Fall in the States

When we first got back to the States, we spent a couple of days in Florida with both Steve's parents, then my parents. Steve's dad recently bought a "hot rod", and we enjoyed a little drive in it.

My mom had a pretty serious health scare, and we were glad to be around during her recovery time (doing well now thankfully!). My brother and sister in law were also around, as well as my niece and her husband. Time with family is cherished time.

While we were there, we got a call from Mikayla that she and Austin had gotten engaged! They set the date in January, so we started out this Stateside with Ben's wedding and will end it with Mikayla's. They're planning a small outdoor wedding in Florida, then will also do a reception in the Philippines in February, so Steve & I will cut our time in the States a little shorter than originally planned to be back for that.

She's been super busy getting it all planned out - in this first month, she confirmed the venue, caterer, photographer, & even found a dress! We bought it through a charity that sells donated dresses, and the proceeds go to support cancer patients and their families.

After Ben's wedding, we spent a week in Michigan, meeting Austin's family. He's got a large family who are all believers, as well as a large church community, and they are all welcoming Mikayla with open arms. It did our hearts good to see where she will be living and knowing that she will be loved so well while we are so far away. We also got to enjoy peak of fall colors in Michigan!

Ben & Katye's Wedding

Right after the volunteer teams left, we also left to head back to the States for Ben's wedding. It was truly such a blessed time. The rehearsal dinner was a blast with a focus on the joining of two families from two cultures - the Philippines & Mississippi! We enjoyed a barbecue with Filipino pork bbq sticks and hamburgers. Some special time sharing stories and even a little Tinikling (Filipino cultural dance). The wedding itself was beautiful, and we are so incredibly thankful to welcome Katye into the Hagen family!

Ben & Katye

Aren't they just the cutest?! They're engagement pics turned out so well, and it was so fun to see their smiles. They are deep into wedding planning now with the big date in October. We'll be heading back to the States the end of September for the wedding. Thanks for praying with us for this sweet couple as they prepare for their marriage & future. Katye has one more year of college, and Ben plans to start seminary in January as they are hoping to serve on the field someday.

Family Time

Ben graduated magna cum laude from college! So very proud of him, especially with all the learning challenges he has faced. Wow, he has learned to excel in spite of challenges! 

We were sad we couldn't be there and instead watched online in the middle of the night, but we were thankful for those who were able to celebrate with him, including Mikayla & her boyfriend, my mom, and Ben's fiance & her family. 

It was strange how graduations worked for our kids - they all had only 1 sibling who could attend, but they alternated who that was. Zach attended Mikayla's, Ben attended Zach's, and Mikayla attended Ben's. :)

A few weeks later, Ben & Katye went to visit Mikayla and Austin in Michigan, and they had a lot of fun. Sad we couldn't all be there, but thankful they take the time to invest in one another like this!

Ben & Katye also got their engagement photos done. These are just a couple of them, but we are so excited for this sweet couple and how God is going to use them together in the years ahead. 

Also in May, Steve spent most of a week in the hospital. Thankfully, the myriad of tests ruled out some really scary possibilities, and we were left with a fungal infection...it seems like treating that has been helping him get his strength back. Pray with us that this is all it is and that he'll be back to full strength soon!

House Celebration!

As you all know, we've been working on a building a house on our compound in Bicol where our teammates will live, AND it will provide a place for us to stay when we're down there that's NOT a tent. :) After almost a year of construction, our teammates were able to move in, and we had the house celebration on the roof. We are so thankful for this place and pray that God will use it mightily.

The finished product!
The door on the right is McCoy's 3 bedroom, the middle one is for our journeyman, and the one on the right is the studio where we will be able to stay when we're down there.

One of our tribal partners who are doing church planting with the Manide tribe posted this cute pic that I thought you all would enjoy. :)

Since Mikayla has posted about this now, we also wanted to let you all know that Mikayla has been dating a wonderful Christian man for about a year now.  Austin came over to meet us in January, and we had a great time getting to know him. Pray for guidance as they seek Him together.

Ben & Katye

In the previous post you'll see we got to spend a little time in the States recently, and one of our main reasons for making the trip was to spend some time with Ben before he graduates from college. It was absolutely wonderful to spend some time with them and get to know Katye's family too. We got to know their church family at college, experience their first car breakdown with them, celebrate Ben's birthday, and go to a glass blowing place with them and Katye's parents. So very thankful for some precious time together.

Will you pray with us for these two as they look to the future of how God will continue to use them? Ben will graduate from college in a couple weeks, and they will be married in October. So excited to see how God is going to use them together.