Vision Trip

Last week, we had two men from a church in California visit us here in the Philippines.  Their church is interested in partnering with us and the Bugkalot tribal church to reach the Agta tribe.  They came on a vision trip so that they could check out the area and see how they could most strategically fit in to what God is doing here.  We so appreciated their hearts in wanting to see what God is already doing and how they can best be used by Him, rather than coming in with their own plan/agenda.

 Steve & I both traveled to Bicol with them to visit a bunch of different areas so that they could get a good feel for the area and people.

 We traveled in lots of different forms of transportation in the couple days we were together - airplane, hired van, jeepney, trike, boat, taxi, and quite a bit by foot.

 We spent time with each of our tribal partners in the villages where they are ministering.  The guys asked great questions and also took time to pray for and encourage these precious men and women who are making so many sacrifices to make His name known in this place.

 They also got to meet several Agta believers and church leaders.

 While on this trip, we got some bad news.  You have seen pictures of this building before on this blog (these two were taken in July); this is where one of the Agta churches meets for worship.  It is actually a large porch built onto the house of one of the leaders (the porch is by far bigger than the living area).

 But the recent typhoon knocked the entire structure down!  Both the house and the porch/church are gone (the tarp-covered hut is just a temporary shelter erected after the storm).

 While we were saddened to see that the church is gone (the people are currently meeting outside, which is only a fair-weather solution), we were relieved to hear that everyone had survived the storm.  When we asked about how they survived, they led us to a pit where they had taken refuge.  The pit is only a couple feet deep, and you can see it is not very big, but 24 people took refuge in there for 6 hours!  So thankful that everyone is ok, but please be in prayer for the people in this village (and others like it) as their crops took a terrible hit, and they have a very difficult year ahead.

 We got to visit several different Agta villages, and the guys got to know our Bugkalot partners quite well.  

 It was such a blessing to me personally to watch the Bugkalot interact with the Agta.  It is amazing to watch how well they connect; God is using them mightily here!

 After visiting several different Agta areas, we gathered with our Bugkalot partners, and the guys took some time to ask them some questions.  While we started working with the Agta a couple years before the Bugkalot came on the scene, the Bugkalot are most certainly the experts here, not us.  They live on-site in Agta villages, and, because of their shared tribal status, they understand each other in ways that we would never be able to.  So we encouraged the guys to listen to the Bugkalot and seek their advice for how they can most strategically fit in to what God is doing here.

 To finish off the day, we visited the training center that the volunteer team helped to build in July (scroll through older posts to read more about that).

 We were all encouraged as we concluded our time together in worship.  The Bugkalot shared some worship songs in their heart language as well as some that they have written/translated into the Agta languages.  

We are so thankful that God is raising up more people to partner in the work here, and we can't wait to see what HE has planned for the future as we follow Him step by step.