October 2008 report

Hello friends!

It's been a long time since we've written all of you, so this is to update you on what's happening with the McKinney's.

As most of you do know, we went to the States this past summer to try to make some new ministry partnerships. We concentrated on contacting new churches and meeting with their pastors or missions teams. But the weak dollar has been hurting most missionaries around the world, and we found churches were (properly) focusing on supporting the missionaries they already had and were not generally receptive to appeals from new people. We were not successful in raising the new support we were seeking.

In the end, we returned to the Philippines anyway; the dollar seems to have bottomed out in March, and the value of the dollar is rising slowly. In addition, our current ministry partners have been emphatically generous in their responses to our plight. Each extra amount we have received over what was committed has been very welcomed and very helpful in keeping us on the field. Thank you for caring about our family and the work here. God has worked through you to keep us here.

Back in the Philippines, we returned to our work. Carole, as a family counselor for the missionary community. She used to work two days a week as a counselor; now she's been at her office almost four full days most weeks! Seeing how God has been able to use her, Carole's interest in counseling has been bolstered, and she's now considering her options for further education and California licensing.

The next semester at schools here doesn't start until November, so in the meantime I've been working on that last paper for my Ph.D. coursework (there would still be plenty of work left for the degree itself). I'm also making plans to train church planters to teach church planting next spring.

Unfortunately, things have not all gone smoothly since our return. We've been experiencing computer issues. While still in the States, the external hard drive we use for backing up our computers crashed. On return to our home, the wireless network card on one of our two desktop computers was broken; this is a concern because the network was a secondary way of backing up our files. Finally, just last week the motherboard went out on my primary computer--the one that has the research notes for the paper I've been writing. It's good that the computer is covered under an international warranty, but it will be at least two more weeks before I get it back--and I'm not sure how my data will make it. Pray when all is said and done we don't lose any critical files!

Healthwise, Carole was stricken by some sort of fever that was debilitating and slowed her re-adjustment to the Philippines. Campbell, Callie and Chris were also sick, with something more mild. Fortunately, everybody's doing well now.

We know things aren't necessarily going smoothly for all of you, either. It seems Carole and I have been praying for more of you, with more needs, than we ever have before. All the more reason for us to be grateful for your faithfulness as ministry partners--so once again, Thank you!

In Christ,



Chris McKinney