Notes from the journey.

A Lot of Little Steps

Some months, progress looks like a big announcement. This month, it has looked like conversations, paperwork, planning, and approximately eighty-seven things happening behind the scenes at once.

But those little steps are moving me toward Marikina!

Here at home, I’ve been connecting more closely with my sending church as we prepare for a pastoral transition. I’ve had opportunities to share my heart for this ministry with quite a few people, and over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be visiting Sunday school classes to talk more about what’s ahead. I’ve also connected with pastors and am preparing to reach out more broadly to churches and potential ministry partners.

One especially meaningful connection has been with the special education teacher at Accelerated Christian School’s Pasig campus. This month, I’ve had the opportunity to work with her on aspects of her master’s thesis in special education, continuing a relationship that was such a blessing to me this summer.

She was truly a Godsend while I was there. As much as I loved working alongside everyone, there were moments when I felt a little lonely. Between language differences, cultural differences, and the challenge of explaining education to people outside the field, I sometimes struggled to put my thoughts into words that felt fully understood.

Then she and I had the best conversation. There is something wonderful about talking with another special educator who understands the questions you’re asking—and has ideas and experiences of her own to share. We talked about future collaboration between the Pasig and Marikina campuses, learning from the strengths of both as we work toward a cohesive special education program—one that can be readily replicated as we reach students with special needs at campuses across Southeast Asia.

I’m so thankful for her friendship and excited to keep building that relationship. Being back in Kansas hasn’t meant stepping out of the conversation!

And I have a trip on the calendar: I’m going to Marikina in March!

The school begins its new year in June, and planning for staff and student schedules happens in March or April. After working alongside the teachers this summer, I could see opportunities to make the daily schedule better support their work—creating smoother transitions, coordinating staff support, and giving students a more predictable rhythm.

I asked whether we could plan together during my spring break. They said yes, and the tickets are booked! I’ll work alongside the school’s administrator to help prepare schedules for the coming year. I’m thankful for the opportunity to build on what we learned this summer and help everyone begin the year with a strong foundation.

While I’m there, I’ll also begin looking for a place to live when I return in May. One of the pastors’ wives in Pasig is a licensed realtor and will be helping me explore options. It’s becoming very real!

Other preparations have included getting my giving page and donor communications ready, preparing materials to share with churches, and beginning conversations about visas, paperwork, and the steps ahead. Even Callie, my 12-pound dachshund, has her own vaccinations and travel paperwork getting sorted out. Apparently, moving across the world requires paperwork for everybody.

All of this is happening while I continue teaching full-time and honoring the contract I committed to before this opportunity unfolded. The beginning of the school year has been demanding, and finding the time and energy for everything has been a challenge. Please pray for wisdom about where to focus and how to serve well in both the responsibilities I have now and the ministry I’m preparing for.

Through it all, God has been kind. Some concerns—both ministry-related and simply part of life—have worked out in ways that have encouraged me deeply. Those moments have felt like little reminders: Keep going. Take the next step.

I’m still so excited. Sometimes the size of all this catches up with me, and the everyday details can make the bigger picture harder to see. But my confidence in this calling hasn’t changed. My goal is to move in May 2027, God willing, and I’m grateful for every step bringing me closer.

Please pray for:

• Clear direction toward churches and individuals who may become ministry partners.
• The words to communicate this vision—and that people will hear my heart even when the words don’t come out quite right.
• Wisdom and energy as I balance teaching with preparations for the move.
• Continued collaboration between campuses, productive planning in March, and the right housing opportunity.
• Faith to keep taking the next step when the details feel overwhelming.

My heart is very much in this—even when my brain takes a minute to catch up.

Thank you for praying, encouraging me, and being part of the journey.

Mandy

Why Marikina. Why now. Why me.

In education, the newest catchphrase is "remember your why", which in itself, is a good thing to think on. However the overuse kind of makes us roll our eyes a bit. I was thinking today about my "Why" for Marikina, so if you'll allow me the use of this phrase just once, I'd like to share with you a bit about why Marikina, why now, why me. 

I've been around missions my whole life. My sending church was, and remains,  all about missions—missions time was the best time of the year! And on top of that, my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins were missionaries to the Philippines. Honestly, as a kid, I thought missionaries were basically the celebrities of the church. (My cousins get a kick out of that…apparently it’s not completely as glamorous as it seemed). But I really did gain a heart for missions early. I remember taking all my savings as an elementary kid and giving it to a missionary who visited our church because I wanted to help. As a teenager, I used one of my early paychecks to help send a kid to camp.

When I was 15, my Grandma Roller took me on my first trip to the Philippines.(2006) It was  a tradition with her and her grandkids, and I had the very best time. Well—I got the bug. Two years later (2008), our church took a mission trip there. I extended my ticket and stayed after everyone else went home. And that's when the nudging started.

I was completely intent on becoming a teacher, finding a wonderful school, working in one district for my career and retiring when it was time. People in the Philippines would say, “Well, you could teach here.” And I'd say, “Yeah, that's cool, but you will NOT find me driving across the country begging people for money.” You have to understand—I barely talked to people then, let alone asked them for things! A couple years into college (2012), I went back as a summer intern. Again: “Mandy, you should stay.” Again: No.

