Throughout this year we will continue laying the foundation for our partnership in the gospel. That means meeting together via Zoom as well as another onsite visit at the end of this year. Even though Ben and his family are retiring from full-time missionary service as of May of this year, Ben will continue to be involved in various ways, including fundraising. The Thai leaders are already part of planning a Luke 10 Exploration Trip to Southeast Asia which will likely take place this coming December. They are planning it along with Ben and leaders from Evangelical Friends Church-Eastern Region (EFC-ER). Together we are praying to the Lord of the harvest to send more workers into this region of the world.

Below is a message from John Ryser, Senior Lead Pastor at Damascus Friends Church, the sending church of the Kibbe Family.

Dear Friends, Ten years ago, Damascus Friends Church took the initiative to send Ben and Charity Kibbe to Thailand to minister to the Lahu people, a tribe of vastly unreached people. Since that time, they have laid a strong foundation of national Lahu leaders and disciples. They have done this through evangelism, discipleship, and church planting. In this past year, both Ben and Charity have sensed God leading them away from Thailand as full-time missionaries. They will remain a part of our church and we at DFC will remain involved in the ministry to reach Lahu people. We have strong ties to our churches there as well as leaders like Charlee and Solomon. The future of their ministry is as bright as it has ever been as the Kibbe’s have made contacts with Lahu tribes in Laos, Myanmar, China, and Vietnam. It is for this reason that I ask you to prayerfully consider helping to fund this great mission. The opportunity for significant church planting effort is within reach as God opens doors throughout Southeast Asia. Thank you for praying about this and considering what your church might do to help financially. Your generosity will help expand this ministry by plant churches for Jesus in this part of the world. John P. Ryser Sr. Lead Pastor

This ministry in northern Thailand is still fairly new to EFM. This may be the first time you have heard about it. I trust that you can see already what a valuable partnership this is when it comes to carrying out the Great Commission of Jesus Christ in Southeast Asia. I recommend it to you whole-heartedly as worthy of your prayers and financial support.

Together in Christ’s service,

Dan Cammack

Field Director

There are two ways to support EFM Thailand, through prayer and through financial giving. Both are needed and appreciated!

If you would like to partner with EFM Thailand financially there are a few ways to do that:

• Donate online on EFM Thailand’s webpage here.
• Donate by credit card over the phone at 303-421-8100.
• Mail a check marked with “EFM Thailand Support” to EFM, PO Box 771139, Wichita, KS 67277.

The post Kibbe Family Announcement first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

A. and M. A. | Serving in Bangladesh

 The Cost of Following Jesus

Jesus said in Luke 14:26,27, 33, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry their own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. … In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.”

Jesus clearly mentioned three costs of following him: we must hate our families and ourselves (14:26), we must carry our own cross (14:27), and we must give up all our possessions (14:33).

If we truly want to follow Jesus Christ, we must consider the cost and put him above everything else. We know that salvation is absolutely free, but it costs us our very life. Sometimes some preachers talk about receiving all blessings if we belong to Christ. Our life will be full of joy, everything will be provided by God since God is Jehovah Jireh. He will protect us from all our enemies since he is our protector, he will heal us from all our diseases because he is the healer. All that is true. Nothing is wrong. God has promised us to be our protector, provider, and healer. But this is only one part of the coin. This is namely prosperity gospel. But this is not all the true picture of Christianity. Where there is no cross, there will never be a resurrection. Christ without cross has no meaning in Christianity.

Jesus is not forcing anyone to follow him. This is a personal choice. In Luke 14:26 Jesus said, “If anyone comes to me…” There is no obligation to follow him. But he is reminding us of the cost of following him. He said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.” He further said, “And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” Following Jesus means giving up everything.

In the country where we live, it is mostly impossible to live a life without pain after being Christian. Almost everyone who has accepted Christ and wants to follow Jesus must carry their own cross every day. Let me share a true, brief story of our ministry.

