We have much to catch up with you since our last update.  As this year started we anticipated several mission trips, however we had no idea of all that God would be doing, which would include three mission trips thus far, a new addition to our family and transition in Leon’s medical treatment.  As these first six months have passed so quickly,  here is our much needed update.
 
Mission travel and activity:
In February we went to Puerto Peñasco, Mexico.  We were there for two weekends, which gave Leon time to do a two-part message on Sundays and for Teresa to minister during the midweek service.  However, we spent most of our time visiting with individual families and the Lord really blessed it.  It was so good to talk to quite a few of the people in the church one on one and hear their hearts. We also had a sweet time of further getting to know Conrad and Heidi and their family who had returned from being sent out from the church as missionaries several years before.  They had successfully planted a church and worked in several other ministry areas.  Upon returning they were filling in as directors of Peñasco Mission Center and as interim pastors in the church.  We are very impressed with this couple and their two children, and could see God’s guiding hand in their return.  It was a very blessed trip.

In April we traveled to Mazátlan for two weeks and knew that we were set for a busy schedule including men’s and women’s conferences, leadership training for ministry interns, ministry at the two primary church campuses and individual times with leaders and friends, some of whom we have known for over 30 years.  We were blessed to stay with our friends, Pastors Joe and Laurie Pacheco, who have done such an amazing work in the church.   However, during our time there, Leon developed a UTI from a medical procedure that was done just before we left.  He was quite sick for several days.  At first this was disappointing, but we did feel that the Lord showed that He could be glorified even through Leon’s weakness.  And we were so appreciative of the wonderful care extended to us through Pastors Joe and Laurie and the church.  God blessed us so much through them and endeared them even deeper to our hearts.  Leon improved and we were able to finish and return home without further incidence. 

Meanwhile Teresa ministered to over 200 women at the Women’s Conference on The Worth of a Woman This is a theme the Holy Spirit has been speaking to her about for several years.  We also had very good reception from our time with the leaders and interns and, as always, were so blessed to minister in this church!
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In May we returned to Puerto Peñasco for our annual conference, which this year had the theme, Raising Up Our Generations, and to ordain Conrad and Heidi as the pastors of the church.  It was a very busy and fruitful time as the pastoral counsel composed of ourselves, Stan and Becky Tedrow and the Pachecos, ministered to the church.  The spirit of the congregation is very good, the church is growing and we are excited for the future of Peñasco Christian Fellowship!
 
Health and Family
Leon has continued to have chemotherapy, utilizing a different medication since January, with measured success.  We are monitoring this monthly as  he has been on chemotherapy for about ten months now, and while he has done very well thanks to all of you who have kept us in prayer, it does have its cumulative side effects.  The current medication is a bit more difficult than the first was.  Recent PET/CT scan show no progression of cancer and there is no pain from it.  We are very grateful for our Lord’s goodness through all of this.
 
Our latest addition to our family is Layla Rae Porter, who was born to Leah and Roarke in early January.  She is absolutely beautiful (like her sister and cousins) and just seems to fit right in like she’s always been a part of our family.  We cannot express the thankfulness we have to God and the joy that our four granddaughters and one grandson bring to our hearts.  
 
Missionary Updates:

• We spoke with Alex, Hilda and Cynthia recently and Alex continues to have much weakness due to his diabetes and Parkinson’s.  Please pray for strength for him.
• Alicia, in Dumagete City, Philippines, recently had a motorbike accident and was hospitalized.  She is recovering and is on her way back to the States for furlough.  Please pray for refreshing and recuperation during her time here.  We are happy to report that she did find a larger home for her and the young women she oversees in Dumaguete and they are settled in!  
• We are also blessed to announce that John and Rebecca, who are currently in Toronto, Canada, are expecting their first baby! 

 
 
Personal Prayer Requests
Please pray for:

• Wisdom in monitoring the current chemotherapy treatment that Leon is undergoing.
• He will also be having cataract surgery on both eyes in the next month.  Please pray that it goes well.
• Wisdom regarding upcoming trips. 

We hope and pray that all of you are refreshed and blessed by the Holy Spirit during this season of celebrating the birth of Christ Jesus.  We know that the state of our nation, the frustration of so many people and the chaos of Christmas commercialism is a challenge to all of us, but as we stop and reflect, the bottom line is that, Hallelujah, He is still in control!  What rest there is in that knowledge! 
 
In our August update we explained about our need to be here for Leon’s chemotherapy and the need to postpone several fall trips.  We are glad to report that the combination of chemotherapy, specific supplements, a more careful diet and most importantly, the prayers of many friends like you have shown to be very effective against the cancer.  Meanwhile Leon has had very limited side affects from the treatment.  Lab reports have shown him to in good health despite weakness and show that the cancer activity, as measured by psa, has been reduced by about 90%!  Amazing!  He has had some minor surgical procedures to help his lymph system and kidneys drain properly during the treatment, and  while they slowed him down a bit for a time, they have also been helpful in his feeling better in the long run.  
 
