i G 12S1

MESSAGE FROM MARY

Marv Pruitt
P.

O.

Box

49

Aparri, Cagayaa 1118

Philippines

Forwarding Agents
M / M Bob Pruitt

PHILIPPINE MISSION CHURCHI

November, December, 1080, (January 1981

2784 So. River

Rd.

Grants Pass, OR 97526

Dear Friends in Christ,

How we praise the Lord for this last year and all He has done for us in 1980. As we celebrated

Christmas and

remembered the

Lord's

wonderful

and precious gift of His son, we also praised and

thanked Him for all of you who have given so much to make this Home and this work possible. Be
cause we aie in God's love

we have so many blessing and joys that the world cannot know.

November was an exciting and interesting month. Joy Collins left for the States for a short fur
lough,

planning to return in March. She was to leave for Manila on

the 7th

but

because we were

having a typhoon and flood, we were not able to leave until the 9th, and then only because the Lord

arranged it all fur us. We were having one of the worst floods in history, and the roads were all closed.
There is no air traffic to Aparri and so "we could see no way to get to Manila. Joy's flight w^s for
the 12th. We prayed and the Lortl worked it all out so that we got to ride in a single engine
plafie from Aparri, went down the West Coast, which I had never seen before and is so beautiful,
and had a safe and enjoyable trip. Joy got there in time for her flight and other things she had
to

take care of before leaving. But because all the roads were closed and air traffic to the

nearest

airport so heavy I was not able to get back to Aparri until the 21st. Because I was there for such
a long time I was able to buy the material for all the curtains for the Home (the money given by
the Ladies Fellowship of the Aparri Church) and just relax and read, which I have not done for some lime.
I was very homesick for the children by the time I got home, but I praise the Lord for taking care of
them and of me. Please remember Joy as she is in the States and as she returns to the Philippines.
When I returned from Manila our family had grown by one. Jun arrived the 19th, very
much in need of this Home and the love of the Lord. Jun Avas left by his parents in Manila

when he was about 4 years old. He has grown up in different homes serving as a house boy. He
has been given no love and has been mistreated, and has only received a first grade education. We
praise the Lord for bringing Jun here so that we can help him to love life and to know the love
of the Lord. Right after his arrival, Jun came down with a very serious case of hepatitis and if he
had not been here he would iiave died because he would not have gotten medical attention in his
former place. We praise the Lord he is doing fine now and that he is also responding to our love and
care for him. Please keep u.s in your prayers as we love him and pray that he will quickly learn
and accept God's love for him. The age of 12 is a late time to get a start on life and love, but wo
know the Lord can have victory in this life.

We were wry happy and praised the Lord on Nov. 2 as Felix gave his life to the

Lord and

took Christ as his Savior and followed in Christian baptism. Wc have prayed for him over a year and
fehe >Lord i'ur-tliia 'attp he hasmade,- a-nd the -cvideat change-ifi-Lim4s--growing, .inlua.
lovo and walk with the Lord. Please remember him in your prayers also.

December was a fun and joyous month as we remembered the birth of our Savior. Shirley To
ledo arrived here on the 5th, making it possible for me to spend much more time in the homo with
the children, and to concentrate on the work of the

Home. On

the

6th

we

had

our

kindergarten

Christmas program and included in it a welcome for Mrs. Toledo. The program Avas so cute and Avell
done, and avc all are so thankful for the Savior, and also for Shirley's Avillingness to come and
share her

life in the Avork here.

We Avere so happy to have Minda, our oldest, home for the holidays. She has been studying
at our school in southern Isabcla. Hoav 1 praise the Lord for our Iavo Christian iiigh schools and hoAv
I look forward to the day that we have one in Lal-lo. The help it has been to Minda to live and

study ill a Christian environment cannot be told here. Our

two schools suffered

much damage from

the typhoon and flood in NoA'-ember, but the Lord knoAV we Avould haA'^e the extra expense, and has
provided for it. How Ave praise Him for providing all our needs, through Christ, and through you who
have such faith and love in the

Lord.

