Day 3 London

Today was a day of resting and getting our bearings straight. Visited Twynholm Baptist Church in Fulham (a part of London) and shared about our trip. Getting ready to eat dinner so I do not have long but wanted to give you an update. Hopefully after dinner I will have time to upload a photo from our walk through Richmond Park. It is a very large park that is abundant with wildlife. I have had the privilege of visiting this park on two occasions now and am still amazed at how the deer react to the people. Watching jay Leno on a British show called Top Gear, I used to watch this show when I had BBC America at home but now I have to wait for reruns and watch it on Hulu.com. Guys should check it out sometime.

Gary

Day 2 London

Just wanted to give a quick note to let you know that we are in England, all a bit tired but all in one piece. Hopefully we will be over our jet lag quickly. Other than Lyndsey who used me for a bed post last night on the plane we have had little sleep and it is now about 1:00 in the afternoon. Plan on going to bed tonight around 10:00 or so. Will try to get some photos up soon.

Gary and Family

Day 1 Departure

We are sitting at gate B19 waiting for our flight. Praise God all of the luggage made it through with no extra fees. We were told last night that we were only allowed one bag per person and the rest would be $50.00 each. God worked it out out so that the lady checking us in was a Christian and she did her best to find a way to get them through with no fees. So now we are waiting for the plane to come in so we can board. We will be in Washington D.C. in a couple of hours waiting for our next flight that will take us to London. We leave D.C. at 10:08 p.m. keep checking back for updates. The man at the gate is right now making a call to the passengers of the flight about to leave. He is telling them that they are only allowed 1 personal bag we were told that we would be allowed 2. If you happen to read this before we board in the next hour please pray that we will not have any problems getting them on board. Thank you to all those who helped us get ready for this trip. At one of the last churches where we visited and I spoke the first thing that I said was how great it is to be a part of the Family of God. This week many of the family of God went out of there way to help us get ready for this trip and I am so thankful and blessed by your friendship.

Gary Phillips & Family

Visa #5 is in Our Hands!

We are set to go, all 5 visas came back and we have our tickets as well. We are leaving our house tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. to head to the airport. We depart at 7:46 p.m. heading to Washington D.C. and from there to London. We will arrive in London at 10:15 a.m. on the 30th. Can't wait, it has only been a short time but it seems like it has been forever. God is in control and though He has allowed a lot of things to happen that we would rather not have happened we know that He is in control. Though we wish we were not leaving on the heals of a funeral we know that Kelly's dad would want us to go. Please pray that while we are away she will be able to work through the grieving process. We are at 85% and are praying that the rest will come in while we are gone. Keep checking back and hopefully soon we will have some interesting pictures share with you.

Gary

Visa Visa Visa Visa

In case you were wondering we have 4 Visas in hand now hence the title of this blog. We are still waiting on Taylor's which is supposed to be here on Thursday. No guarantee! Bags are being packed, fridge and freezer's are being emptied! We are mourning the loss of Kelly's dad amidst all the activity. There is a funeral on Thursday and we are supposed to leave on Friday! I say supposed as I have left it up to Kelly as to when we will leave. So far she is still wanting to leave on Friday as planned. Please pray that she will feel God's love and embrace and the love of her family and our Church family. Pray that I will be attentive to her needs at this time.

Oh yeah we are at 85% now, God is amazing it seems like we get a gift just about every day now.

Gary

81%

I am at a loss for words today, my father-in-law unexpectedly passed away this morning. Please pray for Kelly.

Our Little World Traveler is Home!

My wife is complete again today, our oldest daughter is back in the good old US with us once again. Taylor was on a two week missions trip with her school to France and she just got back today. She will have a week at home and then we are heading out to Africa. I am glad that she was able to go but I am more glad that she is home. We left the airport and went and had her photo taken for her visa and mailed her application off to Washington DC. We have been assured that we will have it back in time for our trip and are trusting the Lord to make it happen. If not we will know that the date of Jan 29th was not His date and we will reschedule once we have the document in hand. I have seen God open many doors to make this trip a reality and I know that if the 29th is His timing then the visa will get to us on or before the 29th so that we do not miss our flight. Keep us in your prayers as we wait to see how God is going to answer this prayer.

Gary Phillips

P.S. I hope to have some interesting photos to add to the blog in a week or so! Sorry, but until then all you get is my thoughts.

A Call For Prayer!

We have applied today for four of the five Visas to Ghana and will apply for the fifth one when Taylor gets home from France. There is a possibility that we will have to make a trip to Washington DC to get hers back in time. There is some concern that all of the Visas will be late in getting to us in order for us to leave on the 29th. Please pray that God will carry us at this time. Until now I have told many that I feel like we have been God's hands and feet doing the footwork for Him here. Now that we have sent the Visa applications in it is out of my hands and is in God's hands. Now it is up to us to trust Him and have the faith that He is asking from us to let Him carry us. I do not believe that God would let so many things to come together that would allow us to buy our tickets just so at the last minute He could stop us from using them. Taylor's Visa is still a question and I will be making some calls tomorrow to the Ghana Embassy in Washington DC to see what can be done to insure that it is in our hands by the 29th. Please pray that the Embassy will work with us, we have only been told how hard they are to work with so please pray that God will soften their hearts to our need and they will work with us to get the Visa in time for us to leave on the 29th.

