Survey Work

Those of you who follow our lives and ministry know that one of the things that we've been working on in 2025 (and will continue to work on in 2026) is updating surveys for tribal groups across the Philippines. The purpose of these surveys is determine where the people groups are located and to ascertain what level of Gospel engagement is happening with that group (who's reaching out to them, if anyone, and how effective/far-reaching that engagement is). Zach and our teammate Claire went on another survey a couple of weeks ago, and they had a wonderful time with some dear folks. They were able to survey the one side of the island and hope to finish the other side early next year.

Thankful for partners in the work who have a passion to see all tribes and peoples reached with the Gospel!

Construction Continues

The development on the land in Bicol continues to move forward, and we created this picture to help visualize the campus and all that is going on down there.

Construction on the house for our teammates (and where we'll be able to stay when we're down there) is nearing completion, and it is so fun to watch it come together. One of the trips Steve took last month was with someone from our organization to check on the progress.

So thankful for an organization that is stands behind us this way! Very much looking forward to the house being done so we have a place to stay (no more tents...or at least not as often since not needed there) when we visit our teams for check ins and training times.

Christmas is Coming

Recently, the Bicol Tribal Church Assocation held a Christmas party, and our teammate Brandon was able to share in Tagalog about how Christ's coming fulfilled the promises. It was a rainy, muddy day, but they had a wonderful time celebrating together.

We also took an evening to decorate our Christmas tree. Missing Ben this Christmas, but so thankful to have Mikayla and Zach both here, and of course our teammate Claire to join in the fun.

We pray that your Christmas is filled loved ones and precious memories as you celebrate His birth.

Networking

One of the things that we spend a lot of time doing is networking, which basically means LOTS of traveling to meet with different groups of people. The purpose is to make connections with these various groups and try to help connect them to kingdom work.
Here are a few of these meetings form the past couple of months:

Board meetings for both the Bugkalot and Mangyan tribes, 

a large meeting for Baptists across SE Asia (sorry no pics of that one), 

and a smaller meeting for Baptists across the island of Luzon (where we live in the Philippines). 

We were also blessed to attend a meeting to welcome back a Filipina who served a two year term on the field in Africa. We are so thankful for the many different opportunities that we have to be a part of what He is doing here and around the world.