The Flood

I have been terrible about giving updates especially about the flood. Most of you know that 1 month from today, on September 26, Manila experienced a great flood. It was actually the worst flood that Manila has had in 43 years. Roughly, there was 16 inches of rain in 9 hours. There was over flow from many rivers and dams. Many people were trapped in their homes and forced to be evacuated while being stranded on their roofs. Many streets turned into rivers having 5-6 feet of water. Cars were stranded in the streets so the drivers could be safe. The last report I heard is that there were about 400 deaths and about 1 million people displaced from their homes. The needs here are almost unbearable. One week after the Manila flood there was a storm up north in Baguio that did more damage. They experience flooding and also land slides in the mountains. They experienced the same tradegy of deaths and homeless people.

As in most disasters we saw God move as only He can. Thankfully our home did not have any damage since we live on top of a hill. So, we were able to help many of the people who were affected by the flood. School was cancelled for a full week. We spent the week cleaning up houses consisting of sweeping water, scrubbing walls, cleaning personal items, and packaging and giving food. There were many missionaries who lost everything. It was amazing to see God's people come together and help the hurting. Some of our boys were very active in helping out and some needed a little extra push. But over all we were very proud of our boys.

Now almost a month later things are almost back to normal. School is back into session and people are back into their busy daily schedules. But you can still see the affects of the flood. We have heard that some areas still have 3 feet of water. Some areas next to the high ways have been a dump for garbage. It will take a long time to completely clean up and rebuild from this disaster.

So we thank you for all of your prayers. Continue to pray for the Philippines. There have been some diseases that are sprading because of the conditions. And most people have a lot of rebuilding to do.

Thank you! We love you all!

The Boys are back!

The boys return back to the dorm today from 1 week of vacation. Many of the boys were able to return to their homes and visit with their families. Some of the boys were not able to return home but we able to spend the week at friends' houses.

The Keating family had a nice peaceful break. The beginning of the week we were at camp for a CMML retreat. It was a great time of hearing from the Word and fellowship with other CMML missionaries. At the end of the week Larry and Kim were able to spend the night at a hotel in Manila and our friends watched Tyler and Abby for us. It was a great get away. So we are pretty much rested and have caught up on our sleep and are ready for the boys.

We want to thank you for all of your prayers! We are very thankful to God for a great year so far.

Family Home Weekend

Twice a year we have Family Home Weekend. This is a time designed for the dorms to have some family bonding time. This year we had Friday off of school so it was a nice 3 day weekend.

We kicked off the weekend on Friday with an Amazing Race- Keating Edition. We had the boys traveling around Metro Manila doing vaious challenges. The challenges includes delivering 5 gallons of water to a poor Filapino family, washing a trike (motorcycle with a passenger car), drving a bicycle and buying a drink for the driver, and buying a scarf for our helpers at various locations. Then we ended up for pizza at California Pizza Kitchen in Green Hills. There was fierce competition but the winning team was the white team. Their prize was that they could order anything off of the menu at CPK. Then we went back home and rested. Then we went to see the movie UP at 10pm at a really nice theater with lazy boy seats. It was a long day since we retunred back home at 12:15am but it was a fun day.

On Saturday we let the boys have free time. Most of them rested at home. One of our boys, Tim, had a Rugby tournament and played 4 games, not much rest for Tim.

On Sunday we went to church and then went out for lunch. We again had a restful afternoon. Then in the evening we had an all dorm fellowship. All 4 dorms met together for fellowship and some competition games. We were the champions of the games and won the gloden bolo award.

We had a great weekend of bonding! We have had a great start to the year. We are really enjoying the boys this year. Please continue to pray for the unity of the dorm.

GOD BLESS!

It's a New Year!

We want to thank you for your continued prayer support. We had a great summer that was filled with lots of family time. Now we are excited for a new year.

It has been a great start to the school year. School has been in session for two weeks. We have a great group of guys. There is a fresh new start in the air. This year we are starting the year with twelve young men. Ten of the twelve are Korean and two are American, eight of the twelve are returning from last year, and seven of the twelve are seniors.

We are excited to see what God will do in our dorm this year. Our theme this year is exceeding expectations. The theme is based on Ephesians 3:28 "Now to Him who is able to do more than we can ask or imagine according to the power that is at work within us." We are looking forward to see how God will exceed our expectations this year.

