Vance and Carol’s Ministry Description for 2017

Vance and Carol’s Ministry Description for 2017

Introduction:

Vance is still a full-time employee of the mission. Carol is transitioning to being a part-time employee. Our salary in the past was dependent on my status and even though Carol went through the whole application process, she was not “technically” an employee.

Vance:

• I will be visiting the Philippines at least twice this year and next, where I will be assisting with further training of church planters who are currently planting 15-20 churches inside the area that was affected by the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan (local name Yolanda). The next trip is February 5-27, 2017 where I will be visiting Tacloban, Cebu, Leyte and Bantayan Island to train and encourage church planters.
• I have been asked by our Asia Regional leadership to visit churches in Northern California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho and present personnel needs and ministry opportunities in Asia. I have already visited five churches here in Clark County and will be going to others through the month of March 2017. Primarily this is to meet with pastors, deacons/elders and mission committee members.

Carol

• She will continue being the primary homemaker for the five us living at our residence.
• She is currently discovering what the “site coordinator” for Global Fingerprints does. This is the Reachglobal program for child sponsorship. Carol would be working with partners in Manila who are planting churches among the urban poor.
  • This would be a half-time position.
  • It would require a trip every year to meet with the ministry partners in the Philippines.
  • She would be involved in connecting donors with recipients.
  • She would do promotion, raising awareness of this ministry opportunity.

Carol and Vance

• The mission gives us six months to visit churches before our 66th birthday (Vance, September 2017). This means that March to September Carol and I (mostly me) will be traveling to supporting churches and individuals to thank them.
• We will also be talking to them about considering supporting us (mainly Carol) after September 2017 so that she can serve the urban poor church planting ministry in Manila.

Conclusion:

Carol and I want to thank all of you for your faithful support, especially during this time of transition.

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Saturday, December 31, 2016

Dear Friends, Supporters and Family,

Carol and I just enjoyed our first Christmas here in the United States with family in twelve years, and it was delightful. We celebrated with Vance’s siblings; our family; our church; and Carol’s family. Maybe we were making up for lost time. It was so precious that on each occassion, we were reminded that the incarnation of Jesus was the reason for our celebration.

We have had snow (very small amounts) on three separate days and that has been fun, in its own way.

We wanted to thank everyone who prayed for our recent trip to the Philippines. God answered your prayers. We were able to visit with many dear friends, even flying to another island to visit a family that we have grown close to. Yesterday we learned that they are expecting their third child.

We were able to sell our things and pack up and move out of our small apartment. We were even able to drive four hours north on the island where we have lived and visit the homes/families of two of the young ladies that have worked for us.

Vance will be going back in the first half of February to help with an ongoing leadership development with about fifteen pastors who are leading church plants. Please pray that God will provide the necessary finances (about $1,200) so that I (Vance) can do this.

Speaking of finances, we are still on full time salary with the mission through the month of September 2017. Pray for Carol as she considers a part-time position with the mission after that. She is being asked to be the “Global Fingerprints’ site coordinator” for the Philippines. Global Fingerprints is a program developed by Reachglobal (our mission agency) which sponsors children for nutrition, education and health. There are children in a Muslim neighborhood in Manila, Philippines who are being reached for the Gospel by an onsite ministry team that could benefit from such a program. Pray for wisdom regarding this opportunity.

Our family has greatly benefited from being together for the past seven months. We are still working through issues and seeking a long term way to meet the needs that continue to exist. Continue to pray for this.

Tomorrow is the start of 2017, at least in this time zone, and as we look forward to a new year we are reminded that like Israel, God has brought us this far and He is still in control.

In His service and yours,

Vance and Carol Johnson

email: vance.johnson@efca.org carol.johnson@efca.org

mobile phone: Vance (360) Carol (360)

mailing address: 6608-A NE 259th Street, Battle Ground, WA 98604-9553

After Seminar

Monday, September 5, 2016

Cebu City Philippines

We are in the United States (Battle Ground) but I am in the Philippines to help facilitate a leadership development program. This was the first of six modules that will be spaced over the next three years. I have been asked to participate in the future ones as well. The past week has been a real joy. I have renewed friendships and been delighted by the hospitality that I have received! I attended our home church here, Harvest Community Fellowship, where I was welcomed with open arms.

