Friday, May 13, 2011

Where is God Taking Us?

I thought I would try and bring everyone up to date on what is happening with us in regards to a future in full time missions, at least everyone who reads this blog.

It started about 2 weeks before my father passed away (March 11, 2011), all of a sudden doors that were closed for the past 10 years began opening.  The first door was Wycliffe Bible Translators, they are very interested in us joining their photojournalism team in Nairobi, Kenya.  This is exactly what I want to do so I am partial to Wycliffe but I am trying not to allow my desires to get in the way of what God wants for us.  That is why I am looking at all the possibilities that are before us at this time.  I have had many conversations with Wycliffe and we are ready to apply but we can't until we get a credit card paid down.  God has already answered that prayer and now we are waiting for the check to come so we can pay down the card.  Once we get it paid we will start the application process.  Africa Inland Mission was the next open door and they also want us to go to Kenya.  If we were to go with AIM then we would live in Kijabe, Kenya and we would be dorm parents at the Rift Valley Academy in Kijabe.  RVA is a Christian boarding school for Missionary kids, we would be living in a dorm with the kids and would be their surrogate parents.  RVA is a big school with more than 500 students from more than 20 countries.  Some of our other duties would be maintenance work or teaching photography at the school.  Morgan and Lyndsey prefer this option as they both want to go to RVA.  So far, Kelly also prefers this option.  I also am beginning to think this is my favorite option, but photojournalism is what I would love to do as a missionary.  AIM was the second open door but was the first one that we started applying with.  The next open door was World Team, who I was not really excited about at first but the more I talk to them the more excited I get.  They are very aware that we are looking at other opportunities and have asked us to consider a 1 to 2 year trip to their West African field.  They will tailor a trip around our skills and desires.  They want me to work as a photojournalist and document the work that their missionaries are doing.  They also have many opportunities for a maintenance/construction/mechanical person, as much or as little as I want to do while we are there.  There is also a boarding school called the Rain Forest International School where we could be dorm parents and the girls could attend.  We would be in Niger part of out time and then in Cameroon part of our time.  We recently started the application process with World Team as well.  Evangelical Baptist Missions is the latest open door, they were one of the first but it started as only a crack but has all of a sudden swung wide open.  They just today asked us to consider coming to Mali for a survey trip.  They have a couple of things that they would like us to consider.  In Mali they want us to consider running their guest house in the capital city.  I would also do maintenance and help build churches in the villages.  I could also teach photography at a MK school or to the locals to give them a skill with which to support their families.  They also have a lot of opportunities for us in Niger.  There are pros and cons with each of the ministries but I am honestly very excited about each one of them.  One of the things that we are trying to do while we look at our options is to get out of debt as much as we can.  God has been proving Himself mighty in this, He has blessed us in ways that we can't explain and we give Him the honor and praise that is due Him.  Just this year we were able to pay off 2 credit cards and just recently we made the last payment on our van.  We have a second mortgage on the house that we hope to be able to pay off by the end of the month and we hope to have our last credit card paid in full by the end of the summer (or at least the end of the year).  This will leave us with a school loan and a mortgage.  Isn't God amazing, we have struggled for the past 8 years (while I was working) to pay these bills.  Now that I am unemployed not only are they being paid, they are being paid off.  I can't explain it other than this, God is a God of Wonders.  I could go into more detail about the opportunities that God is giving us at this time but I have a hard time keeping the details straight so I think I will just stop this post here for now.  Hopefully I will have an update for you soon.

Photoman

Thursday, April 28, 2011

It Was A Big Job But We Will Be Finished On Time!

Sorry that it has been so long since my last post, this answer to our prayers has turned out to be a lot of work.  I am not complaining it was a blessing, it just took all our effort and energy to get everything out of the house by May 1st.  We were able to get everything that we want to keep out but there is still quite a bit of stuff that we are giving to our church youth group that we need to move tomorrow.  The youth group has an annual sale in the spring, so it made sense to give a lot of the stuff that we didn't want to them so they could move it.  The plan was they would get a group of kids together and they would load and unload it.  Well that is not happening so I get to help the youth director load and unload it.  So one more day of moving and we will be all done, with the move that is.  Now we have the monumental task of unpacking and finding places to put all of the stuff that is currently sitting all around the house, in the garage, in a trailer (that is sitting in our backyard), in my moms garage and in a small storage room of our church.  Tonight I have to go back to the house and take down some ceiling fans and put up the regular lights that were there when we moved in, load up the rest of the cleaning supplies and wait for the youth director to help us move stuff tomorrow.  Will keep you up to date hopefully a little better after this move is finished.

Well, I just got finished with the fans and putting up the old lights, so now I just have to get the stuff to the church youth sale and load up all of the cleaning supplies.  That should take most of the morning tomorrow and possibly part of the afternoon, depending on how much help I have.  Then I can turn in the keys and ask for my move out incentive money.  Praise the Lord!

On a side note, Kelly and I are trying our best to get completely out of debt (not including the house) so that we can get on the mission field sooner rather than later.  In order to do this we are selling a lot of things that we have collected just for this occasion.  We started collecting things just for the sake of collecting them knowing that we may end up on the mission field one day we decided that we would sell them when the day was looking more realistic.  That time it seems has come so we are selling a lot of things (mostly my things as I am the collector of the family).  We have over 500 board games, I am selling all of my darkroom equipment, all of my film cameras, all of my small collectibles and I am not sure what else off the top of my head.  We are also selling an electric range, a microwave, a dishwasher and a few other things.  Possibly a bed or two as well.  If you need any of these items or know someone who does leave me a comment (with your name and number)and I will call you.






