Prayer Requests and Praise Reports

2009-03-01T15:54:00.000-08:00

First, thank you for dropping by this page to see how to pray for us, despite the fact that we aren't very good at updating this page. I just noticed the date on the last post - a year ago! Yikes! I suppose we haven't been posting all the updates that have gone out by email on here. We will try to do that from here on. Thank you again for your care for our family and our ministry.

1. Pray for Sean and the Filipino delegates with him who are currently attending the The TMAI Symposium and The Shepherd's Conference. Pray for God to bless the men - that they would be encouraged, challenged, and excited over all that they learn.

2. Pray for Pastor Eloi Caballon in Manila, who is substitute teaching for Sean and Pastor Mark for the New Testament Survey class and Old Testament Survey class. Please pray for God to work through Pastor Eloi and for the students, that all would gain much from this excellent teacher.

3. Pray for Jessica and the kids as they continue life in Manila. Little Tyler's asthma is starting to act up a little, and Isabella is having some major skin reactions to either mosquito bites or some kind of allergy. Jess will try to take her to a doctor this week to find out what's wrong.

4. Pray for two little boys, brothers Aian (2 years old) and Neal (6 months old), who were taken to the hospital the other night. They have both been vomitting and having diarhea for the past 4 days, and now it appears they may have amoeba. They have been admitted as they are dehydrated. We are trying to help them not only with the hospital bills, but mostly with showing the love of God as we care for them. This is Julie Ann's family, who we mentioned in one of the posts here.(Click here to read) The parents are Juan and Wilma, and although they prayed to receive Christ recently, they still have much to learn about Him and His goodness. Wilma is particularly fearful and in a constant state of worry. She seems quite overwhelmed by life's problems. If only she would see that this life is not all there is, that life in eternity is what really matters . . . and that in comparison, this life here really is but a vapor. Please pray that she can learn to really trust God and enjoy the peace that comes out of that, a peace that surpasses all understanding.

Prayer Requests while in the States

2008-02-25T02:46:00.000-08:00

Praise God for keeping everyone in our family happy and well adjusted
Praise God for new contacts he has been giving us. Sean has been able to have a few meetings for recruiting possible TMAI teaching partners
Praise God for helping us complete our 3 Minute Ministry DVD. Pray that He would use it to encourage others to be involved in His ministry in the Philippines
Praise God for the opportunity to share this DVD in front of the Bridge Bible Fellowship in Reseda, California.
Pray for our support raising - we are still down about $1600/month
Pray for the health of our children - Tyler and Isabella have just gotten over tonsil infections, and little Gracie needs to gain more weight. (she is such a picky eater!)
Pray for God to speak through Sean as he guest-speaks at Cornerstone Bible Community Church this Sunday (March 2)
Pray for his time at the Shepherd's conference March 3-9, that he would be able to absorb everything he learns, and not only apply it but be able to share it all back in Manila
Pray for our dear friend, Pastor Noel Alberto, who will fly in from the Philippines later this week to attend the conference with Sean. He will be in the US for 2months for training as well as to share about his ministry
Pray for our visit to Grace Bible Church of Arroyo Grande March 7 to 1o during their missions emphasis week. Pray that God would use us to bless those we interact with that week. Praise God also for this wonderful church and their faithful partnership with us.

2007-03-29T11:02:00.001-07:00

So many things have happened these past several months, that we are first going to report all our praises.

Praise God with us for the events and blessings he has orchestrated since our last post:

December

Praise God for a successful Christmas Party for our friends at the bridge. More than 70 people from the community gathered in the back room at Jolly Bee (fast food restaurant) to fellowship, eat, hear some powerful testimonies, and be blessed by a gospel presentation by our guest speaker, Pastor Noel Alberto.Many kneeled down in prayer to make Jesus their Lord. We also are thankful for our fellow servants from Crossroads Fellowship who donated toys for the kids and helped serve.