The seminar was attended by fifteen invited pastors and church workers. Several of them have been my students at the college and five of them I had never met before. They spoke three different local languages but they all could understand English, yeah! About ten of them could speak the local language that I know and it was special to communicate with them in that medium.

We all share an interest in starting new churches all over the country. It was good to hear some of their stories and to pray with them. Most of the time was spent in small discussion groups where we answered questions which the facilitator has proposed. Often we prayed for one another, sometimes with tears. It was a very moving time.

The week was “bookended” by attendance at our church and the second Sunday I preached from Hebrews 8 about the priesthood of Jesus where it focuses on his “better” priesthood and his “better” covenant. One phrase really touched me: and their sins I will remember no more. (Hebrews 8:12). They took such good care of me.

Our pastor is training the lay leaders to participate in the service and they lead the communion service. The Sunday I was there was the first time for this layman and he was so overwhelmed by the experience, that he cried.

I want to thank you for holding us up in prayer. Carol and I so appreciate you all.

Because of the better Priest,

Vance and Carol Johnson

Two Months Later

September 3, 2016

1. Praise God for safe travel back to Washington State and a fairly smooth transition back to North America. We are living at: 6608 NE 259^th Street, Battle Ground, WA 98604. Our email remains: vance.johnson@efca.org Our cell phones are as follows: Vance (360) 702-9463 Carol (360) 702-9581.

2. Pray for the process we are going through to seek additional resources for our family. We have found a counsellor and good medical help.

3. Praise for an excellent time here in Cebu with the first of six leadership development seminars. Met with 15 pastors and enjoyed the time very much.

4. Pray for our plans to return to Cebu, Carol and Vance, in October to close up our house and liquidate our household. Praise God that many things have already been taken care of.

5. Praise God that the college has 22 new students that started classes in June 2016. They join about 60 others.

6. Praise God that the national church, the Evangelical Free Church of the Philippines, has adopted a goal of planting another 42 churches in the next five years!

7. Please pray for Davao City. This is the largest city on the island of Mindanao. Last night (Friday) a bomb went off that killed 12 people. They are not sure who is responsible.

Thank you for your ongoing involvement with Carol and I, especially during this time of transition.

In His service and yours,

Vance, for Carol

RiceTerracesETCPLuzonOct2015

Last Two Weeks

Carol and I traveled to Manila on Monday, October 12. We were picked up by Daryl and Sharon Germaine. Sharon is Carol’s sister and they have lived just south of Manila for almost the same amount of time that we have been in the Philippines.

We traveled north of Manila, up into Northern Luzon to an area around Banaue where the people have built terraces that have been there for 100’s of years. They are truly amazing. You drive for many miles and they are going up the mountains. Many are still being used. I suggest that you go online and look at them. They truly are world famous, for good reason.

We spent four days traveling and just being tourists. It was so enjoyable. We stayed in simple accommodations and ate good local food (lots of rice). It was cold, saw my breath one evening, and it was so nice to not be sweating.

The Next Week

After going to church on Sunday (October 18) the four of us, Daryl, Sharon, Carol and I went our separate ways. Carol went to spend four days with her sister and brother-in-law out in the “province” and I stayed in Manila (along with twenty million other people).

I had received an invitation from our sister school in Manila to teach Church History to sixteen students. It was just delightful. They took good care of me in so many ways. The students, although nervous about their language ability, spoke to me in English all the time. They were even patient with me when I lapsed into Cebuano, not their language but the language of the people where I live.

We were in a small room with a whiteboard and fans for about seven hours a day. I planned on using my computer to show a presentation but my computer refused to cooperate so I shifted to the whiteboard, and it seemed to go very well.

I want to express my gratitude to all of you who pray for us, give generously and encourage us in so many other ways. The past two weeks would not have happened without you.

In His service and yours,

Vance and Carol Johnson

Serving with Reachglobal in the Philippines

Vances View September 28

*The First Few Days*

We arrived back in the Philippines at about Monday, September 14 at 10:30 PM Manila time (that is about 7:30 AM Monday morning on the west coast of the United States). We had an uneventful flight from Seattle to Inchon, Korea and then onward to Manila. At the Manila airport we took the “free” shuttle to the terminal which serves the airline we flew on to Cebu. There, we sat inside for four hours to fly one hour south to Cebu, our home away from home for the past thirty years.

