Happy Times!

Just before my parents came, we received another package! This one was from our home church in Missouri, and it had lots of great reminders of home. We felt VERY loved as we pulled out all the books, cake/bread mixes and toys for the kids. We feel so blessed to have so many people at home who have partnered with us to pray for us, encourage us, and stand behind us. We could not be here without you all - THANK YOU!!!

For those of you who remember from my email last week, I just returned from a ladies conference in Manila. It was a great trip, and I had a blast connecting with some friends. A good friend actually came to Manila to meet me for the weekend while her husband watched their two small kids. We had an amazing time together, and it was a much-needed encouragement. Thanks for coming, Sarah, and thanks for letting her come, Marcus!!!

After the ladies conference, I also got to spend 1 more day in Manila with my parents as they had a layover coming from where my siblings live, heading home to the States. We had an wonderful day together, and I feel so blessed that I was able to have that extra time alone with them. God is good!

This week is busy with homeschool, ministry, and preparations to leave on Monday for our annual homeschool conference followed by some other traveling. Thanks for your prayers for a profitable week - particularly since we are all fighting colds!

Papa and Grandma

We had an absolutely amazing visit with my parents last week. Some good friends from our home church made it possible for them to come - the best gift we have ever received!

We had a blast just connecting with them. Here are a few pics from our time together.

We spent 1 night up at the wake boarding place we love so much. The kids had a blast showing their grandparents how they can wake board. They also got Papa to read to them and play a favorite family game "Rascals" with them.

Chilling in a cabana by the water. Sweet family time.Snuggles from Papa and Grandma.

"Look, Mom, no hands!"

They also went with us to our various weekly Bible Studies. It was good to get to show them the Agta villages and people. We had a good time. At the one village, we actually got to hike to a waterfall we have never been to before - it was gorgeous, but the battery died before we got there. Sorry! Just have to come yourself if you want to see it. :)

The top right picture was taken on the boat ride to the village. In the bottom left pic, Mikayla was learning how to tie a fishing net by hand. The other 2 are of my dad playing with the kids in the village - can you see Zach in the one?

Steve and I worked our tails off the week before they came so that we could have a couple of days of just lounging around the house. One day, we played games as a family all day long!

Just playing. Like Mikayla's new glasses? Just kidding - those are Papa's reading glasses. :)
They brought the book Heidi with them, and Papa and the older two spent every spare moment reading it together - they finished it during the week!

Steve and I also spent some time picking my dad's brain to answer some strategy questions we have had about the work here. His expertise and experience were a HUGE help as we work through some strategy specifics.
A picnic near our house. If you look closely, you will see that Steve has a gummy Life saver on his nose of all places! In the bottom pic, Papa is teaching the kids how to play Simon Says.
Mt. Mayon did not cooperate with us, so they never really got a clear view of the volcano. But we still had fun going to the "touristy" spots together on the way to the airport.
We are so very thankful for such a meaningful visit with my parents. It was medicine for the soul to connect with them and to watch them connect with their grandkids. We will cherish that time forever.

Church Planter Training

Thank you all for your prayers this past week as we hosted another training in our home. God provided Steve with the energy and clarity of mind to teach for 3 days straight in Tagalog - despite the meds he is taking for his back that make him groggy. The teaching went very well, and people really seemed to connect with the lessons. We are excited to see what God will do through these dear people. The logistics ended up working out for the cooking and the food, but it was a real challenge. By the time it was all said and done, we ended up having more than 50 people here!!! It was absolute chaos. A group of around 8 adults and almost a dozen more kids arrived for the final night and day so the last day was even more exciting than the previous ones (particularly since it was raining so all the sessions had to be inside, and we had no electricity!). All in all, it was more of an adventure than we had bargained for it, but it went amazingly well. Now to start into the MASSIVE clean up job... :)

Thanks for your prayers and words of encouragement ~God really used them in a mighty way! Please continue to pray with us for these newly-trained church planters as they go out to plant churches throughout Bicol.

Happy New Years!

