June, 2023 Prayer Letter

 

Easter Sunday, 2023 (Missing our Kestra who is currently in Thailand)

Kaselehlie! Greetings from Pohnpei!

It has been some time since our last prayer letter and we have a lot to update you with.  We are thanking God for a blessed 2023 so far and pray you all are doing well also.     

Furlough Plans

We have heard rumors that the covid-19 mandates here are being lifted. With that in mind, we are moving forward with furlough plans for this fall.  We are tentatively planning to be in the States from September through December, once camp, VBS, and other summer activities have been completed.  We will be contacting our supporting churches in the months to come as we work on our schedule.  Please be in prayer that all goes well with planning and we are finally able to make definite plans. We look forward to seeing everyone in person and sharing what God has been doing in Pohnpei.

Summer Ministries

Our summer camp is always one of our biggest ministry projects of the year.  Plans have been underway for quite some time now and we are looking forward to an exciting week of youth camp.  Planning for when to schedule camp has had it’s challenges this year as we are looking at a very unusual summer.  Because of covid hitting the island in the early part of the school year, closing the schools for quite some time, summer break will be shorter than usual. Camp will be in July this year as school does not get out until the end of June.  Vacation Bible School will be shortly after that time.  This year’s youth camp will cost each teen $15.  If you are interested in sponsoring a teen for the camp, please contact us soon to let us know.  Donations can be sent through our mission board.  

The church is doing well, though we are facing a situation with many families moving to the United States in recent months.  We ask that you pray with us for those that have relocated, that they will be able to get established in a good Bible-believing church right away and stay faithful to the Lord.  Praise the Lord, we have seen several salvation decisions recently, including an elderly man that members of our church have prayed for for some time now.  

Family

Many of you have asked about Kaleo’s progress with his back situation. We are thankful he was able to receive a diagnosis from his MRI in Guam.  He has arthritis in his spine. Some dear friends on Guam were able to get him in to see a chiropractor there. After several weeks of adjustments, Kaleo saw significant improvement and was able to return home and to work nearly pain free. Since that time, he has done very well with only a few issues with back pain.  Thank you to all who prayed for him.

Susan’s mom began facing some health situations with her heart and was hospitalized a few times.  In March, funding was provided for Susan and the two younger girls to go and visit her parents in North Carolina.  During their time there, Mom Stevens was hospitalized twice more, and we made the decision for Susan to extend their stay a little longer to help out there.  Thankfully, Mom is doing much better now, but we ask that you please keep her in your prayers.  Susan and the girls were able to arrive back on Pohnpei at 1:00 AM on Easter Sunday and were able to join our Easter Sunday services.  

Please keep our daughter Kestra in your prayers as well as she is currently living in Thailand on an Olympic training scholarship. We miss her very much here on Pohnpei but are thankful for the opportunities she has been given.  Kyler, Katrianne, and Kaylinn are our only school-age children at this time.  Kyler is finishing up his senior year of high school, while Katrianne is a sophomore and Kaylinn is in 7th grade.  All are busy with youth group, church activities, sports activities, and homeschool.  

Thank you for your prayers and financial support. We are praying earnestly that all furlough plans will come to fruition, and Lord willing, we will be able to see many of you in person this fall.  

Because of Calvary,
Rickson & Susan, Kaleo, Kestra, Kyler, Katrianne, & Kaylinn

 

Click here for our March, 2023 Video Update 

Printable PDF version of this Prayer Letter

Ambassador Baptist Church baptism service

 

Kaselehlie! Greetings from Pohnpei!  

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours! We are long overdue on a prayer letter, so we have a lot to update you all.  These past few months have been a whirlwind of activity along with many changes in plans.  

Furlough Plans

I’ll start with furlough plans since so many have been asking.  Much has changed here on the island over the last several months as Covid-19 at long last hit the islands.  Micronesia had two and a half years to prepare and watch the rest of the world through the pandemic, but there was still a good deal of panic and overwhelm.  Yes, our entire family got covid as well, but thankfully, fairly mild cases and we recovered well.  Just as the island began to recover from the covid surge, severe influenza hit the island, and yes, our entire family got that as well.  The flu actually was considerably more severe in the islands than the strain of covid that arrived here.  Hospitals were overflowing, and many people were seriously ill.  Even now many are still struggling with the aftereffects of this illness.  Everyone in our family is still coughing, and attendance at church continues to be quite low with so many out sick.  Due to the new and extended covid requirements and restrictions here in Micronesia, we have had to once again postpone our furlough, since the restrictions would affect us traveling with our younger daughters.  From what we are understanding, these restrictions and requirements will be lifted by the middle of next year, and so we have begun to tentatively plan a furlough for the end of summer once summer camp and VBS is completed.  This has been a very difficult decision for us to make.  We have to keep reminding ourselves that God’s timing is best.  Pastors, we are anxious to visit your churches and give updates in person and are saddened that it is not possible for us to do so at this time.  Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.  

