Farewell Friends

We have been blessed during the last eight months to spend time with the Cepeda Family. Ned knew Vince and Audrey from his days of working at the Iglesia Bautista Betania in Reading, PA before moving to Ecuador in 2001. Vince and Audrey served there as youth workers for a few years in the 1990s; subsequently they came to Guam for pastoral work. Vince and our pastor Tony Pérez studied together at Calvary Baptist Seminary in Lansdale, PA. Now Vince and Audrey and their children Benjamin, Joseph, David and Leah have headed off to Alaska where Vince is the National Guard chaplain at Fort Greely. We will miss them, but we thank God for the time He has given us together, and we know we will meet again on either side of heaven.
Benjamin, a gifted pianist (Ned had the privilege of seeing him and Joseph play in their school's piano recital), also shows his artistic talents on the Magna Doodle while David admires his work.
In this picture Audrey keeps an eye on Amelia and Leah. Joel told us he was sad that his friend Leah had to leave Guam. As parents that gave us a good-sized lump in our throats, but we think it is important for our children to learn these lessons in life early. Perhaps Joel and Amelia will grow up to deal with change in their lives better than their parents.
Before leaving, the Cepedas donated a bed, a sofa, a washer and a drier to PIBC. Thanks so much for your generosity. Our maintenance director was hopping on one foot, from excitement, of course!
Adiós, amigos. Hasta luego.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Goodbye Guam, Alii Palau!

Image
Here is a recap of the final days of our friends Hiob and Leah and their children Micah and Jireh in Guam. They have returned to Palau where Hiob will serve as senior pastor of the Koror Evangelical Church. We all started together at PIBC back in fall 2006 and we have worked together, laughed together, cried together, prayed together, and grown together. Although it is hard to say goodbye, we know that they will be a blessing to the Church in Palau, and we find comfort in the words of the Michael W. Smith song "Friends": friends are friends forever if the Lord's the Lord of them. Amen! We had a BBQ in their honor on campus at the beginning of June before the Thai mission team left. Delight posed with Micah and Hiob during a break from barbecuing. He is a fantastic barbecuer. Notice he's even holding the tongs, to a barbecuer what a hammer is to a carpenter. As always, everyone enjoyed the food, the centerpiece of any Micronesian celebration. Before our friends left,
Read more

Amelia says, "Goodbye, Long Hair!"

Image
Amelia finally had her hair cut after six years of no cutting. She likes her new haircut and enjoys combing her own hair for the first time ever. She wants to donate her hair for child cancer patients, and we are pleased that she wants to share with others. Here are some pictures before and after.
Read more

GOOD THINGS HAPPENING 3

Image
 A little background to this story.  I have been a fan of The Waltons from the beginning of the series.  In 2017 I attended the 45th anniversary celebration of the show in Schuyler, Virginia, the small hamlet where the series' creator Earl Hamner, Jr., was born and raised.  Perhaps I can share a bit more about that in a future post. During that weekend in March 2017 I met Reen Christie Bula (a/k/a Tammi Bula), who played John-Boy's love interest Marcia Woolery in the early seasons. Here is a shot of Reen and me, As well as a shot of all the cast member in attendance at the reunion with the exception of Michael Learned who went to bed early due to a play appearance the following day. During the weekend Reen, her husband Gordon and I shared time together, and she shared with me her testimony, how she came to the Lord through the witness of friends (she was working as an RN at the time) and how she saw the sign of Pi in the sky one day which prompted her to check out John 3:14-16
Read more