Rape, Murder and Mercy

A parent's WORST nightmare!!! We have heard the story right here, from those ministering in one of the poorest and roughest areas in the greater Manila area. A young girl who had been involved in the program at the Arenda church, apparently asked the wrong man to buy her an ice cream. He did buy her the ice cream but then exacted a cost that is beyond all comprehension.

He and 2 accomplices took this young girl, raped her, beat her to death, then stuffed her body in a trash bag and buried her, hoping she would never be found. If you have been here, to this community that is built entirely on what was the city dump, you can only imagine how easy it would be, amid the various rancid odors and deplorable conditions, to hide a small body and truly never expect it to ever be found again. She was only 8 years old.

It took 3 days, but they did find the abandoned body of this precious little girl. Quick actions were taken to find those who so badly brutalized and abused her. 2 of the 3 have been convicted. The search continues for the third man. Some sort of legal justice has been served. Yet there remains a gaping hole, not where her body was dug up, but where the parents lost their beautiful daughter...it is in their hearts.

There is another hole as well, in the hearts of the parents of the men who committed this horrid crime. What could possibly be done to repair such tragedy? Most of us would think that there is nothing that can be done. Their pain and shame will never go away.

Enter God.

In a most amazing turn of events, those from the church we built in Arenda ministered to the parents who lost their daughter. They also ministered to the parents of the man mainly responsible for her death. Somehow, in the midst of extreme tragedy, God's love shown through. Somehow, when their hearts could not drown out their sorrow, God's still, quiet Voice came through clearly. He loved them, He understood, He could heal their pain. He did.

Each family gave themselves over to the Love of One who understands what it is like to lose a Son. Each family gave their hearts to this Heavenly Father to administer healing that no other could even touch. No surgeon could reach deep enough into their hearts to repair this deep, deep damage. None other than the Great Physician. God worked a new miracle in the hearts and lives of each family.

To show just how amazing and how complete this healing, forgiveness, mercy and love goes - just visit the little Arenda church of the Nazarene. The sight that awaits is something of the nearly unbelievable comprehension that our own hearts hope for but struggle to really grasp. There in the aftermath of intense life-altering sorrow, 2 families connected on opposite ends of this very personal tragedy, join together in worship of their God and Savior Jesus Christ! It is a testament to the ongoing power of Jesus to change lives, to transform despair into hope and to show us all that no one and no situation is beyond His reach!

I praise God for this incredible story. I grieve for the very high price that was paid by all the families involved but I praise my God, who daily bears our burdens!

Humbled by His mercy,

Ray

Christmas Wish List

Question: What do you get for missionaries who can’t take much with them?!
Answer: Small things!! (like cash!!)

** Yes, the universal gift always works. Just so you know, when we do receive gifts like this, we like to put it straight into our missions account. It is our desire to always be building that up because that is where we draw from to pay for plane tickets for our missions work.

** Another idea is AIR MILES – from any airline. This is helping us with our trip to the Philippines and could help with future trips as well. So if you have miles that may expire before you can use them – or you just want to give some of your away, we can make good use of them!

** The other thing you may want to consider is to help provide some DVD’s as we will NOT have television available in Belize. So, we will rely on dvds for occasional entertainment for ourselves, but even more importantly, we want to collect certain dvd titles to use to minister to the villages. We do intend to have a traveling projector and dvd player to be able to show these in churches. (hint, hint)

I am listing some dvds from the recent VISION VIDEO catalog. You can see these and order them at www.visionvideo.com or by calling 1-800-523-0226. If you don’t have our mailing address - email or call us –we’ll give it to you, just didn’t want to publish everything on the web…

Here’s some ideas for our Christmas Wish List that will be helpful in Belize: I have included the Item numbers to make it easier.
The Visual Bible (we have Matthew but could use Acts - #0339D and John #100025D)
Amazing Grace # 49305D
Stretch and Pray # 98461D
Sandfloor Cathedral # 501175D
Celtic Hymns #501209D
To God be the Glory # 501210D
Affectionately Yours, Screwtape # 501167D
More Than Dreams, # 501117D
Mother Teresa, #24558D
End of the Spear, # 24570D
Francis of Assisi, # 24837D
The Mission, #3497D

Most of these are $20-$25 - OR – if you have any of these in DVD and would want to send them to us –we will be happy to receive your used copies!