Fatima heard the gospel from Mafuza. She understood that only Jesus can offer her eternal life. She decided to follow Christ and took a public testimony of baptism. In the photo above, Mafuza is giving her the public testimony of baptism. There is no pond or river in this area. Therefore, Mafuza is pouring a bucket of tubewell water. Five other family members also decided to do the same. Mafuza gave everyone a bible so that they can read and grow in faith. After somedays following Jesus, another member of her family noticed that she is no more praying to Allah and does not follow Islamic rituals. They came to know that she became a follower of Christ. Physical torture was started by her family member. They stopped even giving food. But Fatima stood firm in the faith. She said, “Christianity is not very easy to practice. I have accepted Christ and cannot leave him. If God wills, my family will remain or else it will break up. I cannot stay at my house anymore. I must leave my home and need to go to Dhaka for my personal security. Pray that God would give me patience”. The persecution became so extreme that Fatima had to leave her husband, house, family, possessions, and job. I got the news that all the bibles that we offered them were taken away by her family member along with blankets that we gave her family. I do not know how long this situation will remain.

Questions for personal reflection:

How do you feel about Fatima’s faith in Christ? If you are in the same situation what would be your response? How would you handle the situation? Would you compromise or leave everything for following Christ?

Rev. A. A.

Click here to download the full prayer letter…

The post May 2022 Prayer Letter first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Greetings to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Second wave of COVID-19 has brought our lives to the brink of death. Now we are seeing that few of our staff and girls who were in our Children’s Home are under attack. We covet your prayers for them. As there is lockdown we stay behind closed doors. For many, medical treatment is not easy to reach. The hospitals are already full of patients. Long lines of sick people wait outside the hospital for a bed or oxygen until someone dies or discharged. The lack of oxygen, respirators, bed, machinery, medical workers, etc. is seen everywhere in India. In the news, they say India has become a cemetery as a never-ending line of corpses are brought to be burnt every day. People are really experiencing a messy situation everywhere.

Many businesses are shut down due to lockdown. Thousands have lost jobs. Food is scarce as well. Farmers are not able to sell their products. We have mango fruits ready for harvesting but not able to sell. In the first wave of COVID-19, with the support we received from some donors, we were able to distribute food ration and vegetables to many needy families. We need to think of helping the needy now too. We had heavy rains due to a cyclone which caused much damage in the coastal area but we are safe.

My parents are doing fine and getting stronger. Thank you so much for your prayers. Every day we hear of someone we know has lost the battle. Just in 15 days my mother’s three cousin brothers, and one cousin’s wife, and a son died.  We are going through such a hard time, only God can save us.

Our staff and us are continuing our ministry through phones. Almost every day we all spend many hours on our phones praying and encouraging someone in distress.

Melissa has reached Florida and soon she will start helping in the summer camp near Tallahassee. Please pray that she will be a useful tool for God there.

Shobha & I, are doing alright. Just looking for opportunities to help people so they will be helped and comforted. We remember you all in our daily family prayers. Please continue to pray and support us and our ministry. Rest is fine.

Yours in His Grace,

A. and S. M.

The post May 2021 A. and S. M. Update first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Rebel attacks have resumed in the High Plateau area in the mountains west of Bukavu and Uvira. Fighting is between the Gumino, Twigwaneho and the Mai Mai. People have fled from various villages such us Kashama, Bijombo, Rurambo, Kashalalo, Lemezo, Kageregere, Bijijo, Ndegu and Marungu. Some displaced people are located at the Lemera center, Mutarure and Bwegera with others at Luvungi. We have a Friends church in Luvungi and a leadership training program happening there as we speak. One of our leaders, Pastor Manasseh from Uvira is teaching there. He says there are many women, children and older people among the displaced people who have lost most of what they owned in the world. Manasseh met with church members in their Luvungi church to see how they can collect some resources and try to help the refugees. EFC-Congo leaders are looking at ways to help and are coming up with a plan. They are asking for people to join them in prayer and also to join them in meeting some of the physical needs of these newly displaced people.

Thank you for your love for others,

Matt Macy

Associate Director

• You may give online here.
• You may call EFM to give by credit card at 303-421-8100.
• You may mail a check to EFM, PO Box 771139, Wichita, KS 67277.

