Hello!
We hope that you all are doing well, and that these days you are enjoying time together with loved ones.
We have had to postpone our flights from the end of October to November 17th! All of the paperwork that needed to be approved has been approved and our passports are currently at the Embassy getting their visas. God willing, everything will go smoothly and we will be able to leave according to plan. On another note, the 17th is the day before Egbert's stay in the U.S. would expire. Although the application for a longer stay has been submitted, we haven't heard anything back, so we are praising God for this timing!
Thank you for your prayers and support during this time!
It is always nice to get some fresh perspective on why this ministry at Faith Academy is so important, and how by being there we contribute to the wider faith community and enable other missionaries to follow their callings in reaching the unreached. It's nice to every so often get a glimpse of the bigger picture of what God is doing in Asia, and how Faith Academy is included in that. This past month a parent of students who typically board at Faith Academy shared with our staff just how instrumental the school has been in allowing his family to pursue their calling in a more rural part of the Philippines. Their ministry, Reefs for Life, works with coastal communities on protecting and restoring the reefs around their islands, while also reaching them with the Gospel and starting Bible studies. They address the physical and spiritual needs of these people. These communities rely on the reefs as a means of livelihood, but the reefs also play a crucial role in protecting the coastal villages from high tides. By working with locals, they restore the coral reefs using a technique that speeds up the time of regrowth significantly, ensuring the sustainability of these communities and their posterity. Through interacting with the locals, they have been able to reach 10,000 people with the Gospel in an area where less than 1% are Christian. They have also been able to start over 20 small groups. This has eternal value. The parent emphasized that having an affordable school and boarding house for missionary kids has made it possible for them to serve they way they do.
To hear from a parent about the impact that Faith has had on their ministry was very encouraging. In a way, we see a small part of what God is doing in students' lives, but it goes so much further than just our students. Their education enables their parents to continually spread the Gospel wherever they may be. As another parent put it: We might just be teachers, but in a way we are partly church-planters, partly medical missionaries, partly missionaries to unreached people groups, partly a Bible translator, etc.
We also wanted to thank you. Because through your partnership and prayer, you are also a part of this ministry that goes beyond the students at Faith Academy.
Here is their website if you would like to check it out: https://www.reefsforlife.org/
- That the visa process goes smoothly
- Travel goes as planned
- Quarantine/COVID-19 Tests
How can we pray for you? We would truly love to know. Send us an email: egbert.alyson.botha@gmail.com
Again, thank you so much for your continued partnership, whether it be financial or through prayer. We are currently at 61% funded for the year. If you know of someone who would be interested in becoming a partner, please let us know! We would love to get in touch with them.
No comments:
Post a Comment