The Keatings in the Philippines

All Dorm Fellowship- Boat Night

2010-09-08T22:49:00.000-07:00

All Dorm Fellowship

2010-09-08T22:41:00.000-07:00

We have an all dorm fellowship every quarter where all four dorms get together and have a friendly competition. This quarter it was boat night at the pool. Each dorm had the task of building their own boat from scratch. The boats were judged for best designed, then we raced the boats, and then saw which dorm could fit the most people on their boat. Then we just had fun in the pool. We all had a great time.

Family Home Weekend Games

2010-08-12T07:29:00.000-07:00

2010-08-12T06:33:00.000-07:00

The new year has started! We have officially been in school for one week. It has been a great start to the year. This year we have 13 boys from 6th grade to 12th grade. Seven of the 13 are new to Faith Academy. That brings lots of excitement to the dorm. In just one week we shared many fun times with each other. Including board games, sitting around talking, going out to eat, going to Starbucks, going to an amusement park, and some of Uncle Larry's crazy games. Please pray that we will continue to grow closer to God and closer to each other as the school year advances.

Thank you for your prayers!

The Keatings

Back to School

2010-01-12T22:09:00.000-08:00

Christmas Break is finally over. We all enjoyed three weeks of break with our familys. The boys came back to our home on January 11 and school resumed on January 12. It is nice to have a full house again.

We had a good break and had good family time. We spent most of the time with Kim's parents, the Hardistys'. The first two weeks we celebrated Christmas and the New Year in our home in Manila. Then we went up to Baguio to Kim's parents house for the last week. We had a good time of rest.

This semester we continue to have 12 boys. However one of the young men graduated last semester and will start university in Korea in March. But we also have a young man that is joining us this semester. He is new to Faith this year. His parents came for the first semester and now have gone back to their ministry. So he will stay with us. He is a fine young man and we are happy that he will join us.

We look forward to this new semester. We continue to be pleased with our group of guys. We have seven seniors this semester. We think this is a good thing =). They are all great leaders and we are not looking forward to saying good bye to them in June.

We continue to thank you all for your prayers!

Love the Keatings'

The Flood

2009-10-25T22:13:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-10-25T22:00:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-23T18:13:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-08-20T06:53:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2009-05-31T02:00:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-05-24T06:31:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-13T04:46:00.001-07:00

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

2009-03-23T02:44:00.000-07:00

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

2009-02-24T04:24:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-06T18:06:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-10T05:19:00.000-08:00

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

Merry Christmas

2008-12-17T04:40:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,

We want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas this year. It is amazing how fast this season approaches us. As the song goes, “this is the most wonderful time of the year”.

Christmas will be different this year for the Keating family in the Philippines. The weather is noticeably different for us. The temperature is ranging in the 80’s and 90’s, which is little different than the present Chicago weather. Something just doesn’t seem right wearing shorts and t-shirts during December. Another difference is that we won’t be with the Keating family for Christmas, as well as our church family at Warrenville Bible Chapel. We will miss all of you during Christmas time. We very much enjoy being with family at Christmas and participating in the Christmas programs at church.

We are very thankful that we are able to go up to the mountains in Baguio to be with Kim’s parents, Great Aunt, and a new “adoptive” family member, a teacher at Faith, Holly Lucas. This is truly a blessing. We are also looking forward to the cooler weather in Baguio, as it will be 60’s and 70’s.

At this time of the year we often hear or say remember the reason for the season. When I think about this I am reminded that cooler weather is not what is important, nor is it celebrating with family. The important thing is that we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. This is why we celebrate Christmas.

I am so thankful that He is our Immanuel, God with us. We have truly felt that God has been with our family this past year. With our move to the Philippines in July, you could say that our world has been turned upside down. Being in a new country and having our family grow from four to seventeen in a very short time can be overwhelming. We are able to say that we are doing well. It has taken several months to “settle” in. There have been many challenges but also many blessings. I don’t think this would have been without God being with us as well as the support we receive from your prayers.

