Commissioned and Sent Out

This past week, Steve traveled up the 20 hrs up north again to speak at the annual Bogkalot Believers Conference. This year was pretty exciting because they commissioned and sent out their first team to come and partner with us to reach the Agta tribal people!

The van that we have purchased to use in our travels up north has had some serious issues :( Here is a pic of Steve filling up the jug to put more water in the radiator. They made many such stops on the way up to the village where the conference was held.

The road itself was pretty exciting, and Steve was thrilled with how well the 4x4 van maneuvered through the muddy roads. I have a great video that I hope to add to the end of this post soon of the van splashing through several feet of mud and water.

Then after splashing through the mud (it was deep enough to come INTO the van), they stopped to rinse the floor mats in the river.
The village of Gingin is full to capacity during the conference so no guest rooms available. :) Steve got to cuddle up with the rest of the group on the floor, but he said it was so cold up in the mountains that he was thankful for the warmth of the group.

Here is a shot of the meeting place for the conference. Steve said it was crowded to the point of overflowing during the evening sessions.

It was here, on the final night of the conference, that they commissioned and sent out the new team who will partner with us to church plant amongst the Agta tribe.

Here is the team who just arrived on Easter Sunday.

Please pray with us for these dear people. We just finished orientation with them the last couple days, and they are amazing people with a sweet faith. We are privileged to partner with them. Just today they moved out into their new villages (they were split into 2 teams and will focus on 2 different language groups).

Pray for them as they find land where they can build their homes. Pray as they start developing relationships with the people there. Pray for an extra measure of strength during this difficult time of transition and being bombarded with so much that is brand new to them. Pray that their focus would stay on Him and that they would not become discouraged.