Hafa adai from Guam. We pray this update finds you well this Thanksgiving season. Holidays can be hard for a lot of people. This Thanksgiving is definitely different for us. This will be the first major holiday without our kids home, but we still have so much to be thankful for. First, we are so grateful that God led us to Guam. Even we didn't see the plan, He did. We are just so glad we stepped out of the way and let Him lead. Second, we are grateful to all of you. The ministry in Guam could not happen without the prayers, love and financial support of all of you. And third, we are so very happy that the people of Guam have welcomed us with open arms.
So, what has been happening in Guam since we returned from furlough you may be wondering? A lot!
Salvations
"As for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord"
Joshua 24:15
We are excited to announce that we have had two of the Agat Community Church youth make the decision to accept Christ as their savior. On the left is Napu. He is one of 7 children. He is the third of his siblings to accept Christ. Amy is on the far right. She and both of her sisters in the photo have accepted Christ. We will be having a baptism for the two of them on November 23rd following our Thanksgiving service.
Construction on the Parsonage
While construction efforts had begun on the parsonage, it came to a halt due to it being the wet season in Guam. We are still getting rain nearly every day but are moving into the dry season. The construction company has been in touch with us and reviewed all of the interior components of the house. All materials for the overall construction of the house are on island now too. They are expecting interior components such as cabinets are anticipated to be here in January. We are also waiting for the construction company to bring in backfill to compensate for the low laying areas that do not drain well. The fund-raising efforts this summer were successful in raising funds for solar panels. We cannot thank you all enough for that.
Mini Truck Ministry
The mini truck has been busy since we have been back too. The latest project was to help the school with soil. The elementary school across the street from the church is starting a garden to teach self-sustainability. Took a few trips, but the mini truck got the job done!
School Supplies and Uniforms
This summer GB Women's ministry put out a call for donations of school supplies and funds for school uniforms. You all outdid yourselves. These few pictures do not do justice to all of the supplies we received and were able to distribute. We have also been able to purchase uniforms for more than 20 students across the island. Each set of uniforms includes five tops and five bottoms. We have also been able to provide close toe shoes for several students through your donations.
Private First Class Allie Brantley
Defense Language Institue
Monterey, California
Allie is still at DLI in Monterey. She has had some difficulty with language learning. But she has been giving a chance to restart her classes. That will be happening this week. We had held off on putting her address out until we knew what was going to happen. We ask that you continue to pray for her and her ability to pick up the language well. From language school she will either go to Arizona or Texas for AIT. We will keep you all updated as we know. If you would like to reach out to her, her address is:
PFC Allie Brantley
PO Box 5706
Monterey, CA 93944
Jeremiah Update
Top: Chuuk runway
Bottom: Pohnpei runway, left
Ta runway, right
Jeremiah is doing great in Pohnpei. He flies between Chuuk, Pohnpei and Ta once a week. He is flying for Carolina Island Air. They do passenger flights and cargo flights. Over the past few months, Jeremiah has been making flights to some of the outer lying islands of the Federated States of Micronesia to check the condition of the old runways. The company would like to open flights back up to help people travel and ship goods between the islands. Recently, he was able to land in Onoun, one of the islands belonging the state of Chuuk. It has been about eight years since flights have been available there. (photos below)
While we are so proud of all Jeremiah is doing and getting to experience, there are times when the photos he shares with us make us a bit nervous. The photos below are from Sapwuahfik. It has been about eight years since anyone has landed here too.
At 20 years old, Jeremiah has had some really awesome experiences and opportunities. He is very thankful for all of them. We love that you all ask about him and pray for him. If you would like to drop him a line, his address is:
Jeremiah Brantley
PO Box 510
Kolonia, Pohnpei 96941
Halloween Extravaganza
Halloween is a touchy subject for a lot of Christians. Do you celebrate or not? Do you participate in community events or not? We deal with the same questions. This year we had the bags donated in the photos from River of Life Missions. They included bibles, bible color books, Christian activity books and more. We added the infamous mini-Jesus figurines, chick tracts and the hours and contact information for the church. The kids helped assemble the bags and pass them out. They knew that they would not be dressing up or participating in the "festivities" of the evening. They were all ok with that. They ended up passing out 90 bags/Bibles!! Then they walked around, on their own, and passed out the mini-Jesus's and invited people to church. We were so impressed with their boldness for Jesus. Now we pray that it impacts someone in the community.
We know this newsletter came out a bit late. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Moving into the holidays we pray for each of you and your families. We want to take this time to thank everyone for their love, prayers, supplies and financial support. You don't know how much that means to us and thank you doesn't seem to be enough. We would not be able to do any of the work that has been done here without God's blessings and people being willing to support and send us. We pray daily that we are constantly found doing God's will.
Please follow us on Facebook and/or Instagram. We love staying in touch with you all. If you have any prayer requests, please let us know. We would be honored to pray with you and for you.
Thank you again for your kind and loving support.
Thank you and God Bless,
Cathy, Schuyler, Jeremiah and Allie Brantley
PO Box 8345
Agat, Guam 96928
Praises:
people stepping into leadership roles in the church
families attending church together
Our current prayer needs:
parents to attend with the new children coming to church
new families to continue coming to church
hearts to be prepared as we evangelize to the community
prayers for Allie in training and her military career
Jeremiah as he continues to navigate living in a foreign country
**On a side note: Thank you to all who send coupons, I can still use them! They can be expired up to six months. We also have our Amazon wish list link below. We are so blessed by all of the donations that help the ministry thrive in Agat.