I think a good way to start out a new year is with a good laugh. Over the last couple years here, I have been accumulating pictures of funny signs that we run across (while we happen to have a camera on us). A few of these were taken by friends, but they were all taken here in our new country or as we traveled around SE Asia. Enjoy... :)

Luca's pizzas are actually excellent - but that is not exactly as I would have chosen to describe them!

A durian is a very smelly fruit found here in SE Asia. Apparently, they are not welcome at the YMCA in Singapore - for which we were all very thankful!
A local "toll bridge". So close...
A Filipino version of Krispy Kreme? No, we only wish...
Ok, this is one of my favorites. They have some face cream here called by this "magical" name - I don't even want to think about if the content is consistent with the name... Doesn't it make you want to run out and buy some to spread all over your face?
Here are some very handy little boxes to grab on your way out of the store.
Um...I don't know what to say. King of what???
This one caught my eye as we drove through town here in Iriga. It's the same kind of banner they use for announcing a birthday party or family reunion that is going on. Huh. Maybe we will skip this little get together.
Let's have lunch!

Here is the label on a bag of chips we bought. Speaking of "Yummy Yes"...
Notice the last line - I didn't realize that costume designers had such great photo copy needs.
If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all... I don't even know how to determine the intelligence level of our vehicle. Is there an IQ test for that?
The long-lost fine art of wood curving...
Ok, hope you got a laugh - or at least a smirk - out of this post, and we hope your new year is a happy one! Keep your eyes on our Heavenly Father, and He will give you joy in the midst of any circumstances. Happy New Years!

Beach Vacation

I am finally getting around to posting the pics from our beach vacation in October with Steve's parents. We had a wonderful time relaxing as a fam.

Sandi's birthday was the day we arrived at the beach so we celebrated with grilled pork, fish and other Filipino food on the beach. As you can see on the left, you hand-select what you want them to grill up for you. Notice the back right-hand corner of the table - my personal fav: grilled eggplant.

Our little huts on the beach were perfect - clean, quiet, and air-conditioned! Not to mention a spectacular view from the porch...
We all had a great time lounging by the water, reading, building some stellar sand castles, and riding the waves. Uncle Andy, this one of Zach boogie boarding is for you. He is a natural at catching the waves - he will be ready for some surfing lessons soon!
We rented some kayaks a couple days to paddle over to the next cove for some great food and (Grandma's favorite) shopping.
Aren't the views breath-taking?
One day we drove across the island and took a little hike through the jungle and rivers to check out some amazing waterfalls. We got rained on, but Ben found a great umbrella! Mikayla cut her toe so Steve scooped her up for the river crossing. Sure hope Steve doesn't trip!
The waterfalls were stunning though - well worth the trek.
There was a typhoon brewing out in the Pacific on our final day at the beach so we enjoyed some great waves. They were a little choppy, but a whole lot of fun. We all took a turn riding them in our raft - until the bottom gave out! It actually worked nearly as well after that happened - it was just easier to get in and out of.
And I will leave you with this final pic of some tough guys with matching shark tatoos

(don't worry - they are only henna!)

Merry Christmas!

While it is a challenge to feel "Christmassy" when it is so hot and humid, we still enjoy celebrating our Savior's birth as a family. We set up our tree a few weeks ago, did our shopping & wrapping last week, and we have 3 kids who are pretty excited about Christmas day. [On a side note, I am pretty excited too because Christmas Eve is when I get to downgrade to a smaller, less-restrictive cast!] According to our family tradition, we will all "camp out" under the tree (or at least in the living room) on Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Pagsanjan Waterfalls

Well, I haven't heard from Steve since last night, so I am assuming that he is up in the village now and out of cell phone range. If everything went smoothly after I last spoke with him (that's a big IF!), it took him 35 hours to travel about 270 miles! At least he is there now (hopefully); please continue to pray that the training goes well and that God would use it mightily in the lives of those attending for His glory. He is scheduled to begin the trek home on the afternoon of December 18.

The kids and I have been doing well so far, just plugging away at school. I had a little extra time this afternoon so decided to post some pics of a trip we took with Steve's parents to some waterfalls in October.