Jet-lag has effected us more than in the past. Of course, you need to combine that with a lot of humidity and heat and we were finding it hard to stay awake during the day until just recently

Even though we have felt sleepy, we have gotten a number of things checked off on the To-do list:

• haircut ($1.75 and that includes a generous tip)
• battery for car ($85.00, ouch)
• air-conditioning recharged ($20.00) in the car
• grocery shopping (thank you Carol)
• two trips to the bank
• three trips to immigration (40 minutes one way). Why three? Don’t ask. . . The government now wants to see our marriage certificate which needs to be certified by their embassy, even though it is the original. See, you shouldn’t have asked. This means we are well on our way to a one year extension of our visa. Yes, praise the Lord.
• went to a couple of malls, ate out twice and enjoyed taking some walks.
• went to Tacloban (30 minute flight) for two days to spend time with a family that is opening a restaurant.

I did find out that I will be teaching three very interesting subjects in November:

1. Contemporary Theology. I have taught this several times, and enjoy it very much. The students will read several short articles on about thirteen topics and then prepare a reaction essay which they will summarize in class. Then the whole class will discuss and I will give some further comments and talk about further resources.
2. Preaching Contemporary Issues. This is a new topic for me and I am still putting together ideas about how to proceed. Basically it will be a preaching (homiletics) class which will, by nature, be more topically focused, rather than a book study.
3. Church History 2. This is about the history from the Reformation (1500’s) until the present. It is an excellent chance to show the students their spiritual roots.

Carol and I enjoyed worship yesterday with our home church here in Cebu, Harvest Community Church. They are just a small church but are seeking to plant four additional churches. It is truly humbling to be with these people.

Well, I should close for now but before I do I just want to say thank you to everyone for praying and giving so that we can finish the course that is set before us. This month has been one of the best months of giving we have experienced in the past thirty-three years!

In His service and yours,

Vance and Carol Johnson

Reachglobal, Philippines

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#Vance’s View

May 6, 2015

Greetings!

Monday and Tuesday of this week I (Vance) was in Manila. Nothing strange about that. Carol and I have been to Manila many times in the thirty years we have been in the Philippines.

What was different was the fact that this was my last Faith Academy Board of Trustees meeting. I have had the priviledge of being on the Board for the past ten years. It has been a source of joy to serve a community that is dedicated to serving us.

All five of our children have gone to Faith Academy for high school: living in the dormitories; traveling back and forth for Christmas and school breaks. Sometime, the airlines should name an airplane for us since we probably bought a wing or tail rudder.

I was very glad to serve this community through the past ten years and be part of what happened during that time.

Faith is experiencing change!

• The student body is no longer predominantly from the United States. The single largest ethnic group is now Korean.
• The school continues to try to expand its services to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse student body and faculty.
• There is a small but growing component of the student body that comes from the Philippines. These students come from family with a different set of resources and needs. This too stretches the school.
• Large missions are a thing of the past and this means that faculty/staff come from smaller organizations with reduced services.

I have *enjoyed* serving this changing, dynamic community.

Thank you for making this possible.

As you pray for us, continue to pray for Faith Academy Manila.

• The need for teachers, each year, as the rate of change is quite high.
• The need for the school to anticipate further change and how to best meet that change.
• Our son, Mark, who graduates May 25. He will be leaving a great school and launching into a very different life.
• That Faith will find its way forward in serving the Kingdom of God.

Sincerely yours,

Vance and Carol Johnson

Reachglobal

Philippines

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Hello!

I have a limited agenda for this edition of Vance’s View. May 26 to September 13 of this year, we (Carol, Mark and I) are going to be in the Pacific Northwest. Most of the time we are going to be visting most of our supporting churches and individuals. That is why I am writing, to give you all an advance warning as to where we will be going.

Our Church Visitation Schedule

5/31/15 Irondale EFC, Port Hadlock WA
6/7/15 Yacolt EFC, Yacolt WA
6/14/15 Oroville EFC, Oroville CA
6/21/15 La Center EFC, La Center WA
6/28/15 The Church at Proebstel, Vancouver WA 
7/5/15 Bethel, Vashon Island WA
7/12/15 Bethany EFC, Canby OR
7/19/15 New Beginnings, Lynnwood WA
7/26/15 Charter Oak Community, Battle Ground WA
8/2/15 Chewelah EFC, Chewelah WA
8/9/15 Vista Community Church, Ridgefield WA
8/16/15 Harper EFC, Southworth WA
8/23/15 Highlands Community Church, Renton WA
8/30/15 Northcrest, Vancouver WA
9/6/15 Whidbey EFC, Greenbank WA
9/13/15 Fly to Philippines from SeaTac

We have some other activities planned as well but we hope to spend significant time with my father, Homer Johnson who is on hospice care at Victory in Battle Ground, WA.