Thank you again for your prayers and support!

The Keatings

We made it!!!

Greetings from the Philippines! We continue to be so thankful to our Lord Jesus Christ who has encouraged us through all of you. Thank you so much for all of your thoughts and prayers.

School is out! We are happy to say that we have survived our first year as dorm parents at Faith Academy. It has definitely been a challenging year but also a very good year. I would like to share with you some good and bad parts of the year. I will start with the bad so we can’t get that out of the way and end with the good stuff.

The bad stuff- these are some of the challenges that we have had this year: a new culture/environment (hot weather, crazy traffic, and different surroundings), Tyler not adjusting well, physical sickness, home sickness, culture misunderstandings, not feeling wanted or needed, and learning how to discipline teenage boys and the typical issues that come along with having a house full of boys. Being a first year dorm parent is always difficult, and living your first year in a new country is an additional trial where there is a lot of growth and learning.

But the good news we have received as of late has made all the difficult times worth it. We struggled throughout the year because we really didn’t know if we were doing a good job or if the boys liked us. We have been told that with this job the fruit is seen years later. But just recently we have had some encouraging feedback. I would like to share some of what we received with you.

From the Boarding Administrator
“Larry and Kim have been such a blessing to all our families in the boarding program. They both bring so much love and skill to the program. Even though this has been a hard first year with so many adjustments I have been so impressed with their level of commitment and perseverance to the students in their care and to the program as a whole. I personally want to thank everyone involved in providing the way and the opportunity for Larry, Kim and their kids to be a part of our team here at Faith Academy.”

From the Parents
“First of all, I want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH to you all. You have taken care of not only my son, William but also many boys with all your heart. William would say to us you are so wonderful person to them in every situation whenever he calls me. You are kind, devotional, faithful, like a father or uncle. I know that you brought up them comfort, be safely, faithful, healthy etc. in spirit and flesh. So I can not help saying thank you so much.”

“I and my wife are thinking that Sam is lucky to have you in the dorm as parents. I appreciate very much for your dedication for the kids. I know it is a tough job to take care of the boys with all different characteristics and personalities. God must be very proud of your great job. Thank you again for your work.”

From the Boys
“Uncle Larry is understanding, committed, diligent, soft hearted, gives good massages, persevering, sometimes stressed, careful, supporting, smiling, can get angry, nice and willing.
Aunt Kim is caring, jokes, funny, smiling, compassionate, cheerful, patient, positive, joyful, hard working, and understanding.”
“They try hard to be our friends.”
“First year dorm parents but are trying hard and will get better”

The only reason I share with you these comments is because they are so encouraging. You all are our partners in this ministry. We could not serve our Lord Jesus Christ in this way without your financial support, but more importantly without your prayer support. It is obvious to me that everyone around us sees not us but Christ. Again this is only possible because your faithfulness in prayer. We owe you our thanks for making this ministry successful.

We now have two months off for the summer to recuperate for next year. On June 2-8 Kim and I will be in Korea. We will be with a group from Faith Academy to visit Korea and learn about Korean culture. The rest of the summer will include painting our kitchen and recreation area and organizing the house. We also hope to have some family time and some rest time.

Thank you for your part in supporting missionaries around the world by taking care of their children while the Gospel is being spread throughout the world.

To God be the Glory!

Surprise!

A little over a week ago we had a surprise. It started to be a normal Thursday morning. I was up with Tyler and Abby getting them breakfast at 6:20am. Then I heard something behind me. It was 15 giggling girls coming up the stairs. The problem and surprise was this, we have 14 boys in our dorm. They were so giggly and they all said good morning Uncle Larry. The boys and girls switched dorms at 3am thanks to our Dorm Administrator. So it was a nice breakfast with good company. As Ken, my Father in-law, said the "girls were much prettier in the morning". Tyler and Abby weren't sure what to think. Tyler kept staring at them and wondering what the girls were doing at our house. It was a fun surprise. Our guys said it was ok but I think they would have rather have stayed home. They always keep us on our toes.

This week is the last week of school. The students have finals this week and graduation is on Friday. Please pray for us as we finish this school year.

