Mikayla to the Philippines

So while we've been back in the States, we've been speaking at churches (every Sunday has been booked!) and connecting with current & potential partners. It's been a busy, but good, time. 

Also while we've been here, we've been helping Mikayla prepare for her move over to the Philippines. I (Jen) even did the 2-day culture & language orientation/training with her and her ministry partner before they left. It was such a blessing to be there when her home church sent her out, and we got to bring them down to the airport to fly to the Philippines. She is doing well settling in over there, and we are thankful for the many people there to help them get their feet under them. 

And in just a couple weeks, we'll be over there too! We fly on Feb 21, so we appreciate prayers as we buy everything we need, say our final goodbyes (we'll go down to see the boys this weekend), & try to pack everything into the suitcases - we used to get 10, but now we're down to 4 since they don't give us bags for the kids when they're not traveling with us. Go figure :)

Phase II

So the Tribal Bible College was Phase 1 of the project on the new land we purchased in Bicol. The buildout for the 2nd Phase has been going on now. This will be a livelihood skills training combined with church planting training, and we are praying that God will use it in mighty ways to plant hundreds of churches amongst the Agta tribes in Bicol. Here are some pics from the building that has happened while we've been in the States.

Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas with our kids & my (Jen's) parents. We even had a WHITE Christmas! What a blessing to be with family during this time.

Family Time

Everyone has been asking us if we are having a good "vacation" or "respite" while we're here in the States. Actually, stateside assignment (known by some as "furlough") is really not a vacation and, to be honest, is usually pretty tiring. It's especially challenging now that we need to keep ministry on the other side of the world going (tribals are online too!), which means late night and early morning meetings PLUS connecting with churches (we've spoken at a different church almost every Sunday!) and meeting with partners during the week. So it's been busy, but we have taken time to enjoy some family time too, especially while the boys were home over Christmas break.

 So thankful for our precious family and the time we enjoyed together. Man, we'll miss them when we head back!