Thank you for your interest and prayers. Thank you also for the generous support which makes our ministry possible.

Sincerely,

Vance Johnson

Reachglobal, Philippines

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Vances View March 2015

Hello from the Philippines!

This is Vance Johnson and I want to update you on some very exciting things that are happening!

Many prayed for the ReachGlobal Asia Division Conference that Carol and I attended from February 14-20. We had a marvelous time, in all respects.

• We were able to relax and rest!
• We were able to spend time with co-workers that we only see every two years or so, very special.
• We were ministered to by a wonderful group of people from Faith Evangelical Free Church, Allentown PA.
• We enjoyed excellent times of prayer with and for our co-workers which was all enhanced by receiving a booklet for use in our prayer time at home. With 200 in attendance, that was very strategic.
• We enjoyed an afternoon of “Olympics” with other missionaries in which care was taken to include everyone!
• We enjoyed several full afternoons of excellent seminars which spoke to Carol and I in powerful ways (retirement planning, integrity in ministry, marriage and many more).
• We were challenged each morning from the Word of God by the leaders of the mission.

Vance came home with a souvenir upper respitory infection which is now under control. I thought that was going to be with me for a very long time.

While we were in Thailand (the location of the conference) we talked to several leaders in the mission about starting a Global Fingerprints project for the area of the Philippines that was hit twice by typhoons in the past eighteen months. This is a child sponsorship program that our mission has put together to link donors in the United States who would like to make an impact in a child’s life.

We still need to figure out the mechanics, supervision and administration but in short it is something like this: $35.00 per month will help a child in the Philippines go to school, purchase school needs, get minimal health care assistance and some assistance with food.

We are not ready to roll this out but we would appreciate prayer for the following:

• That the project would gain favor with the national partner so that they can be the organization to facilitate the administration and selection process. In a country with 100 million people, half of whom are under fifteen years of age, this could quickly get to be very difficult. Pray for wisdom.
• That the project would gain favor with donors who want to sponsor a child.

Thank you for praying for these!

Please remember the upcoming events which I am listing below, not in order of importance but order of occurrence.

• Vance’s students take final exams: March 9-20
• We begin transferring to our new apartment: March 12-March 30
• Mark’s Spring Break with us: March 16-23
• Family Garage sale: March 21 (our new apartment is much smaller!)
• Evangelical Theological College Graduation: March 22
• We finish moving to our apartment before: April 1
• Harvest Community Church (our church) Family Outing: April 2-5
• Vance’s last Faith Academy Board Meeting (10 years): May 4
• EFCP (our partner) National Conference: May 12-14
• Annette, Bert and Heidi (Carol’s sister’s family with us in Cebu: May 17-20
• Vance and Carol go to Manila for Mark’s High School Graduation: May 20
• Mark’s High School Graduation: May 25
• Mark, Carol and Vance get on a plane bound for Seattle: May 26.

Trip to Indonesia

Dear Friends, Supporters (both individuals and churches) and Family,

Carol, Mark and I just got back two days ago from one of the most wonderful trips we have ever taken.

1. We got on a plane on December 23. We flew for one hour to Manila where we were met by Carol’s sister, Sharon and Sharon’s husband, Daryl. They took us to a nearby hotel where they had a room and we stowed our carry-on bags. We then went to a nearby mall, ate lunch, had coffee and talked. We returned to their room, watched some TV and they took us back to the airport. Did I say we had a great time? We did!
2. We then boarded a plane for the three plus hour flight from Manila to Jakarta. We arrived at midnight. Got our bags, went through immigration and customs and got a taxi for the domestic terminal. We got there several hours before the ticket agents arrived so we sat down, and I realized I left my iPad and a book on the previous plane. Took a taxi back to international where the Philippine Airline personnel were very helpful and found everything at the Lost and Found. Isn’t it nice when things work out!
3. We checked in and went to the gate, boarded our flight from Jakarta to Semarang (only about an hour) and our son, Michael, met us outside luggage. We rode in a “taxi” for one hour through the beautiful countryside of Central Java to the town of Salatiga where Michael, Angie and their two children are living for this year as they work on learning Bahasa Indonesian.
4. The next five days were spent talking, watching old movies, riding around their town, tasting Indonesian food (very good), going to church, hiking to see some old Hindu temples, learning the rythm of days which include the imam calling the faithful to prayer and just enjoying the grand children.
5. We then, together with Michael, Angie and the grandkids, got in a “taxi” and went back to Semarang where all seven  of us got on a plane for a one hour flight back to Jakarta.
6. We ate “junk” food; went to a large beachside recreation center; got drenched in a tropical downpour; walked around a beautiful mall; and talked at the guest house.
7. January 1 came very soon and we took a taxi back to the Jakarta airport, checked in and flew back to the Philippines. We arrived back home in Cebu on the morning of January 2.

