We saved about $3,500 this month toward our HOR (House of Refuge) home, so we’re ready to start laying the foundation. Here’s what changed: we have to be out of our current rented home in about 17 months, and it’s become clear that building the entire home at once just won’t happen within that window. So we’ve decided to use half of my incoming Social Security to fund a smaller, two-room home to move into first. Once we’re settled there, we’ll keep saving month to month toward the bigger home.

This month we deepened our partnership with Pastor Francis, Pastor Marc, and Pastor Ninio, joining them for visitation and Bible studies out in the barangays. Together, we started four new cell groups from door-to-door visits, meeting families right where they live and inviting them into community and prayer.

The Tarlac Talkers Expat Group kicked off July with a 4th of July pool party, a fun afternoon of food and fellowship with the expat community here in Tarlac. It was also a month that reminded us how quickly things can turn: we visited Gilbert in the hospital after an asthma attack, and not long after, our friend Mike was in a serious e-bike and truck accident. We spent time with him at the hospital during his recovery, and just three days later, Wendell had the honor of standing as best man at Mike’s wedding to Carol. A month of celebration and crisis, side by side, and a reminder of why this community matters.

Our family grew this month! We welcomed our granddaughter, Ruth Angelica, into the world, and we couldn’t be more grateful. With so much going on at home, we’ve paused Jen’s VA training for now. In the meantime, Jen has been building a new tutorial website to help VA grads get started in the field, something she’s wanted to do for a while

This month, our team spent time in prayer walking through several barangays, asking God to open doors for the gospel in every home we passed. Our Sunday sermon series focused on finding joy in the Lord no matter our circumstances, a message I needed to hear myself. Honestly, there have been nights when discouragement crept in, and I wondered if the work was making any difference. One night around 3 am, I woke up burdened and started praying, and God met me right there in that quiet moment with a peace I can’t fully explain. He reminded me that joy isn’t the absence of hard things; it’s knowing He is present in the middle of them.

Please continue praying for us: for our daily walk with the Lord, for our family, for the ministry at Empower Church and here in Tarlac City, and for the building of our home.

We would love to pray for you. Visit our website and send us your request, and we’ll bring it before the Lord.

If you have already sent us a prayer request, thank you for trusting us with it. We are praying for your specific need.

Our House of Refuge building fund is steadily growing. In this issue, we received $3,500 in gifts, bringing our running total to $14,500 toward our $75,000 goal.

If you’d like to join us in building, here’s how:

Note: All your gifts are tax-deductible. Thank you to everyone who has given. Please pray the funds come in quickly.

A few more glimpses from this season of ministry:

Our Books are online.