Summer Escapades
Dear Friends and Family,
Though we are not polished speakers by any means, we feel privileged for so many opportunities to share with others what God is doing in the Philippines.
Here are some highlights of the summer so far:
-Celebrating Grandma Guptill’s 90th B-day and Mother’s day in Oregon
-Meeting nephew Alex and attending his baby dedication and first birthday in Loma Linda
-Soaking up the beauty of Yosemite with dear missionary friends
– Remembering Grandma and Grandpa Davis at the family reunion in Georgia and watching the next generation of cousins meet
-Bonding time with sister, Anna and visiting Duffy cousins with three new little ones
-Goofing off with old friends and roommates in Chattanooga
-Eating blueberries, cherries, strawberries, and Nectarines
-Learning great stuff and being so inspired at Montana Campmeeting–Jesus is coming soon!
-Hanging out with all the cousins in Montana and bonding on the road trip to Yellowstone
You can see more pics of our summer escapades on facebook (WendyGuptillHarris) where various friends have tagged us in their photos.
We have one more week in Montana then we’re off to Michigan for our two last weeks. Dwayne hopes to do some flight training there for his multi-engine rating in preparation for the “new” 6 seater, Twin-Comanche airplane that GMI is giving us!
Our other exciting news is that we were recently able to purchase another airplane, thanks to your support! It is a 4 seater, Cessna 172 and it’s already in the Philippines. These two airplanes will be a great help in different ways (one will take heavier loads and go farther and the other will go into shorter strips and be cheaper to fly).
Airplanes don’t take the place of helicopters, though, which are still really needed to go directly into the mountainous areas. After a year of dead ends for new blades for our outdated, little helicopter, we decided to take the opportunity to sell it for parts to a flight school in the Philippines which has the same type of helicopter. So, we ask for your prayers and we are excited how God will provide TWO helicopters (one for Palawan and one for Luzon!) to support the remote mission projects throughout the country.
Dwayne has recovered completely from his gunshot incident (he was back to work and doing fine since about a week after the surgery). He did notice a little irritation in his gums when we arrived in the States and ended up needing some more work done. His cousin, a dentist ,referred him to his Periodontist friend who found two cracked teeth (which he had to remove. Thankfully they were in the back and cleaned out a bunch more bullet shrapnel in his gums. He put some bone grafts in the empty holes, and didn’t charge a dime for the whole thing!
We appreciate your prayers and support so much, especially over the past few months with all that’s been going on! We continue to be amazed at the events of this world and can’t help but wonder what another day will hold. May we “watch and pray” and make our priorities straight so we won’t be taken by surprise!