Some initial reflections:

• You really do need to learn Indonesian to live there. You can get by with English here but to be effective at all, you need to learn Bahasa Indonesian.
• We are so proud of Michael and Angie and the progress they have made in six short months.
• We are thrilled with seeing how they have made friends in that culture and their awareness of the culture around them.
• The grand kids are doing well. Are they perfect? Of course not, but they are precious! They are going to school at a great school and making good progress, as well.

Some requests:

• Please pray for Michael, Angie, Colton (6) and Macie (4) as they make further adjustments to culture and langauge.
• Please join with us in thanking God for this excellent opportunity we enjoyed with our children. I never dreamed I would be going to see my grandchildren in Indonesia.
• Please thank God with us that our daughter, Katy, just heard that her friend was able to get her car running. It is a 20 year old Honda that was stolen just before Christmas. It was recovered and of course they stole the visors, glovebox (?) and the rug. They also cut part of the wiring harness and that is why it would not start. But now, thanks to answered prayer and her friend's skills, she will be able to drive again.

Thank you for praying for us, contributing to our finances and being interested in what we do.

In His service and yours,

Vance, Carol and Mark

The Johnsons

Serving in the Philippines with Reachglobal, the international outreach arm of the Evangelical Free Church of America.

Going to Immigration

Today we sort of finished something we started three months ago. I am not sure whether to be happy, relieved or frustrated. Maybe it would help if other people gave me some advice. I was wondering what kind of advice you would give me. We have been there six times during this three months and today took five hours.

The saving grace today was that Carol, my wife, was with me. We ate at Jollibee. Did lots of photocopying (you have to do it for them).

Saying Good Bye

Our fourth child, David, got on a plane yesterday to begin life in the United States of America. He has grown up in the Philippines for the majority of his eighteen years. We have been through this before, he is our fourth after all. I just thought it would get easier. Not!

I will be joining him in a month. His mother is already there. By the time I get there he will have a job, a driver's license and various other rites of passage completed. I am not sure I like this. However, I am glad that he has three siblings there already who can help with all the details of getting settled. He does have strong desires, large plans and an element of self-confidence. All of this I am thankful for. I just guess I am still wanting to be the "total" father and he is really launching out.

It did not help that he was taken off the second of the four flights that will get him "home". It was not his fault, the airlines realized that he could not make a connection because his flight was delayed and therefore they put him up in a hotel.

Just wish being a parent was not so complicated.

Check Out Gentle Answers

I have a former boss who has started a very interesting blog call Gentle Answers. I would encourage everyone to read his short, wise comments. He is on blogspot as well.

Strange Sources of Encouragement

Last blog, the one about the child being buried, I asked you to pray for more ways to live like Jesus in the community that we have been called to. God has begun to answer through what I would consider, a less than conventional way. I have always been interested in reading Victor Hugo's Les Mise'rables since Junior High Literature. Last week I checked out the hefty tome (1200+ pages in the translation by Julie Rose in the Modern Library). I just started reading and in the first twenty eight pages I have found much food for thought.

I would encourage everyone to read the first thirty pages.

Buried in the Kitchen Floor

The other day I was reading the local paper, Sunstar, and came across a story that I still find hard to conceive of. A grandfather had been reprimanded by the officials for burying his newborn granddaughter in the dirt of the kitchen floor. Now, I know that it is illegal to just bury someone anywhere but this had to be the most sad incident I have ever heard of.