Ministry Update

Our summer ministries were a bit different this year.  Camp went very well, and we were excited to see over 100 youth in attendance.  We thank those of you that gave to financially sponsor campers.  We originally had 11 teens from our church sign up for camp.  After we were informed that a Sunday school class in South Carolina had pledged to sponsor 25 teens, we were able to take an additional 14.  Of those 14, 6 accepted Christ at the camp.  Please continue praying for these young people. 

After camp was completed, we began our final preparations for Vacation Bible School.  We had an exciting carnival theme, and our daughter Katrianne had worked hard to create some amazing backdrops for the platform area, complete with a huge cardboard ferris wheel.  Kids in our area were excited to come see what it was all about.  The first two days were fantastic…and then covid hit the island.  Immediately the government shut down the entire island, and we were unable to finish out the week. We are still hoping to use all the material and hold a mini VBS in the near future, but so far we have not been able to.  The remainder of the summer was pretty much spent in lockdown and it was quite some time before we could even have in-person church services again.  As I already mentioned, attendance is still quite low due to illness and even those that have been able to attend in person are coughing a lot.  

November is our annual Missions Month at Ambassador Baptist Church.  The church decided to do a week of missions conference this year instead of spreading it out over the entire month, though all services in November will still have a missions focus.  Our missions conference will be held the last week of November and we are looking forward to spending time with the pastors and their families on the island that our church supports. 

Medical

Thank you for your continued prayers for our son, Kaleo.  He has continued to deal with constant pain, which has lasted an entire year now.  Our insurance company here along with his doctor have referred him off-island for medical testing and care. He left for Guam on November 15 for his consultations, MRI, and whatever else is determined will need to be done.  Please continue praying for him as the doctors there work to develop a treatment plan for him.  He is very blessed to have a job that is encouraging him to take the time off, with pay, to take care of his health.  

While Susan was in Guam in the summer, she was able to get some much-needed dental work done. She was able to have a wisdom tooth removed as well as another tooth that was giving her issues.  We thank those of you that gave financially to this.  She was able to get all of the more urgent things done, with plans to have the rest of her wisdom teeth out at a later time.   

Thank you for your prayers and financial support. Your prayers are much needed through this time.  We especially thank those of you that have reached out with emails and messages of encouragement and let us know you’re praying for us.  This means more to us than you could possibly know.  Thank you.  

Because of Calvary,

Rickson & Susan, Kaleo, Kestra, Kyler, Katrianne, & Kaylinn

Printable version of this letter

May, 2022 Prayer Letter

Easter Sunrise Service

 

Kaselehlie! Greetings from Pohnpei!   

We have had an extremely busy few months and more extremely busy months up ahead.    

Ministry Update

Ambassador Baptist Church is doing well and we are praising the Lord for regularly seeing new visitors.  We’ve sadly had to say goodbye to so many families recently though as so many have moved to the States. Good jobs here on Pohnpei are scarce and most jobs pay very little, and as a result, many have left the islands to try a different life in the US.  We are so sad to see loved ones move away.  

With the summer months just around the corner, we have our regular summer ministries in full-blown planning and preparation mode right now.  Summer youth camp is scheduled for the week of June 27.  It’s a little later than usual in the summer as we had some schedule conflicts with schools in the area. We are looking forward to a fantastic week of camp this year and are praying that God will bring many young people to Him through this ministry.  In past years some of you have wanted to help sponsor a camper.  Camp cost this year will be $10 a person. While it sounds like a small amount in comparison to camp costs in the US, this can be a huge financial burden on families here. If you are interested in sponsoring a teenager for camp, please let us know.  Donations for camp can be sent to:

Ambassador Baptist Church

P.O. Box 2072

Pohnpei, FM  96941

Vacation Bible School will be in July as usual, another fantastic week of ministry that we are excited about.  It’s been encouraging to watch our own kids go from their excitement as a child participant to now their excitement over assisting in running the VBS.  Our kids are a great asset in seeing that the week of VBS runs smoothly and we are truly thankful for their help in the ministry.  