The post Rebel Attacks in Eastern Congo Again first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Hi! It has been a long while since we have communicated with you!  We hope and pray that you are doing well. We are so thankful for Jesus and his life, death, and resurrection that we celebrated last month on Easter. Jesus offers redemption, healing, joy, peace and his life to us, and we are so thankful!

The Lord has been so good to us! Brad continues to focus quite a bit of time rebuilding and strengthening his back and neck muscles. We are happy to share that the Lord has answered and continues to answer our/your prayers for healing Brad’s body. Thank you for praying with us! The Lord has been using this time to do some important work in us. We are feeling much more ready to be and do what God has called us to be and do.

We are so thankful for your partnership with us in ministry. We believe that each one who prays with us and/or partners in finances is a vital player on the ministry team. Thank you for your help that enables ministry to continue in Central Africa.

The Lord is still working in Central Africa. It is a joy to hear from our friends and colleagues in Rwanda. They regularly send us updates of what God is doing among them and through their ministry. I don’t know if this ever happens to you, but sometimes we feel like the weight of the ministry is on our shoulders. But it is so good to see that the Lord is continuing his ministry through our Rwandan Friends even when we aren’t there!

We have been back in the U.S. for much longer than we had planned for! We have had to postpone our return to Rwanda several times for various reasons. Most recently we have decided with our EFM leaders that we will return to Rwanda at the end of July. This will enable our kids to finish the school year here in Wichita. And it will also enable us to be a part in some important EFM events for future missionaries. At the end of May/beginning of June we will help with a Future Missionaries Retreat. We helped lead one of these back in 2009 and we look forward to another retreat. Then, in early July, we will go on a short-term mission trip with future missionaries. The vision is that this trip will be a time for us to walk alongside future missionaries in a cross-cultural context.

As you know,

We believe that the Lord is leading us to work with our Rwandan, Burundian, and Congolese Friends to lead a movement of whole-life discipleship, church planting, and missionary sending.

Would you please pray:

The post May 2021 Carpenter Update first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Maria Giron | Serving as Missions Mobilizer for Spanish Friends

We are very happy to have this opportunity to reach out to you and let you know what God has allowed us to accomplish these past few months. It is always very encouraging to know that we have prayers and support from people who love us and do not let us walk alone to carry out the tasks and ministry opportunities that God is entrusting us.

 Missions Mobilizer Updates

As the Missions Mobilizer for EFM, I am excited to share that we are making many advances in translating materials in Spanish and EFM now has a bilingual website! We have made contact with more Hispanic Churches and even during the pandemic, I was able to connect through zoom and I was invited to some meetings having the opportunity to talk about our EFM missionaries. I am also excited to share that more of our Hispanic Friends have joined the EFM Luke 10:2 Prayer Gatherings. At our February meetings, about 1/3 of attendance were Spanish speakers. Lastly, I am excited to share that we made connections with Central America, Bolivia, and Peru.

Vision Mexico 32 Project Updates

My husband and I are happy to be part of the strategy team working together to fulfill the VM 32 goal that God gave as vision to the Friends in Mexico. VM32 is a project that has as goal to have a Friends Church in each one of the 32 States of the Mexican Republic by the year 2032 by sending 2-3 households to start new churches in different cities where Friends Churches do not yet exist. Two couples are ready to go out! They are ready to explore new fields and determine where to plant the next new Friends work.

The post May 2021 Prayer Letter first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Updates About My Family

• My husband is taking a sabbatical time from ministry and we are seeking in prayer God’s direction and clarity for our next stage of a long-term ministry together (the closure due to the pandemic served to keep him still these couple of moths). Edwin will be supporting me with the missionary mobilization task in some areas and currently, together, we are providing coaching sessions to four families who are planting churches or starting new ministries, including the pastors of Aguascalientes. We will also be training and guiding new candidates who will say, “Here I am, Lord, send me.”
• Our son, Edwin Isaac, turns 17 this June. He just got his driver’s license and in the fall he will be attending his senior year in High School and will begin arranging for college! (How incredible it is for me, as a mother, to realize how much my son has grown). Edwin Isaac has a strong desire to serve the Lord by engaging with youth and being the leader of worship.
• Our daughter, Faviola, is now 26, still single and works as a Legal Assistant in at a Attorney’s office in Las Vegas. We thank God for seeing how she performs and she is so good in what she does and how God blesses her.