We are looking forward to being much more active in missions and ministry in 2017.   We are grateful to have been able to continue working from home with missionaries, indigenous leaders and in providing funds for missions in several countries during the last six months. But we are happy that in the New Year we have a mission trip to Puerto Peñasco in February and plans to reschedule two other trips.  There are also a couple of other trip options that we are thinking about for 2017.  Details to follow.  
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Family 
We are so blessed at the growing family that the Lord has given us and are excited that it will yet grow again sometime between now and January 3, 2017, as Leah gives birth to grandchild #5.  What sunshine they bring into our hearts and our lives!  Please pray for Leah for an easy birth and a healthy baby!  
 
Praise Reports:
John and Rebecca have quickly found a home and jobs in Canada and are making all the new adjustments of living on this side of the globe for a season.  The snow in Toronto is a bit different than the heat waves in Thailand!   

LWCF Chennai
LWCF Chennai has begun working with their local government to do medical outreaches to the community and other local outreaches.  The first medical clinic had to be postponed because of the death of a local political leader, but is rescheduled for January.  The evangelistic outreach was very effective. 

Prayer

• Leon
  • for increased strength as he recuperates from all the treatment 
  • the psa to drop to 0!  That the cancer would be demolished!  
• Teresa 
  • for healing from allergies and asthma
• Alex 
  • health and strength.  He has not been doing well.  
• Leah
  • safe delivery, healthy baby and quick recovery 
• Leon and Teresa - IMS
  • Continued support in prayer, encouragement and finances.

 
To all of you we wish a blessed Christmas and Happy New Year.  And, to those who have been so faithful with us through this process, thank so much!  We are so grateful for you and pray that God blesses you exponentially in return!  

It is amazing to me that it has been two and a half months since I posted an update!  It has sped by at a record rate.   Between missions, medical and family, we have hardly had time to realize that the summer was here!

Medical
First of all, upon the advice of our longtime friend, doctor and IMS board member, Dr. Rebecca Kuhn, we did go to Trilife Health Care in Fort Collins, Colorado for Leon to receive alternative treatments and consultation for a week.  It was a wonderful experience in every way.  We were so blessed by the professional expertise, kindness and treatments received by their entire staff.  We anticipate that Leon will be continuing with some similar treatments here in San Diego and he is on a dietary and supplement regiment directed by Dr. Becky and Dr. Roger Billica from Trilife.

The above regiment is adjunct therapy to the next phase of Leon's medical treatment.  As of yesterday, after much consultation, thought and prayer, Leon began chemotherapy.  We wanted to advise everyone before he started, but due to medical scheduling, it happened a little faster than we thought. But we are happy to report that as of this moment, he has done very well and has experienced no side effects yet.  He will receive the treatments every three weeks for three to six months, depending on how effectively it seems to be working.  We will greatly appreciate your prayers for him.  As many of you who know us well can imagine, it has been a very significant decision, but it is time and we feel the Lord's guidance in it.  

Missions
Just two days after we returned from Trilife, we were blessed to have Cynthia Alexander from Chennai, India, visit us.  We had such a wonderful time with her and are so proud of this young woman of God that we have known since she was a tiny girl.  As this was Cynthia's first trip to the U.S., we tried to maximize the time between the fun of sight seeing in SoCal, spending hours in conversation about ministry and spiritual matters, sharing at Living Waters and  just being together.  We had to burn a little midnight oil and we all agreed that we wished there was more time, but we packed as much in as we could and loved every minute of it!  
Cynthia gave a wonderful presentation and a brief, but powerful message at Living Waters, the church that has supported her family for over twenty-five years, and the congregation was very welcoming and responsive to her.  It was a sweet time!

We had tentatively planned a missions trip to Roca Blanca Ministry in Oaxaca, Mexico in late September, but due to Leon's treatment, we will reschedule it.  We also had anticipated a trip to see our dear friends at Rozel Christian Fellowship in Rozel, Ks. this fall but we will proceed with this only as his health allows.  

We have trips scheduled to Puerto Penasco, Mexico in January and Mazatlan, Mexico in February and our prayer is that he will be done with chemo and well enough to complete those.  

Family
We are amazed at the Lord's goodness to continue to increase our family!  While we started this wonderful state of being grandparents relatively late in life, (Rosalie, our first grandchild is only 3 1/2), the Lord is multiplying them pretty quickly for us!  We were blessed with #2 in November when Coral Mae was born.  In January, when Leah and Roarke were married, we inherited two more in Roarke's son, Dean, age 6,  and daughter, Natalya, age 10.  Now we are totally excited to announce that Leah is expecting number 5 somewhere around the first of next year!  What a joy to have all these little ones in our lives!  The Lord is SO Good! 