Furlough Plans

With the President’s announcement to reopen the borders this summer, we are starting to work on plans for a long overdue furlough.  We are tentatively planning to leave for the US in September.  This will be an approximately three month furlough, so we have a lot of ground to cover in a very short time.  Over the summer, I will be reaching out to our supporting churches about scheduling.  We are looking at starting with the west coast, then working in the northern/New England churches, and finishing out in the southeast before returning back to Pohnpei.  As you can imagine, furlough has a great deal of expenses involved. If you would like to help with some of our furlough expenses, any contributions can be sent to our mission board, Global Vision Ministries, and designated for “Kihleng Furlough”.  We are not bringing our entire family on this trip.  Our three older children will not be accompanying us this time due to work and school commitments. They will also be taking care of the house and all while we’re gone and helping out with the church in our absence.  Katrianne and Kaylinn are excited though about seeing the US after so long, reuniting with old friends and making new ones, and of course seeing Grandpa and Grandma.  

Another need I would like to mention is some dental work that Susan is needing to have done. She has been dealing with wisdom teeth issues for a couple of years, but the “covid restrictions” here on island have prevented anything from being done to help. She will be seeing a dentist end of June on Guam. Our dentist here has recommended she have her wisdom teeth removed in Guam or the States and have it done as soon as possible.  This is an unexpected expense of course, though at this time, we are not sure what the cost will be.  Our insurance will cover up to $500 of the dental bill, but it looks as though the initial visit, exam, and x-rays will cost around that before the actual extraction is even scheduled.  Again, if you would like to help with this expense, please send any contributions through our mission board and designate for “Kihleng Dental”.  

Family Life

Thank you so much to those of you that have been praying for Kaleo. He is doing so much better now, though he does have some issues still with his back from time to time.  We are so thankful though to see our prayers answered in this way.  He has decided to not pursue going off island for the MRI at this time since he’s finally seeing improvement.  He is loving his new job with the National Olympic Committee as the Swim Development Coordinator. He loves working with kids so he thoroughly enjoying the job. Kestra is in her senior of high school, though will have some classes through the summer before officially graduating. Kyler is a junior.  Both Kestra and Kyler were honored to recently receive an Olympic training scholarship from the International Olympic Committee.  Through the scholarship program they will both be representing the Federated States of Micronesia in the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest next month. We ask that you please keep them in your prayers as they travel and that they will have opportunities to be a witness to teammates and others they meet on their journey. Another request is that they won’t have any issues returning to Pohnpei in July as they are a huge part of running our VBS ministry and they are hoping to be back without issue in time.  Katrianne is finishing up her freshman year of high school and is busy with her piano and art. We are thankful for the talents God has blessed her with and are praying she will always use these talents for Him. She is excited about traveling in the US and hopes to have a chance to play a grand piano after years of only practicing on a digital piano. We recently discovered another church on the island has an acoustic upright piano and they are allowing her to use it to practice some. She’s been thrilled to have that opportunity. Kaylinn is finishing 6th grade and looking forward to her older sister graduating and leaving for school so she can take over her room. It’s hard to believe this is her last year of Sunday School and Vacation Bible School before moving up to youth group.  She loves playing her ukulele and piano and playing with the kittens that we are desperately trying to give away.

I mentioned in our last letter that we were looking for the end of the rainy season to be able to put in the last section of the retaining wall behind our house. Well, we are still looking forward to the end of this seemingly eternal rainy season.  Usually by February things have dried up and by March the winds and rains are completely passed.  Not this year.  Here in May, we’ve had only a handful of sunny days. It’s also made it difficult for planning church activities and often even our services are interrupted by the rain, wind, and accompanying power outages. 

Thank you for your prayers and financial support. We are looking forward to seeing so many of you on our upcoming furlough and many of you meet in person for the first time.   

Because of Calvary,

Rickson & Susan, Kaleo, Kestra, Kyler, Katrianne, & Kaylinn

Printable PDF of this Letter

February, 2022 Prayer Letter

Our family would like to extend a belated Happy New Year to all of you. 2022 had us hit the ground running with many activities and events. We are so thankful to be able to return to a more normal schedule with the church now that the majority of Covid restrictions have been lifted here on the island.   

Ministry Update

Ambassador Baptist Church continues to do well. We had a wonderful week of Missions Conference in November. What a sweet time of fellowship with the other pastors on the island and their families. Our theme for this missions month was “Here Am I, Lord; Send Me.”  This is a theme we plan to emphasize throughout 2022 with our church. 

