May 2002 Hallowell Hightlight Newsletter

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=120 BGCOLOR="#FFCCFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0443f781egdyul.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#009900" FACE="Arial" ><B>Proclaim His Praise in the Islands - the Hallowells</B></FONT> <B> </B><B>|    </B><B> </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Proclaim His Praise in the Islands the "><U><B>Home</B></U></A></div> <div>                                                   </div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=360 BGCOLOR="#CCFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> May 2002 Hallowell Hightlight Newsletter</div> <bR> <div> <B>Page 1</B></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Hallowell Highlights</B></div> <div> <B>The Newsletter of Jay and Amor Hallowell</B></div> <div> Members of OMF-International in the Philippines</div> <div> c/o BSOP, 77-B Karuhatan Road  P.O. Box 11  1469 Valenzuela, Metro Manila  Philippines</div> <div> May, 2002</div> <bR> <div> Dear Friend,</div> <bR> <div> We are excited that things are coming together so that we can do what we believe the Lord is calling us to do.  We are scheduled to return to the Philippines on May 16, 2002 for a four year term with OMF.  </div> <bR> <div> OMF will be loaning us to the Biblical Seminary of the Philippines (BSOP) to help to prepare Chinese students from both inside the Philippines and outside the Philippines for ministry.  (Please see the page <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="BSOP"><U>Our Plans to Teach</U></A>.) </div> <bR> <div> For a long time it felt like it would never come together.  </div> <bR> <div> First we “lost” months due to health issues.  It started with Jay who picked up a series of upper respiratory viral infections that left him barely able to breathe.  His doctor's diagnosis was that he was “unlucky” and needed to rest.  It took months for him to shake those infections.  </div> <bR> <div> Then as Jay started to pick up energy again Amor got hit with her "female" problems.  Her doctors wanted to do everything to avoid surgery, which seemed to just drag out her problems for months.  Finally we insisted on a hysterectomy against the preference of her doctor.  During the operation the surgeon found a second serious medical problem that could only be handled by the surgery.  We are grateful that the Lord had led us to insist on surgery even though we did not know of this second problem.  </div> <bR> <div> We thank God that now we are both back to 100% health-wise.</div> <bR> <div> Then, when we were able to resume travel, speaking, etc., the work of Home Assignment, it has taken us longer to get support together than we had hoped.  This probably means that our hopes were unrealistic.  At the start of our home assignment our support was at 42%.  We ended up traveling thousands of miles more than we expected and speaking and visiting in a lot more places than we had planned.  But, while support is still just short of 100%, OMF will allow us to leave in faith, expecting God to bring in the small part that is still missing.</div> <bR> <div> Of course, in God's economy we did not "lose" the months of illness or the extra time in deputation.  The extra months of home assignment were a time of healing not only our bodies, but also the emotional and spiritual "bruises" of a long and sometimes difficult five year missionary term.  It allowed us needed time to reconnect with family, friends, and churches.  We affirm that He is bringing things together at just the right time.</div> <bR> <div> Because God so loved the world,</div> <div> Jay and Amor</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Page 2</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="649" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 148 WIDTH="637"><div> Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city…"  </div> <bR> <div> Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  </div> <bR> <div> Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#009900" FACE="Arial" >   </FONT></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> James 4:13-15 NIV</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>But is it safe?</B></div> <bR> <div> Nearly every day someone asks us if it is safe for us to return to the Philippines.  We really appreciate the question since it shows that those who ask are aware of potential danger in the Philippines and that they care for us.  But it is not a particularly easy question to answer.</div> <bR> <div> Two things in the news seem to bring this question to the minds of many.  </div> <bR> <div> One is the kidnapping for ransom of Martin and Gracia Burnham, New Tribes Missionaries to the Philippines, last May, 2001.  They are still being held.  (See  <A HREF="http://www.praythemhome.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.praythemhome.com/"><U>www.praythemhome.com</U></A> for their latest news.)  Please keep on praying for them. </div> <bR> <div> The second, not completely unrelated to the first, is that the US government has stationed troops in the Philippines for "training" purposes as part of its anti-terrorist program following the September 11, 2001 attacks.</div> <bR> <div> We will be going to Manila, which is a reasonably safe city.  It is quite a long ways from the parts of Mindanao and neighboring islands where most of the Muslim separatists are based.  That is where most of the violent "terrorist" activity is and where the American troops are doing their training.  </div> <bR> <div> We use our common sense and avoid areas that are particularly risky.  On a regular basis OMF pulls missionaries out of areas judged to be too risky or avoids stationing workers in areas that are too dangerous.  The area we are going to is one that both we and OMF judge to be safe.  </div> <bR> <div> We will do what we believe the Lord has called us to do.  We will not lock ourselves into our apartment and avoid going out.  We will be exposed to a certain amount of danger, as is everyone in the whole world, as we live and minister.</div> <bR> <div> We genuinely believe that the safest place to be in the world is where the Lord wants us to be.  A number of places in scripture affirm such an idea  We have put a passage from James 4 in the box on this page as one example.  The Lord can take any of us any time or completely change our plans.  We follow him.</div> <bR> <div> Our goal as believers is not to live lives of safety, but lives of love, faith, humility, and trust in the Lord.  We do not do obviously unsafe things such as throwing ourselves off of high places to test God, following Jesus' example in this.  (See Matthew 4:7 or Luke 4:12.)  But we follow and trust Him.</div> <bR> <div> We do not feel that moving to Manila is a particularly risky thing.  Or at least we feel that it is not a lot more risky than life in Colorado with its traffic accidents, mountain avalanches, blizzards, flash floods, forest fires, tornadoes, crime, and so on.  </div> <div> We understand that the sovereign God is in control.  We rest in Him.  We follow Him.</div> <bR> <div> Please pray for God's peace in the Philippines.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> Page 3</div> <bR> <div> Page 3 had the same information as our web page <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="BSOP"><U>Our Plans to Teach</U></A>, so we are not repeating it here.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> Page 4</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="457" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 607 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="0aac2590.jpg" border=0 width="450" height="601" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 57 WIDTH="451"><div> This poster, a paraphrase of a promise the Lord gave us before Home Assignment (HA) (see date!), kept us going during our difficult and extended HA.</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Thank You!</B></div> <bR> <div> Many of you have been a significant part of our Home Assignment and of our being able to return to the Philippines.  <I>Thank you very much for listening to the Lord and letting Him use you to encourage us.  Thank you for your prayers, your encouragement, your gifts, your meals, your support, your cards, letters, e-mails, etc.  We will miss you.</I></div> <bR> <div> If you sense the Lord leading you to support us,  please contact us, our church, or:  </div> <div> OMF, 10 W. Dry Creek Circle</div> <div> Littleton, CO  80120-4424</div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.us.omf.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.us.omf.org"><U>www.us.omf.org</U></A>, 1-800-422-5330</div> <bR> <div> Any gifts designated for our ministry are tax-deductible.   Personal gifts (such as for birthdays or Christmas) may also be channeled through OMF at the address above, clearly marked as a personal gift.  Personal gifts are not tax-deductible.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> by Jay and Amor Hallowell</div> <div> May 7, 2002</div> </td> </tr></table></body>