Nope, it's not soup, it Hope's collection. She loves to collect shells and little sea creatures. Most of which she returns to the sea, thankfully!

Yummy snacks!!

 Tired from all the fun in the sun, Hope  fell asleep on the way back to the city on her Daddy's backpack.

The view from the boat as it nears Davao City.

Hi Everyone!

I am very happy to say that we are all in good health again. 

On the last day of the last camp Nate was not feeling well but thought it was from the water. It turned out, hours later that his appendix had ruptured and he had to have emergency surgery.

This is something we never wanted to experience, let alone in a 3rd world nation for crying out loud! 

 

But I do have to say, I feel like my hand was 'held' through out the whole ordeal.

The doctors and nurses were excellent and our whole team was amazing. 

Someone from our team stayed with us constantly. Amy was here.( Amy is the founder of this ministry) and Glen and Sarah Biggs, our base leaders, made sure we had the care and attention we needed. Glen and Sarah were at our house shortly after we called them at 4:30 am to take Nate to the hospital and Amy came right after and kept me from falling apart completely!  Another wonderful team member, Juvy came to take care of Hope. Hope loves  Juvy! Hope thought it was a fun play day and that is just what we wanted her to think.

After I came back from the hospital to check on Hope, I found that she had a slight fever. She acted like she was fine, running and playing...but soon she slowed and her fever got stronger.

She broke out in huge hives all over and off we went to the hospital!

All is well now, we got through it ok. We were all well taken care of and our team supported us to no end. Someone was with us around the clock, many times that someone was Amy. We had  prayer, love, comfort, food, a clean house, and anything we needed. Our great friend Khristina took care of packing our bags and things at the house and even calling the States for us. Everyone was wonderful.

We want to thank you for your prayers and support. It means more to us that we can even begin to say.

The work we are doing here matters to a lot of people, and we know it matters to God. Being where God wants us, doing what He wants us to do is the safest place on earth, even if it is in the Philippines.

May God bless you and yours and keep you in His tender care.

The Troias

    Looks like a good time! But, Hey - we have learned to make the best of things!!

(The couple smiling (actually, they were laughing) are out base leaders)

Seriously though, Nate was waiting for surgery.

I look much more relaxed than I really was...then hours later I had to bring Hope in to the ER.  She was admitted and she and her daddy were just a few doors apart on the second floor of the same hospital for a few days. 

Not fun.

Adventures At Youth Camp

Hope at Hope Mountain

Hi Everyone!

These have been amazing weeks. 

Global Impact has organized 3 weeks of youth camps at Hope Mountain. And three weeks of Youth Academy. (More about the Academy in the next post)

Nate has been serving as a leader at the camps and has had an incredible time being a part of these kids lives for the past couple weeks. Hope and I would go out to the camps during the days and the stories of what these kids have been experiencing is wonderful. Many of the kids have never eaten 3 meals a day or had their parents love and attention. Many come from heart breaking backgrounds. But for these weeks, they experience love and care, 3 meals a day and snacks. A safe place to sleep and hugs, laughter and adventure. They see the love of God displayed through the leaders. And they are taught about their worth and importance as individuals. That God loves them. That we love them.

 The impact of these camps for these kids is very real. And we pray..lasting. 

I hope you enjoy these photos.

Many Blessings!

The campers getting ready for the activities of the day.

Nate with his team. It has been a wonderful experience to be a part of these camps and the kids lives. 

Very cute and creative kids!

The river at Hope Mountain. The campers and staff have great adventures here!

One of the team building activities at the camp is to build a raft using rope and bamboo and ride it down the river.

Sucess! Down the river they go.

   

The evening services at the camp were amazing. The music was fantastic and the messages were real.  The kids experienced the Love of God in Christ and responded to Him. Many were delivered of fear and torment. Many were physically healed. Many recieved Christ for the first time and many recieved the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

A Box, A Bed and A Birthday!!

Hi Everyone,

We are happy to finally have internet connection and phone service again. We moved into our new home on March 24 and yesterday we got it! Praise God. We know we live in a 3rd world nation, but some how, we keep expecting 1st world results...I think that people call it, 'culture shock'. 

Our friends, Dave and Sheree Shannon sent us a box! Boxes from the States are like a lifeline for missionaries here. That post mark carries comfort and hope! I am serious. We were like little kids, Nate and I. We were so excited, and Hope could not contain herself! When she heard a package had arrived for us, she squealed and came running!

See, this was our first package from the States since our arrival 6 months ago.

I had lost a lot of weight and many of the clothes I brought with me don't fit anymore. And it is very challenging to find our sizes here in a nation of petite sizes. Sheree put 2 fantastic shirts in the box for me. I cried. It was wonderful, and chocolate!  Thank you Dave and Sheree, for ministering to us so beautifully. 

While we were preparing to move into our new home, we needed to find creative ways to furnish it. We came to the mission field with a few suit cases each. One of the basic needs was beds. Bamboo was our best, most affordable option. So I got to try my hand at designing furniture for the first time. Things turned out quite well, thankfully. And Nate created the color I was looking for by mixing stains together. The results were great.

We celebrated our sweet daughter's 5th birthday. She began telling everyone months ago that her birthday was April 9th. Our friends were ready to celebrate when the day arrived! 2 team members from New Zealand put together games for the kids, complete with prizes and 2 other team members found the exact cake Hope had described! (No small ordeal)

And our new neighbors made fried chicken and pasta. It was a wonderful night with about 30 guests.

It has been a full few weeks and I hope to be posting again soon. 

This is a busy time for Global Impact. The youth academy is in full swing. The academy is to help train youth leaders from 5 different churches that will serve at the youth camps that begin Monday. There will be 3 weeks of camps. 200 kids each camp. After the camps, there will be 2 more weeks of the academy for the leaders. Nate will be serving as a team leader and I will be on hand for prayer ministry and support for the leaders. We will also be part of a team that help mentor the leaders after the camps. The leaders will help mentor the campers after the camp.

We welcome your prayers and comments and emails. They help bring strength and encouragement to us.

Love & Many blessings,

The Troias