As we went into December, we were busy with many holiday activities, including our church Christmas program. We are extremely limited with what we have been able to do in preparations for that for several reasons; one, our church piano (digital is all we can use here in this climate) has not been working for some time, and two, we currently have limited location for rehearsals. Thankfully though we were able to hold rehearsals at our house and then we were able to order and receive in time a new digital piano to use for the church. This has been a huge blessing as we’ve missed this in our services as well.  The Christmas program went very well and even one person mentioned to us afterwards that it really touched his heart and he had tears the entire program.  

New Year’s is always an adventure here on Pohnpei. We held our annual New Year’s Eve service and activity and had a wonderful time with our church family.  It was such a sweet time of preaching, testimonies and singing, as well as some fun games, and of course good food. We ordered about 600 glow sticks for the kids as well (though the adults and teens also joined in on the fun!) and everyone joined in for the traditional Pohnpeian way of bringing in the New Year with a LOT of noise. 

January has brought more church activities and has kept us very busy. Susan and I have been able to take some time together to sit and discuss goals and plans for the ministry here for this new year. We have a lot of dreams for the Lord’s work here and now we are praying for God’s guidance as we look into making some of these projects a reality. We appreciate your continued prayers for the ministry here. 

Family Life

It has been a blessing to have Kaleo back on the island with us once again. We do have some prayer requests for him though.  In late October and early November, he began having some back discomfort. It progressed into severe pain and was accompanied by fever and just an overall feeling of illness. After having some tests done at the hospital, his doctor felt it best to admit him. He was in the hospital for about a week while they tried to figure out what was wrong.  To make a long story short, they did determine that it is nerve related, caused by an infection in his system. But they said they cannot fully determine what is wrong and how to treat it without him having an MRI and further testing off island. With the current border closure, that is not really an option at this time. So Kaleo has had to live in continuous pain since then.  He is back to work at a restaurant on the island, where Kestra works as well, but there are some days he can barely get out of bed and has to miss work. It has been a bit of a discouragement for him, and for us as we have no idea of what the cause is. We have recently learned that they are allowing some to go off island for medical treatment and return after. At this time, we are just praying for guidance as to what he should do. He really does not want to leave, especially so soon after finally getting back home. But we do hate to see him in pain so much of the time.  We ask that you keep him in your prayers.

The rest of the family is doing very well.  Kestra is finishing up her senior year and keeps very busy with schoolwork and work. Kyler is doing well with his junior year; he just turned 17 in December and has been given several opportunities to go scuba diving with friends recently. He jumps at any chance to go diving, but sometimes him mom gets a bit nervous watching the videos of his close encounters with sharks. Katrianne continues spending the majority of her time at the piano. She has recently passed her piano performance exams and has been busy working with her piano teacher selecting pieces for her next performance exams. She is thrilled that we have a piano at church again and has been spending time with Susan learning hymn playing. Kaylinn keeps busy with her ukulele and piano playing as well. She’s counting down the days till she finishes sixth grade and can move up to youth group at church.  

We are looking for the end of the rainy season to be able to put in the last section of the retaining wall behind our house. What we need is about one full week with no rain, no scheduled church events and activities other than regular services, no family emergencies, and no interruptions. Anyone in the ministry, especially anyone in the ministry in the tropics, can agree with us that this is an incredibly difficult week to find, but we are trusting God will enable us to complete this soon. Our goal is to be done and celebrate the completion by March, marking four years since the mudslide, but of course God may have a different timeline planned than we do. My wife recently overheard our children talking about the early days after the mudslide, when we were basically camping in our house, with mounds of mud everywhere, open for critters of all kinds to come inside, having to evacuate constantly, cooking outside, and spending our days shoveling dirt. She was surprised to hear them all agree that they miss those days and what fun it was! Our kids can be such a blessing to us, reminding us sometimes that what we may see as bad times, they were able to see the good that came from it. 

FSM Border Closure

The FSM government recently announced the extension of their emergency orders, officially extending the border closure through the end of May.  We were hoping this would not be the case, but sadly, it is. We made the difficult decision to cancel and get a refund on our previously purchased plane tickets or risking losing them entirely as they can no longer be extended after February.  At this point, we have no idea when a furlough to the United States will be possible.  

