Sierra Madre

I think the name of the mountain range where the Bugkalot live is beautiful - the Sierra Madre.  But the name is not nearly as beautiful as the mountains themselves.

 The end of May/beginning of June, our family spent a week in the Sierra Madre.  Our main purpose for the trip was to check on the status of the tribal churches and communities up there.  We had heard about some challenges and concerns facing the people; so we wanted to take some time listen to the church and community leaders and work together to see if there is anything that we need to change/adapt in our partnership.  We are thankful to report that all the meetings went very well, and we are very encouraged with how things are going up there.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the meetings themselves, so you are stuck with boring scenery photos instead of exciting pictures of men sitting around talking.  Sorry about that.

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One of our secondary purposes for this trip was to check on the status of the house where the July volunteer team will stay when they visit the Sierra Madre mountains. There it is up there on the hill.  Like I have told the team, pack light since you will be carrying your own gear! :)

 Ok, so maybe the house is not QUITE done yet.  Hopefully there will be a little more progress on the house before the team arrives, but since it is planting season up there, the men don't have much time to give right now.  So we may be roughing it. :)  At least the roof is done!

 And you hardly notice the unfinished interior anyway because the views are so gorgeous!  

Photo credit to Steve for hiking up into the tall grass above the house to get this pic for me.

 And the views inside are pretty cool too! 

 We enjoyed a family picnic and are looking forward to staying there with the team in July - even if it will be pretty rustic.

 So what if the showers aren't done?  Doesn't this look more inviting anyway? :)

 The kids had a ball jumping off the rock into the river.  I wonder if any of the guys on the team will have the same gumption??

 I spent some time hanging out with my friend in her kitchen.

 Her little guy is growing up so fast! 

(Click here to see the post when he was a newborn, and Mikayla & I crocheted him a sweater.)

We had a great visit up into the beautiful Sierra Madre, and we are so excited about all that God is doing up there!  To HIM be the glory!

May Whirlwind

The month of May rushed by in a whirlwind for us.  It started out with the beach retreat with our tribal partners (post below), then the next week we had 2 sets of visitors and then moved to Manila!  As we were trying to move in to our new house, both Steve & I got sick with fever/flu symptoms that went into bronchial infections...then we left on May 30 for a trip up into the mountains.  Talk about a whirlwind!  Oh - then both I (Jen) and Zach had birthdays in the midst of all the craziness.

Happy 12th Birthday, Zach!!!

We love you and are so proud of the man of God that you are becoming.  We know that He has big plans in store for you and can't wait to see what He will do through you in the years to come.

(Note: the pink gift bag was a gag from his older sister; and the cake was made by Mikayla, decorated by Zach.  Apparently bugs & snakes is what you get when a 12 year old decorates a cake.)

Beach Retreat

This past week, we traveled a couple hours away to a beach area with our Bugkalot tribal partners for a little retreat time.  We were able to stay in one our American co-workers' home for free (now THAT'S hospitality!), so it kept the budget very minimal at a great location.

While we did have some training and a looong business meeting, the main purpose was for them to be refreshed - both physically and spiritually.  So we enjoyed a lot of worship time together as well as time to just hang out and relax.

 The highlight for them was the 2 mornings we spent at the beach.  Several of them had never been to a beach before, and the vast majority had never experienced waves (many of the beaches in the Philippines don't have waves).

We also had fun playing in the sand.

 We were so thankful for this time to be refreshed with our tribal partners! 

Fun with Family & Friends

For some of you, hiking into tribal villages and crossing rivers may be unusual, but for OUR family, it is very unusual to get all dressed up.  But recently we did just that so that we could help our dear friends/teammates celebrate their wedding.  And here's a picture to prove it. :)

 I think Len is going to fit right in on our team because all that fancy food wasn't her style; we slipped her a burger from the kids' buffet, and she was thrilled.  Congratulations, Joseph & Len!  We are so excited to welcome you to the team/family, Len. :)

 My sister's family came for the wedding too, so we enjoyed a couple days just hanging around together.