Praise God for providing an opportunity for Sean to teach a group of pastors each week in Alabang.

January

Praise God

for a wonderful All Asia Missions Conference in Chiang Mai, Thailand
for the baptism of our friend, Marife, who came to Christ during her time with us here in Manila.
for the safe arrival of Jessica’s parents from the states
for God’s hand on Tyler as he continued to battle some asthma attacks
for the new role he has given Jessica as the Area Business Manager for our mission. She is now responsible for managing our mission’s finances and our mission office in Manila with two staff members.

February

Praise God

For the successful surgery on little Angelo’s cleft palate. This is his second operation which focused on the inside of his mouth.
For the successful surgery on Baby Edrian’s cleft palate. (Read his story here).
For God’s help in making Isabella’s interview at the U.S. Embassy go smoothly. She is now officiallyjavascript:void(0)
Publish recognized as a US citizen born abroad and has now been issued a US Passport.
For God’s protection over Kian and the rest of the middle schoolers at Faith Academy, during their weeklong outdoor education camp out.
For God’s protection in travel for Jessica, as she flew to Cebu for a meeting with the Mission Council, and for God’s guidance in the meeting.
For a great conference for Sean in Mindanao that focused on reaching the Muslim community and training others to do so.

March

Praise God

For a nice family break with Jessica’s parents before they left again for the states.
For keeping Tyler’s asthma under control for 6 weeks straight now.

PLEASE PRAY FOR:

God’s guidance for the doctors operating on Jerwin, a young man from the bridge who is getting a prosthetic eye (he was blinded in one eye as a child).
Praise God for the ministry of Resources for the Blind, that the only expenses involved so far for Jerwin’s surgery has been for medication and sutures. The doctors and hospital fees have been covered.
Kian and Christian as they take their SAT exams this week
For Grace as she begins to attend preschool at Faith Academy, leaving in the mornings with her brothers at 6:30 am and returning after 2:30pm.
For Sean as he continues to teach pastors from CCF in Alabang, and as he leads the cell group ministries at our own EFC church, Crossroads Fellowship.
For Jessica as she adjusts to her new role.
For Christian, who has had several bouts of fever over the last few weeks. It seems to go away and then come back again. This week, he seems to be better. Please pray that whatever was ailing him is really gone for sure now.
For guidance for our future home, as we pray about whether to move and where exactly God would have us live.
Please pray for God to bring more members to our financial support team, as we continue to be below our assigned monthly support.

Prayer and Praise - October 23, 2006

2006-10-23T10:11:00.000-07:00

Praise Reports

Praise God for the work He has been doing at the bridge. Many are attending a new bible study we started there and most of them have prayed to make Christ their Lord.
Praise God for the opportunity to do a bible study for the kids also. God is using our friend Merriam to teach the kids, and has also brought on another teacher, Josette.
Praise God for Doctora Henson's ministry to them through a free clinic she conducted right at the bridge this past Sunday, as well as for Ate Corlix' help that day.
Praise God for helping us get jobs for two men we have been ministering to: Kuya Tony, (little Angelo's dad) and also Roland, our friend Merriam's brother.

Prayer Requests

Please pray for our financial support. It turns out that we are now short of support by $1000 each month.
Pray for Grace's teacher, Christine, who is seeking the truth and has agreed to start one to one discipleship with Jessica.
Pray for Jessica as she starts a 6-week TESOL certification course that begins next week.
Jessica is also in training now to be the Business Administrator for our mission field. Pray that God helps her manage her time wisely and that she will quickly get a good grasp of the business aspects of the EFCM.
Please continue to pray for our ministry at the Bridge. Pray that our friends there would all grow in their new relationships with God through the bible study and personal study. By now, we must have given every single adult there a bible.
Pray for our children (now five of them, can you believe it?) - that God would draw them each to Himself. Pray that we would be godly parents and that He would help us to shape their hearts.
Pray for Sean as he finishes up his formal language classes. He is slowly starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel - with only another 10 lessons or so left!
Pray most importantly now for God's wisdom and direction as we plan our next steps of ministry now that language classes are coming to an end.