We do thank each of you for your continued prayers and financial support. We thank each of you that gave extra for a Christmas offering for our family. Your love and care for us here on Pohnpei means so much to us and we are truly grateful.  

  

Because of Calvary,

Rickson & Susan, Kaleo, Kestra, Kyler, Katrianne, & Kaylinn

Printable PDF Version of this Letter

October, 2021 Prayer Letter

Youth Camp, 2021

 Kaselehlie! Greetings from Pohnpei!   

As we head into the fall months, I’m sure many of you are experiencing cooler weather. Here on Pohnpei, of course, it’s hot and muggy as always. Along with fall here, though comes a flurry of preparations for upcoming events such as our annual Missions Month and then the many Christmas activities we have at our church.  

Ministry Update

Our summer ministries were a blessing as always, though in many ways, very different from past years. Though Micronesia is still Covid free, we’ve seen a lot of changes on the island. We were extremely thankful to be able to hold youth camp this summer. It was a great time for the youth that were able to attend. We had a much smaller group than usual, but it was a still a blessed week with many decisions made, including salvation decisions and more. Vacation Bible School was another exciting week, though again, with a much smaller attendance than usual. Despite having no current Covid threat here, many people are still hesitant to gather in groups like before. God still worked greatly through that week though, and we saw some salvation decisions among the children there. One of the highlights of VBS for me, as a father, is seeing my own children get involved in this ministry.  Kestra helped out with arts and crafts as well as served as our VBS photographer. Kyler headed up games and skits and did an outstanding job with the skits along with his cousin Deshawn. Katrianne took on the project of “set design” and decorating as well as overseeing the arts and crafts. She outdid herself with the decorating by turning our church platform into an underground bunker. The kids also loved her craft projects that doubled as object lessons correlating with each day’s lesson. 

We have finally been able to start the jail ministry once again. It’s been quite awhile waiting for the government to give us the okay for that so it was exciting to be able to start that again. The church is also doing well. We continue to have a larger attendance since moving outside. Eventually we want to enclose the outdoor structure and put in air conditioning but for now, what we have is working fine.  We’re back to full children’s ministry classes. We have seen quite a few salvation decisions and been able to hold several baptismal services in recent months. Recently I was asked to come witness to a man named Robert who had been sick for some time. When I arrived at his home, I was surprised to find a fairly large group of family members had gathered to hear what I had to say. Robert made a profession of faith that night and passed away just about a week later. I’m thankful I was able to meet with him before he passed. 

Though the church continues to celebrate growth, we have had some unexpected sadness as well. Recently we said our earthly farewells to one of our founding members, Edmond Samuel. Not only was Edmond a next door neighbor and good friend, but he was vital in the starting of Ambassador Baptist Church. He is truly missed here, but we are rejoicing he is with our Savior.  

Family Life

A big highlight of our summer was Kaleo coming home!  After two years away, it was so good to finally see him again. We had nearly given up hope for him returning any time soon when suddenly God just worked out all the details practically overnight.  Though the borders here continue to be closed, the government began allowing approved FSM citizens back into the country if they could prove they were residents or returning college students and had a previously purchased ticket. It included a considerable amount of quarantine at government facilities as well, both in Guam and then again on Pohnpei. After not hearing anything back after he submitted his paperwork long ago, we suddenly got a phone call here on Pohnpei from the health department saying they were trying to get in contact with Kaleo and needed him to be in Guam within four days to begin quarantine there. At the time, Kaleo was living in New York City and working at a YMCA in Manhattan. It was a bit panicky with the time frame given, but he was able to pack up, get his Covid testing done and make it on a flight to Guam just in time to enter quarantine there. We are extremely grateful to my sister and brother-in-law who let him stay with them in NY until he was able to come home. We are enjoying having him home again. He’s currently working at a restaurant here on island and hopes to finish his schooling online.

Another homeschool year is underway for the Kihleng kids. Kestra is a senior this year. She has a tremendous interest in the Korean language and God has gifted her with a talent for picking up languages. Kestra has befriended an elderly Korean couple here on the island that will be helping her with the language. They even gifted her with a very nice Korean Bible and were impressed that she could already read some of it to them. She hopes to study Korean in college. Kyler is a junior and continues to have a passion for ocean diving and all things ocean-related. God has also given him a gift for working with children and in the area of music and those have been a huge asset to the ministry. We are thankful that he is willing to use his talents for Him. Katrianne is a freshman and spends much of her time at the piano. She also has been able to expand her artistic talents a good deal this summer and school year and we are amazed at her creativity. We’re also thankful for her use of her talents with the ministry. Kaylinn is in 6th grade and is dying to be old enough to join the youth group, but mom would like to keep her a little girl just a bit longer. She loves playing the ukulele and is starting to pick up piano as well. She’s pretty sure she would do just fine without school but mom and dad have a different idea on that.

