Yes, you read that right. The Baran family is about to expand by two more tiny feet! It seems we had one more birthday present for Abbie! After all the festivities and fun we placed one last gift in her little hands. Excited, she shredded the paper…and chewed on the paper until she finally saw the pink shirt. Imprinted on the shirt was a cute monkey and a little announcement…”This little monkey is now a big sister!!”. Right now she is completely oblivious but in about seven months she will get to meet her new little brother or sister. The due date is January 19th and Elizabeth and I couldn’t be more thrilled. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to work on our house and in the ministries at church. Elizabeth has been experiencing morning sickness and isn’t always up to task but overall we are still making progress. We’re looking forward to this coming bundle and count ourselves very blessed! “Every good and perfect gift is from above…” James 1:17
Abbie’s 1st Birthday!
“Lo, children are an heritage 
of the Lord…” Ps. 127:3 What a blessing to be the parents of a precious child! It has been a joy for us to watch Abigail grow from a tiny infant to a very active baby. These days she keeps us very busy as she explores her expanding world. It ‘s amazing to think just how quickly this past year went by. Lititle Abbie now walks and practically runs. It’s also fun to hear her talk, grunt, and coo. Yes, this year has been a year of many firsts for Abigail and for us. There have been times when being parents has been challenging…especially when Abbie first discovered she could voice her own opinion. :) However, we have also enjoyed the rewards and pray the Lord gives us wisdom as we raise and train our baby girl. We thank the Lord for this wonderful gift. It’s only been a year but we wouldn’t know what to do without our little girl now. Abigail truly has been a blessing!
Happy Birthday Pastor Lewis!
This week we celebrated Pastor Travis Lewis’ 37th birthday! In the short time that we have been here, Brother Lewis and his family have become our good friends! We’re so thankful to have them with us as we settle into our home and learn this new culture. Their experience has saved us a lot of hassle and frustration! I can defintely see the wisdom in a missionary partnering with a fellow-laborer, it has been a major blessing to us! For instance, our rental home is still currently being worked on (yes, unfortunately we didn’t move in on June 1st) and because of Brother Lewis’s advice I knew to keep an eye on the house as the work was being completed. Unfortunately, when Pastor Lewis had work done on his own home the workers stole all of his shovels and hammers, wrapping new tape over the handles in an attempt to disguise them. We’ve still had some trial and error but the Lewis’ have taken the time to help us settle in Cebu. Happy Birthday Pastor Travis! Thank you for faithfully serving the Lord on the field!
Nasipit Outreach
Shortly after arriving in Cebu we selected a target area to begin our outreach to the local people. Since we’ve been here we’ve gone every Saturday with a group from North Cebu Baptist Church and focused our soul winning efforts on that one specific area. The little town of Nasipit looks small at first but we quickly discovered several clusters of homes filled with families. There are no street names or real roads, just paths made of dirt or concrete leading you to the next group of houses and little stores. You always pass people on the road but since we’ve returned we’ve hardly met the same person twice. The people as a whole are friendly but it didn’t take us long to realize that Cebu is very Catholic, even more so than Manila. It was here in Cebu that Catholicism was first born around 1521 and the people have clung to its superstition and beliefs to this day. Even a large portion of the children go to mass everyday so you can imagine some people aren’t too thrilled that we’re here. We’ve been faithfully returning to this town for weeks now and have seen some become defiant. Now they post their catholic symbols on their doors when they were not there before. Praise the Lord, a few have responded well. One young mother actually came to church and made a profession of faith! A few children have also come but there are so much more that we need to reach! The benefit of returning to the same area is that over time the people will get to know you on a more personal level and will eventually want to talk. One thing we noticed right away were the requests for a backyard Bible School from several young children. Due to these requests we’re going to change our game plan a little bit next week and bring the church to the neighborhood! Lord willing we’ll hold a mini Sunday School class right in their backyards! Please keep us in your prayers as we try to reach the local community of Nasipit!