Over the Christmas break, we headed out on another ministry adventure together as a family. Another family came along for the trip, and we had a lot of fun serving God together.
We left early in the morning for the looong drive to Bicol (12+ hrs), and the kids got some extra zzzz's in the car.
The next morning, we headed out to the training center to hang out with our tribal partners there and have the Christmas party that we usually do for them.
In addition to working on food prep, Steve spent some time going through annual reports with each of the guys, to get a better feel for how the various Bible studies are going.
We also got to check out their newest project: bee hives. The idea behind these is that it can develop into a livelihood project to supplement their income, and that they can eventually train the Agta to use it as a livelihood source as well.
No party is ever complete without FOOD. Thanking God for His provision and the opportunity to enjoy it together.
It's been our tradition for several years to do a giant "white elephant" gift party for them, but instead of everyone bringing gifts to exchange, we bring all the gifts. Some are nice gifts we bought at the store; others are used items from our house, and other are just gag gifts...there is a toad in one of those gifts... :)
It has been cool to see this map that they developed that shows where all the current outreaches and churches are, as well as the places that have been surveyed and are wide open to someone coming. Is such a challenge because right now there just aren't enough workers to go to those places...please keep praying with us for more laborers!
The next day, we headed out for a day of sharing testimonies in new areas where our partners have recently started Bible studies. The kids had chances to share and pray for the people as well, and it's always such a blessing to hear their hearts.
We did a bit of hiking that day through gorgeous areas, and the weather was perfect (Christmas is the cool season).
How many water buffalo can you find?
That afternoon, Steve had an important meeting with some Agta leaders from one of our new outreach areas, and it was neat to hear their hearts and work through some challenges with them.
After that, we headed for home...with a stop in the city of Naga for a couple days of vacation.
Vacation included some of our favorite restaurants and of course wakeboarding...disappointed though that the hot springs were closed because of a landslide. :(
So thankful for this great trip with our family and friends, an opportunity to serve together and make some more great memories.
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