I also wanted to let all of you know that if you have tried to leave comments and were not able to please try again. I have the problem fixed and look forward to reading your comments and questions. Please do leave comments especially while we are in Africa, you words of encouragement will be a huge blessing to us when we are homesick.

Gary Phillips

75% before the 15th!!

We made it to 75% at about 11:00 p.m. on the 14th. We are now praying for the last 25% before we leave so that we can go to Africa without worrying about our finances. God has met every request that we have put before Him so far. There are a couple of new requests that we have started praying about and we are waiting to see how He answers these requests. We have had several conversations with one friend of ours who is a Pastor in a Fairborn church. He has said (on more than one occasion) that he thinks that Christians go through life afraid to ask in faith for great things to happen in their lives. I must say that up to this point in my life I have never really asked God to do great things in my life either. I don't know if it was a lack of faith or merely a lack of believing that God had great things planned for me. I am not sure exactly how to say what I am trying to say here, I hope I am making some sense. I guess I am trying to say is that until now, I had not seen God doing great things on my life. Ever since I have stepped out in faith believing that God wanted me to take my family to Africa and trusted God to provide a way, He has done just that. He has answered all of our prayers and removed any obstacles that Satan has put in our way. Sometimes within minutes God has answered our prayers often within a few hours. God has provided large and small amounts of money at just the right time, an example is how he provided the last $200.00 that brought us to 75% an hour before the deadline that it was needed by. That is actually a much bigger story than I have time for tonight but I will one day take the time to write it down and post it for you to read. Today I was praying and thanking God for all the ways that He has proven to me that this is what He wants us to be doing and I was surprised and encouraged at how many ways I could name. This adventure as I call it has not been without disappointment and hard work but I honestly have enjoyed every bit of it. It has been so fun to see a roadblock put up just so God can knock it down. I hope that every one who reads this is encouraged and that each of you who know me will see that God can truly use anyone to do great things. Yes I am not anyone special even though I often may act like I am, I am just a regular guy with regular job and a great family. God has chosen us to do this and we are excited about what adventures lay ahead of us. The real adventure has even started and I have had a lot of fun, so I can't wait to see what God has in store for us once we get to Ghana and Togo. Please pray that we will be able to get the remaining 25% ($5500.00) before we leave, and that the issue that could hold up Taylor's visa will all work out so that we can leave on the 29th as planned. Oh Yeah! I almost forgot, we got our tickets today we fly out on Jan 29th at 7:46 p.m. if anyone wants to see us off. Some of the girls friends are planning to meet us at the airport to say goodbye, all are welcome. Let us know if you are interested and we will give you the details as to when and where to show up. We have learned that God truly has great things for you if you are willing to step out in Faith and Trust Him.

Gary Phillips

$200.00

That's it folks just another $200.00 and we are at 75%. I believe that God will provide the $200.00 by the 15th. We are still waiting on a few of the gifts that have been promised to arrive but are trusting God for them as well. We are anticipating leaving on the 29th but have one more small hurdle to overcome with regards to Taylor's visa. Not to be repetitive but we are trusting this to God as well. It has been amazing to see the finances come together these past few days. Please keep praying that the last 25% ($6000.00) will come in before we go so that we do not have to worry about it while we are gone. Thanks to all who have supported us, we have been blessed by so many in so many ways I can't begin to write it all down.

Thank you,

Gary Phillips & family

Please Pray

We are currently at 58% of our financial support and need 75% by the 15th. In short we need to raise about $4000.00 between now and the 15th in order to purchase our airline tickets. Also we need a few of the gifts that we have been promised but not yet received to come in so that we actually have enough money to purchase the tickets. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to make plans to depart on the 29th of this month. We are also putting Taylor in a plane to France for a two week missions trip this Saturday. Pray that they will have safety and many opportunities to show God's love to the people of France.

Gary Phillips

Busy Week Ahead of us!

We are getting ready for a very busy week, tomorrow we are speaking at New Song Fellowship in Fairborn for the a.m. service. Monday evening we are meeting with the Elders of Beavercreek Christian Church to share with them about our trip and have them pray over us. Wednesday I am sharing with the AWANA group at Emmanuel Baptist Church of Xenia. Friday Kelly and I are having lunch with a couple who own a business in Xenia, I am hoping to have lunch with another Christian business owner this week as well. Lord willing we are going to be taking Taylor to the airport this Saturday to send her to France on a missions trip with her school. The following Sunday we are speaking at 2 different churches. So this is a big week ahead of us with a lot of opportunity to share with folks about our ministry to Ghana and Togo. Please pray for good health and open hearts and minds to what it is that we have to say. Pray the we will have enough finances received by the 15th of Jan so that we can purchase our tickets. At this point there is 28 days before we are supposed to leave. God brought in 50% of our need in 4 weeks he can bring the rest in in 4 weeks if He so chooses.

Gary Phillips