Encouraging Signs

Well, we are back from our weekend away! We had a great time - games, sport, worship, bonfire (taught the Filipinos how to make chocolate-marshmallow-bananas!)good ministry and lots of laughs. We only gave the church 3 weeks notice but we had over 100 turn up. The typhoon caused a great deal of rainfall on the last day. Never mind - we had planned to go swimming anyway, so when you are wet .. you can't get any wetter! The typhoon also knocked our internet down from Saturday until today - so apologies for no blog yesterday. Sometimes living back in Scotland seems so straight forward ...

On Saturday, we took Lydia back to Santiago for her ballet performance. She went to 'Baby Ballet' for 3 weeks, and on Saturday it was the time to show off her stuff! She did so well and even got a Certificate for 'Most Energetic' (don't know if that is actually good or bad!) Wasn't she beautiful?

On Sunday I spoke about "The Power of Encourtagement & Affirmation". Sounds a bit boring I know, but actually my message had a big impact on many people. You see, the Philippines is low on encouragers. Before I came to the Philippines I read in a book of the story of five crabs being boiled. Just when one had finally reached the top of the pot .. the other 4 pulled it back down! This is the general trend in the Philippines (although there are exceptions). In UK, we tend to encourage each other by saying things like, "That was great, or keep going, or don't worry you did your best and that's OK". Here, people just keep quiet and say nothing! The Lord placed on my heart that Sefton was going to be a PLACE OF ENCOURAGMENT! And it is.

Here is a good quote I used on Sunday by a guy called William Arthur Ward:

"Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will never forget you."

So here is a little bit of encouragement for you:

Pastora Julie - I have visited her every day and many of our staff have been praying for her. She looks and feels so much better. On the first day she could not walk and was carried in. Yesterday she was sitting at the edge of her bed and had walked 3 times around the Fire Centre! She is eating much better now and her spirits are lifted. She still has a very large and hard stomach where the tumour is, but I am believing that this will go in the name of the Lord. Keep praying and I will keep you in touch.

Baby Larah - Baby Larah is home from hospital now, having undergone a blood transfusion and a bone marrow aspiration test. We were not allowed to get her home until her platelet count had reached 50, and she is still on steriod treatment to increase her platelet count.

Today she went back for check up, and although the platelet count has gone up, it's not really the inprovement the Doctor was expecting. We have 2 more weeks to really soak Larah in prayer before the Doctor will do more tests and possibly diagnose leukemia. Thank you so much for your prayers. We are positive about Larah as she is looking so much better. Keep on praying for a miracle. (Incidentally, Lyrah who is also with us is thriving! Praise the Lord!)

So be encouraged .. and even better ... be an encourager!