About Mexico Yearly Meeting and Project “Vision Mexico 32”

In February, the Friends of Mexico Yearly Meeting had their annual reunion in Ciudad Juarez and we had the privilege of attending this wonderful event. For four days, pastors, leaders, and representatives of 11 churches gather together to praise the Lord by sharing their victories and challenges. There, a new vision was launched called “Vision Mexico 32 or VM32.” It’s about challenging the churches of the Mexico Yearly Meeting to join together to create a movement initiating new Friends ministries and to proclaim more of JESUS in each one of the states of Mexico where no Friends churches exist yet and to have covered the 32 States in about ten years. This could be achieved by sending two to three units of workers a year. There was so much enthusiasm that from it came three couple candidates willing and ready to be cast out to a new field this year. Praise God! We can see the answer of the many years of praying, for a church planting movement in Mexico, being answered.

ZACATECAS

For five years our family visited a small town (population is about 3,000) in the State of Zacatecas, preaching the Gospel to families and doing evangelism events. During all this time of chipping stone in this difficult land, we were only able to see two people converted to Christ. These two people were discipled and one of them received a scholarship to attend the Friends Bible Institute. These two disciples returned to their people and they are now the ones teaching and the Preach the Word of God to their relatives and neighbors. We recently received a report that 12 more people recognized and received Jesus Christ as their only personal Savior. Praise the Lord! We are marveled to know that there is more harvest after all the years that the seed of the Gospel has been sown in that end part of the world.

AGUASCALIENTES

The Friends Church in Aguascalientes continues evangelizing and making new disciples of Christ. The extension of the Biblical Institute has been a great tool to train leaders and launch them to serve. For example, Jaime and Lupita León left the Aguascalientes church and are now serving as pastors in Sinaloa. Carla is another student who is evangelizing her people and people are converting to Christ through home Bible studies. The current pastors in Aguascalientes are Israel and Daira De La Torre. Israel is currently a bi-vocational person, working at a hospital and serving the Lord at the same time! Taking advantage of the social isolation brought by COVID 19, Israel has taken the opportunity to transmit live Biblical messages on social networks, thus having a broader reach to other people. Praise the Lord!

SINALOA

In Siete Ejidos, Jaime and Lupita León are carrying out an excellent job as pastors of the Iglesia Amigos. The congregation has grown in number, the congregants are maturing in faith and commitment, and the entire town recognizes Jaime and Lupita as a couple of pastors of good testimony to whom they can go to ask for prayer or for advice. Praise the Lord!. The Leon have witnessed transformed lives, such as the case of a man who was involved in drug cartels, and who is now free in Christ. This man is now a faithful congregant to the church along with his wife and children, and they are being discipled by Jaime and Lupita.

ITA

We are very grateful for the valuable resource that it is the Bible Friends Institute, which counts with a Campus in Mexico City, its extension in Aguascalientes, and virtual platforms where there are currently students from Sinaloa, Mexicali and Tijuana taking classes. These students are being trained to serve as pastors, teachers, or leaders. Toño and Lety, is a couple that are currently taking training to go out and plant a new church. They are praying and exploring options and seeking clarity on where God is going to send them. They want to be out in the field in a year as part of Vision Mexico 32 project.

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PRAYER REQUESTS:

• Please pray for more workers willing to leave their comfort zone and ready to be dispatched.
• For the necessary financial resources for Vision Mexico 32 project.
• For to the strategic plan that is being developed to carry out VM32.
• So that more Hispanic Evangelical Friends are moved to the need that still there is to reach out to the lost in the rest of the world and to join efforts with EFM.

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Very Important Personal Note

Please, I invite you to consider in prayer to continue partnering with me in this new and important journey as Missions Mobilizer. I would especially treasure your prayers. If you are willing to continue on with me and with my new ministry in prayer, please subscribe to my prayer partner list to receive news and updates. Second, if you are willing to partner with me by giving financial support to my ministry, you can transfer your previous giving to Giron’s support to Maria’s support for this new ministry or start now. We also hope to see funding continue for the important leadership development work in Aguascalientes and Mexico Yearly Meeting. You may choose to financially support that ministry.