The child died shortly after being born at home. By now you have all realized that the family is poor. The child died at birth, the kitchen floor was dirt and in a Roman Catholic country burying someone in unholy ground is the same as sending them to hell. Can you imagine what that was like to be digging a hole in the kitchen to bury your granddaughter? What was it like to be the mother in the next room, if the house had more than one room? What was it like to have bury the tiny body in the floor because you do not have any place else?

The local government did not send them to jail. They exhumed the body and buried it in "holy" ground. Then they warned the family to not do it again.

What kind of world do we live in where this kind of thing happens? Please pray that Carol and I will figure out further ways to be Jesus in this community.

Visiting Friends

It is early in the morning on Monday, August 10. I am in Anchorage and enjoying the hospitality of the people of Trailside Community Church. This church has supported us for 25 years and the encouragement from them and other friends here in Alaska is greatly appreciated.

But this is not the only place that Carol and I have experienced this. We have eighteen supporting churches and 60 plus individuals who monthly, quarterly give generously to make it possible for us to stay in the Philippines. These churches and individuals, many for the entire 25 years, have faithfully contributed. The total amount contributed is in excess of one million dollars.

This makes me both humbled and encouraged. Humbled by the large trust lavished on us by these generous donors and encouraged by the fact that they do not quit.

Sadness in Public

Yesterday, I was driving through the center of our town of 96,000 residents at 8:30 AM when I saw a lady standing in the middle of the road. Buses, jeepneys, trucks and private vehicles were going by on both sides. If you live where we do, none of this would sound strange. People regularly stand on the center line waiting for traffic to clear.

What made this unusual was the fact that the mature woman, in her 30's, was naked from the waist down. It is not common but it does happen from time to time. We have been here for twenty six years and this is the second instance for us.

One of the things that comes with poverty is a reduced insulation from problems in the world. This woman, I have no idea what was "wrong", was obviously in need of some assistance. She was distraught.

This society does not have institutions for these kind of situations. There is no place for this woman to "go" so that she will not be seen.

Carol saw a similar situation where the woman was totally naked and pregnant. She went to a local agency of a well known Christian organization that provides help to these kinds of people. She was told that the woman had been there earlier and when they tried to provide clothing she broke the door getting out of there.

I cried. I am not sure what else I could have done. I need to think of something better to do.

Visiting a flooded Church

The view from the roof of the church.











In a pre-school,waiting out the storm in a pre-school.














A car repair shop in the neighborhood. Someone is still living here.













The front yard with things from the pastor's family buried in the mud.













Pastor Ricky and I discussing how to use the funds that I brought to help the church, the community and the pastor's family. Thanks to the donors.














I was able to visit this church three weeks after it was flooded by a typhoon, high tide and the emergency release of water behind dams. The pastor and his family got on the roof of their simple, rented residence as the water rose to 7 feet deep within the house. They then fled to a neighbor and finally to a local daycare center. They have moved back into their residence and with the help of many, they have restored some semblance of normalcy to their lives.

Pray for them as they seek to minister to families all around them.

I want to thank the donors who gave so generously so this could happen.

Books and Students

Because the small school for missionary children closed because of a lack of students we had the fun task of distributing the materials, furniture and computers that were left.

These are few of the students from the college, where I teach, collecting some FREE items. Students all over the world love free things but these students do not get a chance to do this very often.

Thanks to the generosity of many, we had the joy of doing this! There are still many items which will be used in the future to help start several, God willing, Study Centers in the rural areas of this island.

People

This is a small portion of the association of churches that we work with. It was at a conference that I mentioned in the previous post. This group of seventy churches come from basically four regions in the Philippines. This particular conference is being conducted in the Central Visayas, where we live. This is a big advantage for us since that means that they predominantly speak the language that we understand.

Think of that for a minute, when these churches get together they have five languages they can choose from. Most people can speak three of the five (of course which three does tend to vary) so they are much more adept at these things than I am!

Currently we are seeking to move out of the large city we have lived in for the past 22 years and move to the much smaller city of Naga (80,000 population) but we are having a hard time finding housing. Please pray. We want to be there to help set up a Study/Tutorial Center that will enable us to supplement the education that the kids are getting in the public school. I just recently heard of one city's educational system with 40,000 students, 5,000 more than last school year, that has a student to teacher ration of 60 to 1.

We want to find a house that someone will long term rent to us, cheap! I know, doesn't eveyone, but we really feel like we could use this to find a way to meet observed and felt needs in the community.