Very Fellowship

I mentioned in the last post that we had an inter-seminary fellowship coming up. This momentous event has now been completed, and I can confirm that it is in fact "very fellowship." The other schools that are a part of the fellowship are Philippine Bible Seminary located in Vigan, Ilocos Sur and Philippine College of Ministry located in Baguio City. The founders of these schools and Aparri Bible Seminary had connections with one another when they first arrived in the Philippines back in the 1950's. This was the fifth fellowship which was started with the intention of strengthening the bonds between the schools and their respective students. I enjoyed it because I got to see some people I already knew (mostly from Vigan) and also to meet many new people. An added bonus was watching all the students fellowship; a long time ago one of the students promised me that they would always make me smile. That is a promise that they constantly deliver on. This time the main source of amusement was how many of the students developed crushes on students from the other schools and vice versa.

My part in the fellowship was eating (it is a shared responsibility) and officiating basketball games. Six of them to be exact. By Friday night I was tired of running up and down the basketball court. In related news, I've just about "basketballed" through the bottom of my shoes. The soles are getting thin, this is mostly because the court here is pretty rough concrete. My current personal goal for basketball is to improve my leaping ability. Silly me, I thought losing a bunch of weight would make me jump higher; but it seems to have made me jump faster and only a little bit higher. I'm lucky to have the chance to get out and play a little.

Graduation is March 14 if you can believe that; precisely 4 weeks from now. All the students are asking me if I'm coming back next year, I've been telling them "I hope so." I started talking with my travel agent yesterday about returning the Philippines in June. Please pray for that situation. I'm basically to this point: I know that I'm supposed to be in the Philippines right now, and I think that I'm supposed to be in the Philippines next school year, and I haven't seen or heard anything that would lead me to believe that the situation has changed. On the contrary, the need is greater here and I feel I can meet that need.

Because of that I want to come back and that means I need funds. I need a little less than $10,000 for this to happen; and if the Lord wants me here then he will provide. Please prayerfully consider being a part of this mission. I am willing to go and there is a need that I can meet, I only need the means to travel and live while in the Philippines. Corollary, I'm coming home for a few months in April and if you know of any jobs that are available and would be a good fit for me, please let me know.

While you're praying, please pray for my family. Especially the Taylors. They have had a rough couple of weeks; my uncle Rob lost his mother and grandmother within a week of each other. This is in addition to the deaths previously mentioned in my extended family. Word is the family has had their fill of death; here's hoping things will calm down so people can adjust to new realities.

"Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his love endures forever." Psalm 136:1

Nick