Update Letter from the Kruegers in the Philippians
Ron and Joanne Krueger have been part of Grace Church for the past 4 years and have recently moved back
to the Philippines to do translation work and teaching in Manila. They serve with Wycliffe Bible Translators.
Dear Friends and Family,
In May, very special friends hosted a memorable farewell open house for
us. Many well-wishers from the Minneapolis/St. Paul area came to say “hi”
and“good-bye,” some of whom we had not seen in years. A week later we
gathered at Ron’s brother’s house to enjoy a rare Krueger family reunion. It is
seldom that Ron and both his brothers plus spouses are able to be in the same
place at the same time.
On June 2 we left Minneapolis and arrived in the Philippines
late at night on Wednesday June 3rd!
The flight was uneventful –the good kind – for which we are always
thankful. We were pleased to see the Tokyo airport remodeled and therefore
more comfortable than in past years for the 3 hour wait for our next flight.
There was a period of nasty turbulence from a thunderstorm after leaving
Tokyo but the pilot was able to get us out of that after a while.
In Manila we stayed at the SIL guesthouse for 3 nights so we could meet
the many new SIL people filling administrative slots and be brought up-to-date
on changes over the last 5 years that we’ve been away. We also needed a
morning to go to Immigration and another to get our driver’s licenses. We are
so thankful one of our colleagues went with us as a guide through what
seemed to us to be a mystifying maze of procedures.
On Wednesday, June 6th we moved into the house we’ll be renting for a
year. The people who normally live here are also SIL colleagues. They wanted
someone to sub-lease their house so they could return to it after their furlough. They kept their household goods in place so we
could just move right in. It has been a blessing not to have to think about
furnishing a whole house. Accumulating a house full of goods is not particularly
appealing to us at this point in our lives. We are considering hopping
from house to house like this in future years. It is a way to help out our colleagues
going on furlough while providing furnished housing for us at the
same time. We’ll see how it goes.
All of the books, printed matter, and DVD/CD’s I mailed arrived. Thanks
to those of you who were praying for these mailings. The post office here
charged me heavily for customs even though most of the material is used
and is for school or personal use. Fortunately, they were willing to drop
their initial charges somewhat. We sent some additional items with a Faith
Academy shipment so there should not be any customs charge on those.
We hope to see them at the end of June.
Currently, Ron is working on a consultant check of a translation of the
book of Colossians into a Filipino language. Until now Ron has been primarily
an Old Testament consultant. Now that we are back in the Philippines,
the Translation Department here wants him to expand into checking New
Testament books as well.
I (Joanne) have been doing a lot of reading to prepare myself for
teaching two of my three classes at Faith Academy. I’ll have 20th Century
World History all year. This is a required course for 9th graders. For the first
semester, I’ll teach Philippines and South East Asian History as an elective.
Then during the second semester my elective will be Sociology. These electives
will most likely be with upperclassmen. This will provide four periods
of teaching per day. The principal is allowing me a bit lighter load this year
to ease me into the school routine. Most teachers have five hours of
classes/day.
Praises:
• Stamina prior to leaving
Minnesota
• Safe travels
• Friends to help us both
there and here
• Arrival of all my books, etc. Nothing was missing from
the mailings.
Prayer Requests:
• Physical and emotional stamina here. The heat and humidity can be
oppressive. Also, we miss our family and friends at home. We’re thankful
Tim at Bethel U. is about 15 minutes from Steve and Amber in St.
Paul and they see each other frequently.
• That the renters in our Minnesota home will be responsible and take
good care of it.
• Ron’s work as a Translation Consultant, that he will catch potential
problems and offer good suggestions.
• Joanne’s work at Faith Academy. There will be a very steep learning
curve for her.
• Learning our way around Manila & safety on the roads here. It is quite
a scary adventure to go out!
• Ron’s health. In the past he’s had allergic reactions to the pollution in
Manila. So far he’s been okay.
Yours In His Service,
Joanne (for the Kruegers)
The following excerpt is from the Krueger’s prayer letter from
March 29. Ron, Joanne and Tim have lived in Wyoming for
the past 4 years and have been a part of Grace Church during
that time. The Kruegers are returning to the Philippines in
early June, where Ron will continue on translation checking
and Joanne will begin teaching at a school in Manila.
Praise & Prayer Family. Tim: We are thankful that Tim continues to do well this first year at Bethel U.
We'd appreciate prayer for God's guidance for him as he tries to decide what career
to study toward. He is considering mission work among other possibilities.
Translators Notes on Hosea. This will be one volume in a series of notes that will
serve as a guide for translators. I have less than 2 chapters to go in my initial compilation
of notes on Hosea, so I'm thankful for the progress so far. The last chapters
and final write-up of the notes still remains. My hope has been to finish before we
leave for the Philippines in June. Perhaps that is too optimistic but I'd appreciate
your prayers to be able to do it well and efficiently, and if it is God's will, to finish before
our return to the Philippines in June.
House rental. We have hired a property management company to take charge of all
the details of leasing our Minnesota house when we return to the Philippines. We'll
be dependent on the rent income to pay our mortgage. Please pray that the Lord will
bring responsible renters who could move in by June.
Progress toward June departure. We are thankful that the Lord has provided a home
for us to rent near Faith Academy in Manila starting in June. It is a home that other
missionaries will be subletting to us while they are on furlough. We're also thankful
that the Lord has helped us complete much of the repairs, painting, etc. on our own
Minnesota house to prepare it for leasing. We've also completed our physical exams
needed as step one toward obtaining visas to the Philippines. We still have paperwork
to do re. insurance, address changes, organizing and storing house contents,
speaking engagements, etc., so your prayers are still appreciated for what remains.
Funds needed for our return. We still lack funds for airfare and setup costs in Manila.
Thank you for praying that Joanne would have more substitute teaching opportunities.
She has! and that has helped us a lot with costs here. Please pray for the remaining
needs to be met.
Book mailing problems. Joanne has mailed to Manila many bundles of school books.
Unexpectedly, the post office in Manila is charging very high customs fees for these
books. Our colleagues at Faith Academy are working on our behalf to reduce them
and have had some success on what we've mailed thus far. But many more bundles
are on their way. Please pray that the post office in Manila would be willing to drop
or significantly reduce the charges on the remainder of the packages that arrive.
Thanks much for your prayers! - Ron for the Kruegers
