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.

Merry Christmas!

We were so blessed to have Zach & Ben visit for Christmas this year. While Mikayla still had ministry responsibilities, she was able to break away to enjoy some family time too.

On Christmas Day, we also got to host a party for Mikayla's girls, and we had a wonderful time.

After Christmas, we spent a couple of days with the cousins, wakeboarding, as well as a couple of days at a summer camp with friends. And the boys got to visit their old beagle!
Such a sweet time together. 

Random Happenings

Last month, we made a trip to the city of Baguio in the Philippines. One of Jen's Tagalog students will be moving there next month, and we were helping them scout things out and get plugged in to their globalization ministry there (see next post if you don't know what globalization is). I can't post pics with them because of security concerns for places they travel, so you'll just have to make do with this one of Steve & me at sunset. Beautiful city in the mountains. And chilly enough to need a jacket, even in hot season!

Both Steve & I had our birthdays in the last little bit, and we enjoyed a nice meal out with good friends to celebrate. Steve also threw a big party for me with our coworkers, and we had another smaller gathering for Steve's, but this was the only pic we got. :)

So Mt. Mayon, the volcano down by our tribal areas in Bicol, has been getting some attention. Isn't it amazing? It does this often enough (every couple years) that they don't expect any casualties or property damage, since no one lives very close, and the ones in the 6-km "danger zone" have been evacuated. It is likely to last several weeks. Pray with us that it stays controlled like this.

Bayawak Baby

A couple weeks ago, a bayawak (monitor lizard) got into a friend's bathroom. Her husband was out for the day, so Ben volunteered to come to their rescue. 

When he saw it, he said it was just a baby and how cute it was - slightly different reaction from others'. :) He then caught it in a towel and, while walking through the house to release it outside, he asked where to release it. My friend said "just anywhere" so he pretended to bend over to release it in the living room. He got the reaction he was hoping for with that move. :)

Ben started his senior year...online again. Pls pray with us that he gets to have some face to face classes during his senior year!

Gotta love the gorgeous sunsets here!

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!

Quarantined

When the Philippines opened back up to allow some foreigners with visas back in, they instituted a 1-week hotel quarantine upon arrival with a test on the 6th day. If negative, then you can do the 2nd week quarantine at home. You have to choose from a list of bureau of quarantine approved hotel facilities. We were on the 27th floor, and it was a 1 bedroom suite with a living area (where Ben slept) and small kitchenette. Meals were delivered to us (rice with meat and veggie for every meal), and we were not allowed to get deliveries. It wasn't a great week, but it could have been whole lot worse, and we were thankful to have little more space than a typical hotel room. And the sunsets were amazing! We tested negative and completed our 2nd week of quarantine at home. We were released from quarantine on a Thursday morning...and Steve left Thursday afternoon for a trip into the mountains. :) He's back already, planning his next trip to Bicol.

Breaking Free!

The end of September we were FINALLY able to move into our new house. We were so thankful to have movers come help with this because Steve can't be in our old house for more than 20 mins without noticing a significant effect on his breathing.

We are settled in our new place now and loving it. I will try to put together some pics to post soon.

The big news since I last wrote (besides our move) is that some restrictions have started easing up. We still can't travel to our ministry locations (but Steve is hoping to try again soon), but we were able to get away as a family for a couple days in both September and October to a nearby camp. Technically kids under 21 still aren't allowed out of the house (there has been some movement towards changing this age to 15 or 18, problem is that it is up to each local government unit - basically like a big subdivision - to make their own rulings, and they all want to show how strict they are). 

But we found a place that allowed kids to come. So Ben still can't really be out in public (though some places are starting to relax a little on enforcing that), but we were able to go to these places to get away. I can't show you pics of the place or faces of the people we were with (because interpretation of the laws about this is a hot-button issue and don't want to get anyone in trouble), but here are a few pics. Steve and I both had work we had to do still (that's the hard part now that everything is online...it follows you), but it was wonderful to get away for a little while, and it was a blessing to see Ben get to be out of the house and interacting with others (at the one place there were even some friends his age to interact with!).

So thankful that things are starting to loosen up a little. The hard part is since every little area can make their own rules, it ends up being like each place being its own country with its own immigration and society laws. Impossible to keep up with them all, and each one wants to show how strict they are. So even when the whole country's laws are loosening up, many of the local areas are not. It's frustrating to say the least. But at least we are seeing some movement on loosening things up at the country level (though still on lockdown, just not as strict, through Dec 1 at least), and we are hoping the local areas begin to follow suit. 

And here is the sign from the back of a truck we saw...had us all laughing! :)

...and the Other Two

While Ben is busy at work doing school online, the other two have started at their colleges in the States. My dad (and mom for part of it) drove almost 2000 miles round trip to get them both moved in to their dorms at John Brown University in Arkansas and William Carey University in Mississippi. So incredibly thankful for my parents stepping in for us when we can't be there!

Both Mikayla and Zach are doing well adjusting to life under covid restrictions at college. It's a challenge to develop relationships and community with all the new rules, but we are thankful that they are both managing. And it was so good to get some pics of them together when they stopped in to visit Mikayla on the way down to drop Zach off. Miss these two like crazy!

