June 2023 Prayer Needs from Travis and Natasha Phillips
I hope you are encouraged in the Lord and amazed by His work in your personal lives as well as by what He is doing in the world.
We probably don't say it enough, but THANK YOU so much for your continued prayers and financial support. We are in awe of the Lord's grace in allowing us to learn and minister here month after month. Thank you for allowing the Lord to utilize your time and resources to help us in the work in the southern Philippines. Several of us guys met until about 9:30pm last night to discuss needs in the unreached language groups on our island and where future allocation may happen. We appreciate your prayers in these decisions. More about that another time.
As you read ahead, you will see why I've decided to write an update now for the months of May and June (hint: June will be a little crazy)
On May 14 we celebrated Mother's Day with our local church (picture below). Then a couple of days later we had the privilege of celebrating Lily's third birthday (picture below). She continues to be a sweet, sweet kid and a ray of sunshine in our home. We are so thankful to the Lord for the gift that she is to us. On May 17 Natasha and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary, and friends watched our kids so that we could go out on a lunch date! :) (picture below). Language study continued on as usual, but we had fun celebrating these three special occasions in the in-between times.
Lord willing, on May 31 I will have my first opportunity to preach in our church in the Bisaya language. Of course I have nerves, but I’m also excited for the opportunity, and hope the content of the message challenges and encourages the hearts of those in attendance. Please pray for my preparation for the message, and that I will be able to communicate God's word with clarity. I am SO thankful for my language helpers who have been helping me work through the grammar structure, vocabulary and cultural things in preparing the message.
Please continue to pray for our language and culture studies. Natasha and I are just over half way through Phase 4 (out of 5) meaning we are on track to check out of Bisaya language study in about 6 months, Lord willing.
Looking ahead, June is an exciting time because Natasha and I, along with our kiddos, get to experience our first Philippine field-wide conference. We will get updates from many church planting works from several regions in the Philippines as well as get a refresher course in analyzing worldview. Please pray for safety on our flights and drives to and from conference, for our kids who will be in a new environment for a week, and that it would be an encouraging and God-glorifying time for all.
Finally, I am sneaking back to the U.S. for six days to officiate my best friend’s wedding on the Central Coast. I will meet with Atascadero Bible Church leadership and staff for one evening to pray, provide an update and to hear how things are going in their lives and ministry. I will also get to play a round of golf with my brother and dad for Father’s Day. And of course I’ll get to reconnect with many family members after 18 months overseas. Please pray for safety in travel and that I wouldn’t get completely wrecked by jet lag going there and back so quickly. Please pray for Natasha and our girls during my time away from them.
Thank you so much!
Blessings in Jesus’ name,
Travis (for Natasha, too)
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