Prayer and Praise - September 21, 2006

2006-09-20T19:57:00.000-07:00

Praise God. . . for His hand on the young couple staying with us these current weeks, Emma and Roland. They moved in with us last Tuesday and by Saturday Emma went into labor. They arrived at the birthing clinic just in time, because accordin to the midwife, she was already 9cm dilated! God gave then a 6lb baby boy, whom they named Adrian.
Please pray. . . for God to draw this couple closer to Himself. One surprise with little Adrien is that he was born with a cleft palate! In God's perfect plan he had given us experience with another little boy's cleft palate just weeks earlier, so Sean was able to encourage the couple right then and there by sharing first hand how very easily corrected cleft palates are. He even happened to have the "after" photos of Angelo in his cell phone - so was able to show the young father and mother the encouraging photos right on the spot.
Praise God . . . that Tyler is doing much better now with his asthma, but please continue to pray for him as he continues to have coughing and the sniffles.
Please Pray . . . For our dear friend Pastor Roger. He has some blood clotting in his head as a result of a stroke from last year. Pray that God would give him comfort and healing. Pray also for Michael Roger, 7 years old, who will be undergoing an operation today for enlarged tonsils and adenoid which are causing sleep apnea in him.

Prayer and Praise Requests - Sept 06

2006-09-11T09:27:00.000-07:00

Praise God!

For the healthy arrival of our beautiful baby girl, Isabella Nancy Ransom, on September 3, 2006.
For carrying Tyler safely through his second bout of asthma ( click here to read about Isabella's birth and Tyler's stay at the hospital )
For connecting us with a local pastor to partner with in ministering to the people under the bridge. Pastor Sonny has started leading a Bible Study there and so far, the people have been very receptive.
For our Thursday Night Bible Study group - we just finished the book of Acts and plan to start a book called "One to One Discipleship".
For the ministry of the Short Term Mission from Harvest Community Church August 24-Sept. 1. They served with Pastor Noel Alberto and were also a great blessing to our family.
For all the people praying for us.

Please pray:

For the daughter of Mang Bert, one of the men who attends our Thursday Night Bible Study. She is due to give birth this month to her first child. Pray for a healthy delivery.
Ema, another lady due to give birth any day now. She and her husband were resigned to giving birth at home with no midwife or help, for lack of finances. We were concerned for the safety of mom and baby because their home doesn't even have a bathroom or running water, so for now we are having them stay with us (Ema, her husband, and their 3 year old daughter). We have also connected them with a birthing clinic run by other missionaries. Please pray that we can get Ema to the birthing clinic quickly when she goes into labor (it is a little far) and that there are no complications during delivery.
For our Thursday Night bible study as we launch our One to One Discipleship program. Praise God that we were given permission by Multiplication Ministries to duplicate their materials in Tagalog. Pray that our group would be committed to this study and really enjoy it.
For the new bible study in Tagalog amongst our friends under the bridge. There were more than 12 adults and 15 kids attending the the first 2 meetings. Pray also for God to provide servants to minister specifically to the children.

2006-08-01T05:29:00.000-07:00

Praises to the Lord:

God really blessed the Pastor's Conference we held at GCF ealrier this month. There were more than 300 attendees! The pastors and ministry leaders who attended gave very positive feedback and in the evaluations all said they would attend again
Tyler had his first visit to the emergency room last week and was diagnosed with pnuemonia. But praise God that it his illness did not last long. His fever only lasted a day or two, and his asthma subsided within a few days.