House Project

I know many of you are wondering where we are with the house project. The house itself is pretty much finished at this point other that some small details here and there. We had wanted to finish the wall by now but between ministry commitments and rainy weather, we haven’t been able to do the last of it. We have what we need to complete it; it’s just a matter of finding the time to actually do it. However, with what is finished, we feel pretty safe as it is. We just want to add that last bit of protection by extending the height and length of the current wall. 

Furlough plans are once again postponed. Not by choice but out of necessity. The government here has once again extended the border closure, this time carrying it into 2022.  The plane tickets that we did have purchased are good until March. By January or February we are hoping to have more of an idea of if/when the borders will open in 2022 at all and whether we should re-book the tickets or get them refunded. We are working on a ministry video to give a more visual update on life and ministry here, but I know that is not the same as our family updating you all in person. We hope and pray that God will allow us to come see each of our supporting churches in 2022, but at this point, we just cannot make any definite plans. We also tremendously miss having guests from the States come and visit us here on the field. As I mentioned in our last letter, if any pastor would like to talk with me and just hear firsthand about how things are going here, I am always available to schedule a call. We have a US number through Skype so there are no international fees. Feel free to email me at rkihleng@hotmail.com and we can schedule a time to call. I’ve enjoyed the chats I’ve had with those of you that have scheduled a call with me. 

We are truly thankful for each of you who pray for us and support our ministry here. It’s difficult to put into words what you all mean to us.  And being away from you all for so long now makes us miss you all even more. We thank you for your faithful support and prayers. 

  

Because of Calvary,

Rickson & Susan, Kaleo, Kestra, Kyler, Katrianne, & Kaylinn

Printable version of this letter

May, 2021 Prayer Letter

Moon over Pohnpei harbor, taken April 27th.

Kaselehlie! Greetings from Pohnpei!  

Lots happening on our side of the world! It’s hard to know where to begin. So I’ll start with the predictable Covid-19 update. Our borders here in Micronesia have remained closed from February of last year until this month. On May 13 and 14, however, the US Coast Guard provided two humanitarian flights to repatriate 43 FSM citizens, along with US and Australian diplomats and a CDC doctor. This has been an extremely long process to get to this point and as you can imagine, emotions and differing opinions run high. As of the writing of this letter though, the operation has been successful!  Those that arrived have all gone through quarantine and tested negative for Covid-19 upon their release. We’re excited that this is one step closer to borders reopening. A flight from the Marshall Islands is planned for May 31 and from there, the government will determine when the borders can actually be open again for commercial flights. The US Ambassador, along with her husband and daughter, arrived on the first of these flights, and we were able to enjoy a nice evening of food and fellowship with them and several other families once they were released from quarantine. As you can imagine, transitioning from a busy city life in the US to this little island is a huge transition for their daughter and it was a fun-filled evening for her to get to know some of the young people here on the island. Our kids have now had the unique opportunity of developing friendships with the Chinese Ambassador’s daughter and now the US Ambassador’s daughter. 

Ministry life continues as usual. We’re continuing to meet in the outdoor structure for church services and as I mentioned in my last letter, we most likely will not return to our indoor building due to the size of the congregation. Over the next year we will need to look more into converting the outdoor structure into an enclosed church building as the humidity and heat is not good for our sound system, electronics, and church supplies. We are having Sunday school classes meet in the former church building and have plans to divide it into classrooms soon. We have not yet restarted our Wednesday Bible Club but plan to over the summer. Both the Bible Institute and the Jail ministries still remain on hold. The jail though has let us know that we may be able to begin services there again soon but will only be allowed three people to come at a time from the church. 

Summer Ministries

Our youth group is now back to our previous schedule and we are proceeding with plans for summer Youth Camp.  We understand that plans could change at any time but for now we are planning for camp the week of June 14.  The young people are excited and looking forward to a great week, especially since last year's camp was cancelled. We are praying the camp can go forward as planned and that we will see many lives impacted for the Lord during that week.  Our young people are suffering as I'm sure many are around the world. The isolation and changes due to Covid has affected them in so many ways and we are praying God will truly use this week of camp in their lives. 

