Family Events

During April and May, we went home to prepare for and celebrate two special events in our daughters' lives. On May 8, Becca was awarded her nurse's pin from the Georgia Baptist College of Nursing under Mercer University. Her missionary Uncle Allen Hill was there to distribute Bibles to the graduates along with her Filipina friend, who organized the graduation activities.
On May 9th, Becca graduated with her class of 94 graduates,

who had all worked very hard to earn their nursing degrees.
We returned from Atlanta, Georgia, to Memphis, Tennessee,

where Matt and Rachel were to be married.

They both work at Chick-fil-A

while attending the University of Memphis.
Matt's mother Linda and sister Ashley

gave Rachel a shower in Jackson, Tennessee,

where Rachel had attended Union University.The wedding was at the Foresthill Baptist Church,

Matt's home church, who also gave a second shower.

How we enjoyed the members of this church,

who welcomed us and helped in anyway they could.

As you can see,

they also gave generously to Matt and Rachel.
As the wedding day drew near,
Rachel Lehman, our Rachel's dear MK friend,
and Becca arrived to prepare for the Bachlorette Party.
Then there was the wedding rehearsal

with the bridesmaids and flower girls

lined up on one side of the platform.

And Matt with his groomsmen

on the other side.

With the exception of a few special friends,

most of the wedding party were

from the Williams or Buford families.

After the rehearsal, Michaelle

gathered up the flowers for decorating.

Only one problem,

she isn't gifted in flower arranging

or decorations.

But she has a big smile because...

Valerie, Rachel's wedding coordinator,

and her MK friends were gifted

at both decorating and flower arranging.

They did a great job with both.

The Lord provides! Before the wedding, Rachel's grandma,

tied the bow on Becky's bridesmaid's dress.

Grandma had come 3 weeks early

and stayed busy helping in countless ways.

Dad performed the wedding ceremony

assisted by Matt's Grandfather,

who is also a pastor.
Meet the newly weds Mr. and Mrs. Matt Williams.

At the reception, Andy enjoyed a hug from his sister.
Both Brian, the best man, and Becca, the maid of honor,

wished Matt and Rachel God's best.

All our missionary careers,

we have saved for a house when we retire.

Folks said, "Now is a good time to buy."

So we prayed about it, and the Lord provided.

The former owners were godly,

committed Southern Baptists,

whose daughter and husband, the Rollins,

also served as IMB missionaries in Brazil.

Matt and Rachel get to enjoy living in it first.

Tennessee Partners Come to Bicol

The Tennessee Partners took 4 flights

to arrive in the Bicol Region of the Philippines.

Ptr Ken came from Oak Valley BC in Franklin, TN, and joined

Ptr Ron and Bro Mike from West Jackson BC in Jackson, TN.

After a little shopping, these men arrive in Baao, Camarines Sur,

where Terry and Michaelle Buford live.

The town of Baao centers around the Catholic Cathedral.

Terry decided the group would focus on building relationships with men.

On Sunday morning, Ptr Ken spoke at Pili BC

while Ptr Ron and Mike joined the SS at the Villa Grande BC.

Ptr Ron spoke during their worship service.

After lunch, they joined the family fellowship and enjoyed the games.

Monday, the group joined Merlin and Wayne Pharr,
who have been reaching out in the village of San Jose, Iriga.

In San Jose, Mike found men, sitting around a table and drinking.

Ron found a retired seaman named Henry.

Terry found some guys playing basketball.

Ken gave the guys a basketball net.

On Wednesday night, Ken led singing at a Bible study at the Pharr's house.

Ron told the story of the brazen serpent while Terry interpretted.

Mike gave his testimony while Ptr Abe interpretted.

On Tuesday, the group went to Taisan, where Sharon has been working for 2 years. The group started to hike up to a military camp,

but Ron slipped and Terry fell on the muddy trail.

The military officer refused to let them talk with the soldiers.Ron and Terry did their best to clean up in a stream.

After talking with the village captain,

Ron found a group of guys to share the Gospel

with while Ptr Tito interpretted.

On Friday, they visited the poorest school

Terry had seen in the Philippines.

Ron asked, "Who will go to heaven--good people or bad people?"

His answer was--only those who have been forgiven.

The men were amazed they were allowed to go

from classroom to classroom,

sharing the Gospel.

They rode a cart along the railroad tracks to the place

where Ptr Tito and his church lead Sunday afternoon Bible studies.

There along the tracks, Ron found some men to talk to.

Thank you,

Ptr Ken, Ptr Ron and Bro Mike,

for joining us in reaching Bicol for Christ.

Christmas Mission Team

Meet the team--Matt, Becca, Rachel, and Shannon.

Bicolanos love to celebrate, so this year we celebrated Christmas with them.

As soon as the team got off the plane,

we headed for the beach...

And took a boat to go snorkling.

Rachel was so happy to be back home and

to introduce Matt, her fiance, to the Philippines.

We all enjoyed getting to know him better.

"Hey, Matt, want to taste balut?"

"Balut? What's that?"

"A fertilized duck egg."

"Yuck! No way!"

On December 24,

we invited the neighborhood children

to our house for a Christmas party.

The team helped prepare the snacks

by putting hotdogs and marshmallows on sticks.

More than 50 children came for the party

some with older siblings or parents.

To help with crowd control,

we gave each one a blue, green, or yellow name tag.

While folks were still arriving,

Becca played "Pin the Star on the Tree" with them.

When everyone was there,

Terry told those with blue name tags

the Christmas story of the wisemen.

Most heard this story for the first time.

Rachel, Shannon, and Matt played games

with those wearing yellow name tags.

A snack was served to those with green name tags.

When Terry finished his story,

each group rotated until everyone

heard the story, played games, and ate a snack.

Then everyone took turns fishing for a gift.

The children especially enjoyed the puppet play

called "Christina and the Bells".

The party ended with the children tossing water balloons.

They enjoyed the party and so did we!

On Christmas Day, we celebrated

with a church in Dapdap, Sorsogon.

To get there, we drove for 2 hours.

Then we took a 30 minute boat ride

followed by an hour and a half hike

through the mud.

When we arrived, Ptr Mike welcomed Matt and the whole team.

While Michaelle and Shannon made preparations for the games,

The children joined Becca for a picture.

Matt and Rachel organized some games.

Ptr Mike proudly passed his new baby girl to Shannon to hold.

After the celebration, we hiked back to the boat.
To our surprise,

about 15 church members joined us for the hike

to be able to fellowship with us a little longer.

Just when we thought we couldn't make another step, we saw the boat.
What a day this Christmas had been!