Have you missed me? Well, as Arnold once said, “I’ll be back.” Since our last update, Donna and I have pretty much finished our “thank you” tour. We visited churches in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Missouri, Texas and Arkansas. I know there are many churches we did not get to visit and thank personally, but we are still willing to come. Just give me call.
This update will focus on news from our BMA Global missionaries in Asia Pacific as well as reporting on our recent Baptist Medical Missions International (BMMI) trip to Leyte, Philippines, and one very important opportunity to have a “dream come true.”
• Jeremy & Mandy Hambrice, B.J. & Jill Sanders and Jack & Lael Crabtree (Jack & Lael are not BMA Global missionaries but are a part of the Watikian Team.) — Working in the remote mountains of Papua New Guinea is isolated. The teams only means of support is quarterly helicopter supply drops. Due to extreme fuel shortages in Papua New Guinea Ethos 360 (the support team for tribal missions) will evacuate all tribal missionaries to base camp until the fuel shortage is over. Ethos 360 has an extensive security system in place to insure the health, safety and protection for tribal missionaries. The fuel shortage means safety measures would be compromised. Our team in Pengy will prepare the church for their absence and locate to base camp until the crisis is over.
• Doug and Diane Lee serve with the BMA Bible College in Talisay, Philippines on the Island of Negros. Doug and Diane will travel to Kenya to speak at a graduation and visit 150 pastors seeking theological training.
• Danny and Rita Ballard are serving on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. Danny recently joined our BMMI team in Leyte. (More on this trip below.)
• Cris and Alicia Samson have relocated to San Carlos, on the Island of Negros, Philippines where they have planted a new church mission.
We have other American missionaries stationed around Asia Pacific who are designated as Creative Access missionaries.
Dreams Come True — Five years ago, missionaries Doug Lee, Jimmy Walker and I had a dream. Recognizing that God had uniquely gifted Filipinos with easy language acquisition, the ability to assimilate into other cultures and of course being Asians, we dreamed that God would send Filipinos with the gospel to Asia.
In June, with the help of former BMA Global missionary to Cambodia John Page, we will have our first vision trip to the country of Cambodia with three prospective Filipino missionaries — Juren Mamon, David Perez and Arnold and Divine Huelar. We certainly covet prayers for success and for the Lord’s blessing. His timing is His business.
• Baptist Medical Missions International, Leyte, Philippines Trip — Plans for this trip have been in the making for over a year. While the trip itself was fabulous, we did have some challenges. What started out to be a team of 20 and ended up with 16. Calvin Morris, from Brownsboro, Texas succumbed to a heart attack in January. Barbara Speer, from Carthage, Texas had some serious health issues and needed to stay home just one day before departure.
Dr. Jerry Dixon and Dr. Steve Warrick ended up in St. Lukes Medical Center in Manila. When they arrived in Manila, Jerry wasn’t feeling well. So, he and Steve went to the hospital. (St. Luke’s is a Mayo Clinic hospital with world renown care.) Jerry continued to deteriorate with a final diagnosis of fast acting Leukemia, which compromised just about everything. While caring for Jerry, Steve fell twice, suffering two concussions and leading to his own admission to ICU. Steve is okay now, but Jerry continues to need our prayers. We sent Missionary Danny Ballard and Dr. Bon Etabag on an early trip to Manila to help once Jerry’s wife, Janet and son, Jonathan, arrived.
God’s Timing and Plans Are in His Hands — The island of Leyte is not one for tourism, but there is one historical spot I knew everyone would want to visit. During World War II, the Japanese invasion of the Philippines forced General MacArthur to evacuate the islands leading to one of history’s most famous quotes, “I shall return.” The beaches of Leyte is where he kept that promise.
In six days, we traveled the entire island, completing 6 clinics, seeing over 600 patients and around 60 souls saved. As with all BMMI trips, our purpose was to help the local missions and churches reach the people of their communities and villages. The Lord especially allowed us to accomplish His will of doing this important work. Please pray for the pastors of the work in Leyte (Robert Groton, Danilo Rollo, Norberto Bullos, Noel Cartagena and Alfred (Jr.) Suico.) I am so thankful for the hard work they put in which made our work easier and successful. Congratulations on a job well done.
With a base of operations in the Philippines, BMA Global and the BMA of the Philippines seek to reach Asia Pacific with the gospel. Help us do it by volunteering for short term missions, career missions, medical trips or Volunteer Student Missions. A Volunteer Student Mission Team is set for the Philippines June 3-15.
I’ll be on another trip to the Philippines departing June 3 with a VSM team of students and adults, then with our team for a Vision Trip to Cambodia. Remember us in your prayers. May God’s missionary plan spread across Asia Pacific and the entire world.
Contact me and let me help you fulfill God’s plan in your life. Our work is completely focused on sending the gospel to Southeast Asian countries. We love you all. (stanmusical@icloud.com)