We’re also planning to go forward with Vacation Bible School this summer. Our current plans are to hold it in July, but of course, as with everything right now, we know that is subject to change due to the ever-changing Covid restrictions. Our kids though are already making plans for that week, selecting skits and planning decorations. Now that most of our children are older and can be involved with the planning and carrying out of these activities, VBS has become very much a family ministry project and something we look forward to every summer.  We ask that you please sincerely pray for these two summer ministries to be used greatly of God to reach the young people of Pohnpei.

Milestones and House Project

Over the past several months we have passed some interesting milestones in our ministry and family life. In February we celebrated 20 years now on Pohnpei. It really is hard to believe it’s been that long already since God brought me back here with Susan and little Kaleo. Another milestone was in March when our church celebrated it’s 18th anniversary. We held the first service of Ambassador Baptist Church in U, Pohnpei on March 16, 2003. Our church celebrated 18 years with a special service, a meal together, and then a praise and testimony service. We are so thankful for all God has done with this ministry these last 18 years. 

March 17th marked three years since the mudslide that damaged our home. It’s been a long and slow process to recover our home but we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Right now we’re working on the kitchen. Our kitchen cabinets and supplies arrived in April, and we’ve been working to install the cabinets and create countertops. It’s been a challenge to work on a project like this while still having all our ministry responsibilities and continuing with homeschooling the kids and so things have moved slowly. We’re heading into week six of no usable kitchen - we’re back to an outdoor sink and the kids have commented that it reminds them of life after the mudslide again. But Lord willing, we will be able to finish this project up in the next week. We are truly thankful to all of you that have given financially to this project and prayed for us through all of this. Once we finish the inside projects we’re working on, then we will finish up the last portion of the wall. It has been a long process and at times a bit stressful, but God has shown Himself faithful through it all, and we have learned so much through these difficulties. 

Family Life

We are finishing up another year of homeschool. It has been a challenge to maintain a normal schedule with all the projects we’ve had going on with the house, but we are nearing the end of the year. Kestra will be finishing her junior year, Kyler his sophomore year, Katy is graduating from eighth grade, and Kaylinn will be heading into fifth grade. Kestra has been working to develop her photography skills and enjoys studying the Korean language and culture. She is hoping to major in East Asian Language studies in college and minor in Photography. Kyler enjoys all things ocean related and goes SCUBA diving every chance he gets. He’s considering staying on the island after finishing high school and studying Marine Science at the College of Micronesia. We’re praying God will direct these two young people as they finish up their high school years and seek His will for their future. Katy continues to develop her art and music skills. She is studying music via video calls with a teacher in Australia and also spends all her spare time drawing and painting. Kaylinn is all about having fun at this stage of her life, though sometimes Katy is able to convince her to play ukulele with her. Kaleo is still in New York City and is working at a YMCA there teaching swimming. He looks forward to when he can finally come back to Pohnpei, but for now is enjoying his job there. 

Of course furlough plans for us are still on hold with the border closure.  The plane tickets we had purchased before are still good through March of next year and we are praying the borders reopen by then and we can make furlough plans again. Meanwhile, if any pastor would like to talk with me and just hear firsthand about how things are going here, I am always available to schedule a call. We have a US number through Skype so there are no international fees. Feel free to email me at rkihleng@hotmail.com and we can schedule a time to call. 

We thank you all for your continued prayers and financial support.  We pray that someday soon we can see you all again in person. 

  

Because of Calvary,

Rickson & Susan, Kaleo, Kestra, Kyler, Katrianne, & Kaylinn

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January, 2021 Prayer Letter

Kaselehlie oh Parakapw Mwuah! Greetings and Happy New Year!   

 As we enter this new year we see around the world sickness, political unrest, heartache, and so much more.  We are so thankful that our God is still in control and knows what tomorrow will hold. These difficult times only confirm to us that our mission to serve Him and spread the Gospel is more important now than ever before.  

