been there... done that...

This pretty much sums up how the last 6 years have been for me and my family... 

a little background info:  in 2008, Dan and i resigned from our nice jobs, sold our house, left our kids and (at the time) one grandchild, and moved to Cebu to help with my parents' ministry because my Dad had become quite ill and we weren't sure he would recover. Well, he recovered -- praise God for that! -- but then, in December 2009, my Mom had an asthma attack along with a heart attack and was deprived of oxygen for more than 10 minutes, rendering her brain dead. She was put on life support until late December. But, even after she was taken off life support, she hung on for 3 days before she finally took her last breath.

In 2012, my Dad remarried. (I'll just leave it at that...) Dan and I left for what we thought would be a short visit to the States in late October 2012, but then were told in a very mean-spirited email that we were no longer welcome in Cebu. What hurt most was that it came from the father I had always loved and respected... Or maybe it didn't... Maybe he just allowed someone else to convince him to write the ugly email. I don't know I'll ever know... 

Anyway, we had sacrificed so much when we moved to Cebu. We had shipped all our worldly possessions there because we thought we would finish out our days there, helping with the ministry. To be told that we were ineffective as well as other not-so-nice words were painful to read mainly because they weren't true. So for 5 years (2012-2017), we stayed in the States, licked our wounds, began to gain our composure and our self-esteem with the help of our kids and grandkids.

The pain and losses that we endured were really tough (especially when our bedroom in Cebu was emptied and all our personal stuff was moved to the Seminary's library where anyone and everyone could see them!! That was very humiliating). But through it all, the Lord was gracious to us. He used the churches we attended to bind up our wounds and slowly restore our desire to be in ministry again. 

By 2015, we were ready when our son Justin started his own ministry, TELOS EUARESTOS MINISTRIES, INC. (TEMI). TEMI's vision is to TRAIN, STRENGTHEN AND DEVELOP others to become more effective in their respective areas of ministry. TEMI's projects include:  the Marge Alcala Isidro Educational Initiative (MAIEI), named after my Mom, which is currently helping 10 deserving students at Brooke's Point Christian High School; providing VBS materials to churches in Cebu and Brooke's Point; and 2 Bible Schools -- Cebu and Brooke's Point. Justin's dream is to go beyond the Philippines and the US. One area where he would like TEMI to get involved is Uganda where a good friend of ours who herself is Ugandan started a children's ministry. Due to her physical limitations, she is unable to continue the work, but Justin would like to see TEMI pick up the reins and help in whatever way we can... someday...

so, yes... it's been rough but despite some people painting us as worthless and deeming our contributions to the work in Cebu as nil, God did not give up on us. He allowed us to rest and become reinvigorated and, heading into our late 60s, here we are... starting Bible Schools in Cebu and Brooke's Point and handling other aspects of TEMI's ministry here in the Philippines. God has given us new momentum and continues to give us the strength--physically and spiritually--that we need each day.

How thankful we are that we can still be used by God to further His Kingdom through TEMI. His ways TRULY ARE BEST and I'm thankful that we didn't allow the opinions of others to keep us from using the gifts and talents that God gave us to be effective for Him.

We have learned to embrace the life that God has given us and in my humble opinion, it sure seems better than what we might have had in Cebu... 

just sayin'...