Please pray with us:

As we get closer and closer to the new baby's arrival - due in about 4 weeks. These last few weeks are usually the hardest for Jessica, both physically and emotionally.
Pray for the baby's continued healthy development and for a smooth delivery.For Kian and Christian on their first day of school tomorrow. Kian still needs to work out his schedule since we left for the states at the time he was supposed to go over it.
For Sean as he goes back to working on his Tagalog.
For our friends under the bridge . . . Lito (Robert's older brother) is trying to find a job. He used to be a licensed electrician but his license expired. We are trying to help him meet the requirements to have a current license issued.
For the next STM Team coming out to Manila in a couple of weeks. They are a team from Harvest Community Church and they will work with Pastor Noel Alberto ministering to the poor and to prisoners and former inmates.

2006-07-02T20:41:00.000-07:00

Praises to the Lord:

We arrived safely from the US last week and were blessed with a really fruitful time while in the states
Things are well underway for the pastor's conference we have been planning that starts TOMORROW! (Tuesday July 4)
4 of the scheduled speakers from the US have arrived safely, and have been able to see various ministries here during these past several days.
There are now at least 150+ attendees registered.
Praise God for all the hard work put in by the Petra Foundation and GCF in coordinating the details of registration, facilities, scheduling, etc.

Please pray with us:

For God's hand on every aspect of the conference - that the ministry leaders who attend would be greatly blessed.
Pray for the two key speakers (Dr. Montoya and Dr. Ardavanis) who have yet to arrive from the states. They will arrive the morning of the conference, and are scheduled to speak within a few hours for landing. Please pray that God would give them energy and power after their 18 hour flight.
Please pray also that there would be no flight delays so that they can make it on time for their speaking time.
Pray for Sean as he prepares for his own seminar, and also prepares to be the understudy for Dr. Montoya in case there are any problems with his flight.
Pray for our housing situation. We have been blessed with the opportunity to house in our home 7 people who coming from 9 hours away to attend the 3 day conference this week. This is in addition to the 3 guests we already have with us from the U.S. Please pray that we can make them all as comfortable as possible and that they would be blessed by their stay with us.
Pray for Ate Dora (who lives in the community under the Bridge). She was taken to the hospital recently and now walks with a cain. She will need to be taken back to the hospital for a CT scan and more tests. Pray that we might be able to help her with that and that the Lord would provide us with the time to do so given the current busyness of our schedule.
Pray for our schedule in general, besides the conference, we have many houseguests and then another conference next week.
Please continue to pray for the health of this little baby who is actively moving and kicking inside Jessica's tummy. The baby will be arriving in less than 9 weeks!

2006-05-12T19:32:00.000-07:00

Pray for Moses and Amie, a Jehovah's Witness couple who have come to our house a few times. Sean has been sharing with them (while they were trying to share with Sean) and they have been writing down many verses to look up that Sean has recommended. They have promised to really study these verses and have also borrowed books on the trinity, etc. Please pray that they will come to realize the truth in scripture, that they will come to see that Jesus is not an angel, but God himself, and the only way to salvation.
Pray for Sean who is arriving at LAX in the next few hours, that he will have a fruitful first week and will be blessed by the class he will be starting on Monday
Pray for Jessica with the kids back in Manila for this week, and for a safe flight as they travel on Friday May 19.
Pray for Pastor Rod who will continue the bible study in our house these next few weeks.

2006-05-07T18:27:00.000-07:00

Praise

We were blessed by our EFCP regional conference in which Dr. Craig Ott from the US was the guest speaker on the topic of healthy churches.
Sean had another good meeting yesterday with GCF in planning the Pastor's Conference for July.
Jess and the kids got through all the rigamaroll at the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs -- and the kids' Filipino Passports are now in process.
Jessica's blood sugar levels so far have been normal (her levels have been high in previous pregnancies.)
Our associate Pastor from Crossroads fellowship agreed to lead our Thursday night bible studies while we are gone - so the bible study in our home can continue even while we are not here.

