Still in Bonny Scotland ...

Still here ... only just! We have booked our flights 'home' for Monday (30th March) from Aberdeen. So we will have been home for around 6 weeks altogether.

We are sure that we made the right decision and we have been able to spend a lot of time with David & Wilma up in Wick. David had his 3rd chemo last Friday in Inverness and is learning to rest and not push himself too hard between treatments (not easy for us men!) The great news is that he gets his next one in Wick - so no 9 hour round trip by train. This has given him a real boost. But I think the greatest boost is to see Lydia & Josiah with him for a while ... they have been really good children. We were able to celebrate David's 66th Birthday last week (below).


It is always sad to say goodbye but our plan is to come home for itinerary next March, so it won't be long until everyone sees us again! Don't know if this is good or bad!!! We have been able to see almost all of our friends in the last few weeks, even our lovely friends down in the Central Belt.

Also been able to do quite a bit of ministry over here in many churches. I felt that the message God gave me was to 'look up and see the harvest'. I am preaching at New Hope, Peterhead on Sunday morning and I feel it will be a significant day. Pastor Neil Cameron and his team are doing great and I went there last Sunday night ... place was packed. On Sunday night we will be at Fraserburgh Elim but I will pop up to AoG to say goodbye to all our friends there.

I leave you with a new link from one of our churches in the Philippines. It is San Isidro and they have started a new blog. I apologise on behalf of all the other blogs, I don't know what has happened to the Pastors over there! When I get back i will try and inspire them to blog. I think the internet connection has been off for nearly a fortnight, to be fair.

But check this blog by Pastor Alex Ritua regarding San Isidro - it's encouraging! http://www.ccsi-online.blogspot.com

Don't worry ... we are still experiencing Filipino life over here! I can park my car down the harbour and within 5 minutes of saying 'Kumusta' to a Filipino fisherman (there are around 300 here!) there will be a crowd of Filipinos everywhere! Even in Wick, we bumped into a few in Tescos ... and took them out for a coffee (below)


Be blessed. Will blog soon ...

Back Home

Sorry for the lack of blogs recently. So many things have been happening in the last few weeks and we are just catching up with ourselves! The main reason we are back in Scotland is because Mary's dad - David - was diagnosed with a serious strain of cancer and we decided to come home to spend time with Mary's parents and help them at this difficult time.

We only had a few days to get things sorted out at Sefton. I think Mary and I had around 20 meetings with people in a couple of days. The great thing is that Keith & Anne are still there and will return to UK in April 7th. Matthew & Claire are also there, so we decided that we had a window of opportunity to come home ... and we did. We only have one life and we are often faces with difficult decisions ... but I often preach that 'people are more important than things." No regrets.

We arrived back to cold & snowy Scotland on February 13th. We spent the first weekend in Fraserburgh and had the opportunity to attend the Dedication of our wee niece Eve (Mary's brother's girl) This was a real unexpected bonus!


We then went up to Wick and were there for almost two weeks. David was diagnosed at the beginning of February and then immediately started his first treatment of chemo. Many are praying for him ... and we are seeing the results of prayer. He reacted very well to the fist treatment and felt much stronger. The pain in his hip went and he was able to walk and even drive. This gave him a real boost. We had a great time as a family, with the kids, and that alone was worth the air fare!

We drove him down for his second chemo two weeks ago and then I took the kids down to Fraserburgh to give David & Wilma some peace! Again, David reacted so well with the chemo. Mary stayed in Wick for a few days and then joined us in Fraserburgh. We stayed there over last weekend and I was able to minister in Elim and Emmanuel churches in Fraserburgh. Really enjoyed it!

We needed to get away as a family and we managed to book into a fantastic place called Crieff Hydro. All you Scottish people ... you need to come here! Amazing. Whatever the age you are ... there is something for you to do. It has definitely the best kids facilities in any hotel I have ever been to. Today, the kids went swimming twice, went to soft play, went to the outdoor adventure playground, ate at the amazing 'Kidz Buffet (with tons of good food and also Angel Delight etc!) and tonight they spent 2 hours at the Kids Club - completely supervised by staff. This is all free as part of your accommodation! Josiah told me that "it was the best day of his life!" If you don't believe me ... believe him!


We are going down to the Central Belt on Thursday to visit some friends down there. We will go back up to Fraserburgh on Saturday (I will be preaching at Fraserburgh AoG on Sunday) and then on to Wick Monday. And then ... we'll take it from there!

At the beginning of the year we were given a word from a good friend -"Take one day at a time." We didn't understand it then,but we do now! David gets his 3rd Chemo on Friday March 20th and we are praying for continued strength. If he does well we will plan to go back to the Philippines on the last week of March.

Pray for us as we learn to draw from God enough grace as we need for each day. Pray that we would do the right thing and not be impulsive in our decisions. Pray most of all for David as he journeys through these difficult days. For Wilma, as she supports him and tries to maintain her life. For Mary, as she tries to help her mum & dad at this time. It's not easy and she wants to do the best. For the kids, as they adjust to moving around and meeting new people. they are amazing really! For all at Sefton, as they have to adjust to us not being there.

Thanks for your love and encouragement at this time. Will keep you posted on any news.

Many blessings,

Mark