Fall in the States

When we first got back to the States, we spent a couple of days in Florida with both Steve's parents, then my parents. Steve's dad recently bought a "hot rod", and we enjoyed a little drive in it.

My mom had a pretty serious health scare, and we were glad to be around during her recovery time (doing well now thankfully!). My brother and sister in law were also around, as well as my niece and her husband. Time with family is cherished time.

While we were there, we got a call from Mikayla that she and Austin had gotten engaged! They set the date in January, so we started out this Stateside with Ben's wedding and will end it with Mikayla's. They're planning a small outdoor wedding in Florida, then will also do a reception in the Philippines in February, so Steve & I will cut our time in the States a little shorter than originally planned to be back for that.

She's been super busy getting it all planned out - in this first month, she confirmed the venue, caterer, photographer, & even found a dress! We bought it through a charity that sells donated dresses, and the proceeds go to support cancer patients and their families.

After Ben's wedding, we spent a week in Michigan, meeting Austin's family. He's got a large family who are all believers, as well as a large church community, and they are all welcoming Mikayla with open arms. It did our hearts good to see where she will be living and knowing that she will be loved so well while we are so far away. We also got to enjoy peak of fall colors in Michigan!

Ben & Katye's Wedding

Right after the volunteer teams left, we also left to head back to the States for Ben's wedding. It was truly such a blessed time. The rehearsal dinner was a blast with a focus on the joining of two families from two cultures - the Philippines & Mississippi! We enjoyed a barbecue with Filipino pork bbq sticks and hamburgers. Some special time sharing stories and even a little Tinikling (Filipino cultural dance). The wedding itself was beautiful, and we are so incredibly thankful to welcome Katye into the Hagen family!

Retreat Time

September was pretty crazy. 3 volunteer teams, 2 different retreats and a total of like 75 people. The first retreat was with our Global Empowerment team, and a couple of volunteers joined us to help with the kiddos. We spent a couple of days training with a smaller group who are doing church planting with tribal groups, then a couple of days with the larger group doing strategy planning as we move forward. Such an encouraging time!

Next, we had a retreat with our tribal team in Bicol. Another group of volunteers came in to help with kids, teaching, worship, small groups, & activities. Everything went very well, and we were all so encouraged by the time!

Getting ready to welcome the team

Worshipping & studying His Word together. The topic for the retreat was the love of God.

The kids had a great time while the adults were in session.

In the afternoon, we had some group activities, including the "snake story" and a rousing game of duck duck goose that included cups of water and some wet people!

This retreat was such a blessing to our entire tribal team - and wow, it's a big group now!

As the retreat was ending, another group of volunteers arrived on a vision trip to discuss possible future partnerships. It was great to be able to show them around the property and for all for both volunteer teams to join our partners out in the village for a couple of days.

So thankful for partners both here and from the States!

Ministry Moving Forward

It has been exciting to see God continue to work with the Agta tribal groups, as well as our partnerships with Philippine churches being deepened. In August, we attended meetings with the various conventions of churches in the Philippines, and Steve did the official greeting from our organization as well as a testimony from what God is doing in the tribal work.

Meanwhile, our tribal partners have continued with outreach Bible Studies and have recently had some baptisms! Praise God for how HE is working!

Steve also got to speak at an Agta church leader training, and it was cool to see Joshua, the son of one of the first Agta believers, sharing about the power of teaching the Word using the Bible storying method.

We are so incredibly thankful for all our partners, and blessed to be a part of this team. Saying good bye to Claire as she finishes her term of service has been tough!