Tyler and Abby are doing great. They are growing like crazy. Tyler just turned 4 in November and Abby turned 2 in October. They are “normal” toddlers. They get all of the attention when we go up to school or out in public. Tyler and Abby are also been a big impact with our ministry with our 13 dorm boys. It is so fun to watch the big boys play with our small children. We enjoy being apart of the lives of these 13 young men. Please continue to pray that we strengthen our relationships with our boys. Pray for wisdom, strength, and grace as we work with them in daily situations. We consider it a privilege to serve God through our work with these boys at Faith Academy in the
Philippines.

We trust that you are also thankful that God is with all of us in our daily lives. I hope that you will have joy as you celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.

With Love.

Larry, Kim, Tyler, and Abby Keating

Smiley Face

2008-12-10T06:28:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago our neighbor texted Kim and said, "did you see the moon?" She said, "It is a smiley face." We weren't sure what to expect. We went outside on our back porch and sure enough we saw the smiley face. It is pretty cool because it is right above Faith Academy. So God is smiling down on us. Probaby one of the coolest things I have seen.

Funny/Interesting Stories

2008-12-10T05:58:00.000-08:00

I love hearing missionary stories. They are usually different and it is interesting to hear different cultures. Over the past few months we have had some funny experiences that I thought you might enjoy.

This is not very funny but was a culture experience. Just this past weekend Kim couldn't find her cell phone. So I called it to see if we could find it. To my surprise a Filapino male answered the phone. I asked how he got the phone and he said that it was a lost phone. I told him that it was mine and would like it back. He wanted my address so he could deliver the phone. That is not a really good idea. He told me to text him later. So the next day I texted that I would like to meet him at a mall to pick up the phone. His response was ok sir. I texted him 3 more times that night with no response. Say good bye to the phone. Kind of interesting but frustrating.

Last week one of our boys injured his ankle. He was limping pretty bad the next morning with increased pain. So I told him that we should get an x-ray to have it checked out. We go to the hospital. We ask for the radiology department. Then we go to the radiology department and ask for a x-ray. We fill out a basic form. She gives us a slip of paper and tells us to go to the cashier. We go to the cashier and pay for the x-ray. It was about $10. Then we go back to radiology and waited for about 15 minutes. He got his x-ray and then I picked up the films and report the next day. A little different than the states. By the way the x-ray was negative.

A couple months ago our TV was struck by lightening. In this country they fix everything before they buy something new. So I took the tv to a repair shop. He told me it was an electrical problem and it would take 3-5 days and he would call me when it was done. On the 6th day I hadn't heard anything so I gave him a call. I asked about the tv and he said it was under observation. Immediately I thought of a patient in the hospital. Apparently they had fixed it but had to make sure it was working so it was under observation. We could just picture them just watching our tv for a few days. I did get the TV back and it is working well.

It is funny to see the culture differences. I am sure that I will think of more stories.

Thanks!

Larry

Hello from the Keatings

2008-11-09T05:36:00.000-08:00

We want to continue to thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers. We are so thankful for all of you! We miss you all very much!

We are starting to fit in really well here at Faith Academy. Relationships are growing and we are starting to feel needed and appreciated. Most of our boys seem to be comfortable with us. Of course we have moments but overall we are doing well.

The other night I walked in the house with a huge box. Most of the boys were sitting at the table doing home work. One of the boys said, "you got us a plasma tv"! I said, "yeah"! That got all of the guy's attention. Then I said, "no, not really". But what was in the box would be very useful. I opened the box and they saw the portable massage table. They were very happy and started fighting to see who could get on the table first. I started massaging at 9pm and finally stopped at 11:45pm with about a 5 minute break. At the end I was ready for bed! I have been pretty busy seeing missionaries for injuries from the Faith Academy community. I have been treating about 5+ people a week. Massage on the couch and me on my knees wasn't working out very well. So the massage table will be very useful.

Last week the new quarter for school started and we are very busy. We had 12 out of 13 boys try out for second quarter sports that includes basketball, rugby, and tennis. Coming up this quarter is banquet at the end of the month and the Christmas play next month.