Special thanks to all who are already part of this missionary mobilization team through your prayers and financial support. I pray for each of you asking the Lord rewards your efforts.

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The post Maria Giron | May 2020 Newsletter first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

El pastor Amen escribe …

“Permítanme compartir algunos desafíos y oportunidades durante el bloqueo. Mientras estamos en el bloqueo, ayer nuevamente el gobierno de Nepal lo extendió 11 días mas.

Desafíos:

1. En este momento, nuestros pastores y creyentes tienen necesidades básicas. La iglesia es vista como una misión extranjera; en lugar de obtener alivio, se espera que lo brindemos.
2. En ciudades como Katmandú, la mayoría de los que viven en casas de alquiler no reciben los paquetes de ayuda del gobierno porque los propietarios deben firmar los formularios. Los propietarios no están dispuestos a firmar porque por esta ayuda el gobierno local les cobrará impuestos. Por lo tanto, no se nos permite recibir esta ayuda.
3. Algunos no tienen ciudadanía, por lo que no pueden recibir los paquetes de ayuda.
4. Aquellos de nosotros que alquilamos nuestras casas y alquilamos espacio para nuestras iglesias enfrentamos dificultades para pagar el alquiler ya que no nos estamos reuniendo en la iglesia. No hay ofrenda, ni diezmo porque no hay trabajo ni negocios. Aunque el gobierno ha decretado que no se debe cobrar el alquiler de viviendas durante al menos un mes, no podemos reclamarlo, de lo contrario los propietarios nos pedirán que salgamos de la casa. Esto sucedió ya con una de nuestras familias.

Oportunidades:

1. Los servicios de adoración en línea son una bendición para muchas personas. Cuando teníamos servicio regular en la iglesia, pastoreé un máximo de 150 personas que escuchaban la Palabra de Dios y oraban. Pero ahora, debido a los servicios en línea, hay más personas viendo y asistiendo (mínimo de 1000) tanto dentro como fuera del país. Están emocionados por estas oportunidades. Nos llaman y nos agradecen por los servicios.
2. Más personas tienen la oportunidad de escuchar el Evangelio. Una niña que experimentó posesión demoníaca habló con sus familiares para ir a nuestra iglesia en Nuwakot y al menos tres familias vinieron al Señor. Entonces, cuando termine el cierre, se habrá plantado una iglesia más.
3. Esta es una temporada de crecimiento espiritual para nuestros creyentes. Están leyendo la Biblia y pasan más tiempo en ayuno y oración. No tienen excusas para decir: “Estoy ocupado, no tengo tiempo para leer la Biblia, etc.”
4. Estamos aprendiendo a extender manos de ayuda a aquellos que son críticamente pobres y necesitados. Estamos aprendiendo a compartir lo que tenemos con aquellos que no tienen nada para comer.

Utilizaremos los fondos de emergencia de EFM para ayudar a nuestros pastores/evangelistas y creyentes a comprar alimentos y atender otras necesidades básicas. No hay fuente de ingresos en este momento. Algunos de nosotros recibíamos un apoyo parcial de las iglesias, pero eso no es aplicable en este momento.

Agradecemos su oración, cuidado y preocupación.”

Por favor, continúe manteniendo a nuestros hermanos y hermanas en Cristo alrededor del mundo en sus oraciones. Ellos también están orando por nosotros.

Su compañero y siervo en Cristo,

Daniel Cammack

Director Ejecutivo

The post Actualización COVID-19 de Nepal first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Pastor Amen writes…

“Let me share a few challenges and opportunities during lockdown. As we are in lockdown, again yesterday Nepal’s government extended it 11 days.

