International Ministries International Ministries International Ministries International Ministries ---- Converge Worldwide/BGC Converge Worldwide/BGC Converge Worldwide/BGC Converge Worldwide/BGC –––– 11002 Lake Hart Drive , Mail Code 20011002 Lake Hart Drive , Mail Code 20011002 Lake Hart Drive , Mail Code 20011002 Lake Hart Drive , Mail Code 200————Orlando, FLOrlando, FLOrlando, FLOrlando, FL————32832328323283232832 Mailing Secretary Mailing Secretary Mailing Secretary Mailing Secretary ----–––– Randy & Jan Jessup Randy & Jan Jessup Randy & Jan Jessup Randy & Jan Jessup –––– 5203 Hodgson Rd. 5203 Hodgson Rd. 5203 Hodgson Rd. 5203 Hodgson Rd. –––– Shoreview, MN 55126Shoreview, MN 55126Shoreview, MN 55126Shoreview, MN 55126

Dan and Sandy Varberg—1462 Como Ave.—St. Paul, MN—55108 ds.varberg@gmail.comds.varberg@gmail.comds.varberg@gmail.comds.varberg@gmail.com

May 2014

Voice of the Varbergs

With only 6 weeks left in the school year, we look back and marvel at all that has happened this school year. We returned to the Philippines in June 2013 from a one year home assignment. The first thing we noticed when we settled in was that many of our long time friends were now gone. It did not happen all at once, but over the last 4 years, two or three families would leave each year. Without really planning it, most of the friends we had developed over the years were about our same age, so we were all becoming empty nesters about the same time. However, some-how we did not get the memo that said that as the youngest child graduates, it’s time to leave the field!! This year, we are really feeling the loss as we struggle to make new friends, most of whom are much young-er and have a lot more energy than we do! In November, Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) hit the central part of the Philippines. Although the storm missed Manila, it hit Tacloban where Dan’s brother and his wife live and have their ministry. In our last prayer letter, we shared some of how the typhoon im-pacted us as we took in extra people and Dan made a trip to Tacloban to put a tarp roof on Paul and Mar-gie’s house. They are just now replacing the tarp with a real roof. Although our role in that disaster was minimal, we did feel the impact and continue to recover from our very small role. We can only imag-ine what the recovery must be for those living in the middle of the typhoon destruction zone. Please con-tinue to keep them in your prayers.

Just 8 days after we moved, Caleb came for a 6 week visit. What fun to have him back in our home for a short time. His girlfriend, Heidi, also a gradu-ate of Faith Academy, came back with him to spend 6 weeks with her parents who still live here in the Philippines as well. Although several of Caleb’s buddies were here to visit at the same time and he spent much of his time with them, we managed to squeezed in a couple of family times with the boy before he had to return to Bethel University. He and Heidi are both sophomores there. Having all three of our boys in the USA now has definitely added some stress to life, but we are learning to adjust and have burned up time on the “voice-over-internet” phone that we bought while we on home assignment. We certainly appreciate technology more and more each year!!

Surprises and stressors While we were dealing with that, and our extra guests, we found out that the house that we had been living in for the past 5 years had been sold and we had to move. So, on December 18, we moved from that house to a new-to-us rental house across the street. Moving in the Philippines is not like moving in the USA—we had to clean the mess left behind by the last tenants, hire painters and Dan has spent the last 4 months working on small fix-it projects around the house. We have still not met the owners and have done all our communications through email.

Our new rental home

International Ministries International Ministries International Ministries International Ministries ---- Converge Worldwide/BGC Converge Worldwide/BGC Converge Worldwide/BGC Converge Worldwide/BGC –––– 11002 Lake Hart Drive , Mail Code 20011002 Lake Hart Drive , Mail Code 20011002 Lake Hart Drive , Mail Code 20011002 Lake Hart Drive , Mail Code 200————Orlando, FLOrlando, FLOrlando, FLOrlando, FL————32832328323283232832 Mailing Secretary Mailing Secretary Mailing Secretary Mailing Secretary ----–––– Randy & Jan Jessup Randy & Jan Jessup Randy & Jan Jessup Randy & Jan Jessup –––– 5203 Hodgson Rd. 5203 Hodgson Rd. 5203 Hodgson Rd. 5203 Hodgson Rd. –––– Shoreview, MN 55126Shoreview, MN 55126Shoreview, MN 55126Shoreview, MN 55126

In January, Katie Caldwell arrived to live with us for the second semester at Faith Academy. Katie’s parents, Larry and Mary Caldwell, were Converge missionaries here in the Philippines for many years but left the field when Katie finished 9th grade. Katie wanted to come back to finish high school with her class and say her final farewells to this country. Her parents asked if she could live with us. Having a teenager back in the house has been a joy, but it’s also been a bit of an adjustment after being empty-nesters for a year and a half. Sandy is experiencing having a daughter for the first time in her life and is enjoying it to the fullest!

extra guests. Dan especially enjoys that this house has a large yard with many fruit trees. Katie has become a part of the family— for April fools day she cut out a picture of herself and inserted it into ALL of our family pictures around the house! We are not looking forward to graduation just a few short weeks away when we will need to say yet an-other goodbye. As Philippians 3:13b-14 (ESV) says - “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” We are moving forward! We are grateful for your prayers and support. Rest assured, Faith Academy continues to play an im-portant role in reaching Southeast Asia for Christ, and we will do our part in helping that happen. God bless,

Dan and Sandy Varberg

Prayer • That Katie would finish her semester strong • For a safe summer for Dan as he has several pro-

jects planned (more on this next time) • That our boys will continue to make wise choic-

es in the USA—Caleb as he finishes up his sec-ond year at Bethel, Zach as he works on his re-search towards his PhD at the University of Minnesota and Micah in his 3 part time jobs (see below in praises)

• Someone to help with data entry in the Health office this summer—at this point it looks like Sandy may have to do all the data entry for the Health office herself and it would be great if someone else could be found to share the work load!

Praises • Micah now has 3 part-time jobs—one as a Per-

sonal Care Attendant for a boy, one as a PE teacher’s assistant in a Montessori school in the Twin Cities area and another as a volleyball coach in the same school

• That God has carried us through the stress of this past year

• Provision of another wonderful, peaceful house that allows us to take in students that need a place to live

Our new daughter—Katie!!

Next year we’ve agreed to take in another new Faith student—Paul Wilkinson. His parents are Converge missionaries on another island here in the Philippines. He has been homeschooled and is looking forward to attending Faith Academy with all it’s extra curricular activities. He will be starting next year as a sopho-more. Although there is a boarding program available, it is not always a good fit for everyone, and we are glad that we are able to offer a home environment for students like Katie and Paul that want to come attend Faith. We were not planning to take students in as boarders, but God has surprised us with this bonus and we have come to enjoy it and look forward to what the future has to offer! As you can see, we have had some changes and sur-prises this year. God is Faithful. We are making new friends and are moving forward. Dan’s brother’s school and church in Tacloban are getting rebuilt, little by little. Our new house is turning out to be nicer than the old one—and better suited to having boarders and