Photoman

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Answered Prayers

My wife and I have been praying that God would help us get our last credit card paid down so that we could apply for Wycliffe Bible Translators as career missionaries.  We need $1000.00 to pay on the credit card so that we can apply with them.  I can't really go into details but today we received a phone call and we were promised $1000.00 by May 1st.  It will come with a commitment on our part but we agreed and will be able to pay the card down the first part of May and begin the application process with Wycliffe.  We are still looking at Africa Inland Mission very closely (maybe more closely than Wycliffe at this point) and are planning to apply with them as well.  Many other options are still on the table but we are pursuing each one until God closes the door on them.  Please continue to pray that we put God's desire for us above any desire that we have for ourselves.  If you are reading this and would like to hear more about our ministry in Ghana and Togo last year I will be speaking at Calvary Baptist Church on April 3rd (this Sunday) at 6:00 p.m.  I will give a recap of our trip and give more detail about what God is doing in our lives currently.  Hope to see you there.

Gary Phillips aka Photoman



Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Decisions!

Lately, it seems that God has been opening many doors and giving Kelly and I much to think about in relation to our desire to be on the mission field in a full time capacity.  We have several mission agencies who have been in contact with us about possibly joining them.  If it were up to me I know which one I would go with but with so many doors opening we feel it is only wise to step through each one and see where they lead.  I have finally learned that I need to be willing to put my desires behind me and seek God's desire for me first and through this He will give me the desires of my heart.  We are presently talking with Wycliffe Bible Translators, Evangelical Baptist Missions, World Team, African Inland Mission, and Christian Missionary Alliance.  Each of these agencies have expressed interest in us and we are excitedly watching as God takes us on this new journey.  Please pray for us as we look at each of these ministries and try to determine which is the best fit for us.  Pray that God will give us clear direction and that we will listen to Him and not our personal desires.  Also pray for us as we try to pay off the remaining credit card that we have.  We need to have the balance below $1200.00 ASAP and the remainder paid off by June 2nd, we currently owe about $2200.00.  Without a job this is not going to be easy but God is faithful and has been providing us the income that we need to pay our bills.  Pray for Kelly and I as we look at our budget and try to find ways to spend less and pay it on the credit card.

Gary Phillips

Monday, March 21, 2011

Arrowbrook Baptist Church

Yesterday I had an opportunity to speak at Arrowbrook Baptist Church (One of the churches who supported us on our trip to Africa) and give a follow up report about our trip.  They gave me a copy of the service on CD so I decided to upload it to the blog for everyone to hear.  Maybe I should rephrase that, I decided to upload it for those who have nothing better to do than to sit and listen to me talk for 45 minutes.  If you take the time to listen first let me say thanks and second let me apologize for the poor sound quality at the beginning of the message.  I was wearing a lapel mic but it does not seem to work very well when I turn away from the podium.  During the first part of the message I was talking about slides that were being shown behind me and I would have to turn around and look at the images to know what to say.  When I turn around the sound quality goes way down, the lapel mic was supposed to be my main mic but the podium mic was obviously the main.  Someone who was listening to the disc today asked me if the people at the church could hear me better.  I hope they could!  You can hear everything I say if you listen closely and after I stop talking about the photos the sound is fine for the rest of the message.  So if you are still willing or if I have peaked your interest click below on the words listen to Gary to hear what I said.   A new window will appear and the audio should start right up.

Listen To Gary


Hope you are not bored,


Photoman

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Alzheimer's

My father passed Friday at 7:25 p.m.  He is now in heaven in a perfect body and is able to remember who we are.  I am confident that he is watching over us even now.  The details of his funeral will be decided in the morning but the waiting is over and now we can bury his remains and mourn his passing.  All the while helping my mother get used to being on her own.  The last 18 months of her life has been sitting in a nursing home with my father who couldn't even talk to her.  She took very good care of a man who much of the time didn't really know who she was.  Now she will have so much time and will not know what to do with it.  I am afraid that she will want to lock herself at home and feel guilty about doing things and enjoying life without him being a part of it. Please pray for her, her name is Marie.

Gary - aka- Photoman

Friday, March 11, 2011

A Time to Mourn!

Today my family suffered a great loss in the death of a great man, my father!  He suffered with Alzheimer's for the past 8 years and finally succumbed to the disease.  He passed peacefully while sleeping with my mom and his sister at his bed side.  We will miss him greatly but he is now in a place where the diseases of this world can no longer harm him.

Dad,

I will always love you and I will miss you until we are reunited in God's yard!

Gary -aka- Photoman

Welcome to our blog.

This blog is an attempt to chronicle the things that God is doing for us and through us both here at home and while we are in Africa. We will be updating this blog weekly while we are home, Africa will be a different story. Due to unreliable electric and Internet we are not sure how often we will be able to but we plan to update daily if we are able.

If you would like to support us financially for this trip to Africa you can send checks to us through our church. Make Checks payable to Emmanuel Baptist Church with a note for West Africa Missions Outreach. Mailing address is 1120 S. Detroit St. Xenia, Ohio 45385 Phone is 937-372-5887.