We're Off!

Thought you may enjoy this pic of Ben that a friend took. His smile is priceless. We just wanted to let you all know that we leave early in the morning for the airport to head north. We have a few appts at the doctor (for Jen's wrist and Ben to see the speech therapist) before heading to some meetings. After the meetings, we all head in different directions. Jen leaves for Thailand to help out at a conference for TCKs there, and Mikayla goes to summer camp for a week. Steve and the boys will head into the mountains in northern Luzon to talk with the church in the tribe where Jen grew up about possibly partnering with us to reach the Agta. Steve and the kids will come home on July 7, and I will return on the 13th. Please pray for safety and health as we travel and for guidance for each of us as we go our separate ways. We would love to have an email from you waiting for us when we get home! :)

Monte

I would like to introduce you to the resident in our attic. He is a monitor lizard, and he is nearly 4 feet long. We have named him Monte, and he has helped keep the rats out of our attic. However, Monte met the acquaintance of Cinder (one of our guard dogs) last night, and the meeting turned out poorly for Monte.

We found him on our porch, lying very still and thought he was dead or nearly so. But then he took off! So did we, I must point out. :)
He ran to the alley next to the house where Cinder gave him some more attention. We thought for sure his neck was broken, but while Steve was measuring him, he bolted again. This time he got away in a drainage ditch next to the house. Only time will tell whether or not Monte will still be doing rat patrol in our attic.

Beautiful Feet

"How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news."

Isaiah 52:7

I know these feet don't look very beautiful to you (and I thoroughly agree with you!), but in God's eyes they are beautiful.

On Sunday, we drove to the end of the rough road and then hiked as a family up into the mountains to the village of Antipolo (ahn-tee-POH-loh). While the hike was only a couple of miles, it was very steep and incredibly muddy so it felt like a whole lot further. We also discovered that we are not in as good of shape as we used to be. :) That mud was something else! The pic below was taken just before I wiped it and landed on my behind. Thankfully I had the camera, so there is no pic to record that event.

The kids did so well! We were so proud of them. On the way there, a guide showed us the way. That was nice, but it meant the pace was a whole lot faster on the way there than we chose on the way back. Mikayla and Zach hiked almost the whole way, and Ben actually hiked a fair amount of it too.

See how steep and muddy it was?!? On the way back we stopped for a picnic lunch on the trail. Ben's face kind of sums up how we were all feeling by this point. It was exhausting but worth it.
We had a great time visiting with the chieftain and his family while we were in the village. The kids had a blast with the little puppies there.Zach sang to this one until it fell asleep in his arms.
This baby was too cute. And who needs a fancy crib anyway?
The scenery simply took our breath away. Or was it the hike that did that? :) Check it out though - we felt so blessed to be in such a beautiful corner of creation.
On one of the little creek crossings, we saw this guy hunched over under a rock. He was talking non-stop under there. We have no idea to whom he was speaking or what he was speaking about. He was so absorbed in whatever he was doing that he never even saw the 5 whiteys that walked right over his head (and our passing by seemed to be the best entertainment of the year for everyone else who saw us). :)
The highlight of the day was definitely the visit we had with this chieftain and his wife. They are neat people, and really seem to be people of peace who are eager to help us study the Word in their village. We set up to return to Antipolo on Thursday afternoon, and they said they will gather the village to listen to us teach! Please pray with us on Thursday morning Central time that it would not rain, that the hike would go well, and that the Bible Study would touch lives in the way only His Word can do.
After we hiked back to our truck, there was a group gathered at that village to study the Bible. There were about a dozen adults and a dozen kids. We were so exhausted from the hike we could barely stand up, but God gave us the strength to share the 1st lesson with this dear group of people, and it went really well. Many of them jumped in on the discussion time. Thanks for praying with us! They invited us to come back again next Sunday afternoon. Please continue to pray with us during this critical time of our ministry. Even today, Steve is out doing some survey work in the mountains, trying to figure out where the different villages are, and which places would be the most strategic locations to start teaching 1st.
Please also be praying for health and strength as we have been fighting some intestinal troubles and colds. Steve has been feeling very weak the last few days, and he was looking at possibly doing quite a bit of hiking today. Then tomorrow we hike as a family back to Antipolo. We covet your prayers!