Joel and Missy Davis Expanding the Reach of the Gospel in the Philippines …an update from the Davis family
Years ago, I went rappelling. Burned in my mind is the feeling of falling back on the ropes and kicking my way down the cliff. Such a fun experience (ok, and a little scary too). But what is rappelling without someone holding the ropes for you? Nothing. It becomes a freefall down the mountainside. It becomes a lonely – and risky – endeavor. It becomes something that is not what rappelling was designed to be.
Joel and I were just talking about how grateful we are for you, our supporters back home, holding the ropes for us. We are really glad to finally be here in the Philippines. But it is incredibly intense to live in another country! There are days that I cry because I miss everyone at home being a part of our daily lives. There are days that I tell the taxi driver to “turn frying pan” instead of “turn left”. There are days that standing out so much is more difficult than others. And on those days we know the Lord is with us every step of the way, and He knows every struggle as we adjust to a new country and a new culture. And on those days it is such a comfort to know that YOU are there, praying for us and lifting us up.
We get emails from a lot of you saying that you pray for us EVERY DAY. Every day!! That means SO much to us. We want you to know how blessed we are to know that you are on our team.
TYPHOON UPDATE
Thank you so much for praying for our family as we experienced the national crisis of Typhoon Ondoy (also called Ketsana) and Typhoon Pepeng in the last month. Ondoy did extensive damage in the Manila area. Pepeng turned and hit the northern part of the island, away from Manila. It did some major damage as well.
We were so grateful to be living in an apartment on the 8th floor, in an area that doesn’t flood badly. Thank you for your prayers for our family as we weathered the storms.
This car belongs to an NTM staff member here. It was completely submerged in the flood. Joel and some of our friends got to go and help get it cleaned up and running again.
Our language teacher, Beth, is doing well. She and her family stayed in an NTM-run guest facility here in Manila for several days as they picked up the pieces of their lives. Everything in their home was completely destroyed by the muddy floodwaters. They are looking for a location to rebuild eventually.
We told Beth that lots of people in the States were praying for her. She is so grateful to you. She is a believer with a steadfast faith, and her trust in God has been a huge example to us all.
WHAT ARE WE DOING?
We are in full swing with language school. Right now Joel is required to put in 8 hours of Tagalog language study each day, and I put in 6. So far it is going really well! We have days where our brains seem to reach full capacity and we can’t cram one more word in. Please pray for us to do the best we can with language study!
We have 2 hours of formal classes every day, plus several more hours we put in on our own.
OUR GIRLS…
Our girls are doing great. They are growing and changing and surprising us every day. Now that Camryn is getting bigger, they are playing together more and more as friends. We are so excited to see that! Ryley is ever the princess, dressing up every day and dancing in the living room. Camryn is walking and running like a pro, and saying new words every day. Her newest ones are “birthday” (I’m not kidding!), “baby”, and “dewey sissy” (”sorry sissy”… which she ends up using several times a day while the sisters learn how to play nicely together).
Our big girls!
Both girls seem to be adjusting well to being here. They both love riding in the local transportation… jeepneys! Ryley has times where she really misses her friends and cousins back “home”. Please pray for her to be able to talk about her sadness, and to learn about God’s perfect love for her when she is missing everyone.
SUPPORT UPDATE
We are currently around 80% support right now. We are still praying that we will reach our 100% goal as Manila has ended up being quite a bit more expensive than we expected… and so have our school bills and visa costs. If you are interested in joining our team, or in just giving a one-time gift, it’s not too late! Just click on “Give” at the top of this page.
Thank you so much!
Thanks for holding the ropes…
It means so much to us! We really do see you as part of our team, reaching the unreached with the Gospel here in the Philippines. You are such an encouragement to us, and we love hearing from you. THANK YOU for standing with us.
Under His Wings,
Joel, Missy, Ryley & Camryn Davis
In memory…
We were saddened to hear of the death of our friend and Joel’s former Moody flight instructor, Ron Royce, on October 22. He was flying with student Adam West and had an accident in the mountains of Tennessee. Ron was an amazingly talented flight instructor with 40+ years of experience, an inspiring walk with the Lord, and hysterical sense of humor. He will be missed. Please pray for the Royce and West families.
