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On July 31, Rebekah and Stephen loaded up our vehicle and made the three-hour journey into our village.  For the next 6 days, Rebekah, Stephen, and eight men in our village attacked our home.  Our desire was to prepare our home for our family’s return and to especially clean it for Luke’s health.  We wanted […]

A few weeks ago, I, Stephen, was sitting next to Jonathan on our “short” 15 ½ hour leg of our flight from L.A.  I was talking to Jonathan and trying to prepare him for our return to the Philippines, trying to explain that we were returning so that we can tell the Agutaynens about Jesus.  […]

Name: Isuzu Crosswind Year: 2004 Weight: A ton or two Color: White Hopefully by now you realize that we are not talking about the birth of a new child, but of the purchase of a vehicle.  We thank God for His wonderful provision and trust that this vehicle will be used for His glory for […]

We arrived back to Manila to find a booming economy.  Buildings have been erected during our year’s absence, and there are construction cranes throughout the city, in the process of building yet more.  Such a contrast to the economic times in the U.S. during our year there! As many of you know, one of our […]

With grateful hearts and rested eyes, we thank God for our safe arrival to the Philippines.  As many of you know and as many of you have been praying, our journey began on Wednesday.  Ginger’s folks and uncle dropped us off at the airport in Grand Rapids.  One thing we asked you to pray for […]

This evening, our family went outside and had a “campout”, Jordan style.  What does that mean?  Well, we took some candles outside, lit them, and roasted marshmallows for s’mores.  Jonathan decided that he likes “campouts”.  While we sat outside making s’mores, all of us thanked God for something we were able to do this last […]

As parents, there are certain milestones we enjoy seeing in the lives of our kids: first step, first word, first day of school, first job, and so on.  However, none of these compare to the spiritual milestones: salvation, baptism, spiritual growth, and serving the Lord.  This last week we have seen both Rebekah and Abigail […]

With only 16 more days left in the States, our family is making final preparations for our departure.  One room at a time, we are going through the mission home that we have been staying in.  With every item, we ask ourselves many questions.  For example, “Are we taking this to the Philippines?”, “If we […]

As we return to the Philippines, we are reminded of Luke’s health condition when we left.  Many of you knew and prayed for Luke as he struggled with asthma in the Philippines.  Upon returning to the States last summer, we were able to wean him off his medication.  We praise the Lord that this past […]

Like millions of other Americans, this weekend we went to a veteran’s cemetery.  This was more for Dad, Stephen, than for anyone else.  But hopefully our kids were able to get a glimpse of the meaning of Memorial Day and the sacrifice that so many made for our freedom.  Here in Grand Rapids, more than […]