Joy

Pure, faultless, unending joy comes only from the One who gives life.  These last few weeks have been some of the best ones I have ever had because of the presence of awesome joy from our holy God.  My reader Margie came for the last time and asked some deep, thought-provoking questions.  We had such a great session that we lost track of time as we learned more about God's Word.  The next day, I had my final reading session with David.  Our lesson went very well, and we had many good discussions which were all very enjoyable.  At the end of the lesson, I got a chance to invite him to church, which he came to that next Sunday (along with about 13 other readers!!!).  Before church, he asked for a New King James Version Bible, which the church donated and of which he was very appreciative.

I also had an amazing reading session with two of my newer readers, Irene and Christian.  They are two friendly and inspiring students and I am so thankful for the time I had to get to know them.  Irene has had a rough past, but she was so faithful, saying that God helped her through all of her struggles!  Christian always seemed to be smiling, and always brightened my day!  During our final reading session, we took the time to go through four lessons because they were both so eager to learn.  Each lesson sparked new conversation, laughter, and questions.  They both came to church on Sunday also.

We had our final get-together with all our readers the Thursday before we went home, and we had an amazing turn out (with over sixty people in attendance)!  We had lots of fun, and everyone received a certificate saying that they completed the Luke workbook reading sessions.  Gifts were given, touching speeches were made, and goodbyes were said at the get-together.  One of my readers, John Rey, told me that he knew God was everywhere and would be with us when we left, which was so nice to hear him say!  David also told Brittiny, Kendra, and me that he would see us again, whether that be in the Philippines, America, or heaven.  You can imagine how difficult saying goodbye to all of our inspiring friends was.

We arrived home safely after about two long days of travel.  Wayne and Margie plan on visiting our readers to follow up with them, so we are eager to hear how that goes.  I also have plans to continue reading sessions and Bible studies with some of my readers online.  I am looking forward to that!  Going to the Philippines through LST was one of the best decisions I have ever made, and I will forever praise God for the time, memories, and friendships made while we were there.  Thank you again for the donations, thoughts, and prayers!  God bless!

"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him"  -2 Corinthians 2:14