Megan

Well, we dropped Megan off at the airport this am for her LONG trip back to the US. She has been here for nearly a year as a volunteer, just helping out with whatever she could. She has been such a blessing to our family and ministry, and she will be sorely missed. She helped with school, loved on our kids, did Bible studies, played administrative assistant, did registration for trainings, recorded and edited audio versions of the Bible stories, and coordinated the translation of the Bible stories into 3 different languages. She kept very busy while she was here, and she made an eternal impact. Here are some pics from her time with us:

We'll miss you, Megan! Thanks for everything, and we will be prayin for you as you start on life's next adventure, whatever that may be!

some favorite shots

so what hav i been doing to stay sane while lying in bed with my right arm propped up so it can heal? sorting photos 1-handed! remembr when i mentioned a media team had come through for a week and followed us around w/ cameras? well, they got a lot of great shots, and i spent the last coupl days sorting thru 8,687 pictures - yes, they took 8,687 still pictures in 8 days - not including all the video shots. Here was what we faced that week:

Now, don't get me wrong, they were great peopl, and we really enjoyd them, just their cameras got tiring. As I told them, in one way, they were the easiest visitors we evr had, in other ways they were the most difficult. :) Nothing like havng a camera in your face all day!but once we got over the camera thing, we realy did enjoy getting to know thm, and they got some GREAT shots while they were here. They got some wonderful Filipino everyday life shots as well as some amazing face shots that we will be able to use while we are in the States this summer. They also got some great shots of our family "in action". here r just a few of them:

while the team was here, something VERY EXCITING hapened. u remembr the bibl study that jose (1 of our 1st believrs, seen in pic below) started in novembr? (check archives 2 jog ur memry and c pics) well, they had their 1st baptism there! 12 precious souls clearly understood what Christ did 4 them and made a public profession of that faith. what a thrilling afternoon!

tnx 4 ur continued prayers 4 us as we finish up here b4 heading 2 the US in less than 1 month! tnx 2 4 praying 4 my arm as it continues 2 heal, the pain level has been prtty good, and i am hopeful i will b abl 2 typ w/ TWO hands again soon. tnx 4 ur patienc and code-deciphring in the meantime. :)

"Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig"

that is what my mom always said when we arrivd home aftr a trip - we dont kno why. :)

we did arrive home safely earlier 2day, and i just wantd 2 take a sec 2 thank all of u 4 praying 4 us on our trip.

in case u cant tel i am back 2 1-handd typing. surgery went realy well tho and i shud bback 2 reg typing in coupl wks. so 4 now u get 2 try dcipher clode. :)

actualy whole trip went far bettr than expected - 1st coupl days were packed w more drvsits, lab work & time in dentist chair than we thot possibl in 2 days, and evrything turned out great - no medical concerns 4 eithr of us. then our time in singapor 4 the surgery went amazingly smoothly & the pain level since surgery has been much much bettr than last time. hereon the home front, everything went really well too, and the kids had only minor bumps & bruises while we were gone. all in all, a huge success, THANKS SO MUCH 4 PRAYING!!!

the kids had a blast while we were gone, and they got lots of pics of their advntures so i will try put some of those up soon.

hope u all have a very blessed easter celebration!

From the Hospital

Just wanted to let you all know that Jen came out of surgery fine. Her arm is still completely numb from the block that they put on her arm. We will find out in a couple of hours what the pin level will be, but we are really rejoicing that she did not react negatively to the anestetic like last time. Thanks for praying.

Steve

Answers!

If you haven't seen it already, you will want to check out the devotional that Mikayla wrote for the wakeboarding competition (next post).

-------------------------------------

Thank you so much for your prayers on our behalf these last few days. Thanks too to those of you who took a second from your busy schedules to write and encourage me by saying that you are standing with us in prayer. What a blessing you all are to us!

You prayed for the rain to stop – and it did. You prayed for sickness to not keep anyone away – only 2 people ended up missing for illness despite many others being sick previously. You prayed for safety – it was a calm night in the mountains. You prayed for soft hearts, and open minds – and God worked mightily in the lives of the Agta church leaders. God answered all of your prayers, and we give HIM all the glory!!! Despite the fact there ended up being some last-minute schedule conflicts (they scheduled the elementary graduation ceremony for that afternoon – EVERYTHING is scheduled last-minute here!), the training time was a huge success, and they were able to have several key discussions. While not able to cover everything Steve had hoped to, they got a great start; and Steve assigned some things to discuss as a church while we are gone, then he will follow up with them when we get back. One fruit of the training is that they are planning another baptism in one church on Saturday for those who missed out last time. We won’t even be there, so it will be exciting to see if they go through with it on their own.

We covet your continued prayers for our family as Steve and I leave early tomorrow morning for Manila then on to Singapore. The kids will stay with Megan (the long-term volunteer who has been such a blessing to us) here in Bicol, and another friend will come to help her. Steve and I will spend the first couple days in Manila doing the thorough physicals, lab work, and dental work that are required before return to the US. Then we will fly to Singapore on April 5 for some consultations then surgery on my wrist to remove the 6” plate and screws on April 7. We will only stay in Singapore a few days after the surgery then return to Manila on April 10 and home on April 11. Please pray for safe travels and successful appointments/surgery. Please pray as well for the kids and Megan as they hold down the fort here – pray for a very UNEVENTFUL 10 days!!!

Thank you once again for the way that you faithfully stand behind us! We couldn’t be here without you!