Also in December Myrtle joined our family. She came from a rico field Avhere she Avas^ aban
doned and almost droAvncd. Hoav anyone could throAV aAvay such a SAveet and beautiful child I Avill nev
er knoAv. But again aa'^c were able to give life to a child. We guess that Myrtle Avas about tAvo months

MINDA

SOUTHERN ISABELA ACADEMY, San Guillermo, Isabela

old at the time she was found. How wonderful it is to be able to help a
child and see the growth and changes in him. This little Homy was two
months

old when he came and covered from head to foot with sores. Now

he is a strong, healthy and happy boy who is trying to learn to walk. Each
of them has such a story and we praise God and thank you for the life
that they now have.
On January 6 we were blessed with another small bundle of joy. This
one was really small weighing only about 3 lbs. Angel is the smallest little
boy I have ever seen. We praise the Lord He has continued to give this
boy life, even though we have no incubator (a good project for somone) and
the weather has been cold. We have done a lot of praying and the Lord has
heard and answered. Angel sleeps in a box with jars of hot water to keep
him warm (we have had some record cold weather this winter), fie ate from

a dropper at first, but is now strong enough to take a bottle. Besides just
being small, Angel started his life being malnourished. His mother suffered
from dysentary and severe beriberi for more than a month before the baby
was born. Because of her illness the mother had no milk, and they

are

very poor family with many children. But they wanted this baby to live,
so they have given him to us, to raise in the Lord. They are also Chris
tians and we are happy to be able to help out our brothers and sisters
in

ROMY

Christ.

I want to say a great big, but very inadequate, thank you to all of you who gave so much
and so many wonderful toys and clothes to make our Christmas full and blessed. Because of your generousity we were able to have new clothes and toys for everyone. All our girls were so happy with

their new baby dolls, which they love and cli-scipline, and the boys with their cars and other fitting
toys. How handsome and pretty they all looked in their new clothes, as you will see in the next
newsletter. Thank you all so much. A lot of work and time went into many of the gifts and we really
appreciate it.
It is hard to believe that another year is over and January is here again. I sure do not know

where time went so fast. This last year has been a good one in the Seminary,

with many good

and

dedicated students. Our high schools have become more self-supporting and have had a good harvest in the
work- of the Lord. The radio program went up in cost, but is reaching a wider area. The press has
been kept busy with the regular printing of Christian literature and special orders. Our preachers and

evangelists have been working hard and are reaping a harvest also. How we praise the Lord for each
of these ways of evangelizing the Philippines, and ask your prayers as we start another year in this
work for the Lord, that we will work hard and will reach many with the love and Word of our
Savior.

My furlough plans are not yet completed, but I am taking speaking dates starting m June. If

you would like a speaking date contact my forwarding agents. They are handling all of the speaking

dates and also the funds for my travel. Please keep this in your prayers as I finish what has to be
done here before I can leave, and set my final plans, as well as preparing for tiie speaking in the
States. Also, a great need is someone to take my place as the administrator while I am gone. It

may be an American or a Filipino that the Lord will supply, but

please be in

prayer about this

need.

..-If you are interested in helping this work, by "adopting" a child, or in any other way, funds
should be sent to the forwarding agents. It is very dangerous to send checks through the mail. It costs

about $35.00 per child per month, and other expenses vary. I want again to say thank you to all who have
given in any way for this work. We have recei\-ed so many great and precious boxesof gifts, toys, clothes
and materials that a I cannot begin to express my joy and gratitude. We have all been greatly blessed

by your love and generousity and the evidence of your love for the Lord and the people here. May the
Lord also bless you in so many ways for your love and faith in Him. We pray also for the going forth
of gospel from you as the gospel is also going forth from here, tliat we may win the world for the Lord.

In Christ's Service,

Mary

.v...

Pruitt

^ // ^
Marv prultt

P.O. Box 49

MESSAGE FROM MARY

Forwarding Agents:

Aparri. Cagayan 1118 ; Philippine Mission/" Churches of Christ

./Philippines

Februai-y, March, April

: M/M Bob Pruitt

. .

- 2784 S. River Rd.

-

April 19, 1981

' Grants Pass, OR

:.