Easter Weekend

I hope you all had a great Easter! We also had a great weekend celebrating the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. We celebrated in the usual manner family, church, and food. But also did something that probably is not included in your usual Easter traditions.
Starting out on Saturday morning we continued a tradition that has been in our dorm the previous years. We pushed a van up a hill. Not just any hill but a hill that most people have trouble driving their cars on. This road is called Santana. There were 13 of us total that pushed and pushed that van up that hill. It took us 18 minutes and 40 seconds. Which is not too bad of a time. I am just glad that we finished and accomplished the task. There were times that I did not think we would finish. But the satisfaction of finishing was sweet.

Well after this task most of the boys went to the pool to cool off. Then we had lunch. Then we did something called messy games. Messy games has been a favorite of our youth group at Warrenville Bible Chapel. So we had to start a tradition of our own. We started out playing a version of hot potato. Instead of a potato we passed a squid. When the music stops and you have the squid you must pick something out of a garbage bag. Then we dump that item on your head and it gets spread around your body. The items included cooking oil, banana ketchup, molasses, peanut butter, soy sauce, flour, powder sugar, sardines in tomato sauce, canned dog food, tuna, vinegar, pork and beans, mountain dew, and coconut milk. At first the guys weren't really sure about this. But when we started they thought it was hilarious. It was quite a mess. The smells were quite alarming. Then we played another game that was balls of panty hoes filled with flour. Basically a free for all snow ball fight. There was a cloud of dust in the front yard. It was fun chasing each other around the yard throwing "snow balls" at each other. Then our last game was to see who could hit a fish the farthest with a tennis racket. This too was fun in a strange sort of way.

Then we all cleaned up and met for a devotion that tied in the day's activities. So how could these silly activities be tied in for a message. I told them that the activities reminded me of what Jesus did for us on the cross. When we pushed up the hill it was very challenging physically. We were exhausted and very sweaty. But the cross was far more physically exhausting for our Lord. He pleaded to God that He would not have to bear the cross. Jesus was whipped almost to death and then nailed and crucified to a cross. The messy games relates to the messiness of our sins. Our sins are detestable to God. They are repulsive to Him. Nevertheless Jesus took upon Himself the sins of the whole world on the cross. When we took our group picture the combing smells of everyone was repulsive. My own sins are repulsive but I can't even imagine how repulsive the sins of the world must have been for Jesus. "He who had no sin became sin for us". The wonder of it all is that Jesus did it just for you. Our sins are no longer our own because Jesus took them all away. The blood of Christ covers all of our sins. The current struggles that we have are not necessary because Jesus already died for those sins. Our sins are nailed to the cross and we bear them no more. Hallelujah what a Savior! Let us live the righteous life that we have been given through the cross of Christ.

Fourth Quarter

It is amazing to the think that the fourth quarter of school starts tomorrow. That means that in just 9 weeks the 2008-2009 school year will be over. This year has definitely gone by fast. Just when we will be comfortable in our dorm duties the school year will end.

The boys return back to the dorm today from one week off of school. Then tomorrow classes resume. Our family had a great vacation and rest time. We are having a great time with my mom who has been visiting us since March 3. We had a great time at the beach and then visited Kim's parents up in the mountains. We have been definitely been keeping my mom busy.

We continue to to be busy. In the beginning of March three of our guys were inducted to the National Honors Society. Later that week four of our guys earned awards at the sports awards banquet. We are proud dorm parents =). Then all five dorms had a fellowship night that included worship, scripture readings, devotions, communion, foot washing and of course food.

-Please pray for our 3 seniors Peter, Keio, and Chris as they are finalizing their college plans and say good bye to all their friends at Fatih Academy.

-Tyler continues with speech therapy. Please pray for his cooperation and that he will feel comfortable at therapy.

-It seems that the Lord has been leading us to stay in the Philippines for the summer. As much as we would love to go home to visit family and friends it seems to be the best for us to stay here. Tyler's doctors agree that more change would be very difficult for Tyler and he might regress. We have lots have plans for remodeling the dorm house. We also hope to take some language classes as well.

We continue to thank you all for all of your thoughts and prayers. We definitely couldn't do this without you.

We love you all!

