Reeves Newsletter June 2022

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.’
Colossians 3:17

Reeve's Supporters Newsletter June 2022
Time to Return Approaches!

As we prepare for our return to the Philippines on 27 th June, we want to express our gratitude to everyone that has made our time on furlough so amazing. We have been looked after so well and everyone has been so generous.

We are returning feeling very loved and blessed by all our family and friends. Since being in the UK we have had the opportunity to share in happy times of celebrations, but also have been able to offer our support to those who have experienced times of loss and sadness. We never underestimate how blessed we are to have so many amazing people in our lives.

Since being in the UK we have received many uplifting reports and photos of how the work in Coron has been doing and even better how it has been growing.

Pre-School Up-date

We praise God that after such a 00 long time of no face-to-face classes it was exciting to hear that the class tutorials have started again at City Gates Academy, Coron. They were focusing on the writing skills and recognition of the Alphabet. It was noted that the children did well in these sessions and were able to benefit from learning with their classmates. This gives opportunity not just for learning but also developing their social skills.

The Recognition and moving up graduation ceremony will take place in July where the children’s achievements will be celebrated.

Summer Bible School

Summer school was held again this May and 350 children attended over the various areas.

The title this year was “Incredible Me! One in a Minion”. It focused on the themes of “I am created”,” I am chosen”, “I am Christ’s” and “I am called” and used various bible characters to illustrate this. The children enjoyed the fun, activities, and the learning. It was also wonderful to be able to bless them with gift bags on the final day when they were presented with their certificates. Special thanks to all who support the project and made this possible.

It was amazing that there were 30 volunteers (youth and parents) who served as teachers, assistants and those who cooked and served food to children. Food preparation and cooking were done in areas where we had the Summer School. It went so well that parents made the commitment to continue with the food preparation and cooking in their area for our regular Children's Club.

We praise the Lord for answered prayers. The increased number of volunteers means that when face to face classes resume, it will be possible to have the Children's Clubs every Saturday with sessions happening simultaneously throughout the day.

Church

Members of the small groups are now consistently attending church on a Sunday and bringing their children with them.

On Easter Sunday there was an awesome time of worship where the children were very sincere in worshiping God. You could hear adults singing but the place was filled with the children's voices as they worshiped. It is great that parents are keen to bring their children to church as they want them to grow in the Lord. After the worship service, there was a great time of fellowship and food.

Furlough 2022

We have had so many blessings to thank God for during our furlough and so many people to thank for making it such a special time back in the UK.

It has been wonderful for us to have had the opportunity to share about what God has been doing in Coron and how He has been growing His Kingdom. It has also been great to be able to thank supporters in person for partnering to enable the work to continue. We were privileged to have opportunity to speak and share at our home church in Stafford Elim Hope Church, Birmingham City Church, Elim Northampton, Salisbury Elim, Beltinge Baptist Church, Herne Bay Baptist Church, Christchurch Barnabas Fellowship, Friends Together fellowship and Stone community Cameo meeting. We thank everyone for making us feel so welcomed and for all the support, prayers and encouragements. Thanks also to all the churches and individuals who made donations and gifts to support us and the work in Coron.

We had the wonderful opportunity to attend Elim Leaders’ Summit in Harrogate. It was great to be refreshed and inspired by amazing speakers and teachings but also to have opportunity to spend time with our home church staff team and connect again with other missionaries, the Missions office staff and individuals from other Elim churches we had not seen in some time. We also had our first ever trip to Betty’s Tea Room!

We were so thankful to all who gave us a place to stay during our travels and for always looking after us so generously. It was a blessing to spend time with you all.

We were also blessed by being given the gift of a break away on our own in beautiful Rudyard.

It was also such a huge blessing to have our own base at our flat, that had until last December been rented out. We were so thankful to everyone at our home church at Stafford Elim Hope Church who furnished and put everything in that we could possibly want or need and also got our car on the road again before we returned.

Most importantly, we were so grateful to have precious time to see family and friends during this furlough. We had missed them all so much. We had lots of celebrations to catch up with, lots of hugs and laughs! We also enjoyed many delicious home cooked meals, much missed good ole English fish and chips, coffees, cakes and more!

Praise and Prayer

Thank you for your prayers.

We thank God for an amazing time on furlough with family and friends, old and new while in the UK.
We thank God for the ability to connect in person with City Gates Academy’s Sponsors to be able to build relationship.
It’s been such a blessing to receive all the reports from the team on Coron how the work has grown over the past months, especially the commitment of the youth volunteers and the parents who have become engaged with the work in their areas.
We ask for your prayers as we travel back to the Philippines at the end of June and as we integrate back into life in Coron again.
Pray for the children who attend the children’s clubs to continue to grow in their faith and for continued support from all the volunteers.
Pray for wisdom for the preparation of our Recognition and Moving up graduation ceremony and for preparation for the return of face-to-face school.

Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter, we are so thankful for all your support and could not be doing any of this work without you.
Many Blessings
Love from Andrea and James