Travel Update

After over three months of waiting, we are scheduled to fly out on what is called a “sweeper flight” from Bacolod-Silay Airport to Manila tomorrow (June 21). Commercial flights are still prohibited in the airport on our island, however, they have arranged these special flights to ferry locally stranded individuals up to Manila (which is one of the only international hubs in the Philippines). After taking our sweeper flight up to Manila, we will, Lord willing, then catch an international flight to New York (JFK) via Seoul, Korea on June 23. Obviously, the logistics involved in flying a family of 7 in the middle of a pandemic is complicated to say the least. So, here are a few things you can pray for in our travels:

1. Good health for each member of our family. If any one has a 99.5 F temperature or above at any stage of the journey they are not permitted to board the aircraft.
2. Proper documentation. I have worked hard to make sure we have all of the necessary documents to travel in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis (i.e. travel pass / authority, medical clearance, barangay certification, and even a letter from the US Embassy). However, I have been in the Philippines long enough to know that even when I think I have everything in order… I might not.
3. Good attitudes from the kids–and adults for that matter. We have a lot of “travel time” since our special “sweeper” flight lands on June 21, and our international flight does not depart until June 23. We will be staying in a hotel in Manila for two nights.
4. No more disappointments. This is the 7th set of tickets we have booked to try to get back to the States over the past three months. After the 2nd set fell through, I stopped telling our children about our “possible” departure dates since the disappointments were becoming too great. So, if you could simply pray that God in His mercy would allow us to get back safely, we would appreciate it.

Thank you for your continued prayers, encouragement, and support. We are asking for God’s good hand to be upon us in our travels, and that He might prosper our journey.

We pray that we will not be stranded… like Micah was on this rock 🙂