Hope-filled Greetings!

He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater;

He sendeth more strength when the labors increase,

To added affliction He addeth His mercy;

To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.

His love has no limit; His grace has no measure;

His power has no boundary known unto men.

For out of His infinite riches in Jesus,

He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again!

When we have exhausted our store of endurance;

When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,

When we reach the end of our hoarded resources,

Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

This hymn’s words came alive for our family this year more than ever. We not only sang these truths but we also lived it in 2008.

We came back to Manila from our two and half years stay in Davao City with barely 50% of our target monthly support. It was nothing short of a miracle that we survived the first half of the year. A generous mentor and his wife opened their home to us and we had a place to live for four months, rent-free. Out of God’s infinite riches in Jesus, He giveth and giveth and giveth again.

The Lord led Mang to the ministry of Open Doors (OD) in April to serve as technical assistant to the regional director of the Southeast Asia base. He helps in the training of pastors and church leaders in the area of the theology of suffering. He travels once every month to seek out ways on how OD can be of help to the Body of Christ in various places. God sendeth more strength when the labors increase.

Grace took a step of faith and returned to the University of the Philippines to finish her MA in Language Education program. In the course of her thesis-writing and defense she met one crisis after another – two delicate pregnancies, mission work relocation, sickness, hospitalization and two deaths in the family – that it felt as though she was in a dark tunnel with no light at the end. Finally, after 10 years, Grace finally defended her thesis and graduated. She even had the privilege of presenting her paper at the International Conference for Language Education at the Manila Hotel in December 4. God giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater; to added affliction He addeth His mercy.

There were quite a number of times when the children fell ill this year, sometimes due to weather changes, at times due to spiritual warfare (especially when Mang was on a crucial ministry trip). The worst was perhaps when Lian Ed had a viral infection that gave him 40°C fever and when our baby Josephine Himig had to be hospitalized overnight for measles. The kids are now healthy and strong. God’s power has no boundary known unto men.

This coming year we know that God’s grace would abound even more. The world economic crisis is no reason for us to be moved. For when we reach the end of our hoarded resources, our Father’s full giving is only begun!

Have a joyful Christmas and a hope-filled 2009!