(More) Praise Reports

• We are so thankful to the Lord for His guidance in this journey of Leon's health and for the support system He has given us in our family, our friends, doctors and all those who have prayed for us and encouraged us.  
• We are so thankful for His care for our dear friend, Pastor Stan Tedrow, who just went through by-pass surgery in Oklahoma and is coming home today!  All reports say that he is doing very well.  Thank you, Lord!
• ​We are also very, very thankful for prayers being answered in regards to a young couple that we have known and worked with in Bangkok, Thailand, for quite some time now.  John is from Bangladesh, we met in Malaysia and God knit our hearts together.  He has been on a most amazing journey and we have asked for prayer from you numerous times in his behalf.  A couple of years back, he married a lovely young woman, Rebecca, from Canada and they have been living and ministering in Thailand and trying to get his visa to Canada.  We were beyond thrilled last week when they informed us in a Skype call that Canada has granted his visa and they will be moving there in the fall!  We look forward to seeing all that the Lord is going to do with this precious couple as they step into this next phase of their life in Him.  

Our Time in Puerto Peñasco 
We had a really busy, but very productive trip to Puerto Penasco, México.  We arrived on Friday afternoon and began meetings with the leaders two hours later.  That first weekend, we spent about 13 hours in meetings with the leaders and Leon also preached the Sunday morning service.  The time with the leaders was excellent as we all developed a deeper relationship with one another while looking at the kind of leadership character the Lord wants to develop in His leaders. 

On Monday, Pastor Stan and Becky Tedrow and Pastors Joe and Laurie Pacheco all arrived and we met with the pastors, elders, ministry leaders and congregation throughout the week.  The conference, Prospering in a New Season, was Wednesday through Saturday evenings concluding with the Sunday morning service.  It was very well received by all.  We are so blessed to see the growth and health in the congregation after the difficulties they went through just two years ago.  

On a personal note, it was such a blessing working together with the Tedrows and Pachecos, whom we have known for about 40 years and about 30 years respectively.  The six of us form the pastoral counsel over PCF to assist and encourage the leadership team there.  

,Cynthia is coming! 
We are looking forward to Cynthia Alexander from Chennai, India being with us for a week in July and sharing at Living Waters Fellowship.  We have been working with her family since 1988!  This is Cynthia's first trip to the U.S.  Anyone interested in helping with her travel expenses can donate on our donations page on this website under Alex and Hilda's name and note that it is for Cynthia.  

Prayer Requests
As we mentioned in our last update, Leon is at a place that he will be making some rather major decisions concerning treatment in these next few weeks.  There are several options, most of which right now will be integrative or natural medicine treatments, which translates into out of pocket expense.  Please pray for wisdom for him to choose the very best option and for the Lord to anoint it to bring the maximum results.  

We appreciate you!
Thanks to each of you who take the time to read our blog, pray for us and support us in this amazing journey the Lord has taken us on.  We are so very grateful for each of you.  Stay tuned for our next adventures.  

As you can see, we have a whole new website!  I had been having issues with our old server so when they told me that they were changing formats and I had to totally redo the old site, it seemed a good time to change.  It's a bit of a learning curve (always), but I'm hoping it will provide a fresher look and a faster, easier read and more photos and media.  That seems to be the focus in our fast paced world.  

We spent the last two weeks in February in Mazatlán, México.  It was a really wonderful time of seeing very special friends of many years, making new friends and seeing the Lord move in faithfulness and blessing.   We taught a weekend seminar for about 25 leaders who were in the last module of a year long program.  We spent many hours together discussing leadership and the type of leaders we all want to be vs. the pitfalls that create the kind of leadership we never want to represent.  The following weekend we did a mini marriage conference on Saturday and Sunday services with the highlight on Sunday evening being a special graduation/ordination service.  During the weeks, we kept busy with individual appointments, meetings with leaders,  times of fellowship and fun and lots of discussions with our dear friends, Pastors Joe and Laurie Pacheco.  

Our next trip will be a return to Peñasco Christian Fellowship in Puerto Peñasco, México in mid-May.  We will be there for around two weeks as well.  We will be doing a similar seminar for the leaders there to the one we did in Mazatlán.  Then we will be joined by Pastors Stan and Becky Tedrow and Pastors Joe and Laurie Pacheco to do the annual conference for PCF during the following week.  The conference theme will be Prospering in a New Season.  We will also meet with leaders, couples, etc. to encourage them in the new season of this ministry.  We would appreciate your prayers for this time.  

In July, we will be hosting Cynthia Alexander, the daughter of Alex and Hilda in Chennai, India who are pastors of Living Waters Fellowship, Chennai.  Cynthia, who is a very integral part of the ministry in Chennai, will be sharing at Living Waters Fellowship, Coronado, Ca. on July 17, and will be with us from the 16-22.  Contact us if you would like to have a time with Cynthia and hear about the work there.