Greetings from the Espinosa family! We would like to share stories about volunteers at our AWA Philippines – Palawan Project!
Being short-term volunteers can be awesome! However, it takes a special person who can leave all the comforts of home to come and live in a hut. The Haddads and Gene Porter are some of these special people!
Mark & Linda Haddad are both temporarily retired, but have always had a passion for missions. Several years ago, Mark served as Treasurer at the South East Asia Pacific Division in Singapore. Before that, they were student missionaries. They decided long-ago that after their kids graduated, they wanted to spend time as missionaries somewhere. Before signing the dotted line for service, they wanted visit some mission fields first to see if they were still up for it. They sold their house and downsized, and then were off to join us here in the Philippines for 6 weeks. We were blessed that we were their first stop!
They both jumped right in, helping wherever needed! Linda was happy to wash dishes and rake leaves in the heat. Both took leading roles in holding evangelism meetings, painting guest buildings and helped with building the church when an Academy group came from Canada.
Gene Porter is another volunteer near and dear to our hearts. He is not retired, but owns a ranch, growing and trucking hay. Whenever possible, he likes to take time off and travel. We are always happy when we are one of his stops! He too is always happy to help and quickly jumped into cutting rebar for the church, cooking for our family, preaching, and helping wherever needed.
The Bible says if we are faithful in little things, God will make us ruler of many things. (Matthew 25:21). Life here has its challenges, even when it comes to the basics of life. The heat can make you grumpy, the bugs can be annoying, the many tasks that we do daily can wear you out. There is not much time-off. Having dear people, like the Haddads and Gene, come are a breath of fresh air to our souls! Their faith in God was so encouraging, their hard work and smiles even while doing the “little” boring things, really went a long way, and we will remember them for a long time.
We thank them and all the other short-term missionaries that we have had for leaving their comforts at home and helping us out here. Some come for only a week or two, each time it’s a shot-in the arm, and we are grateful! If you are interested in volunteering, please contact the AWA office with the contact information at the bottom of this letter.
A quick update: at the writing of this letter, work has started on the runway! We are very excited. It is graded and we are laying the rock. We do not have enough funds yet to finish the project, but we are stepping out in faith, and are ordering loads of rock and gravel as the funds come in. We NEED to complete this process before the rains turn it all into a mud bath in July. If not completed by then, we will have to wait until dry season in January. One load of rock or gravel costs $300 USD. We will keep you posted as this exciting step unfolds!
Your AWA Mission Family stationed at the AWA Philippines – Palawan Project,
Edgar and Raylene Espinosa
