two; is there sufficient difference in our lives that people will ask us about our faith? Or are we so much like the “world” that no one notices a difference? And three, because of our relationship with Him, we have a natural hope that the non-Christian doesn’t possess.

During the last days and weeks we have had three youth camps. One camp was on the island of Leyte, the one that was severely hit by last year’s typhoon. The camp went very well with many saved and 13 baptized in water. The second camp was on the island of Palawan. They also experienced many who were saved and 14 who entered into the waters of baptism. The third camp was on our island of Catanduanes. Lorrie and I had the opportunity to speak at this camp where 16 were baptized in water. Through your prayers and the hard work of many Filipino brethren, the camps were again this year a huge success!

This month, Lorrie and Amy were asked to be the speaker’s at a Ladies Fellowship in Cebu. Over 60 ladies attended the daylong meetings. The theme of the day was, “The Proverbs 31 Woman.” Lorrie said, “It was exciting to share with them about being the women God created them to be.“ She was able to encourage them to not be under condemnation, but to seek God so that they could live their destiny. Amy shared several different Biblical examples of women who were used by God in a variety of circumstances. She emphasized that we are all important to God and He is able to use us at each stage of our life.

While on the island of Cebu, they were blessed to participate in an outreach ministry to children in a rural village. Lorrie shared the story of creation and then they participated in the late distribution of Christmas “shoe boxes”. Amy said, “It was incredible to see the joy such simple gifts brought to the children who have so little.”

As an additional bonus, Lorrie went to the plaza one afternoon. While there she was able to share the gospel with two teenage girls and give them tracts in the Filipino language. The next day she met them and asked if they had accepted Jesus as their savior? They both said they did and they desired to learn more. Lorrie introduced them to a Christian lady from our church in Cebu. She immediately conducted an introductory Bible study with them. Praise God these young girls have found hope for the future! Romans 15:13 “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Nels, Lorrie, and Amy

Newsletter – April 2014

April 2014

Dear Friends,

Paul says in Romans we are to be “living sacrifices, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” He goes on to say, “do not conform to this world, but be transformed….” One definition of conform means to take on another’s pattern in mind and character, whereas, transform means to change into another’s form. The Lord is exhorting us through Paul to not be like the world, but rather be changed by the infilling of His Holy Spirit.

In II Corinthians, we are told we are new creations through Jesus Christ, the old has passed away and He has given us the ministry of reconciliation. In other words, we all have been given the ministry of sharing our faith with others.

With this in mind, Lorrie and our daughter Amy, were asked to share at a weekend graduation retreat for the Criminology class of a local college. The retreat was held at a beach. Amy encouraged the young people to remember it is the duty of the strong to protect the weak. Lorrie exhorted the students that they can be life changers in the Philippines. God has a purpose for each of them and they need to surrender their lives to Jesus. Lorrie was able then to individually talk with many of the young people. She found many of them lacked direction and purpose and needed healing from their childhood hurts. She challenged them to receive Jesus into their lives, the one who could touch them and change their hearts and lives forever.

For the last months Lorrie has been teaching the Book of Genesis at the Bible school in Virac. Amy has been teaching English as well as some art. I have been teaching the Book of Acts. It has been a pleasure to share with these young people that have dedicated their lives to the Lord.

This month we enjoyed having an old friend, Bob Nath, visit us. He was a blessing to the Filipino people and us as he shared and prayed for many.

Because of your generosity, we are able to continue to help the people of Leyte that were hit by the devastating typhoon last year. We bought a long-bar chainsaw enabling them to make lumber from the fallen coconut trees. The lumber is being used to build new simple homes for those that were completely destroyed. We were able to give extra money and materials to some widows. We also are helping on a new water system for the village and a new well. Our latest project is to build a classroom for their school. Two of the three school buildings were completely destroyed.

Please be in prayer for our May camp in Virac. Lorrie and I will be part of the speakers this year.

You can now go to our website, www.reapint.org and give donations using PayPal.
In His service,

Nels, Lorrie, and Amy

Newsletter – March 2014

Dear Friends,

A few days ago, we went to the special needs school here in Virac, Catanduanes. The Bible School students and I (Lorrie) did puppets, a short drama, children’s action songs, clowning, balloons and face painting. We then did a demonstration on how to brush your teeth correctly and then gave them each a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste. Our daughter Amy was the chief photographer.

It was so special to touch those kids lives! After the presentation, the principal invited us to come back in November to perform for the whole school. We are excited about the potential to reach many kids and families for the gospel! Thank you Lord for the children!

Our next presentation will be to a local public school in our neighborhood. We are expecting over 250 children, as well as teachers, principal, and staff. We have bought toothbrushes and tooth paste to give out for each one of them. We know God will touch hearts and lives! After this, we have been invited to minister at a local children’s feeding program. We will look forward to clowning around with the kids, bringing them Jesus!

Last weekend, I was invited to go on a hotel, restaurant tour with our friend, who is a professor at Catanduanes Polytechnic College. There were 65 students on two tour buses, 2 professors, and yours truly, local missionary. After the three and one half hour ferry ride we boarded the buses and headed for Manila, an all night excursion! (We also had four tour guides and four bus drivers accompanying us.)

