Mangyan Update

As I mentioned in the post below, Steve has been hard at work, following up with both the Bugkalot & Mangyan as they reevaluate how they're sending and see how it can be tweaked to be more effective. He also got to attend the believers conference for 1 of the 6 Mangyan tribal groups, and he was so blessed to be a part of this group who is worshipping God together and has a passion to reach other groups with the Goon News. The pictures inside the venue didn't come out very well because of lighting, but this is the overflow area!

Bugkalot Update

After the 8 steps training (see posts from Feb), Steve traveled to follow up with both the Mangyan & Bugkalot leadership boards to see how they want to move forward and what changes (if any) they want to make with sending. They have decided that they would like to pursue a more structured sending program, and we will be helping them walk through that in the months to come. We are excited as we think this will help them send even more effectively.

Steve's on his way back today from the annual believers conference up in Bugkalot. Several of our Mangyan partners attended some of it to strengthen that partnership, and quite a few of the ones they have sent down to Bicol came up for it, as well as quite a few of the Agta church leaders. It was a great time of seeing all these tribal groups partner together for the sake of reaching other tribal groups.

One of the things the Bugkalot leaders had asked Steve to present at this conference was the idea of small groups and how discipleship can happen in that context. They tried small groups for the first time, and we are praying it will be something that God uses to strengthen their churches in the future.

 
Our new teammates continue to do well, and Claire just passed her first language evaluation, which means she can now transition to part-time language study, and we can start putting her to work! That's the earliest we've had anyone take that first eval, and Brandon & Macey are also taking their first one this coming week. So thankful for them!
Brandon took his first "immersion trip" and attended the conference that Steve has been at this past week. It was a crazy hot week for camping (record-setting temps!), but it sounds like it was still a great opportunity to be immersed in the language and learn.

Bicol Update

A recent development on the land in Bicol is these fish tanks to demonstrate aquaponics. It will allow the students to learn these techniques and hopefully also provide some income for the schools to help them be more self-sustaining. Pray for these dear partners as they work to learn the technologies & implement them well.

I love this pic! As we enter the land where the Tribal Bible College & Boost project are located, this beautiful sign of His promise spanning across it. We are so thankful for His many blessings & promises as we continue to partner with tribals to reach tribals.

 

Family & Team Update

 So I don't have a ton of pics for this one, but just a quick update. We were blessed to have my parents visit the Philippines last month. We failed to take many pics, but I love this one of Mikayla with them. We had a great time catching up, and they were able to join for a team retreat for a couple of days that went really well.

And I don't have any current pics of the "kids" but wanted to let you know how you can be praying for them this summer. Mikayla will have a busy couple of months as the girls in their home are off school, so that makes the home a busy place. Zach graduates college next week, and he'll be helping with the training for the group going to Fiji (where he served last summer), then he'll head back to Missouri to work while he continues with the application process for a 2 year position with IMB. Ben will be leading a 6-wk summer team to a different country in SE Asia, where they will travel to very remote areas to survey & gage gospel access. We so appreciate your prayers for our crew as they continue to serve where God has called each of them and seek Him for future direction.