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Email from Terri
Your e-mail caught us at an incredibly hectic time, we have just changed ministry assignments and we had just left the Philippines, packed up our home, and with many tears said good-bye to our beloved ministry of thirteen years. Just now, we have internet hooked up at the house where we are staying. Finally. And I think it’s going to be a real adjustment to life in the States :) !!
We are in Kansas City, Greg has accepted a job at the Global Ministries Center. He will be working in the Mission Mobilization department—working with Work & Witness globally, training and sending out mission-core volunteers and missionaries.
I will tell you a few things about us :) Greg and I have been married for 24 years and we have two kids. We were saved as adults and love the Lord more each and every day. Our goal is to live each day in the center of his will. We felt a call to missions and went first to Guatemala and then to the Philippines. We arrived in Manila in 1998.
Our daughter Jordan was 8, when we arrived. She started her third grade year at Faith Academy, which is a school for the children of missionaries. All the kids at the school are MK’s and all the teachers are missionaries, there are over 600 kids and they are from all over the world. It was a great experience for her, she loves Jesus, is going to Trevecca Nazarene College-she is getting ready to start her senior year. She is majoring in communications with two minors, sociology & English. She loves writing and reading, her dreams after graduation are to communicate the stories of the poor and marginalized to the world. Since living in Nashville, she has developed a love for blue-grass music, she bought an old banjo off of Crag’s list and is now playing in a band, called the Flea-Marketeer’s. She is definitely cut out for college :) she loves it.
Our son Zachary was 4 when he arrived in the Philippine's. He started kindergarten at Faith Academy, grew up loving the life and culture of the Philippines. Now as a teen he loves sports—his sport of choice is Rugby. He loves the Lord and is looking for ways to serve him that have a true impact for the kingdom. He will be starting his senor year in high school here—we are planning on doing an on-line school that he can do from home. His future goals are wide open—although he leaning a little bit towards a degree in the culinary arts.
We had the time of our lives serving as missionaries! God is good and there is nothing like living in the center of his will—no matter where that takes you! We have had the privilege of working with Work and Witness teams. We have helped build churches all over the Philippines, built some schools, done medical clinics and drilled water wells. Greg also worked with as the partnership coordinator for the Asia Pacific Region and we have had the opportunity to see work going on around our region and even go to some of our creative access countries. I spent a lot of time doing hospitality—we had many visitors to the field so I always had interesting people staying with us. I taught a foods class at the high school and in my very in-between time, I was on a design team at the APNTS seminary and helped with decorating. I also do a little photography and have made a few videos.
We feel very, very blessed to have served as missionaries for the Church of the Nazarene, we really do have the best sending church of any denomination—we have always felt loved and supported by our home church.
Our decision to take an assignment in the States was quite sudden, we feel very much at peace and feel that it is the Lords will. Still, after so many years on the field, the decision was made just a couple of months before we left. We feel a bit like we are in a whirlwind! Zack had to leave his school & friends for his senior year, although he feels that it’s the Lords will, and trusts Him, even though he doesn’t really like it or know why he had to leave at this time. We are transition. The shipment with our belongings is on it’s way, hopefully by September we will have it. We are house-sitting for now, will decide about something more permanent later. We are still trying to decide on a church. But! :) we have our Kansas City drivers license, we have the internet, library cards and a car! And best of all! We are in the same time-zone as our daughter (when we are in Manila, we are 13 hours ahead!)
I’m not sure if we are “officially” LINKS missionaries since we have moved back to the States. I do want to “officially” apologize to you for not responding to your sweet e-mail earlier. Working through the process of change seems to be a bit of a rollercoaster ride for me :)
Bless you and thank you for your wonderful work with LINKS :)
Terri Taylor
PS—we are on facebook & I am attaching a picture of our family with a few of our Filipino friends! (it was taken just before we left)
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