I received this letter from My dad:

Dear Tina, Christopher and who ever else I can remember their e-mail address,

Here is an article sent to AFM. thought you would like to get a jump on it. It is just an update on a little that took place in 2007. I could have written a whole lot more but it was supposed to be an in short. Love, PA

The time of year has come to give an update on what God can do through a little 30 member Adventist Church located in the Jungles of Palawan.

1. School has just started for 2008, the attendance is at just about 100 students. 30 students at the school in Kamantian and about 70 students in our school in Kensuli. Teachers consist of four Palawano teachers, one student [...] teacher and one Filipino teacher.

2. Cost of running the school last year was $4.44 per student per month. Cost of providing two meals a day for each student was $1.54 per month. Just to make sure you got that. That was per month, not per day.

3. Great things are happening with the clinic as we begin 2008. A new clinic is being built and is almost half done. This new clinic will be a giant 20 x 30 feet. Quite a jump from our current clinic which measures 10 x 10 and originally was a tool shed. However the finishing of the new clinic is dependent on funding. Currently we have reached the zero point on funds but that is all right, there is a lot of catch up work we need to do and God will provide the needed funds at the right time.

4. For 2007 the clinic saw more than 5,358 patients. That is the official count but from experience, maybe as many as 10% fell between the cracks and did not get counted. Cost per patient last year, which included free medicine for all the patients, operations and paying the hospital bill for those patients that cannot be treated in Kamantian, came to a total of $1.34 per patient. (have you checked out hospital costs in the USA lately) Most commonly treated diseases: Malaria, typhoid, pneumonia, worms and TB, along with a whole host of other less routine maladies.

5. The Kamantian church has about 30 baptized members. Attendance at church each Sabbath varies between 50 to 70 persons. When all branch Sabbath schools are considered (about 12 in number) the total attendance for all Sabbath religious service is usually over 200. One new church was built in 2007. This church was built in Males which has no baptized members but they were so eager, that they built the church before anyone had been baptized and before any organized Bible studies had begun. They simply decided that they wanted a church like the church in Kamantian. We only provided the nails. Organized Bible studies have begun with 10 people there. Folks in Bingbilang came to me a month ago and requested permission to build their own church. Currently there are no baptized members in Bingbilang but organized Bible studies have begun. Total church attendance in Bingbilang and Males usually runs about 50-60 people each sabbath.

7. Medivac helicopter service has begun in Kamantian. One minute in flight is equivalent to one hour on foot. Number of flights per week about two or three. Average length of flight is two to five minutes. The helicopter is provided free of charge by Gospel Ministries International. It is hard to calculate the number of lives saved. One example was a pregnant mother who was given emergency transportation to the hospital. It was assumed that the baby probably would not survive but not only did the mother and father recover but a month later she gave birth to twins. With the coming of the helicopter, has also come the discovery of new palawano population centers in the mountains that we were not aware of before. As time and funds permit we are hoping to open up work in that distant region called Tigeplaan.

8. Teachers in training. Marlyn David the older sister to Jilin our adopted daughter is currently thrilled to be attending Mountain View College in Mindanao. It is her hope to gain a degree in education and return to palawan to teach in our schools.

9. Current projects waiting to be finished. A new church for Kamantian. New Bathroom and bathing facilities for the Kamantian school. Printing of Palawano bible study series. Continuation of translation of the Bible. Build a house for Sunday Villarica and his family (teacher at Kensuli). Tapping of new water source in Kensuli. Additional education for our Palawano teachers and the construction of a new lowland base of operations, which will take a considerable amount of time and money, but logistically is a major necessity.

As so often is asked when I return to the USA. Are we having fun yet. Well honestly not always but what I am finding is a deeper fuller joy that reaches deep into ones soul. It does not disappoint but grows and matures as I watch the incredible things that testify that God is truly at work.