So it looks like after months of waiting, we might FINALLY be able to move into our house next week. Pray with us that it pushes through and that all the moving details go smoothly (Steve has found that if he stays in our old house more than about 20 mins, it triggers his asthma...so that means that I'll be the one coordinating with the movers at the house. Thankful to have full-service movers who pack everything up and move it...but prayers appreciated that all goes smoothly. 😏

Here's a pic of our new place, "The Strawberry House" is what they call it.

Current Situation

Thanks to all who have been praying for us through this time. This lockdown has been so hard, and there seems to be no end in sight. We've been locked down significantly longer than Wuhan was...94 days now. Thankfully, it has loosened up a little...we can drive a couple miles from home, and Steve and I can get in to some stores now without the quarantine pass. The kids are still not allowed to go out at all, we can only travel a couple miles from home (so can't travel to any of our ministry locations -- or take any vacation time), and many places are still closed. Masks are mandatory, they take your temperature multiple times everywhere you go, and the lines to get in to the places that are open are crazy long. BUT it opened up enough that we were able to move! Because of Steve's asthma, we've been trying a long time to find a place and get approval to move. Well, we found one, but the current renters are delayed getting out because of the lockdown. So we moved into a tiny one bedroom basement apartment for 10 days. It was crowded with our man children (especially since Steve was reacting to something in the bedroom so all 3 of them slept in the living room), but we are thankful to be in an area with cleaner air.

 After 10 days in that apartment, we moved upstairs, which has a ton more space, and we have been loving it. Our favorite feature is the porch and the gorgeous sunsets! We will be in this house at least through the end of July, possibly longer, depending on when the renters in our house-to-be are able to vacate and whether or not the next subletters arrive the first of Aug for where we are currently staying. 

As far as what ministry looks like for us right now with the lockdown...not much has changed from the post I did previously on this. Lots of online meetings and computer work! Thankful that we have found ways to be used by Him in the midst of this, but definitely anxious to get OUT and visit our ministry sites and partners. Please also pray with us that Steve's asthma continues to improve, that we can get our visas sorted so Zach can head back to the States, and for Zach as he looks at making this massive transition without our help since we can't leave (so thankful for family and friends who will help him!).

Lockdown Life

We just found out that Manila will extend their lockdown again, new date for it to end is May 31 (but could be extended again). This means that Manila will be locked down longer than Wuhan was. Here's a few pics from our locked-down life. 

Zach has continued with his advanced foods class, and we have enjoyed weekly international recipes. Ecuadorian sweet rolls was a favorite.

 The guys have been enjoying playing "knock out" for school/work breaks. Our two basketballs went flat, and nowhere is open to buy new ones, but a friend loaned us two, so they have been able to continue.

 It was a hard day when they announced no graduation. Zach stared into space a lot of the day, processing. In the States, graduation is a happy celebration and an important milestone, but for an MK, graduation is even a bigger deal as it is when they say goodbye to the world where they grew up and all their friends (most of whom they will never see again) and try to find closure to this life before starting their new one on the other side of the world. We are praying for this group of MKs who have been denied the opportunity for healthy transition activities. Research says they will flounder without them, but our trust is in God for these precious MKs.

 Rugby sports awards were held online. Ben was awarded Most Inspirational Player for JV, and Zach was the MVP for varsity. So proud of these guys!

 Meanwhile back in the States, Mikayla has been staying with my parents. We are so thankful that they have each other during this time, and they have been such a blessing to Mikayla!

 Online school has continued. It has been a challenge (there was a 2-week stretch that Zach was putting in 12 hour days until I started emailing teachers), but they have persevered, and we are so proud of them.

 The weather has added some challenges too - heat index has been up over 115 most days lately (sometimes higher!); it was 102 in my kitchen - straight temp not heat index - when I was making supper the other night. Now we have a typhoon headed our way that we have been tracking. This is especially exciting because we have a section of roof that is about to give, so Steve needs to reinforce it before any winds...but hardware stores are closed with the lockdown. We think we found a place to get some lumber, so trying that...

 Another thing to be thankful for in this lockdown is that we live a couple houses down from "the cousins" so we have considered ourselves 1 household during this time and enjoyed lots of time together. I found these pics on google photos from where they synced from one of the boys' phones. Looks like they were on the roof at the cousins' house. :)
(yes, there is one more cousin, but her pic wasn't in the ones I found)

Here is our ticket to the outside world during quarantine. It is the quarantine pass issued by our area. It says that only one person per house can go out to buy food or medicine.

 Ben gets a kick out of this side because it lists Zach as head of household because he is the one who got the pass. It says that anyone without a quarantine pass will be caught.

As of this past weekend, our area has gone to "general community quarantine" instead of "enhanced community quarantine". Not much has changed for us since still only supposed to go out for food/medicine, but a few more places (like hardware stores) are open now. And the road checkpoints aren't as strict so Steve and I went out for a short drive in our area (to check out a house to possibly move to), but apparently you still need the quarantine pass to go shopping.

Thanks for continuing to pray for us during this time, especially for wisdom as we try to figure out summer plans.