PRAISE ITEMS:
1. ANOTHER DALLAS TRIP – Shortly after we sent our September letter to you, I was asked to make another trip Dallas to meet with the Human Resources team of SIL and to work with them on new Duty of Care Standards for our staff. Though it was a short time in Dallas, I believe we made good progress on this task and set the foundation for a lot of follow-up work via email and on-line conversations. The travel was nice and safe, too. As always, thank you for your prayers through those miles.
2. DAD (Elmer Shertzer) – I (Mickey) am deeply grateful to the Lord for allowing me to be in the US during this time in my father’s life and to provide help for him when he needs me. On September 25, it was evident to me that God was orchestrating the events of my life and giving me wisdom. I had planned to take Dad to his church, since Al was on a Men’s Retreat from church. Instead, I ended up taking Dad to the emergency room because he was in a lot of pain. I praise God for the doctors who quickly determined the cause of Dad’s pain - blood clots in his lung - and put him on the appropriate medicines. Four days later, I was able to take him back to his retirement home where he eagerly returned to his busy schedule of activities the following day!
3. IVATAN JESUS FILM – Our SIL colleagues, Andrew and Melissa, who recorded the Ivatan voices for the dubbing of the Ivatan Jesus Film in February, just received 500 Ivatan Jesus Film DVDs ready for distribution! The launching of the Ivatan Jesus Film is scheduled for November 11 on the island of Batanes in the northern Philippines. Pray for good weather, since this will be an outdoor showing. Praise the Lord that the Governor of Batanes is enthusiastic about the launching and has requested that the film be shown in each municipality! Pray God would use this film to bring many to Christ.
PRAYER ITEMS:
1. SUPER TYHPOON HAIMA - As we write this (10/18/16), the people in the northern Philippines are bracing for their 2nd typhoon in 4 days! The new typhoon (Haima) is a super typhoon and is predicted to make landfall Wednesday night (i.e. Wednesday AM EDT – Oct. 19). Pray for God’s protection for all who are in the path of this storm – especially for the people of Batanes who are still trying to recover and rebuild after a super typhoon hit there in September.
2. REPRESENTING WYCLIFFE – November 5 and 6 we will be at Reformed Baptist Church in Lewisburg, PA presenting our work with Wycliffe. It is a great opportunity to introduce the many facets of the work of Bible translation and stories of lives transformed through the translated Word of God. This is our first time to visit this congregation and we would appreciate your prayers as we have this time with them.
3. ABWE TRAINING – November 7 and 8, I (Al) will be at the ABWE Headquarters near Harrisburg to assist with a Security training program for their staff. This is another great opportunity to pass along good information and lessons learned to those who will soon be overseas and in challenging environments. This is also a good opportunity to learn from trainers in other organizations as we share training information and skills with each other in the process of providing training to this group of participants.
4. MICKEY’S HEALTH – I have had issues with dizziness since 1978 when I had all of my wisdom teeth removed. Most of the time over the years, however, it has been sporadic, but for the past year I’ve had more challenges with it than in the past. Your prayers for wisdom in finding the cause and eliminating the dizziness, if this is the Lord’s will, are greatly appreciated.