We all divided up into 3 canoes for the trek up the river. This was our 1st time here during rainy season, and it was amazing how elevated the river level was. We were actually only able to go about 1/2 the way up to the main falls because of the water level, but the falls along the way were much prettier than normal so both times of year are nice in their own way.

Zach rode with Grandpa, and Mikayla rode with Grandma. Ben was with Steve and me.

For the 1st part of the trip, a motorized boat tugged all of us.

Then we reached the mouth of the rapids, and we were reduced to manpower - that of our boatmen. This picture is a little fuzzy since we were in motion, but it shows the guys pulling us up the rapids.

This gorge is one of the prettiest places we have been. The rainforest on either side is brimming with wildlife - including monkeys if you come early enough in the day!
Absolutely gorgeous!
These falls, not much more than a trickle during dry season, mark the end of the journey upstream during the rainy season.
Brrr!

We made some good memories, and it was a great time as a family enjoying the beauty of God's creation.

Perfect Timing

We got a package today from a family in Kansas - and it could not have come at a better time! The kids got some cool new magnetix that they were VERY excited about - as you can well see. This will keep them busy for lots of hours while Dad is gone. Last i heard from him, he is still on the bus to Manila - it is making a lot of stops so is taking a long time (10 hours so far and several left to go). There is no way they can make it all the way into the mountains tonight (logging roads not safe after dark) but they will make it to the town near the end of the main road and try to find a place to sleep until dawn when they will head up into the mountains. Thankfully, one of the guys at our Manila office was able to do the grocery shopping for the food for the training, so that will save them a lot of time in Manila before they continue on up further north. Last time I talked to Steve he was exhausted but hanging in there. He was encouraged to hear that you all are praying! Thanks!!!

A Terrible Start

Please be praying for Steve this week as he travels about 20 hours north to an Ilongot tribal village to do a church planting training there in the tribe where I (Jen) grew up. He got off to a bad start last night. He had planned to take the night bus to Manila last night, and he was told that the last one left at 10pm. So he spent all day in a village having a Christmas party and doing the next lesson (on the Birth of Christ - that was just the way it worked out!). He arrived home at 5:30 pm and spent the next few hours getting ready. Then he left for the bus station at 9pm to be sure to get a good seat so he could sleep on the way - once they arrive in Manila, he will have to drive the remaining 6 hours. That was when he discovered he had been given wrong info - the last bus had just left! So he and the 2 pastors accompanying him took a trike to a bigger town 4 miles away (normally trikes are only used for distances less than 2 miles since they are not very fast). They waited in that town for a passing bus for a passing bus for nearly an hour before taking a trike 25 miles north to the city of Naga. Remember how trikes are usually just for short trips?!? Because of poor roads (no freeways here!) this trip normally takes us nearly an hour in our truck - they did it in a trike loaded with SEVEN adults and all there stuff! Here is a pic of the kids and I in a trike so you get an idea of how crazy that trip must have been:

I have no idea how long that trip took them, but they had heard that there was a bus that leaves from Naga for Manila every night at midnight so they wanted to catch that one. They arrived well before midnight, but found out the midnight bus had left EARLY!!! Things are never on time here in the Philippines, nevermind early! So they spent the night in the bus station (bus stations here are way worse than any bus station in the States) and caught the 5 am bus to Manila. Remember, immediately upon arrival in Manila, they have start driving north to make it into the village before dark - if that is even possible now. I told Steve he should try to sleep on the bus so he will be rested enough to drive - he texted back that he is car sick so he can't sleep! Please pray for Steve as he is exhausted beyond measure before even starting into a grueling week of teaching and sleeping on a hard floor. To top everything off, he pulled a muscle in his back the day before he leftand was taking prescription-strength pain meds just to stand up! He needs our prayers this week!

On Purpose This Time…

If u didn't see the video (scroll down) of Kayla doing the jump by accident, u have 2 c that one 1st. The other day we were there, she decided 2 do it intentionally. It didn't go nearly as well this time - maybe she should stick 2 the accidental ones! She wasn't hurt though and is still determined 2 land that jump. We all - her especially - got a big kick out of this video, and we thought u would as well.

Be sure to check out the next post of pics and stories from our visit to the tribe in northern Luzon where I grew up!