Please Pray:

For Sean's safe travel back to the U.S. this Friday, May 12th, and for God to bless his week as he attends classes Monday - Friday this first and 2nd week.
For Jess and the kids while they are without Sean for a week until they travel on May 19th. Pray that it won't be too difficult for Jess to travel with 4 kids (while 6 months pregnant!)
For Harvest Community Church in Lancaster as they prepare for sending their 2nd Short Term Team to The Philippines this summer.
For Kian and Christian as they work on final projects and exams these last few weeks of school.
For Professor Alex Montoya and Pastor Scott Ardavanis as they prepare to be our guest speakers at our Expository Preaching Conference at GCF in July.
For Sean and the other speakers from TMS as they prepare to speak at the conference at GCF in July.

2006-04-24T17:56:00.000-07:00

Praise

Robert and Ate Sylvia prayed to receive Jesus Christ (story to follow later)Click here to read the most recent story Robert and the gang.
We finally got word back from the Bureau of Immigration that our children are now officially recognized as Filipino Citizens. They can now apply for Filipino passports and have dual citizenship. The advantages are that they will never be forced to leave the country and are exempt from many taxes that foreigners normally have to undergo as they travel to and from the country.
A meeting with some key people at a local seminary went really well.

Please Pray:

For Gracie's big toe. She hurt it and actually ended up losing her big toe nail. Praise God that she did not seem to suffer too much, and that the new "baby toe nail" is already starting to come back in. Please pray that it would grow out normally and quickly.
For God to continue to build up our support team. We are substantially below our monthly support schedule.
For our preparations as we head to the U.S. in a few weeks.
For Kian and Christian as they work on final projects and exams these last few weeks of school.
For the process of getting Filipino passports for our children to go smoothly and that we might get them in time for our departure.
For Professor Alex Montoya and Pastor Scott Ardavanis as they prepare to be our guest speakers at our Expository Preaching Conference at GCF in July.
For me and the other speakers from TMS as we prepare to speak at the conference at GCF in July.
That God would continue to use Jessica and me in guiding the hearts of our children.
For continued protection of our family, especailly our curious little one. Click here to read the story.
That God will open the hearts of others who live at the bridge to believe the Good News that Jesus Christ has paid for sins. Click here to read the story.
For me as I help sharpen the skills a few pastors and elders in their preaching.
That I continue to grow in my ability to speak Tagalog.

2006-04-11T02:47:00.000-07:00

Praise

Robert and some of my friends from the bridge have many questions about God. Click here to read the story.
Greenhills Christian Fellowship is partnering with us to host a pastor's conference in July.

Please Pray:

For Professor Alex Montoya and Pastor Scott Ardavanis as they prepare to be our guest speakers at our Expository Preaching Conference at GCF in July.
For me and the other speakers from TMS as we prepare to speak at the conference at GCF in July.
That God would continue to use Jessica and me in guiding the hearts of our children.
For continued protection of our family, especailly our curious little one. Click here to read the story.
That God will open the hearts of Robert and those who live at the bridge to believe the Good News that Jesus Christ has paid for sins. Click here to read the story.
For me as I help sharpen the skills a few pastors and elders in their preaching.
That I continue to grow in my ability to speak Tagalog.

2006-03-22T22:55:00.000-08:00

Praise

The Lord that He put it on someone's heart to give us a wheel chair for Robert. Click here to read the story.
Greenhills Christian Fellowship is partnering with us to host a pastor's conference in July.

Please Pray:

Professor Alex Montoya and Pastor Scott Ardavanis as they prepare to be our guest speakers at our Expository Preaching Conference at GCF in July.
That God would continue to use Jessica and me in guiding the hearts of our children.
For health and growth for our church plant and Santa Lucia Mall.
That God will open the hearts of Robert and those who live at the bridge to believe the Good News that Jesus Christ has paid for sins. Click here to read the story.
For me as I help sharpen the skills a few pastors and elders in their preaching.
That I continue to grow in my ability to speak Tagalog.
For our preparation and visit to the States in May and June.
That I will have words of wisdom in upcoming meeting with some staff from a local seminary that is weakening in its commitment to the inerrancy, sufficiency and authority of Scripture.