Relief Work Continues

Steve has been able to make a couple trips down to Bicol to continue the relief projects that were started after the big typhoon in November. He has tested before he goes, and he has been careful while he's down there since we don't want to be the ones who bring it there. However, with virtually no cases down there, protocols look just a little different, and we don't want to get anyone in trouble, so I tried to choose pics that aren't likely to cause any issues. Hopefully. :)

Those of you who haven't seen the training center in a while (myself included!) may be surprised by what the property looks like now after all the rebuilding after the typhoon.

In addition to the house post relief project (scroll down through my posts at the end of 2020 to see pics of that), we are also doing some community shelters to protect villagers from typhoons. On Steve's last trip, they put in stakes to measure the area and broke ground for the first one.

Thankful that we are able to continue ministering in spite of the lockdowns. Please continue to pray for wisdom and safety for us as we try to juggle everything. Steve is planning to head down to Bicol again later this week (provided he has another negative test). Once there, he will check in on the relief projects...and maybe enjoy a few more spectacular views like this when camping at the project site.

Birthday under house arrest

 Man, it is tough to know what to post on the blog (or fb) right now. Since we've reverted to strict lockdown, there just isn't all that much excitement going on here. And what little bit we can do, we can't post about it for fear of getting people upset who disagree with our interpretation of what's allowed. 

So Ben celebrated his 17th bday while we were finishing up our 2 wks of quarantine from entering the country. That wasn't much fun BUT he did get to celebrate with a couple friends in the week after we completed our quarantine...but can't post about it. I was thankful it worked for him to at least see some of his friends at that time though. He also got to do a cake with his cousins and mastered the art of "blowing" out the candles by waving his hand over them instead of blowing with his mouth. :)

Then after his bday the beginning of March, things started opening up a little more all the time, and ages 15-17 were actually able to go out to few select places. So Ben and couple friends got into a mall for the first time in over a year. It was funny because masks and shields required, but as we were going into the mall, the guard had his shield propped on top of his head so we left ours on top of our heads and didn't put them down over our faces. But the guard stopped Ben (he had his on the back of his head, hooked on his ears backwards) and told him he needed to wear it properly. So Ben switched it to be propped on top of his head, and the guard gave him the thumbs up. :)

After this time when things seemed to be loosening up (we were even starting to plan a family trip!), cases started to skyrocket, so we reverted to the strictest form of lockdown where only adults can go out and only for food or medicine. This means that even the times of scheduled exercise with friends was taken away for Ben. These last couple months have been incredibly difficult for him; the youth here have essentially been under house arrest (no face to face classes, no school activities, no social activities, and now no exercise either - supposed to stay inside at all times) for more than a year. Super proud of how he's handling everything, but my heart hurts for him. Would you join us in praying for him and the many other youth in the Philippines who are struggling right now? And that restrictions would lighten up soon...

Despite the challenges of these last months, we are encouraged by reminders that He is our refuge and strength. Also so thankful that we now live in a place where we can get outdoors, even during lockdowns, without choking on pollution. 

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Partners @ Work

 Since we aren't able to be on site as much as usual because of lockdown restrictions, I have been sharing pics that our tribal partners in Bicol post in their social media accounts. Hope you enjoy seeing what they've been up to. And it seems that one of our partner couples hasn't been social distancing very well during this past year of lockdowns - our newest MK just joined the team today! :)
(see pic below)

Thanks for standing behind them in prayer!