Devotional by Mikayla

Thanks for all of you who wrote and encouraged me and said you are praying for Steve and the on-going training in the mountains right now (see post below). The weather cleared (PTL!), and I will post more of an update when Steve gets home tonight. Thanks for continuing to pray!

----------------------------

Mikayla was recently asked to write a devotional for a booklet to be passed out and used during the World Wakeboarding Championships held here last week. Here was what God laid on her heart to write and photos that were printed in the booklet with her devotional.

It blessed our hearts, hope it will bless yours as well.

-Jen-

A Fresh Start
Hi! I am Mikayla Hagen. I am 9 years old.
My family lives in the Philippines as missionaries.
I want to tell you how God can use anybody in His work, like the story of Saul (Acts 7:54-60, 8:2-4, & 9:1-31).
Saul started out persecuting believers, and he
Even helped kill some of them. But he came
to know God on the road to Damascus. After
that, he suffered many whippings and even a boat sunk under his feet, but he still trusted God. He became known as Paul the Apostle instead of Saul the Persecutor, and God used him mightily in His work throughout the world. Paul had been persecuting Christians, but God changed him and used him to bring the Gospel to many people. This teaches me that God can use anyone, no matter how shy, how sinful or how mean to Christians they are at first, God can change them and use them for His glory.
Mikayla Hagen
‘Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for believers in speech, life, in love, in faith and in purity.’
1 Tim 4: 12

URGENT PRAYER!!!

Ok, guys, we need you to start PRAYING! Steve left early this morning for the mountains to do a leadership training with our tribal church leaders. He will be up in the mountains until tomorrow evening (2 days and 1 night). We are praying this will be a powerful time for the Agta church as they are challenged from the Word to be faithful followers of Christ and to plant churches in surrounding areas. Here are some specific prayer requests over the next 2 days:

• Even though it is HOT season right now, it started RAINING this morning!!! Not usually a problem, but the location for the training is inaccessible when muddy! PRAY WITH US FOR THE RAIN TO STOP SO THE TRAINING CAN CONTINUE.
• There is a flu going around, and several of those who had planned to attend have been sick. PRAY FOR HEALTH FOR ALL THOSE WHO COME.
• It is a long story, but suffice to say that we really need your prayers for safety for everyone involved in the training. PRAY FOR SAFETY FOR THE GROUP AS THEY STAY OVERNIGHT IN THE MOUNTAINS. PRAY ESPECIALLY ON TUESDAY DURING THE DAY USA TIME AS THAT WILL BE THE NIGHT HOURS HERE.
• This will be one of the final times that Steve is able to spend time with these men and women before our furlough. PRAY FOR SOFT HEARTS AND OPEN MINDS TO HEAR WHAT GOD HAS FOR THEM IN THE DAYS AHEAD AND WILLINGNESS TO BE FAITHFUL TO DO WHAT GOD HAS CALLED THEM TO DO.

family fun

Remember how I mentioned in our latest updated that our family "starred" in some videos this past month? One of them was for a couple commercials for the wakeboarding place where we go on our day off - they wanted to show it as a fun family destination. We have really seen where the wakeboarding park has been a huge help to the province, so we were eager to help them out with this project. Well, here are a few of the pics they took during that time, thought you may enjoy them. :)

A Link for Pics

Well, we have been crazy busy again so I haven't had time to post about our many adventures, but a friend of mine just put up some pics on their blog of their recent visit here with us. Their blog is http://lifeaccordingtojaminandjesse.blogspot.com/ . There are actually 2 posts about their visit here with lots of pictures. Both of the posts are under March and are called Hagen Visit 1 and Hagen Visit 2. Hope you enjoy the pics of our family and theirs!

Birthday Boy

Our baby turned 5 years old on March 1! It was so "awesome" (as Ben would say) that an amazing water playground opened at the wakeboarding park on March 1. The kids (and even some of the adults) had a blast climbing all over the floating playground. Some close friends from Cebu (another island in the Philippines) were here for the week, and the Buchanan family from the wakeboard park joined us as well as Bufords and Megan.

The slide was a favorite for everyone. Ben loved it, and he also enjoyed the giant floating trampoline.

Ben wasn't so into climbing onto the iceberg and jumping off, but the older kids enjoyed it immensely. This pic is of Mikayla and one of the boys visiting from Cebu (the family has 2 boys ages 10 and 11).Go, Ben!
This giant see saw intimidated Ben a little too, but the older kids had fun rocking back and forth (or being catapulted when one of the adults joined in).

We also got some wakeboarding in - Ben did great!
Time for presents! Here are the kids that helped us celebrate - from the left: Jamin and Jesse from Cebu, Mikayla, Takiah and Zeph from the wakeboard park, and Zach and Ben.
He is growing up! He picked out this cake himself and was very proud of it. He added Spiderman and Batman himself. Grandma Jackson sent some "Cars" birthday decorations to help us celebrate - Ben loved the tablecloth.
We had been teasing him all week that he would be getting onions for his birthday present. Well, Mikayla made sure that his first present was exactly that. Thankfully, Ben enjoyed the joke.

It helped I think that he knew there were lots of other presents there as well - and he LOVED everything else. He got some transformers from us and my parents, a helicopter and small rubix cube from Steve's parents, a water gun from Bufords, a Clifford cartoon from Megan, a build-your-own car from Murphys, and lots of fun little gifts from Takiah.

Thought I would leave you with this great shot that my friend Connie took. Ben has a hard time keeping his pants up (which seems to fit right in with the wakeboarding culture!), and we even have to put sunscreen on his little tush! It's cute now, but we are going to have to figure out how to keep his pants up before he gets much older! :)