My friend asked me to share freely with the students. As it turned out, I had many opportunities to minister to the students, tour guides, and even the bus drivers. One guide especially, named Maki, was affected by the story I shared of the prodigal son. I later heard that he is the son of a pastor with 3 of his brothers in the ministry! He said he was the black sheep of the family. He had been a stand up comedian in the past. He was very cynical at first, but we saw him change right before our eyes as he heard of the Father’s compassion and forgiveness to his son, the lost one, who came home. Please pray for this lost sheep to fully find his way back home to Daddy God.

We are continually reminded of how privileged we are to serve in the Philippines, to be sent ones, representing our King. Representing you, our family, friends and churches. You share with us in all the souls that come to Jesus. We thank God for that and for you!

Love to you all, In Jesus name!

Lorrie and Nels

We would appreciate your prayers as we have had several medical and dental issues among our students this year. Please pray for both healing and finances for these needs.

Newsletter – January 2014

Dear Friends,

Paul states in Romans 15:13, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace believing, that you may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.”

This past Sunday I spoke in New Hope Church in Manila on Hopelessness and Hope. When we read the papers and look all around us it is easy to become discouraged and hopeless, but God is a God of hope! To those of us who have received His salvation, we can abound in hope both now and for eternity. One of my favorite Bible verses is John 10:10. “The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come that they might have life and that more abundantly.” Despite all the things we see, I believe for a God-filled 2014!

Last year ended with one of the worst typhoons in recorded history hitting the Philippines. The large city of Tacloban in Leyte was hit especially hard. Along the coast three or four ships were washed onto the shore clearing the homes in their paths. Though the initial reports of 10,000 people killed were later discredited, now people in the area say that they believe there may actually be over double that amount. We may never know for certain.

This month, Lorrie and I traveled to the island of Leyte and continued our relief aid to the village of Bugabuga and a neighboring village of Campurog. We are focusing on these villages because we already have a church there and they were not receiving the aid or attention of the more metropolitan areas. Bugabuga is a village of about 150 families and Campurog is a village of 160 families. They are both located in a remote mountainous area. Though there was no loss of life, most of the homes suffered either severe damage or were completely destroyed. Through your gifts, we have been able to supply some food relief, building materials, and a water well. We just purchased a chain saw and are planning to hire some of the villagers to cut the fallen coconut trees into lumber for houses for the most needy people. It is our plan to provide some cash income for the workers at the same time as we are supplying materials for their homes.

Our daughter, Amy, has joined us this month in the Philippines. We are looking forward to her help in teaching at the Bible School for the next few months. It is always rewarding knowing we have the opportunity to influence these young people in their walk with God.

Please pray especially for Geraldine, one of our former graduates, she has been diagnosed with leukemia. Pray also for our son Jeremy as he leads a missions team in Africa.

Thank you for your continued prayers, faithful support, and friendship.

Nels and Lorrie

Yolanda Report

Click image below for full size:

Village

I just returned from Leyte after a week of traveling, inspecting, and giving out relief items to people who experienced the devastation of typhoon Yolanda last month. The death toll continues to rise as more bodies are found and may even reach the 10,000 that some initially reported. The typhoon crossed over the island of Leyte leaving a path of destruction more than two hundred miles wide. As a Cebu pastor and I drove towards the village of Bugabuga and later to the larger city or Ormoc we saw multitudes of houses and commercial buildings partially or totally destroyed. In the more rural areas there were acres and acres of ruined coconut, banana, and abaca trees. As we passed along the roads, people came out and asked for help. There were several signs posted near the highway saying, “Help” or “Help us, we need food!”

There are 128 households in the village of Bugabuga. The village is situated in a fairly remote part of the island in the midst of high hills (for us Alaskans) or mountains as the people call them. The two-mile road from the main highway to the village is little more than a one lane rocky trail.

The typhoon’s amazingly strong winds swept down into their valley and completely destroyed about 60% of the homes and damaged most of the rest. The church building was completely leveled leaving only the starter concrete blocks on two walls and the concrete floor. As in other places, the coconut trees and other crops were destroyed.

This time while we were in Bugabuga, we gave out packages of food to every household as well as gave extra money to all of the widows. We talked with the Barangay captain (basically a village chief) and asked him what we could do to best help the people. Of course, the first basic need is food to supplement what they can gather from existing crops and from the help of others. The longer-term need is a better water supply. After much discussion, we decided to install a reservoir on a hill and pipe the water to another reservoir at the village. This will provide a better source of water more accessible to all of the people and will give them some long-term help.

For the immediate time, we will continue to send people and supplies to the village as God provides. Two more of our students will leave this week during their Christmas break to assist in construction. Lorrie and I are scheduled to return the 1st or 2nd of January to help with another larger food distribution coupled with children’s ministry.

The needs are overwhelming in so many villages and cities in this area. I talked with the Manpower coordinator for the city of Ormoc and later with a UN representative from Burma. They both said the greatest need they are seeing now is still food, then building supplies, and finally aid in developing means of longer-term support until their crops can be restored. They encouraged me in our decision to work with one village and help them as much as we could.

It is important to work with the nationals, but also to make sure what is supplied is needed and given to the people it is intended for. I was told that one 1st World country, not America, sent large care packages with toilet paper and large sized shampoo and other things. Most of the rural people do not use toilet paper and large sized items are hard for them to store. Unfortunately, because of corruption in developing nations, supplies often are not given to the most needy or held to help get political votes. As one Christian business owner told me, “that’s a given.” We feel by keeping primarily with one village we can better manage the things that are entrusted to us.

You have been generous and the village of Bugabuga is greatful!

Thank you for modeling God’s heart of giving during this Christmas season.

Nels and Lorrie