97526

Dear Friends,

As I am writing this newsletter 1 am sitting in the hospital with Roger as he suffers with
Tubercular Meningitis. At times it seems it is the end, and yet after almost a month of

illness he la still with us. Vhat a month this has been, but in it all I can say "praise
the Lord". It has been a great learning experience in trusting the Lord, in walking in His

pieace -during despair, lonliriess, hurt, joy and anguish. For two weeks we were in Manila in

the hospital for infectious diseases. It was "the pits". But I learned to enjoy and endure

life among 40 other patients with their 40 "agbantay"(watchers), and to love and share with

them in joy as some got better and went home, in sadness ar.d loss cs; others died, and in
' discouragement and- hurt as others suffered pain and convulsions and never seemed to improve,
Livifig'^only two feet apart from your neighbor and sharing three toilets and 2. faucets with
<the nursery and cholera ward used the same bathroom) has its drawbacks.
But the Lord never left us, and actually blessed us in making it possible for us to help
others and to share His love and grace. Even though I could not talk to many of them be
cause of the language difference (they were mostly Tagologs), I. was still able to share
me ove and care with them from the Lord. Even now as we are back in Aparri and Roge'^
has seemed to have had a slight relapse I can stili rest in the Lord's peace as He works
^to\ be with
. u""the Lord we
^ can only praise God. be
in we
thecan
morning
or not, God.
but ifRoger
he goes
If alive
he lives
only praise
has
een committed to the Lord. I only asked two things of the Lordthat if Roger lives he
will be able to love the Lord and to bring glory and honor to His name. As I have watched
Koger suffer through pain, convulsions, and other effects of his illness I have wished I
H \

e^rfor hi^

'

better understand

taking our sins and sickness upon himself so that we can have
learning experiences.

I have learned a

lem
never have these lessons again. But the best thing is that there is no probto
h/ careourthrough
Lord, and
He will never leave us. What a help and comfort it has been
to Hp
be ?
in His
it all.
In February we were blessed by the arrival of Maria, who was 5 months old at that time.
^ special child in that she has cerebral palsy.

I took her to Manila and the doc-

AA poun s)were
of hersheproblem
result of
onlyisweigh-and hopeful,.
neglect. Part
Although
is not was
yet anormal,
and malnutrition
may never be,(she
there
much
improvement, for which we praise the Lord.

We have had some real problems lith some of our staff. As we have asked the Lord to place

the correct people for His task of raising these children to be His children we are t^oin-:^
through quite a change-over. But we praise the Lord for bringing the ones Ha wan'-s to .ur

attention and that He is making our Home one where He dwells. Please keep this in your- pray

ers as I will be leaving on furlough the middle of May and this needs to be taken care of
before I go, if possible.

The children are growing and learning. We had one who got first honors(2nd grade), and two
2nd year
We are
of them
anA their scholastic ability. We graduate
have someandothers
justhighschooler).
as capable but who
needproud
to learn
to
apply themselves more.

The sutraner evangelistic work is on. We are in our second week of camp at the Seminary. Our
basketball-evangelistic team is traveling and I know there is a harvest going on there. The
diiferent rallys and conventions are in progress also. We had the Cagayan Vallev Ch"ii-?an
Convention here in Aparri earlier this month and it was very well attended and had '^reat

messages from God's Word.

The Seminary had its closing the end of February with only two graduates. One, a very dedted young lady, received a certificate. The boy, also very dedicated to Gsrving the Lord,

received a diploma. Although the class was small, we look forward to great things harooni^o^'
as they work together with the Lord.

'

We have had to temporarily stop our radio broadcast but are anticipating a greater out-reach
and ministry when we begin again. Please keep this effective way of spreading the gospel
in your prayers, that we majr be able to begin again soon.

--

. V

1 Will be leaving the Philippines on May 10, . Joy Collins will be ,the director in jny place

Please pray for her as there wiU be times of hard decision, trial and bther things thht '
Satan will do to try to stop or discourage this work of the lord. But our God strongeiV
Notf. as I finish this, 2 days later than when I started, I can tell you that Roger is no
xonger suffering. Yesterday afternoon he went before us to join the Lord. How we can re

joice in the assurance that Roger is with the Lord and we look forward, in the hope of
Christ, ' to the day we will join him around the throne. Praise the Lord that through

Christ we have eternal life. Although was not yet 3 years old, because of his illness we
were able to share the gospel of Christ with many who may never have heard if not for us. '
We do not know the results of the seed we planted, but we pray the power and conviction of

the Spirit in their hearts will bring them to salvation. Actually the meningitis is not
what brought Roger's death, but pneumonia, a common complication of meningitis.