One of our boys and two other boys from Faith Academy made the under 20 Philippine International Rugby team. They were supposed to play in a tournament in Korea (all expenses paid) but two teams dropped out. So they had the tournament here and Guam came to play us. The experience included four intense weeks of practice. Two of the days included 3 practises a day. They had two games this past week on Wednesday and Saturday. Wednesday Philippines won 19-17. I went to the game on Saturday and we lost 24-19. It was such an experience. Rugby is such an fast pace game and very intense. Especially at this high level.

Please continue to pray for our 13 boys, for wisdom, and our strength. We continue to be challenged daily but have been lifted by your prayers.

With Love,

Larry, Kim, Tyler, and Abby

A bit busy...

2008-10-14T00:18:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. We continue to thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. We are starting to "settle" in and feel comfortable. I am not saying that it is easy but it is going well. Our kids are starting to be more comfortable and happy. That makes mom and dad happy too. We could not do this without our Lord and your prayers.

The last week has been very busy. The new multi million dollar auditorium opened last week. Faith Academy as a whole dedicated this auditorium to the Lord through ceremony, dinner theater, and praise and worship. It is absolutely beautiful and we can't wait to see how the Lord will use this for His Kingdom.

Last week one of our boys went to Thailand for a Varsity volleyball tournament. The Faith team took first in the tournament! The soccer and cross country also have tournaments in other countries in the next 2 weeks.

Yesterday we celebrated Abby's second birthday! We can't beleive that our little girl is two already. We had a little party with grandma and grandpa Hardisty and some friends.

In two weeks is October break. Some of our boys will be able to go home and visit with their families. Some boys are not able to go home so will spend time with friends. We are planning to visit Kim's parents in the mountains in Baugio. We are looking foward to a break and cooler weather. The later half of the week we have a retreat with all of the CMML missionaries. That should also be enjoyable.

Thank you again for all of you prayers. We will try to keep you updated as much as we can.

Thanks!

Larry

A Weekend as Dorm Parents

2008-09-28T07:46:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I just wanted to give you an idea about the work we are doing. So this is what we did this weekend:

Saturday- I woke up at 5:15am to take my dad to get a taxi to go to the airport. Went home played with tyler for a bit and fell asleep for about 30 minutes. Took 2 boys to school at 7am to get ready for Shoppers Day. Shoppers day is a big thing at Faith. They have outside vendors come to sell all different kinds of goods. Also the classes do many fundraisers. Went home and got ready to leave again. Took Kim and Kids to the school for shoppers day. Shopped a bit and watched kids as Kim shopped a bit. Then went home to get the rest of boys at 10:15am. Picked up 10 boys and returned to school. Shopped again till about 1pm. Relaxed a little bit with Kim's parents. Kim started to get sick. We all had a stomach bug this week that just was not pleasant. It was Kim's birthday present. Went with Kim's dad to pick up our TV that was struck by lightning. Then returned to school to pick up the boys and bring them home from shoppers day at 3pm. Went home and helped out with the kids. 5pm drove 4 boys to a birthday party. Came home and had dinner. Got kids ready for bed and put them to bed. Answered many phone calls and texts, caught up on email and face book. Went to mall to develop pictures for dorm activity on Sunday. Came home did more facebook. Talked to one of our boys till about 12:10am. Went to bed at 12:15am. We had 4 guys sleep over. Abby woke up during the night at 2:30am wanted milk.

Sunday- Tyler woke up at 5:30am. Got up about 6:15am. Woke up the boys at 6:30am. 6:45am took 15 boys to A4J (a children's ministry for the neighborhood kids from 7am-9am. About 400-450 kids show up each Sunday morning.) Got home about 7am and got Tyler settled. Kim woke up feeling much better. We got ready for church. Left for church at 10am and got home about 12:30pm. Had our Pastor and family over for lunch. So we had 22 people for lunch. They stayed to about 3pm. Got ready for all dorm event. All dorm event was 5pm-7:30pm. All 5 dorms met together for a BBQ and picture scavenger hunt (that Kim and I planned). Got home about 7:45pm. Put kids to bed. Now I have been emailing, face booking, and blogging. It is currently 11:07pm. I will probably will be up till at least midnight.

