Paul and Debbie Howells sent through this update from some of their partners in the gospel.

Dear Family and Brethren, our precious prayer partners,

Praying all of you are well and blessed.

We are well and thankful for each day that the Lord allows us to be in this part of the world. Earlier, in our Bible reading time, we read Psalm 20; it was another beautiful reminder how the Lord answers our prayers and how we can truly trust in His name. Somehow in our discussion thereafter, we talked about how fortunate we are to be together 24/7 while working in His ministry, and how it has benefited us being a newly married couple (sort of) as it gives us more opportunities to understand and adjust one to the other in a shorter span of time. We pray for couples who may not have the same privilege as us <3

A little more about our team, while there are altogether 6 different teams serving in the regions God is allowing us to be part of, our Lapoc team is the support for the remainder 5, and their trained pastors with all church gatherings. Our own team’s task is primarily in the area of administration, accounting, purchasing, training, delivering, maintenance, and technical support, each according the gifts we have received from the Lord. Additionally, 3 families in our team, including us, facilitates a Bible study group on a weekly basis. 

Being new to the field, we take opportunity when the churches invite us to give words of encouragement and to fellowship with our brethren. Last Saturday, we attended New Nibu Mission Church’s 6th year anniversary. This church gathering originally began as a home Bible study group outreach and eventually a building was made as seen in the photos below. One of the pastors continues ministering to them to this day every Friday. We got to experience the traveling path he passes through, and for us it was quite a hike. It took us a bit more than 2 hours to get there and 3 hours to get back, up and downhill. Our feet and legs are still recovering, but we got to fellowship with loving and very hospitable brethren who are eager to hear God’s Word. God’s grace is amazing.

For more than a month now, Jane has been busy preparing to run a course for women called Flourish. She was previously trained in Vietnam back in 2016 by its Aussie creators, Deborah Hilton & Rebekah Windsor. Through the journey of Flourish, women and teenage girls will discover the true essence of who they are and who they can become. Each session contains valuable core concepts from the Bible that, when embraced, will build confidence and inner strength to make healthy decisions that will in turn see them thrive in each area of their lives. Please pray for her and her team as they begin the activity this Saturday, Oct 23. Our prayer is that the program will be used as a tool to reach out to the women in our community for Christ. It will be a total of 9 sessions, done twice a week. Six teenage girls from the youth group have committed to bring at least 1 friend who is not part of our church. 

Please continue to pray for God’s work in the different regions we are part of; pray in particular for our pastors traveling in motorbikes, some travel hours, to preach God’s Word in the hard to reach mountain areas. Pray for their safety and for their families especially now in this country’s typhoon season.

We pray that wherever you are right now in the world you know deep in your heart that you can always trust God and His ways!

Much love and prayers,

Ernesto and Jane