Because of the late time and so much to do before leaving on furlough I will not have time

to write the personal notes of thank you that I do to many of you. But to alL who have
'
given .in any way, through prayer, physical or material help, financially, rwaiit to tell "
you thank you for your faith and love and gifts to the Lord's work here, I will be seeing

many of you while I am on furlough and. can then tell you thank you face-to-face. I look
forward to meeting those of you that I have never met before.

'
,1

-.r

May the Lord be praised and glorified in all we say and do as we are His light-on this'
earth.

How encouraging and joyful to walk in His love,

'

"-"d.''
' -

In Christ's service.

; j'W

ri -f
dv-

'

./

Mary Pruitt

From her forwarding agents:

Please keep Mary in your prayers on May 10 and 11 as she flies home from the Philippines,

Also remember to pray for Joy Collins and the other workers who will be working in the
Horae-whi].e she is in the States,

.1

V :-n

1.

-n-

Ka f!. ^
;";d

fid'

Non-Profit Organization
U.S. Postage Paid

PHILIPPINE MISSION CHURCHES OF CHRXST

CENTP^L CHURCH OF CHRIST

Permit No.

14^0 S. Oakdale

>v

Medford, Oregon 97501

/? ?

561

Medford, ORegon

41981
Mary Pruitt
P. 0. Box 49
Aparrl, Cagayan
Philippines

MESSAGE FROM MARY

Philippine Mission Churches of Christ

Hay, June, and July 1981

friends^ again. The love ^that has he n

Dear Family in Christ,

Here I am on furlough meeting many wonder-

ful Christians and enjoying seeing my old

praise the Lord for the wonderful offerings : .

very much and the Family of God in the Phil-

ippines,

'

I know the lord is with them and -

caring for them, "but I still miss them,

-
Right now I am preparing to speak at Wi-nema Week-of Missions, I would appreciate your prayers for me as I prepare and speak at

the camp.

It is a new and "big experience for me and I really need the Lord's help,

I have had some special blessings from my home church, Central Church of Christ in Medford, Oregon. They had a special day for me at the church and presented me with a car,
on loan, to use while I am in the States. Besides that they also bought the insurance

and gave me a credit card to use, I thank and praise the Lord for this wonderful part
of His family and the love they have shown me, not only now, but through the years while
I was growing up and while I have been in the Philippines,
News of what is going on in the Philippines has been somewhat scarce but 1 will fill you
in on what I

know.

The summer evangelistic team was out for about two months.

good area of the Cagayan Valley and there were 136 baptisms.

In that time they covered a

How we praise the Lord for

this wonderful, way of reaching the people with the Word of Christ and we pray that each
of these new Christians will become a strong servant of our Lord,

School was late starting so I have not heard a report on the enrollment of the Seminary
or the two high schools, but I know that they will be good and that it will be another

wonderful year of teaching the Word of God to the usual 1,000 high school students, and

a good year of preparing others to go out and preach and teach the Word,

Please keep

these schools in your prayers,

Harvey and Helen Beard are back from their summer furlough and busy at work again,
Harvey is teaching again, in:.the Seminary and Helen is again Carolyn Boudreaux's school
teacher.

She is teaching second grade this year.

Shirley Toledo is still busy in the office, keeping up with the books and keeping the
books up. She is doing a great work and I know would appreciate your prayers for her,
A lot has happened in the Home since I left the first part of May.

Joy Collins had taken

over my job as director, besides her work as the clothes person. I know she is a very
busy with that and also working in our kindergarten. She has had some hard times to go
through since I left, and I know that she would appreciate your prayers also. Right ...
after I left she had another staff member quit and also we had to dismiss one of the

staff. It is sad when one of our Christian sisters falls back to temptation and I ask
you to pray for Julia, that she will again renew her faith and love for the Lord and
return to His service.

Another thing that Joy has gone through since I left is the death of our little Myrtle,
She is the baby that was thrown in the rice paddy by her mother. I do not know what
was the cause of her death, or if anyone knows, and of course we do not always understand
why things like this happen. But one thing we are sure of is that Myrtle is with the

Lord and that she is not sick or unhappy, but is in the presence of our Lord,
praise Him for this assurance, and His love that makes it possible.

How we

There have also heen some sick children.