So... that was the weekend. Fun times. I just love weekends!

Christmas in September

2008-09-16T22:18:00.000-07:00

About 1 1/2 weeks ago we received some boxes that we shipped from home. We founds lots of toys that Tyler and Abby were so excited to see. It was like Christmas. It was great to see them so excited. Larry and Kim were excited to see some of their stuff too.

The Boys

2008-09-04T16:21:00.000-07:00

I just added a link for the boys. It has pictures and profiles for all of the boys. Check out the link on the right.

Let the Games Begin!

2008-08-30T00:59:00.001-07:00

The sports season has officially started. On Friday Faith Academy played at ISM (International School Manila). Boys and girls volley ball and soccer had games. Eight of our 13 guys are on the soccer and volley ball teams. Uncle Larry was going back and forth between the soccer and volley ball games. The school had a beautiful astro turf field, yes they are NOT a christian school =). Saturday the JV soccer and volley ball teams had away games. This week we have home soccer games on Wednesday and Friday. Volley ball has a tournament on Saturday at home. Busy, busy, busy but Uncle Larry loves going to all of the games. Hopefully Aunt Kim, Tyler, and Abby will be able to go to the home games. Go Vanguards!!!

Family Home Weekend

2008-08-18T08:04:00.000-07:00

This weekend was family home weekend. It is when each dorm spends the weekend doing various activities as a dorm to build relationships. Friday night we played youth group games. We had a fun time calling each other fruit names, duct taping each other to the wall, and throwing marshmallows at each other. Sounds like fun, eh? We had a good time.
On Saturday the boys painted their rooms two colors of their choice. They did a good job and the walls look a lot better with color.
Then on Sunday we went to church and then went out to lunch at Chili's. That was also a good time.
Monday was no school. Larry took the boys to the mall for school supplies. At night we met the other 4 dorms at the gym for games. Larry led the games which we think the kids enjoyed them. We had a very busy and fun weekend!

Some pictures

2008-08-11T09:01:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of our surroundings. The scenery pictures are from our porch. Then you see the lovely traffic pictures. Then the mall, very American.
Thank you again for all of your prayers!

Larry

Settling in the Philippines

2008-07-23T04:13:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. Just wanted to give a quick update of what we have done the last week. It seems like we have been here much longer than one week. We have been busy and have accomplished a lot. We have been mostly shopping to furnish our apartment and unpacking our suit cases. On Sunday we went to a Filapino church with Ken and Joyce. It was quite an experience. They sang worship in English and Tagolog. But all of the preaching was done in Tagolog. It was a pleasure to be able to see them worship. As visitors they had us stand up in front and they sang a welcome song and then everyone came up and greeted us. A little over whelming but very nice. Today we visited Faith Academy. Kim saw a lot of familiar things that she remembered when she went to Faith Academy and a lot of changes.

Please pray for us as we continue to settle in and get ready for the 13 boys that will move in on August 12.
We hope to post pictures soon.
We are very thankful for you prayers! Love the Keatings!

In the Philippines

2008-07-16T19:07:00.000-07:00

We have arrived safely in the Philippines. The flight was good but long. We were very happy to get off the plane. But everything went well. Today we will visit Faith Academy. We will keep in touch soon.
We love you all!

Home Sweet Home

2008-07-01T21:05:00.000-07:00

We are home (for now)! We just back last night from our one month of traveling. We had a great time visiting churches on the east coast. It was great meeting people that encouraged us with their support and have committed to pray for us. We also had a great time at Greenwood Hills in Pennsylvania at the missionary orientation program. God confirmed that we are doing the right thing. We are more convinced that we are supposed to be at Faith Academy in the Philippines. It was great meeting with those that have the same desire to serve the Lord in a foreign place. We also had a great time visiting with Kim's family at a wedding.
We will be home for 2 weeks and then we fly to the Philippines on July 15. Please pray that these next 2 weeks will go smoothly as we prepare to leave. Thank you for your prayers. We love you all.

