Typhoon Destruction

 Finally getting word from our loved ones in Bicol. So thankful to report that no reports of casualties so far (primarily because Bicolanos know how/where to take refuge in typhoons because they get them often), but the native style house were literally blown away. Sturdy homes/buildings (like the training center) sustained significant damage, but our tribal friends fared the worst. Another huge blessing about the training center is that many took refuge there during the storm. But they didn't have homes to go back to afterwards. This 1st pic is what that compound looked like last time we were there. 

And this is what that same compound looks like now: 

These pics are of the family compound for the 1st family we baptized down there and some of the key ones reaching the rest of the tribals in Bicol (those who have visited know Jose and his family). Note that any standing structures did not survive the storm, they have been erected since it passed as temporary shelter. Stephen is planning to leave today to go down to Bicol this week to bring relief goods. We have some budget to work with (thanks to Send Relief and Southern Baptists!), but the needs will be far beyond the budget, so for those of you who have been asking how to help, just email me or message me on FB for info (or comment your email address on this post, and I will email you).
Ways to pray:
*That our tribal brothers and sisters would be encouraged in the Lord in the midst of this time and that they would find ways to shine HIS light to their neighbors
*That God would use this disaster to draw many to Himself
*For Steve to be able to secure all the necessary travel documents (covid lockdown still in place) and that he would get through all the checkpoints with the relief goods
*For safety and health for Steve as he travels, especially as they access difficult places
*For wisdom in making a lot of decisions in the next couple days about how best to help

General Ministry Update

Yesterday (Oct 28) marked 15 years since our little family landed in the Philippines. So crazy how time has flown! Thankful for the privilege of serving here.

One exciting update comes from our partners in the coffee plantation. The new harvest is looking good, we recently got a certification of specialty grade arabica coffee, a upscale restaurant will promote Bugkalot coffee at an upcoming event, and we were featured in a local magazine as one of the best coffees here in the Philippines. Exciting times!

Pictures of our online ministry are not nearly as exciting as when we are crossing log bridges and hiking through rivers (and it's not as much fun either!), but online ministry is where we are right now; and we are thankful for the ways God is at work during this time, even if it's not as exciting to live or document.

This week, Steve is facilitating a training for 15 Filipinos who feel called to GO internationally. Some of them have already been matched with a team in a neighboring country, and some of them are waiting for God's leading for where to go. The training is 6 days, 730-530 everyday, so it has been a tiring week. Steve has taught several classes (they even had me teach one on language learning), and he is doing the tech/slide shows for the rest of it so has to be engaged the entire time. Such an exciting opportunity though!

We also have had some encouraging reports from our tribal partners in Bicol. The Bible studies are continuing, and they recently even had a baptism. 

A typhoon came through last week and caused some damage, but not as scary as the highly venomous snake they killed during the clean up! Another typhoon is coming this weekend, so prayers appreciated for protection.

Thank you for partnering with us through prayer and standing behind us financially as well. We couldn't be here without you having our backs!

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.

Ben...

 

He's gonna LOVE having a post all about him... 😉😃

Some of you on FB may have heard about the corn hole sets that Ben was making and selling. Several people here in the Philippines bought them for personal use, and some in the States sponsored a set for a local ministry (thank you!). It was fun to get to deliver the sets to local orphanages, rescue homes, and recovery centers. Ben was able to explain the game and even play a little with the kids, and we've received several reports of how the sets are being enjoyed by the kids since then.

Recently, during a hard rain, a tree fell on our friends' house. It was Saturday, and he was sleeping in, but he wasn't too frustrated to be woken up to go help with it. He spent all morning helping them to chop it up with machetes.

School has officially started for Faith Academy, but it looks a little different this year...all online, at least through 1st semester. So proud of how Ben is handling all this but appreciate prayers that we can be back in the classroom next semester!

Ben is doing 6 classes through Faith and 2 as independent study (with me), so it's definitely a full load. His two independent study classes are US History and Tagalog. We are having fun with the Tagalog one as he is learning effective language-learning principles in the process.

Thanks for praying for Ben!

Lockdown Life: Take Two

Man, I feel like a broken record with these posts...but it is just true to real life here. Recently, because of a rising number of cases, we were moved back to a stricter lockdown again. That means many stores that had started opening up are closed again, and we can only go out on our approved days, with our face mask, face shield and quarantine pass, and only for groceries or pharmacy. Poor Ben hasn't been allowed to leave the house for 5 months - pretty tough on an extrovert left at home with 2 introverts! To keep busy, he has been working on several different projects - learning to weld with his dad and making corn hole sets to sell. Some local friends have bought them from him, and some in the States (and Australia) have sponsored some to give to local orphanages and child trafficking rescue homes. We even made a custom one (I tried something new with painting the owl!) for my sister's birthday. And, yes, he is sewing the bean bags himself as well! School starts for him on the 24th, but they will be online for the first semester, and he will be doing a couple homeschool classes as well.

Like so many in the world, Steve's work has transitioned to zoom calls. Thankful for the many things that have been accomplished in midst of lockdown - 7 classes of approx 200 people have completed/are in process of a 6 week course on God's heart for the nations. This week, he is also doing a class on community development principles with our partners. 

I'll leave you with a pic of our people. We miss them dearly and can't wait until we can travel out to the mountains to see them again. In the meantime, so thankful for our tribal partners who are ministering to them. Lots of new Bible studies!

Other Side of the World

It's tough to have your family split in half with an ocean in between, especially when we don't have the option of jumping on a plane to go visit them (covid travel restrictions). BUT we are so incredibly thankful that my parents (and other family/friends) in the States are loving on them and standing in for us during this time. Also so thankful for how well both Mikayla and Zach are doing. Mikayla finished her summer at the camp (read other post for details) and, after road tripping with Zach to bring him to a re-entry retreat in Indiana for MKs who have just graduated and moved back to the States, she is moved back into college in NW Arkansas already. Please be praying for her as she is the RA for a bunch of RAs this year, and there are lots of new challenges with covid precautions - always wearing a mask and staying 6 ft apart at all times. Hard to function as family/community when under those restrictions, and especially hard to be the one to enforce the new rules when you are struggling with them too. :( 

My parents and some friends threw a graduation celebration for Zach. It was so good to see pics of those who helped him celebrate. And especially good to see pics of Mikayla and Zach TOGETHER. 

Zach has been enjoying hanging out with grandparents and getting ready to move down to school. He has been able to help with a few things around the house, and have some fun with them too. He has also already gotten his license since he's been back (wasn't allowed to get it over here) and has been driving all over. He attended a re-entry retreat with some fellow MKs, and he loved reconnecting with old friends who have been through similar things this past year. My parents will go with him down to Mississippi next week to move into college. Pray for safe travels and smooth transition into college life. Just found out their freshman orientation will be online in their dorm rooms, and he won't have a roommate because of covid. Pray that he will find ways to develop community in spite of the many restrictions.  

So very thankful for how well our "kids" on the other side of the world are doing. Miss them here but we are excited for the many ways God will continue to use and grow them there.