Ariel was in the hospital one and a half weeks

with hepatitis and little Angel was sick in the hospital twice. But at last report they
were all doing fine. One of our staff was in the hospital for a while also with what
seemed to 'be anemia.

back at work,

I am sure the Lord has renewed her strength "by now and that she is

I praise the Lord that He is in constant care and love for them and that

I can trust them to His care and although I miss them and get concerned I know that He
is with them.

Now for some good news. At last report the water tower was being plastered and so I as
sume that "by now they have running. It sure is a wonderful modern convience and a great

help to have running water. No one is more appreciative of it than our $ older "boys who
spent a lot of time each day carrying water, I hope that they will be able to start on
the wash house right away so we can get our washing machine and dryers hooked up and in
use.

Also some other good news that calls for rejoicing is the news that our new nurse that

was hired just before I left has accepted the Lord as her Savior and been baptized. Also
another new worker, that has been hired since I left, has followed in the obedience of

of 'baptism. She was a believer but wanted to follow the Lord's command of baptism. How
we praise the Lord for this wonderful spiritual news. Also we rejoice that Sherry Ann
and Jessie 'both accepted the Lord as Savior and were baptized in camp just before 1 left.
I ask your prayers for all of them as they grow in Christ.

Charles and Roberta Selby will bo returning to the Philippines in September. Please con
tinue to hold then up in prayer as they travel. Vfe praise the Lord for the health and

protection he has given then as they have been traveling for the last one and a half years,
I plan to return to the Philippines right after Christmas. If. you would like a speaking

appointment please contact my forwarding agents. I still have some dates left. I will
be on the Northwest Missionary Conference program so that will cover a lot of Oregon,
Washington and Idaho.

The Lord continues to meet our financial need for all ministry of the mission. In the
Home we have 31 children and of those 22 are partially or fully "adopted" or supported.

If you are interested in "adopting" one of our children please write me at the address
of the forwarding agents. We figure that it takes about $35*00 a month per child. But

you may take only a part of this if you desire. I want to extend a great big THANK YOU

to all who have shared in the ministry of this work. Those who have prayed, sent funds,

clothes, letters, etc. are all such a wonderful blessing and we thank each one of you,
and praise the Lord for your part in His work. Please continue to pray for each of us
as we work for the Lord in the Philippines,

In Christ's service,

Maiy Pruitt

PHILIPPINE MISSION CHURCHES OF CHRIST

CENTRAL CHURCH OF CHRIST
1440 S, Oakdale

Medford, Oregon

97501

Non-Profit Organization
U.S. Postage Paid

permit No. 5^1

Medford,.Oregon

DEC 1 7

Mar/ Pruitt
P. 0. Box ^9

ME53AC2 FROM MARY

Philippine Mission Churches of Christ

Aparri, Cagayan

1118

August Decer.bert 1981

Philippines

Forwarding Agents:
Mr, i: Mrs. Bot Pruitt

2784 So, River Rd.

Grants Pass, OR

97526

Dear Friends in Christ,

This newsletter has been a long time in coming.

but a

It has been a long busy summer and fall,

blessed one also.

Since the last letter I spoke at Wi-Ne-Ma Week of Missions. That was a real experience,
I praise the Lord for giving me the words and strength to get through that. Also I thank
all of those who were praying for me as I prepared and delivered the messages. It was an
experience I praise the Lord for because I learned to depend on Him more I learned I
can dc things I do not think I can if I will let the Lord work through me.

I was in a wonderful Jr. camp and also on the Northwest Missionary Conference for 5 weeks.
That also was a challenge for me. Again I thank all those who prayed for me while I was
traveling and I thank and praise the Lord for nis care and protection and for the strength
needed to sneak every night. I also praise Kim for His wonderful family and all the love
that was shown me.- in homes and in the churches where I spoke.

you for the love, help, prayers and encouragement.

Thank you to each one. of

Sometimes I really got tired but the

love picked me right up again.

It has been wonderful to see many of my old friends again and to make many new ones; to

be able to help others and to be helped ty others; to just be blessed by the Lord.