Challenges:

1. At this moment our pastors and believers are in basic need. The church is viewed like a foreign mission; instead of getting relief we are expected to provide it.
2. In cities like Kathmandu, most of those who are living in rental houses are not getting relief packages from the government because the landlords are required to sign forms. The landlords are not willing to sign because they will be taxed by the local government for this aid. So we are not allowed to receive relief.
3. Some do not have citizenship, so they are not allowed to receive relief packages.
4. Those of us who rent our homes and rent space for our churches are facing difficulty to pay rent as we are not gathering in the church. There is no offering, no tithe because of no job and no business. Though the government has made a decree not to take house rent for at least one month, we cannot claim it, otherwise the landlords will ask us to leave the house. This happened with one of our families.

Opportunities:

1. The online worship services are a blessing to many people. When we were having regular fellowship in the church I pastor a maximum of 150 people listened to the word of God and prayed.  But now, because of the online services, there are more people watching and attending (minimum of 1,000) both inside and outside of the country. They are excited for these opportunities. They call us and thank us for the services.
2. More people are getting a chance to hear the gospel. A girl who experienced demon possession spoke to her relatives to go to our church in Nuwakot and at least three families came to the Lord. So when the lockdown is over there will be one more church planted.
3. This is a season of spiritual growth for our believers. They are reading the Bible and spending more time in fasting and prayer. They have no excuses to say, “I am busy, no time to read the Bible, etc.”
4. We are learning to extend helping hands to those who are critically poor and needy. We are learning to share whatever we have with those who have nothing to eat.

We will use the emergency funds from EFM to help our pastors/evangelists and believers to buy groceries and address other basic needs. There is no income source right now. Some of us were receiving partial support from the churches, but that is not applicable at the moment.

We appreciate your prayer, care, and concern.”

Please continue to hold our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world in your prayers. They are praying for us as well.

Your fellow servant in Christ,

Dan Cammack

Executive Director

• You can give online here. Please make sure to note that you would like your gift designated to the COVID-19 Emergency Aid.
• You can give by credit card over the phone at 303-421-8100
• You can mail a check marked with COVID-19 Emergency Aid designation to EFM, PO Box 771139, Wichita KS 67277.

The post COVID-19 Nepal Update first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Pastor Cris writes…

“Our churches here in Metro Manila and Luzon area have ceased gathering for worship in our worship places for almost two months now. This directly affected 11 churches since the beginning of lockdown. Unfortunately, in the last two weeks our churches in the Visayas have also been ordered to stop gathering for worship. This affected another 7 churches. I am leading worship every Sunday via livestream for all our churches and members. 

The Lord is really good and enabled us to bring His message to wider and more diverse audience through our livestream. I’ve been getting very encouraging response from our weekly audience from both members of churches belonging to PEFIM and others who have just heard the message watching us through Facebook. 

But the fact that we cannot gather together for worship in our local churches meant that Tithes and Offering has effectively ceased for all our 18 churches. That includes our main church here in Pasig since we do not have the means to effect online giving. Needless to say, our Pastors have lost their significant source of income. 

Since the beginning of the lockdown on March 14, PEFIM has provided, in two occasions, Emergency Financial Assistance to the pastors and workers of the first eleven churches that were directly affected. It also enabled us to extend financial assistance to nine stranded students and faculty staff from a Bible School in Samar. 

Our churches, particularly Community of Hope Fellowship, Midtown (Mabuting Katiwala) Friends Church and Philippine Evangelical Friends Church, have provided and are continuing to provide financial and food assistance to our members and the poor and vulnerable in our respective communities. We endeavor to extend God’s love and the gospel of Jesus Christ through our practical service. We are exceedingly grateful to the Lord for His provisions in many ways and through EFM’s continued partnership with us.  

With the funds you have sent us we are able to do a third batch of Emergency Financial Assistance for our pastors and leaders, this time for all 18 of our churches. The beneficiaries will also include a group of 13 laborers from Calbayog, Samar who has been stranded in Manila since the lockdown.

Our good Lord reward you for your generosity and care for our people.”

Your fellow servant in Christ,

Dan Cammack

Executive Director of EFM

• You can give online here. Please make sure to note that you would like your gift designated to the COVID-19 Emergency Aid.
• You can give by credit card over the phone at 303-421-8100
• You can mail a check marked with COVID-19 Emergency Aid designation to EFM, PO Box 771139, Wichita KS 67277.

The post COVID-19 Philippines Update first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.