Also, if you have other suggestions of videos you have seen that would be good for teaching – or, some just for fun, those would be happily accepted as well!

PREACHING IN THE PHILIPPINES

PREACHING IN THE PHILIPPINES

We are just about a week away from a trip to the Philippines. This will be a packed week of preaching and revisiting ministries we have worked with over the years. Ray has been asked to be the Anniversary speaker for the TayTay First Church of the Nazarene. This amazing church is a large, aggressive, creative ministry factory! They really make things happen there! This is both an honor and a special joy for us to partner with them once again.

Please pray for the different services and opportunities Ray will have to minister to various groups:
• Sunday morning: TayTay Church
• Sunday evening : TayTay Young People
• Monday : Missionaries and staff
• Tuesday: Seminary Chapel


SPIRIT LED BLESSING - A Personal Glimpse

In August, during an intense time of Bible reading and prayer, I sensed the Lord telling me to ASK, that I was being prompted to ASK for “anything”! This took a few moments to really soak in, the sensation and thought was so strong that I was completely caught up in the moment. I sensed the Father’s hand being extended to me along with the Spirit’s words, “You may ask…”

In that precious moment, I immediately thought of the missions oriented second Psalm which says “Ask of Me and I’ll give you the nations as an inheritance.” Through grateful and excited tears I asked God for the nations, for tens of thousands of salvations, ones that would last and bear fruit and fruit that would remain. (John 15:16)

I share this very personal God encounter to let you know that it is indeed a special honor to see this rhema word coming true in continually new ways. The trip to Singapore was an incredible fulfillment, presenting our Lord to students from 22 nations. The upcoming trip to the Philippines will be similar. Not only will I be able to minister the wonderful Filipinos we have come to love so much but will also speak to adult students from several Asian nations at the seminary. The potential impact on this region of the world cannot be measured.

Please join us in praying for an extraordinary move of God during these days in the Philippines. Your partnership in prayers, financial giving and friendship mean so much to us, allowing us to have such incredible opportunities.

Thank you so much! We love and appreciate you!

Ray & Becki

THE JOYS OF GRANDPARENTING !

THE JOYS OF GRANDPARENTING !


Okay, so this might not seem real spiritual or have a whole lot to do with our preparations to move to Belize…Buuuuut….it is a gift from God that we are so close that we can spend some serious time with our grandchildren before we leave for a few years. In addition to able to see them often, we were blessed to be able to spend some wonderful “grandparent” time recently, just going to a great park near the center of Columbus. In fact, it is the same park where Becki basically spent most of her youth, playing ball, ice skating, etc.

We had an unexpectedly nice day, the forecasted rain did not make a appearance and the sunshine did, so we took full advantage of the beautiful day and took 2 year old Christian for a 3 hour romp in the park. We walked and played in the colorful fall leaves. We fed and entire loaf of bread to the hungry, hungry ducks! What a blast that was!

Proud Papa took over 50 pictures on his cell phone chronicling our fantastic day. Here’s a couple sneak peeks. Sorry you can’t have as much fun as we did but hey…



Me and My Girl!

You Better Belize It!!

Just a quick update to say:
"Things are happening!"

We have had meetings recently which have been very encouraging as plans are being made for our move to Belize.

Please keep us and the plans and especially the people we will be working with, in your prayers.

Alfred Lord Tennyson said: "More things are wrought in prayer than this world dreams of."

Let's keep that alive!

Ray & Becki