Graduation, Training & Typhoon!

In September, our team traveled down to Bicol to attend the 1st full graduation for the Tribal Bible College (they have a graduation after the completion of every semester, but this was the first time we had graduates who have completed the entire program - all 7 semesters! We had 3 graduates, as well as 6 others who completed this particular semester (they can be completed in any order). 

While down there, we had another training with all our tribal partners. Steve wasn't feeling well one of the days, so our teammates picked up the slack and helped our partners learn about some of the new programs we'll be using for more structured ministry reporting. Meanwhile, some of the ladies watched the MKs while the parents were in session. So thankful for our team!

Last week, a typhoon came through that dropped SO MUCH WATER - it was the worst flooding in the Bicol area in more than 30 years! There were casualties & damage all over the province, and our tribal areas were impacted as well. We were able to get some relief funds from SEND relief (thank you, Southern Baptists!) for our tribal team to do food packets for those who were hungry from not being able to work & having their homes flooded out. They were able to get to 700 families with packets that included rice, noodles, meat, salt & soap. The roads from Manila were not passable, so the fact that we had a team in place in Bicol who could bring relief to affected areas was huge. They of course also shared the Gospel as they gave out the relief; pray with us that many would be interested in studying the Bible more & many more outreaches started as a result of this relief effort.
There are SO MANY pics, but here are just a few:

Sadly, some died in our outreach areas too - notice the coffin in the pic below.

The team did a great job working together on the shopping & packing relief packets - we're so thankful for our teammates! They even pulled in believers from a few of the outreaches to help.