Latest Crazy Adventure

I titled this post based on Kelley's comment about what the title of our blog should actually be, and I think I agree with her. This last adventure has had plenty of crazy thrown in.

We left home in the middle of a strong typhoon and drove north - towards the storm coincidentally. Wouldn't want to be far away from a strong typhoon, after all.

We were only in Manila a day to meet with a couple people and load our village storage stuff on top of the car (all the kitchen gear & bed mats/mosquito nets).

We then headed north and weathered yet another typhoon in a tiny hotel room. The door ended up not being very water-tight so we spent most of the day baling the room, but we were just thankful for solid walls and roof.

The day after the typhoon, we continued up into the mountains - only to discover a bridge out several hours from our destination and rumors of more bridges out further up. So we dropped Steve off to continue on up, speak at the church where they were expecting him, and scout out the options for getting the kids and me up there too.

Meanwhile, the kids and I headed back to the same little hotel and spent 3 days doing hotel school and waiting on word from Steve.

Once he had a plan in place, we went to join him. The first bridge had an 8 km detour around it (earlier today, the detour road had now collapsed since it was not built for heavy traffic so the new detour is now about 30 km). This is a pic of the 2nd bridge that was out and the temporary (read: SCARY) fix they have done.
The views once we got up into the mountains were gorgeous. We pulled over a couple times (see below) for Steve to hike ahead and check out the status of the road.

We had to stop and kill some time close to our destination because we needed help from the local guys to get all our stuff across the river. We found this great picnic spot to enjoy while we waited.

The kids were great sports about all the craziness. Sure love these kids!

Steve and the kids spent some time climbing around on the rocks while I read and tried to not think about how much still had to be accomplished and how little daylight we had left.

The guys finally arrived to help us. This was the end of the road. Literally.

It was amazing to me how this tiny little mountain river had gotten so huge that it had washed out the road next to the bridge (the bridge itself was actually ok). The guys hiked some of our stuff across the river first (G - see those boxes strapped into their home-made backpack baskets? Those are the boxes of canned chicken etc that you sent. Thought of you as I watched them. :) )

Steve had a great idea that worked wonderfully. He bought the stuff for a pulley system, and they shuttled most of the stuff across the gap this way. The tribal guys thought this was too cool. They put out the call, and we also sent some rice and corn across that way. Since then, they have used the set-up several times.

The kids and I crossed the river next with help from some of the guys. Once we got to the other side, Ben drew quite the crowd when he showed off his pet turtle.

After we got all the stuff across the gap, Steve took off with the computer bag and the boys on a motorcycle to head to the village. They guys loaded the rest of our stuff in carabao (water buffalo) carts, and Mikayla & I started walking. We walked about 30 mins before Steve made it back to pick us up to go the rest of the way into the village.

Here is the view of the bridge from the top of the first hill.

Once we were in the village, we only had about an hour before dark so we hustled to get beds set up. No electricity up here since the typhoon came through! And they don't expect it again for several months.

The next morning, the men came by to ask Steve to go with them (drive them) 7 hrs away to pick up some relief goods that had been given to them. So he left the kids and me for the day and was gone until after 1am. A little unnerving to be left in a strange village where you have never been before and to have to tackle all the settling in on my own (not to mention it was a LONG day for Steve too!), but we were glad that he could help get them some relief.

After that, life settled into a fairly "normal" routine.

Fetching water from way up the hill.

Washing dishes - notice the POURING rain. Yep, another typhoon came through. We just got the outer rain bands this time, but it was a very rainy week. The rivers went up and prevented Steve from crossing to speak at the church where he was supposed to, but he just switched the schedule with a village on this side of the river. It's all good. :)

Ben discovered this "colony of ants" (his words) in the bathroom. Impressive. Thankful for the bug spray I brought with us.

My kitchen - WAY nicer than last time! It is really big, and the lay out has worked out great. Love!

Steve was gone all day every day (and even an over-night) to speak at seminars. They went REALLY well, and the group in each of the villages is SO excited about the possibility of sending out their very own to reach the Agta tribe. God is at work!

Please continue to pray for Steve as he hikes from place to place to teach all day. The one village is a 3 hr hike straight UP. He actually hiked up the afternoon/evening before the seminar day and hiked back down after teaching all day. Last time he did it, it POURED all the way up AND back. He was a muddy (carabao poopy) mess when he got back, but so encouraged by the 70 eager people who attended the seminar.

To get to the Wednesday seminar, Steve had to float down the river, then drift to the other side where the village is. He got dumped pretty good, but so did his guide so his ego wasn't too bruised.

This is the view from our bedrooms. LOTS of carabaos up there. And people hard at work, harvesting and drying their corn - at least when the sunshine cooperated!

Early this morning (up before 5), we hiked back out to the bridge. When the road is dry and you really move, the hike is only about 45 mins. Today I think it took me almost an hour and a half. That mud was brutal.

Once we finally got to town today, we bought some rubber boots for everyone. Hiking through that green nasty smelly carabao mud...NOT my favorite.

The kids beat us to the river, and the guys help them cross. We had actually planned to come out last night, but it rained all day yesterday so this river was up, and we couldn't get out. Thankfully, it goes down quickly after the rain quits so we had no problem crossing this time. That is Mikayla crossing down there.

This time, they had rigged "portable bridges" across the deeper sections so - as long as you have good balance over rushing water and wobbly wood - you don't have to even get wet to cross.

Happy to report that we all made it across dry - at least from the river. Pretty wet from the rain that had started back up about half way through the hike.

Who needs a fancy concrete bridge when you have these wonders of engineering?

Ok, I will leave you with this cool picture. While the carabao and cornfields is picturesque, it is actually the itty bitty hut and garden on the mountain ridge back behind that is so cool. See, that little hut is a testament to the power of God and the faith of His people in this place. That mountain across the river was off-limits for generations; it was controlled by an evil spirit that would kill anyone who went over there, much less tried to plant crops there. Many people died painful and mysterious deaths after venturing onto that mountain. Well, after the power of the Gospel broke through into this village, some of the new believers decided that they no longer needed to be afraid of the spirits on that mountain because greater is He who was in them than he that is in the world. So one brave family crossed the river and not only climbed the mountain, they planted their crops over there. God's power prevailed, and their little planting huts and fields over there are a lasting testimony to the entire village.

Well, we are only in "town" here for 2 nights. We are hoping to head back up early on Sunday, in time for Steve to preach at a village across the river. We are supposed to meet the raft at 830am, but the roads we came out on today were terrible. Please pray with us that we are able to get through again to get back up there. Please also pray that the rain holds off so that we can cross the river to church and another river to get home. And the villagers really need some dry weather to harvest and dry their corn. They have been hit so hard by all these typhoons - won't you pray with us?