Then life really took hold. I finished college and took a job as a special education para—and that's when something else happened. I had grown up around students with special needs, and always enjoyed my time with them. This time around, my heart just swelled for these kids.  I've always felt that whatever one of my students may be lacking cognitively or physically, God seems to have given them something else in abundance. Every one of them has a superpower to be discovered.

I started my master's in special education at KU. Eventually I got my own classroom, and I loved those kids. I loved that in special education, sometimes something that looks tiny to everybody else is absolutely enormous to us. We celebrate every bit of progress gloriously!

Meanwhile, the Philippines kept coming back around.

I went again in 2022. “Mandy, you should come teach here. Mandy, you should move here. You'd be close to family.” ...I love you all very much, but...No, thank you. I’m good. 

2024: Same conversation. Still no.

Then 2026 came along, and I got a curious message from one of my cousins—and actually, one that I hadn’t had the opportunity to spend that much time with. They needed my help. With special education. WHAT?!

So I went over this past summer to help, and my mind was absolutely blown. They have big ideas. They are open-minded. They love these kids. They know something needs to be done. But in their own words, they don't have the training or experience to do it effectively. So I spent my summer training, observing, coaching, and helping them begin to put some things in place. And strangely enough, 

I left frustrated.

Not frustrated with them. Frustrated because there was so much more to do. I could suddenly see what this could become. The Philippines is at an important point in the way children and adults with disabilities are understood and included. There are still deeply rooted attitudes that disability means someone has little to contribute, or that families should keep them out of sight. But that also means there is an incredible opportunity.

What if we could build a beautiful, effective special education program that shows what these kids are capable of? What if we could demonstrate that students with disabilities can learn, grow, contribute, belong, and flourish? And then—what if we could equip other schools to do it too? We already have relationships with schools for other ministry purposes. Imagine being able to say, “Come see what we're doing. Let us show you what we've learned. Let us help you build this too.”

That's bigger than one classroom. That's bigger than one school. But as I was thinking through everything that needed to happen, I kept coming back to one problem: I'm not there. I can send resources. I can answer questions. I can hop on Zoom. But this kind of work is relational. Teachers need someone beside them. Programs have to be built, evaluated, changed, tried again, and refined. Families need relationships. You can't build all of that effectively from Kansas. I need to be there.

There's another piece that makes this so much bigger than education. Our schools are inside our churches. It's a Christian school. We can talk about God. We can openly show these children and their families the love of Christ. Think about a family who has been told since their child was born that this child will only ever be a burden—and then imagine them walking into a place that says:

We see your child.
Your child has value.
Your child can learn.
Your child belongs here.
And Jesus loves your child exactly as He created them.

If we love these families well, we're opening the doors of the church to an entire group of people who may never have felt there was a place for them before. Not only will we open the doors, but we will invite them inside with special needs trainings, parent support groups, relevant trainings, etc...We can build community for them right here. 

And here's the part I've only really understood looking backward. All those times people asked me to move to the Philippines and I said no? I'm glad I didn't go. If I had gone back then, I would've gone without a real purpose. They would've had an extra Mandy wandering around asking, “Where do you want me this week?” And eventually everybody would've been trying to figure out whose turn it was to find something for me to do. That wouldn't have served anybody. And if I'd gone earlier, I wouldn't have had the years of experience I have now. I wouldn't have had the trainings, the mistakes, the students who've taught me things, the resources I've collected, or the years of figuring out what actually works. I wasn't ready.

Ultimately, if I'd gone because somebody else thought I should go, it wouldn't have been God's timing. It would've been somebody else's. I needed those years. I needed them professionally, absolutely. But more than anything, I needed them for God to prepare my heart. And now my heart is practically exploding with ideas for what this could become. But ideas aren't enough. Right now, we're still building the foundation. For years people kept saying, “Mandy, you should go.” And I kept saying, “No.” This time, nobody had to ask.

It's time for me to go.

Please Pray for: 

Open doors to find partners to support me in doing this work full-time. 

My ability to do all the things that need doing for me to move across the world. (Turns out, that's a lot of work!)

Fundraising efforts for a dedicated special education floor in our building! 

Our teachers - that they don't get burnt out in a challenging field, and that they are open-minded and willing to learn how to support these students well! 

And so, it begins…

"Is this real life?!"  

(4th grader, upon viewing an eclipse)

And so, it begins...

I have applied with Global Surge, and will submit my application to Central Missionary Clearinghouse this week.  

I'm buried under a plethora of spreadsheets, documents, presentations, AI chats --- all to help me begin to get organized. Stressful, but good stress. (I think!) 

Goals: 

Apply at GS and CMC. ☑

Finish promotional materials .(is that what we're calling these?)

Begin making calls.

Specific Prayers Needed: 

School starts this week, and I'm still teaching this year. My caseload keeps growing, and it's a position I've never held before. School on top of planning to move internationally. Please pray for me to be able to focus and prioritize so that everything gets done. Pray that if there is something I need to give up, to keep this train rolling, that I would see it and surrender it. 

The first update

What's New Around Here? Lot's going on. Big Decisions up ahead. It feels like God is leading me somewhere. But is it right? 

To Be Continued...