 We discovered a new rock wall in Manila, and Zach amazed all of us with his skills.  He negotiated several "overhangs" like this one!

 Then my brother's family arrived, so all the cousins were together!  We enjoyed two days with the whole family at Rizal Re-Creation Center where the cousins could run and play to their hearts' content. 

 The tree house was one of their favorite places.

 We are so thankful that we got to enjoy this time together as a family!

 And I know my parents sure enjoyed having ALL their grandkids together in one place. 

Thank you, Father, for precious memories!

 Right after we got home, we were blessed by a visit from some dear friends who live on a nearby island.  We haven't known them very long, but we have been so refreshed by our time with them.

 We had fun wakeboarding together.

 We also got to introduce them to the "skate"; it's a little wooden cart that runs on the railroad tracks and serves as one form of public transportation in the Philippines.  Unbelievable how many people they cram on those things!  Steve said it was pushing 40 by the time it was full!

 Heading off down the tracks.

 Railroad traffic is notoriously one-way only, but that's not a problem for the ingenious Filipinos.  The standing rule is that the most fully loaded skate gets to stay on the tracks while the on-coming skate is unloaded and lifted off the tracks to allow the other one to pass by.

 We had so much fun with this family and hope that we get many more chances for adventures with them in the future!

 Check out this gorgeous waterfall we visited together.

Anyone else want to come visit? :)

Up into the Mountains

[I need to clarify a previous post before writing this one.  I am actually feeling very gun-shy to post anything whatsoever, because someone misunderstood my post in February, and you would not believe the magnitude of the resulting problems.  First, let me clarify that the training venue I previously mentioned will be located in Bicol; we have been using a friend's house for training; but they are moving, so we need a new venue IN BICOL.  Second, if anyone ever has a concern/question about any post I write, PLEASE contact us directly; we would be happy to answer any questions you have.  And if you are wondering what on earth I am talking about, please just pray for us...]

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 Now moving on...and up into the mountains.

 This mountain (the pointy one) marks the southern boundary for the Sierra Madre mountains where the Bugkalot tribe lives.

 See that metal roof over on the other side of the river and rice fields?  That is a tiny little church, but that itty bitty village church has sent out many of their own to partner with us to reach the Agta.  They have made huge sacrifices, but they have made them with joy, and it has been amazing to watch God use them as a body to accomplish huge things for His glory.  And He has accomplished huge things in their midst too; a cult recently came in to the area, but this proved to be a good thing in the growth of the church because it forced the believers to go to God's Word and study it out for themselves.  We have seen incredible growth and passion in this little fellowship, and we praise God for the way He is at work in AND through them! 

 My parents were able to come with us on this visit up into the mountains.  We had a wonderful time hanging out with them while we waited for meetings. 

 

 We had several important meetings in the course of our trip up there.

 Some of the meetings happen in unusual places - just wherever we find the guys with whom we need to talk!

 And we also did a lot of informal visiting and catching up with old friends as well.

 My mom and dad were finding some pics of their other grandkids to show to my mom's old friends.

 We also stopped in to see the coffee nursery.

 It was so exciting to see the coffee and how well it is doing!  The plants are so healthy and growing so fast.  Which made me want to leave immediately because plants don't seem to last long around me!

 The Bugkalot had an important meeting with some officials on the day we left the mountains; several of them got dressed up in their tribal gear for the event.

 Isn't this a beautiful view?? 

This is taken from the place where we hope to stay for 2 nights with the team that comes in July, before we go down to Bicol.  We actually recently found out that there are still a couple open slots on that team, so if there if you are interested in coming to see what God is doing here and help with a strategic project, just let me know so that I can put you in touch with the team leader.

On a personal note, we have been going through a very difficult time and would sincerely appreciate your prayers.  I wish that I could tell you more, but just suffice to say that we are hurting and need your prayers.