Spend

ing time with my family and getting to know all the new members (like 4 new nephews and
nieces and some in-laws) has been a wonderful thing also. It is so wonderful to be in a
Christian family. Ve saw my oldest brother, Ernie, and his family off to New Zealand where
they will be serving the Lord for 3 years. Kow good it has been to share together.
Now for some news from the Philippines,

Charles and Roberta Selby returned to the Philippines in September after about Ij years in
the States, They are very happy to be back, and those in the Philippines are very happy to
have them there.

Our high schools have about 900 enrolled this year. It is down some and most likely because
of the destruction to crops because of floods and typhoons. Our first "Week of Evangelism"

brought about 165 students to the Lord and we praise God for them and pray that they will
be dedicated servants of our Lord,

There is an enrollment in the Seminary (first semester) of 87.

Some of these are part-

time but are receiving teaching from God's Word and training in sharing it.
having their Christmas program on December 11,

They will be

We were saddened to hear of the death of the mother of Roberta Selby and Marj Eoudreaux.

She was in her upper 80*s and we know she

is with the Lord,

Also we express our

sympathy to Joy Collins at the death of

her mother.

She was in her 90's and is

also with the Lord,

Praise God for the

assurance of salvation through Christ,

Much has been happening at the Cagayan

'

Valley Children's Home. We have s e v e r a l ( |

new children, the latest a 9 month boy.

One cf the new ones has cerebral palsy.
We now have 2 children with cerebral

palsy, both named Maria,

We thank the

Lord and you, that we have the Home and

are able to help these children.

y*'yj > '.'.JjiAV/'l*

We

^ ^

praise the Lord that during the summer

one of our new older children accepted

the Lord and was baptized.
We now have real running water in our

home.

How happy they are with that,

especially our boys who had to carry

water.

Just when the tower was finish-

ed and water was running they had a real

bad typhoon (praise the Lord no damage

mV /

*0 u:;, i/xcept r?.lr. blovr. in), :?o nc

electricity. Then the electric motor
that ran the pump wan stolen, but .hao

been replaced

nclp with this exT^ence

would be appreciated).
is working fine.

Now ever^-'thing

Zrnie Rutherford has

been a great help with construction of

the tower and getting things in working
order and keeping them that way. We
are thankful for him and his help.
Thanks to all of you who have helped
mako this convenience possible. What a
blessing running water is.

We now have the government hydro-elec

tric power.

It is not yet zk hour but

is always a strong current when it is

on. That is a great blessing also.
There was some excitement as the small

refrigerator in my apartment caught on

fire.

Praise the Lord there was nothing else burned and just minor damage, and that no one

was hurt.

It is comforting to know they are in His care.

Wc are now using the gas dryer that was sent from Grants Pass.
ment.

The wash house is not yet started.

It is hooked up in my apart

The rainy season really slows our construction.

We are happy that everyone is back in good health now. We had a real spell of sickness;
many in and out of the hospital, many with the mumps (including Janie Rutherfoiawho kissed

one of the little ones with the mumps), but now all is okay. But we did run up quite a
bill at the hospital. Since April it has added up to a little more than $^OC,OC, Help
with this would be greatly appreciated also.

Because of inflation prices have gone up in the Philippines just like here. Consequently
it is costing at least 5^5*00 psr month per child, for all expenses (not including build
ing). I thank all of you for the support you have given - the love, toys, clothes and fi
nancial support for the childrer.. I know many of your are sacrificing already and will not
ab-ie tc increase your-support for the child you have "adopted**. We praise the Lord for
what you can do and that through His people our needs are always met. Thank you for sharine: with us.

Thank you for your prayers for Joy Collins as she has been doing so much and carrying such
a load taking on my responsibilities while I have been in the States. She took two weeks
vacation she badly needed and got rested up.
Thank you again to all of you who have made this such a wonderful furlough.

I was not look*

ing forward to leaving the children, but I have been blessed by being here and have grown,
and I an anxious to get back to my family in the Philippines. I will be flying right after
the new year.

May each of you have a very joyous and blessed Christmas as we remember together with our

brothers and sisters around the world the wonderful gift that our Lord God has given us
through His son Jesus Christ, our Saviour.

In Christ's service,

Iiary_P-ru
mitt

PHILIPPINE MISSION C-a^HCHES CF CHRIST

CENTRAL CHURCH OF CHRIST
3. Oakdale

Medford, Oregon

Hon-Profit Organisation
U.S. Postage paid

Permit No, 5^1

97501

Medford, Oregon