Thank you for your prayers
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They were heard and He was merciful to us
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Many of you prayed for us and our God answered the prayer in a very positive way. For those that don’t know we were on the way to Malaysia and could not find Angels Alien registration card (I-card/9g).
FIA was sending its staff to an ICEC Conference in Kuala Lumpur (KL) and we had planned for Wendi and Angel to come along. When we arrived in Manila and were going through immigration to exit the country we discovered the card missing. We were “unloaded” from the flight. We searched and searched for the card. Wendi and Angel had to purchase tickets back to Davao. Bill headed to the conference. This happened approximately 17 days before our planned departure back to the states.
We then found out that it would take 2 - 3 months to replace the card. They are plastic with a chip inside.
On the flight back from KL Bill asked a flight attendant to help him when they arrived in Manila to find the lost and found so he could check on it at the Manila Airport. The flight attendant was very polite, writing notes and appeared genuinely concerned. When Bill handed her his business card she got very excited and mentioned she knew someone who works there, and that she also had friend who works in immigration. It didn’t end there, once she saw he was a special educator and that the daughter was special (the term in the PH is not special needs, just special) she was all the more animated saying that we have to get this child home.
Once on the ground in Manila she had ground personnel escort him to the lost and found and it was not there. Bill then boarded his next flight to Davao. After landing, as he was walking towards his luggage his phone rang. It was the flight attended with her friend from immigration. This was Sunday night. The friend from immigration stayed in contact with him and on Tuesday night Bill flew to Manila to apply for a one time waiver for Angel to be able to depart. The immigration friend also had a Christian friend with quite a bit of authority who works in the Bureau of Immigration building. Since it was her day off she only texted Bill what to do, but texted often! He met her friend who heard the story and told his secretary to ensure he gets the waiver that day because, "this man is my friend."
This is nothing short of a miracle; the waiver normally takes 2 – 3 days to process. Bill was in the building for seven hours! He walked in with a prayer on his lips and exited the building with the waiver in hand. How is it possible that on one certain flight, he would meet one certain flight attendant who knows one immigration officer who then knows a very influential person in Manila Bureau of Immigration?
Our God got us here by faith and apparently thought it best to send us back on faith as well. For He has done it! Time and time He has proven himself to us.
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MANILA, Philippines — Bureau of Immigration
Eventually Bill was told by the secretary to leave his luggage in their office and just go to Starbucks across the street and wait. It was finished when he returned.
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The End of the Beginning?
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Is this the end or the beginning? Bill recently discussed with someone the subject about when does eternity begin? As Christians we believe that we are created to be eternal beings. One day this tent of flesh will drop off and we will be seen just as we really are. Our lives on this earth will be no more; however we will continue to “be” in one of two locations. Time will be no more and that will be our final destination. A great price has been paid for us to be with a loving & forgiving God. But ultimately it’s our choice. Love is truly only love when it is given freely.
We are not sure where Bill will work when we arrive home in less than ten days from now. We are not sure about the possibility of coming back here to Davao, somewhere else in Asia, or anywhere else in the future. What we do know is that we need to come home and serve our family. We covet your prayers for wisdom to know what to do and when to do it.
Here we are, send us.
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Some have asked if their automatic withdrawals will continue after we get back home, the answer is yes. If you are giving or still desire to, our account with RCE will be active until the end of March.
Please pray for us
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