The Keatings

Busy Busy Busy

Yes, we continue to be busy. Which isn't too surprising since we have 14 high school boys and 2 toddlers at home. But this weekend it was very quiet at our house. It was almost a little freaky. Three of our boys went to Japan for a basketball tournament last week. They placed 8th place out of 16 teams. The girl's basketball team went to Japan too and they were 1st place in the tournament. We also had seven boys that went to Puerta Gallera (South) for the weekend for a mission trip. They spent most of Saturday pouring concrete for a church/community center. They also had some free time at the beach. Kim also went away for the weekend for a women's retreat. So we had four boys home and I also had Tyler and Abby, of course.
It is very nice to have everyone back home, especially Kim.

We continue to thank you for your prayers. Things have been kind of stressful and crazy. So all of your prayers are very much appreciated.

Thanks!

Larry

Update

Dear Family and Friends,

We want to continue to thank you for your overwhelming thoughts and prayers. We are very thankful how God has been providing for us.

We would like to give you an update on our family and ministry. We continue to be very busy. Lately we have been driving our boys to doctor appointments, Emergency rooms (2 boys having stitches in 2 weeks!), and sporting events. We have also found "side jobs". Larry has been seeing people in the Faith Academy community for physical therapy related problems. He sees about 8-10 people a week. Kim is getting ready to demonstrate for a stamping workshop at a women's conference later this month. God continues to use our gifts and talents. Tyler and Abby continue to grow and enjoy playing with all of the "big" boys. We are looking forward to Kim's parents visiting us for next couple weeks. Also very excited that Larry's mom will visit us in March for three weeks.

We continue to be home sick and miss you all so much. Recently we have been reminded in Philippians 2 that Jesus left His home for us. I can't imagine how much He missed His Father and His home. He left everything for us. What a sacrifice! Jesus was willing to leave His home to finish the work that God gave Him to do. If Jesus did that for us then we can do that for Him. We have left our home to do the work that God has called us to do. That work is to make a home for 14 high school boys who live away from their families. It is still challenging at times but God is definitely guiding us. But it is even more encouraging that we are not home yet. One day we will be united with our Savior. Heaven is home!

Please continue to lift us up in prayer for the following items:

1. Car- We do not yet have our own car yet. Kim is very patient for not driving for over 6 months. Lord willing we would like to purchase a vehicle soon.

2. Tyler- We took Tyler to a reccomended doctor regarding some speech issues. She agreed that it is an issue. She refered us to a developmental pediatrician. The specialist will perform a 1 1/2 hour evaluation to see what Tyler's needs are. The earliest they could get us in is May! They said there might be cancellations where they could get us in sooner. Please pray we can get an earlier appointment so Tyler can get the appropriate care. Ultimately Tyler will need speech therapy but first we need to see what the problem is.

3. Health- Larry has been sick for a couple of weeks. He was diagnosed with an Upper Respiratory Infection as well as Irritible Bowel Syndrome. The Upper Respiratory Infection is much better. The Irritible Bowel Sydrome is caused by certain foods and stress. Please pray we can figure out what foods to avoid and how to handle our stress =). Two weeks ago Kim had some back problems that basically limited her function. She is now able to walk, bend over, and pick up the kids. Please pray for complete recovery so she can get back to "normal".

4. The Dorm- Continue to pray that we can build deeper relationships with all 14 boys and have a good balance with Tyler and Abby, and each other. Our dorm devotions have been on purity and fighting lust. Also pray for wisdom and strength needed for daily decisions.

We are so thankful for all of you!
With much love!

Larry, Kim, Tyler, and Abby

Back in the Swing

We finished our first week of school following our Christmas break. We have new boy joining our dorm this semester. He has been a Faith student but his parents went back to Korea so he moved into the dorm. So now we are up to 14 boys in the dorm. This week has been a good start to the semester. It feels good to have the boys back in the dorm. We have this feeling that we now know what we are doing. This week was quite busy with getting back to school. Thursday night we took our 3 seniors out for dinner and discussed how the year was going and discussed senior privileges. Friday night we watched a great basketball game with three of our guys playing. We won by two points. Then today we watched 3 of our guys play rugby. One of our guys collided heads with a guy on the opposite team. He got a large cut abouve his left eye brow. They took him to the hospital by ambulance. I accompanied him to the hospital. We spent a few hours in the Emergency Room. He received 8 stitches in his head. But he is doing really well.

So, yes, we are back in the swing of things and are quite busy. We appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers.

The Keatings