Oh, Canada!

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People who have blogs should update them regularly, don't you agree?!? The last two months have been very hectic, and my blogging has suffered. I will try to get back into the habit of updating you. Since I last blogged, I have been in six countries, visited countless friends, and packed and unpacked my suitcases numerous times.

Several of the friends I visited are doing ministry that requires careful security, so I have been hesitant to post pictures and articles that might be seen by the wrong people. So, if you want to hear about my travels, contact me directly and I will email or chat and tell you my stories.

I can summarize by saying this: I am greatly encouraged by many of our graduates who are doing very strategic work in bringing the Gospel to Asia. I often found myself bursting with pride (a good kind of pride!) as we talked with our friends who focus their efforts on specific unreached people groups with very few opportunities to hear about Jesus.

We had a few very good weeks at IGSL as the new school year started. It was hard to say goodbye to the new students, before we even got a chance to know them!

And now, we are in Canada! We are in Saskatchewan, where James comes from. Every place has its traditional post card, right? In India it's the Taj Mahal, in Laos it's a famous temple, in Nepal it's Mount Everest. Well, in Saskatchewan, it's a grain elevator. This photo is a very typical one. Saskatchewan is famous for wheat farms, and after the wheat is harvested, it is stored in grain elevators. Every town in Saskatchewan has an elevator similar to this one! I love seeing this scene as we drive around the province.

On the Road Again

Tomorrow evening I will be traveling again for another alumni visit. I am bringing with me all the ladies in my office. I have done this every year for the past five years, but this is the first time we will go outside the Philippines. We plan to visit Thailand, Laos, and Singapore. Please pray that God will use us to bless and encourage the IGSL graduates in each place. We will be gone for eight days. We are looking forward to this adventure!

Graduation Day

It's that time of year again, that happy/sad time when we send our students home. We had 65 graduates yesterday, from 13 countries. That means there are 65 amazing stories unfolding. We have had the privilege of being part of their stories for the past three years. Time won't permit us to tell you all of them, but I want to let you hear one.

Two and a half years ago, a first-year student from Vietnam named Thuan visited my office to share a prayer request. He was engaged to be married to Esther, a girl back home in Vietnam, hoping to marry her after graduation. He was enrolled in our three-year Master of Divinity program. But as he had spent his first six months in our program, he was convinced that Esther needed to be exposed to the same kind of training. He was wondering if he could have her apply for our two year M.A. program and get married during Christmas break, so they could graduate together. I didn't know anything about Esther, but Thuan was a good guy and I trusted him, so I told him it was "possible."

We brought it before the Admissions committee and in just a few weeks, Esther was on her way! They got married soon after. Getting to know Esther during the past two years has been my great joy. I will share her story below -- just one glimpse of the 65 who all have their tales to tell. A few weeks ago we had dinner with them, and Thuan said, "I will always appreciate you because you are a 'possible person.''' I said, "Huh?" He said, "When I told you my prayer, you believed it was possible!" This is their wedding photo from two years ago. The photos in the entry below are from our graduation banquet last week.
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