The Village of Lipuga

Well, i am finally getting around 2 posting some pics of our visit into the tribal village where i grew up. As u can see, the kids had a ball playing with the dozens of kids that followed us around wherever we went.

For a while, they even caught some baby chicks 2 play with.This little boy is named Jimwell, and he was a good friend 2 Zach while we were up there. As you can see on the side of his head, he suffered a serious burn as a child when a gas tank exploded next to him. He is a real sweet heart as u can tell from his smiling eyes.

This is Jimwell's older brother, and he is named Jay after my dad (he is Jimmy's eldest son, mom & dad).

Here is Mikayla with the eldest daughter of my best friend, Solyn. Almera and Mikayla are the same age and hit it off great.

Can u find our 3 kids?

Hint: look 4 the blond hair!

Like I said, the kids followed us everywhere. At 1 point, Zach came 2 me nearly in tears and told me he had 2 go potty. I told him 2 just go find a tree on the edge of the village (sorry if that offends your sensibilities, but that is the norm here... note to self: don't lean on the trees when visiting the Philippines...) Anyway, I told him 2 go find a tree, and he said, "But they [the kids] keep following me!" Poor kid couldn't get any privacy.

Same thing happened when Steve's parents took the kids back to put them to bed while we met with the village leaders. While there were curtains (surprisingly) on the windows in the little clinic we were sleeping in, there were no screens. So the ever-curious kids simply reached their hands in through the windows and opened the curtains to peek in. So they were surrounded on 4 sides by peeking children as they hid behind blankets 2 change into pjs. Then they went 2 bed (still surrounded by stares). A few minutes later, Sandi heard Zach say, "He took it!" Ends up that 1 of the boys had reached into Zach's bed and took his stuffed bunny! Thankfully he returned it once he satisfied his curiosity. :)

Here is a pic of the likely culprit. :)

We were blessed to be able to worship with the village the next morning. Both Steve and his dad (Steve interpreted) were able to share a short word of encouragement. Steve took the opportunity to challenge them about the many remaining tribes who still have not heard the Good News that transformed their lives many years ago. He challenged them to now follow God's call and be a part of bringing the Good News to these remaining tribes, possibly even to partner with us to reach the Agta in Bicol, about 20 hours south of their village.

As they did when I was a child here, the kids came in from Sunday School to sing a special song to the adults. Mikayla is hidden in the back row, and Ben got suddenly shy so he is on my lap. Notice the kids and dogs running in the aisle - the atmosphere tends to be a little more relaxed here than in your typical US service. Everyone is used to it though so it is not as distracting to them as it would be to us in the States. As we do on every trip up there, we were blessed by the beauty of God's creation. I may be a little biased, but I think it the most beautiful corner of His creation - of course, there are some Agta areas down here that are giving it a run for its money! :)

Mikayla enjoying the sunshine next to "my" river. :)How can you not worship the Creator when surrounded by this beauty?