As I’m sure most of you are, we here in the islands continue to face restrictions and changes due to Covid-19.  Micronesia is still in complete lockdown with the borders having closed in March and remaining closed until now.  There were efforts to bring some citizens into the country last month but the plans were cancelled at the last minute.  As you can imagine, this has been difficult for the many separated families affect.  Our son Kaleo is still in the States as well and it doesn't look like he will be allowed to return any time soon.  Unfortunately, Micronesia is no longer on the “Covid-free list” as we have our first confirmed case, though the one and only case is currently isolated on a ship in the harbor.  We had just began to see a more relaxed approach here on island with things reopening and returning somewhat to normal and the FSM President has declared that we can continue without more restrictions as long as the case is contained on the ship.   Thankfully, we are now back to our regular service schedule, though we are still sharing our services online.  Our youth group is once again meeting for youth fellowships and we are starting back to our Sunday school classes, though location has been an issue since we are still holding all services/meetings outside.  Hopefully we will be able to resume Bible Institute classes in the near future as well.  One blessing that we have seen as a result of moving our services outdoors is a large increase in attendance.  The larger space has allowed for that and we now know that we will most likely not ever return to holding services in our former building.  We are actively making plans for a future, much larger building and Lord willing, we will see these plans become a reality at some point this year.  

As I mentioned in our last later and video update, in spite of restrictions and changes, however, we have seen a good deal of growth in the church.  We have seen several saved and baptized recently and we have seen such a sweet spirit among our church people as we have banded together through these unusual times.  The month of November was our annual Missions Month and what a blessing those services were!  It was exciting to hear what God is doing in the lives and ministries of each of the pastors/missionaries that our little island church supports.  Missionary Gabe Eiben was our speaker for our missions banquet and it was a blessing to have his family join us as well.  We will be sharing some photos of the banquet and services on our blog at kihlengfamily.blogspot.com.  In December we held a small Christmas program with our Sunday school children, some of the youth, and several of the adults in the church.  We were unable to do a large cantata as we have in the past, but we pray that the little program we were able to put together was a blessing to those who came.  We thoroughly enjoyed our time together working on it and presenting it to our community.

While we have seen some exciting things in the ministry in recent months, this year has also brought some extreme heartaches.  On the morning of November 6th, we awakened to the devastating news that our dear friend Pastor Don Eckert went home to be with the Lord after struggling for several weeks with Covid-19.  Pastor Eckert served many years in Guam and has been a tremendous godly influence on so many of the Micronesians that have attended school there.  The impact he has had on our own kids as well has been a great one and his passing really affected our family.  He is truly missed.  One of our family’s fondest memories of him was the time he spent with us after the mudslide.  He was a great encouragement to us during that time and we will never forget that time with him. Another great loss was the home going of Mrs. RuthAnn Arthurs.  The Arthurs were missionaries here on Pohnpei for many years, running the Christian radio station.  They were always Grandma and Grandpa to our kids.  RuthAnn was at the hospital for the birth of several of our kids and has been a tremendous mentor and friend for so many years.  On November 27th, RuthAnn entered the presence of our Savior and her suffering is no more.  We’ve also seen the passing of several of our loved ones both in the U.S. and here on island.   

Though it has been a time of sorrow, saying goodbye to loved ones, we are also celebrating some births as well.  Our assistant pastor and his wife recently welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world.  We are thankful for a safe delivery and a healthy mom and baby.    

As uncertain as things are right now, we have no idea when we will be able to reschedule our furlough.  For now we are unable to travel in or out of Micronesia at all.  This is a bit of a frustration of course, but we know God has a plan in all of this.  Thankfully the airlines has assured us that our tickets will be good for a full 2 years from our original travel date, which will be until March, 2022.  Lord willing, we can schedule a furlough by that time.  Meanwhile, we are working on a video presentation of our ministry and will send to each of our supporting churches since we cannot be there in person. We will also upload the video to YouTube.  If pastors would like a phone call with me for a personal update on things here, please feel free to email me and we can set up a time for that.  I know videos and phone calls are not the same as our family presenting an update in person, but unfortunately, until the travel ban in our part of the world is lifted, that is all we are able to do.  We look forward to the day when we can once again travel freely in and out of the islands.  We also have a private Facebook group, “Friends of the Kihleng Pohnpei Ministry” that you are welcome to join for more frequent, informal updates. 

Our family continues to do well.  The kids are a bit restless without our usual activities but we are also enjoying the extra family time.  Kaleo is currently in New York City with my sister’s family there.  He was able to find work there for a time, but Covid intervened once again and his department was shut down. He has continued to look for work but has been unable to find anything since.   Susan and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary a few days before Christmas.  I am thankful for the years God has given us together and look forward to many more to come. 

Know that we are earnestly praying for you all in the United States in these uncertain times and will continue to do so.    We also thank you all for your continued prayers and support of our family and ministry here.  

  

Because of Calvary,

Rickson & Susan, Kaleo, Kestra, Kyler, Katrianne, & Kaylinn

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