Training in the Mountains

Thank you so much for praying for Steve as he traveled up into the mountains to do a church planting training this past week. Thanks too for praying for the kids and me, and thanks to all of you who dropped me a note the last couple days – it was WONDERFUL to hear from so many of you! It was so encouraging.

Steve arrived home safely, and he said that the training went really well. There were about 20 people who attended, and God is really at work in that mountainous area. While Steve didn’t get many pictures (in all fairness, he was pretty busy teaching!), he did get a couple. The first two are of the place where they had the meeting and the group of attendees as well as the 3 pastors who helped Steve teach.

Steve texted and told me the sunsets were amazing up there, and here are some shots he took. The mountain you can see in some of them is the volcano that our town is named after, Mt. Iriga – we call it “our volcano”. It is right next to our little town, and it really is beautiful.
Steve said that he definitely had a hard time sleeping as he shared a double bed with 2 other men – and the “bed” was just a board with no pillows or mattress. Steve tries not to bring too much stuff with him (like a mat) because he hates to show up with more stuff for a 2-night stay than they own altogether. Besides the tight sleeping quarters, there was a large fluorescent bulb hanging a few feet over the bed – that they left on all night both nights for some reason! I am guessing my man will sleep well tonight after 2 nights of that, followed by teaching all day in Tagalog! :) I may have to leave the light on just to see if he notices. :)
One of the pastors who was helping teach has a medical condition that seems to be like gout or arthritis??? Anyway, it was acting up pretty badly so he was not able to walk. However, that didn’t stop him – a friend just carried him to the meeting place!
The kids and I had a good time here together. We got a lot done, but we also enjoyed some play time together. Here is a picture that Mikayla took of Zach with a leaf he found in the back yard.
Thanks again for all your prayers and words of encouragement this past week!!!