CMML

2008-06-06T13:27:00.000-07:00

We have had a great time at CMML (Christian Missions in Many Lands) in New Jersey this past week. We have been visiting many churches and meeting many people that have commited to pray for us. CMML is a beautiful place. It is located just 10 minutes from the Jersey shore. The "house" used to be a mansion. It is now the head quarters for CMML. It consists of rooms for missionaries to stay while in the states, CMML office, clothing center, and many acres of beautiful gardens.

We praise God that we accepted an offer on our house today. Lord willing we will close on July 9. This is perfect timing as we leave for the Philippines on July 15.

Talk to you all soon!

Larry

Boys Dorm

2008-04-09T17:49:00.000-07:00

We found out today that we will have a boy's dorm off campus that will have 14-18 kids ages 7th-12th grades. We are very thankful because we have been praying for a boy's dorm. We are very excited for this oportunity. Please continue to pray for us!

To the Philippines

2008-04-07T18:54:00.000-07:00

Keatings to the Philippines. It's true. We plan on going to the Philippines on July 15. We are very excited about this opportunity.

This opportunity first came last July. Thanks to Kim's parents, they had an application sent to us from Faith Academy in the Philippines. They asked us to consider being boarding home parents at Faith Academy. Kim and I talked about the opportunity and we both wanted to consider it. So we prayed for a couple of weeks and we both could not stop thinking about Faith Academy and the Philippines. We felt a desire to serve at Faith Academy as dorm parents. We felt that God was leading us to take this step of faith.

We read the requirements of the position and felt that we would be a perfect match. There are four boarding homes at Faith Academy (a school for missionary kids) which house 7th-12th graders whose parents are away on the mission field. In each home there are 15-20 kids. Dorm parents take care of and are responsible for each child. Responsibilities include meals, homework, counseling, mentoring, fellowship, leadership, and much more. There is an apartment that is attached to each home for the family. They are looking for young families with experience with youth. Over the years as youth group leaders we have very much loved our time with young people. What a great opportunity to do this full time, serve God, and serve missionaries all at the same time.

We then talked to our elders at our church and told them about our desires. They had mixed feelings as they did not want us to leave but excited in the way the Lord would use us in the Philippines. They prayed with us and continue to pray for us. It is at this time that they agreed to commend us from Warrenville Bible Chapel.

The next step was to apply for the position of dorm parents at Faith Academy. We turned in our application on October 27, 2007. We then received our acceptance letter on January 16, 2008. During this time we learned patience and how to rely on God.

Over the past few months we have been making preparations for the move. Our house is ready and is on the market to sell. We have started packing/sorting our house. We have plane tickets and passports. It is has definitely been a busy time. In addition to the normal preparations we found out that my mom had cancer. She was first diagnosed with a malignant tumor in her left eye. After seeing multiple doctors the decision was made to remove the tumor and her eye. The surgery, which was on Good Friday, was successful. During this time additional tests were done to rule out any additional cancer. Through a cat scan a mass was found in the intestinal area. A biopsy was done which showed pre-cancer cells. Another decision was made to remove this mass before it developed and spread into cancer. This operation was successful as well on April 2. So now mom is once again cancer free. We are so thankful to the Lord for his healing. Please pray for mom and her recovery.

We continue to trust God during this time in our lives. We continue to feel the Lord's leading in taking us to the Philippines. Obviously this will be a huge change for us but we feel this is what God wants us to do. We would not be doing this if we didn't feel the Lord's leading. Faith Academy is looking forward to our arrival this summer. At this time we are making a two year commitment to serve at Faith Academy.

Our plans: My last day of work will be May 27. Then on May 29 we leave for New Jersey to visit our Mission home, CMML, for two weeks. During this time we will be visiting eight churches and sharing with them what we will be doing in the Philippines. Then we leave for Pennsylvania where we will be attending a Missionary Orientation conference. After that, we go to Connecticut to spend time with Kim's family and then on to Rochester, New York, for the wedding of Diane Brooks to Dave Smith. Then we will return to the Chicago area until we leave for the Philippines on July 15.

We appreciate all of your prayers and support during this step of our lives. We will continue to trust God as we follow Him. We give Him all of the glory!