This is dedicated to my friend and sister, Linda Ann Wilson Vollmerhausen July 26,1956 -February 19, 2010 Updates 2010 This update is a bit late as it has been such a month of trials. A Tale Of Two States NEW YORK I went to New York to bury my best friend and Sister. While attending the funeral we had to take my father to the hospital as he could not breathe due to complication of his chronic heart failure. Thank God they were able to take care of him and he is now at home and feeling much better. On top of that, my daughter was coming down from Buffalo with her two kids in the car and she skidded on the ice and wrecked the car. Once again I give thanks that no one was hurt. New York had its 4th largest snowstorm in its entire history and I was fortunate to be right there in the middle. (In case you missed it, that was sarcasm) I was able to see my Pop and brother as well as many cousins that I had not seen in years. Unfortunately as they say, we only get together at funerals and weddings. As a missionary, it’s not all funerals or any weddings that I get to attend. CALIFORNIA After finishing that week I flew out to California where I preached the Sunday night service at my sending church. It was great to see all the church family as well as the friends that came to see me. I was escorted to the home of my good friends the Smiths where they allowed me to get a lot of must needed sleep. The fellowship was good too! I was blessed by many gifts starting with a new laptop computer from my Church as well as financial gifts and many personal items that filled to boxes that I had to ship home. On the plane home, someone took sick and they set down in Alaska to get them help. I always wanted to visit Alaska but not that way. We got back in the air over an hour later but too late to meet up with the connecting flight to Manila. That however was a blessing as they put us up in a great hotel and fed us two great meals and I was able to sleep once more. When I had arrived in California I was overwhelmed by the beauty. There were flowers and trees and sidewalks that were not broken and clean. The sky was beautiful and the air fresh as well and the houses were magnificent. When I lived there I never appreciated the richness that everyone enjoys in the U.S. Even the poor are rich compared to the condition in the Payatas. It was such a shock to see the contrast that even I as a permanent resident of the Philippines never realized existed. I want to say that as a missionary whose only income is that of those who support this ministry, it can be frustrating when a family death occurs and you need the money to travel home. Fortunately, my sending Church Pastor Rudy Abrot and his wife Sr. Rina was here in Makati attending the world conference of Bethany Baptist Church. He immediately took care of everything I needed and so I did not have to worry about traveling back. He also blessed us by preaching at our Church on Sunday and visiting our clinic. He was an encouragement to us. HOME AGAIN Now that I am home I need to actively search for a new home as we have to now give up the house that we are now living in. We are thankful to have been able to live rent free for over three and a half years but now we will have to pay rent. It will cost us about $200 per month and although you may laugh and think that?s nothing, it is a small fortune to those without the means to pay for it. Additionally, we have absolutely no furnishings of our own so we will be in a bare apartment to start off. Please pray that we are able to get our need supplied. CLINIC IS PAID! Another thing that I am thankful for is that we received cash gifts that have allowed us to pay the large drug bill we had at the clinic. We are hopeful that now the clinic will be able to pay for itself. We may also add an ophthalmologist to our clinic in the next week or so. Vacation Bible School We have been notified that VBS training will be on March 13th. Seven teachers will attend. Our VBS should be held sometime in April. Each year we have about 100 children. If you would like to help with the cost of VBS please go here: http://www.payatasbaptistchurch.org/projects.asp and scroll down to VBS. Please note that we will be getting free VBS supplies and that will cut the cost by almost half. CAMP Camp will be this year on April 26-30. We would like to send at least the same amount of children as we did last year which was 75. If you would like to help send a child to camp click here to see the details: http://www.payatasbaptistchurch.org/projects.asp and scroll down to Camp. You can also go to: http://escobia225.multiply.com/photos where you can see all our photos of the clinic. A LARGER CHURCH One thing Pastor Abrot said to me was ?Brother, you need a bigger place.? Actually he was overstating the obvious. He also offered to help us with it. Please pray that we may get the building that we need. Our vision is still to build the compound. It is a $5,000,000.00 vision that we believe God can easily handle. Please keep us in your prayers and if you are so led you may help fund our mission by going to: http://www.payatasbaptistchurch.org/donate.asp Because of the lateness the quality of this email has been compromised but I assure you that the integrity remains. God Bless you all! Pastor Jack & Malou Wilson |