Bicol Leaders Training

Right after we got back from Cambodia (see post below), Steve went down to Bicol for the inaugural meeting of the Bicol Tribal Church Association Leaders Training. While, we've had many training for the Agta pastors through the years, we are starting a regular one that will be hosted by different churches on a rotating basis. When they gathered everyone together, including pastors with families & the ones they are training to become church leaders, there were more than 100 people attending! Such a joy to see how God is at work in the Agta tribes!

They also held an election for the next president of the BTCA, and Pstr Vicente was voted in as well as several other officers for 2025.

On Sunday we woke up to these pics posted on FB from one of our tribal partners. Such a encouragement to see God work through our tribal team!

Thank you to you who "hold the ropes" so we can be here working with our tribal team, watching God work with the Agta tribes in the Philippines!

Cambodia

At the end of Nov into early Dec, Steve & I traveled first down to Palawan to visit the family we supervise there - had a wonderful time but didn't take any pics this time. We then went straight to Cambodia for some leadership meetings. The time didn't go at all like we had planned because we were supposed to be attending with our supervisors, and the purpose was to discuss the 10 year plan for strategy for engaging all the people groups in our corner of the world. However, our supervisor ended up in the hospital at home the day before the meetings started, and he was in the hospital the whole time, which meant we attended it as the only members of our leadership team, without our supervisor, so that was challenging. But we see where God still worked, and we sent lots of good notes to our supervisor for once he was out of the hospital. :) At the end of the meetings, I (Jen) got really sick and ended up in bed for several days of what was supposed to be our vacation. But once the antibiotics started doing their job, I was able to get out on the last day, and WOW we highly recommend visiting Siem Reap Cambodia if you ever get a chance. Amazing things to see, beautiful little town, great food & cheap prices. We rented a little scooter to get around, and I took SO MANY pics, just sharing a few here.

Also saw lots of monkeys at Ankor Wat, but they were incredibly well-behaved (NOT true of other monkeys, for those of you who have traveled much, you know what I mean!)

The one with all the trees (Ta Prohm) was our favorite.

Highly recommend a visit if you ever get a chance!

Iraya Consultation

Also in November, Steve & I traveled to Mindoro to attend a board meeting with the Mangyan tribes. As partners in the work to reach the Agta tribes, we try to attend these whenever we can. Normally, we sit off to the side & just speak when they ask us, but this pic was when Steve was sharing the devotional at their request. 

After that meeting, a group from our extended team joined us in Mindoro for a consultation with one of the Mangyan tribes - the Iraya tribe. A consultation asks 1000s of questions (or at least it feels like that many!) to help determine both the health of the tribal church & the capacity of the group in other areas - education, medical, livelihood, etc. The first step is for them to map their entire area, including all churches, schools, farmland, clinics, etc.

After we get answers to questions, each evening the team takes time to discuss the answers to determine a quantifiable score as to the health of the church in that tribe.

At the end of the time, the team lists some of the strengths of the tribe that they should try to capitalize on, as well as makes some recommendations of some weaknesses they will want to address. 

The time with the Iraya leaders was a good time, and we learned a lot. Hopefully the information will be helpful for the ones who are serving Him in that area.

Giving Thanks!

In November, we got away for a few days with our team & had such a wonderful time relaxing and refreshing together on the beach that we forgot to get any pics! Here's some of the setting though - use your imagination :)

So very thankful for this team!
The pic below was when they traveled up to Manila to celebrate Thanksgiving with us and the rest of our coworkers.

After the Thanksgiving celebration, we went back to our house with Mikayla & Claire for 1 last dessert together. So thankful!

Graduation, Training & Typhoon!

In September, our team traveled down to Bicol to attend the 1st full graduation for the Tribal Bible College (they have a graduation after the completion of every semester, but this was the first time we had graduates who have completed the entire program - all 7 semesters! We had 3 graduates, as well as 6 others who completed this particular semester (they can be completed in any order). 

While down there, we had another training with all our tribal partners. Steve wasn't feeling well one of the days, so our teammates picked up the slack and helped our partners learn about some of the new programs we'll be using for more structured ministry reporting. Meanwhile, some of the ladies watched the MKs while the parents were in session. So thankful for our team!

Last week, a typhoon came through that dropped SO MUCH WATER - it was the worst flooding in the Bicol area in more than 30 years! There were casualties & damage all over the province, and our tribal areas were impacted as well. We were able to get some relief funds from SEND relief (thank you, Southern Baptists!) for our tribal team to do food packets for those who were hungry from not being able to work & having their homes flooded out. They were able to get to 700 families with packets that included rice, noodles, meat, salt & soap. The roads from Manila were not passable, so the fact that we had a team in place in Bicol who could bring relief to affected areas was huge. They of course also shared the Gospel as they gave out the relief; pray with us that many would be interested in studying the Bible more & many more outreaches started as a result of this relief effort.
There are SO MANY pics, but here are just a few:

Sadly, some died in our outreach areas too - notice the coffin in the pic below.

The team did a great job working together on the shopping & packing relief packets - we're so thankful for our teammates! They even pulled in believers from a few of the outreaches to help.

France!

Before 2024, we had never been to Europe, and this year we had meetings TWICE that took us there! This time, we were blessed to be a part of meetings with globalization, networking about how the nations can partner together more effectively to reach the unreached - not just Americans being sent out, but how we can work with other nations to partner together to accomplish the Great Commission. The time together was such a blessing (though Steve got sick, so I had to carry most of the load for this one). I can't share pics from those meetings due to security concerns, but we stayed at an old abbey, and I can share this great rainbow pic from our time there. 

After the meetings, Steve & I tacked on a couple of days to explore France. We stayed in a lovely little airbnb & had a nice time exploring. We saw lots of different castles (Mount St. Michael was our favorite!) and enjoyed the little taste of fall foliage (don't get that in the Philippines). Of course had to get that obligatory Eiffel Tower pic, and we drove the circle around the Arc de Triumph (sites said it is the craziest in the world, but those travelers obviously haven't been to Asia - we can know several that beat it hands down). 

So incredibly thankful for the many opportunities to be involved in His work!