Survey: Take Two

We have told you before that there are more from up in the Bogkalot tribe who are feeling God at work in their hearts about the possibility of them being the "next wave" who will be sent out to join the work down here to reach the Agta. Well, 4 couples came down to our area this past week to do a mini-survey and to participate in the Culture and Language Study Seminar (see next post). All 4 of these couples are asking God to lead their next steps and are willing to move down here and join the work as He leads. 3 of these couples are quite confident of how God is leading and hope to move down here in less than a year. Here they are arriving at their first Agta village to meet the people.

Learning how to show respect to the Agta.
They spent a lot of time just visiting and talking with the people. Notice the 2 ladies in the forefront holding little ones? Well, they came on the survey with nursing babies in tow. Survey work is tough on its own, but these moms had their work cut out for them this week! They were tired but encouraged when they left. :)

They met lots of people and saw lots of sights in the Agta villages they visited.

After visiting a couple villages, they got on a boat and headed across the lake to visit the villages on the other side.

Some more visiting time, then it was time for the language seminar to start (see next post).

Please lift up these couples/families as they ask God to lead them in the months ahead. For some of them, there are barriers that stand in the way for them to "go". Ask for clear direction and that they would faithfully follow wherever He leads.

And so it begins...

Ok, so those of you who follow the blog and/or our updates know that the Bogkalot tribe from way up in northern Luzon recently sent out some of their own down to partner with us to reach the Agta tribe. Some of their houses are done, some are not quite, and it is time to hit the books. As the first step in training these new partners, we hosted a language learning seminar for them. A friend of ours who has a lot of experience with this kind of thing came and trained them how to study language and culture in a simple way that doesn't require a high level of literacy.

After some of the group sessions, they broke into small groups to practice the principles with a language helper who speaks the language they are trying to learn.

We also had plenty of time for discussion in various-sized groups in between sessions. We have found that often this informal time is just as valuable (if not more so!) than the "official" training sessions!

Since there was only one tribal house and 35 people, a few of us ended up sleeping in tents for the night - which got exciting when some water buffalo decided to investigate and then stick around to visit in the middle of the night. :)

As usual, there were lots of beautiful children hanging out and watching all the activity (and they especially showed up at meal time! :) )

The culture and language study seminar was a huge success, and the crew is now both motivated and equipped to start the learning process so that they can eventually teach the Word effectively. Exciting days here!!!

Please pray with us for our brothers and sisters as they begin studying the Agta culture and languages (the 2 teams are each focussing on a different language). Pray for diligence and perseverance as they begin this important task.

Zach Attack turns 9!

We are in Manila this weekend so Zach got to celebrate his 9th birthday at...

We had one excited young man - presents AND doughnuts?!?!
Who needs a cake when you have Krispy Kreme? :)

Mikayla made Zach a gift that he will cherish forever - she sewed him a 'Lil Blue' puppy dog and crocheted a blanket for it. Ben crocheted a collar. So sweet. :)

And to add to the fun, Papa got to join us for the party since he was in Manila for the same meetings we are. :)

Love this shot of the kids and Papa.

Our little boy has grown into a strong young man, of whom we are very proud. Can't wait to see what God has planned for our Zach in the years to come.

We love you Zach Man!

This 'n That

Well, this past week, we have done a lot of hiking around to different villages all over the area. We have gone to visit & encourage our new Bogkalot tribal partners (their houses are almost done - keep praying!), and we have also been surveying good locations for some college-age American volunteers who are coming this summer to camp out in tribal villages and watch God work.

Now, anyone who knows me knows how I love to take pictures, but I am very careful about bringing my camera with me all the time for fear of them feeling like I work for National Geographic and only care about taking pics of them. So I very rarely bring a camera with me, but I recently got a phone that has a *decent* camera so now I can snap an occasional pic inconspicuously as we travel from place to place. The quality is not that great so you will have to bear with me, but hopefully you enjoy this little glimpse of life here.

In one village, we found this precious lady and her twin babies who are both very sick. This little girl is FOUR months old, but just not doing well at all; her cough sounds terrible, and she (and her brother) have sores covering their bodies (likely from malnutrition).

We offered to take them out with us to get a check up at the doctor. Here they are hiking out with the little ones.

Look at her eyes! Won't you join us in praying for these precious little ones? They got some antibiotics, cough expectorant, cream for their sores and vitamins. We also gave the mom some money to buy baby formula (she has been feeding them just regular powdered milk since her milk dried up).

The gorgeous scenery makes the exhausting hikes much easier to bear

Love this idyllic little village - looks like one of our volunteer teams will be camping here this summer!

A sweet old man

A typical house - notice the black crosses drawn on all the walls and door to protect the family from evil spirits.

Off we go again!

visiting with an old lady, seeing if they would be interested in studying the Bible if we put some volunteers in her village this summer

So does this little motorcycle and sidecar look pretty full already? Not even close! We put SEVEN adults, 2 kids & 2 babies on this little thing!!! Then proceeded to climb and descend some crazy steep mountain roads...we had to lean forward/backward to keep from flipping the thing the grade was so steep! VERY good for our prayer lives.

Ben asked us to get a pic with his new buddy. Gotta love that smile. :)

another cutey pie!

A sweet old grandma

What a great set-up for washing clothes! Just hope none of them float away downstream...

Trying to figure out where to step to avoid getting stuck in the mud.

We have ALL become pros at crossing log bridges! Thankfully, this one is not very high off the ground/river...

In every village, you can always count on Mikayla finding a baby to play with.

Ok, this takes us out of the village for a moment and into the hair salon. :) Mikayla's hair has been giving us a terrible time of late - going into dreadlocks all the time! We decided to try a significant trim - took off 3 inches! Is MUCH easier to work with now, and the ends are a lot healthier.

Sorry the quality is so poor on this one, but I thought you might enjoy seeing a pic of the native version of a "walker". 2 hoops of rattan vine, then dishcloths tied in for the baby to sit in. Not many of the Agta have these, it is more common for those who are more exposed to civilization, but I think it is so inventive.

Here is a shot of Steve visiting with a friend while waiting for our boat to leave.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this random conglomeration of shots from our past week. Tnx for your continued prayers, and pls say a special prayer right now for those precious twins who so desperately need it!