Stalker Monkey

Most of the team had to leave (see post below), but Toby was able to stay an extra day so he joined us for an adventure.  We decided to hike to a waterfall that we haven't been to in quite a while; it is located on the volcano about half an hour from our house.  We drove to the end of the road, then hiked about half an hour, then "bouldered" another 45 minutes or so to make it up to the waterfall.  while hiking through the jungle, there were huge fever ants to contend with; once we made it to the water, there were tons of leeches, so we couldn't win. :)  All part of the adventure though.

It was absolutely GORGEOUS, but those green rocks were very slippery; and some of the areas were pretty challenging, requiring some significant teamwork to get all of us through.

 We made it!  Nothing like a picnic lunch at the foot of a waterfall to celebrate.

 The view was definitely worth the effort.

 As we were getting ready to leave, this guy showed up.  He didn't seem very scared of us, which had us a little concerned.  Monkeys can be pretty vicious.  The guys gathered some "monkey whacker" sticks to bring with us just in case.  We had to walk under "his" tree in order to leave, but he let us pass by without incident so we thought it was all good.  But then he started to follow us down the trail.  He would even lunge and bare his teeth at us. 

 The guys stayed at the back of the group with their sticks and had to keep encouraging our stalker to keep his distance.  A couple times he left the trail briefly, and we thought he was going to circle around to the front of our group (a thought that wasn't too appealing to those of us at the front who DIDN'T have monkey-whacker sticks).  He looks so mild-mannered and innocent in this picture...don't let him fool you!

Meanwhile, we took a different trail out of there, and some of the stretches on this trail were BAD NEWS for even good hikers. Let's just say I was wishing we had brought climbing ropes so that we could tether in for safety.  And we were trying to do these treacherous sections with a monkey stalker threatening to attack any moment so at least one of the guys had to stay back there to keep him in check.  Then Mikayla got bit - twice - by those nasty fever ants...it was quite the adventure by the time it was all said and done.  We arrived safely back at the car and used the stun gun to shock Mikayla's ant bites to neutralize some of the poison (their poison is so strong it can actually make you sick - which is why they are called fever ants).

Adventures like that are why I prefer to sit in Starbucks on our day off rather than hiking to the waterfall (Steve & and I often have this discussion when deciding what to do on our day off ).  Granted, sitting in Starbucks definitely doesn't make as good of a story as stalker monkeys, fever ants, and crazy cliffs!

Heart Worship

The first language you learned is called your heart language, or sometimes "mother tongue" because it is the one you learned from your mother.  It the language that was used in your home as a child, and it is the language that connects the best with your heart. It is the language you use when discussing deep, emotional issues; and it is the language that is most effectively used to communicate spiritual things.  Since it is the language that connects with your heart, you will feel the most connected to God when you worship Him in your heart language; this is called heart worship.

We had a team come this past week that was a huge answer to prayer.  They taught a seminar for our Bugkalot partners and Agta believers about how to write worship songs in your heart language.  The team leader was actually a friend of my sister's from high school.  

 There were 3 couples on the team - Toby and his wife plus these 2 great couples.  They even brought a few donated guitars to use in the ministry here!

 Headed out to the village

 I love seeing pics that others take when they visit the village; I feel like I get to see things through their eyes and notice the things they notice, things that are common-place to me now

A typhoon off the coast was causing occasional rain showers, so we brought a tarp to hang to create a meeting hall

 Steve introduced the group and got things started

 Each couple on the team was able to contribute different things to the seminar

 Everyone took turns keeping the babies occupied too

 This is Ginny, Toby's wife.  Not many pics of her since she was also the photographer.

 After spending some time on song-writing principles, they broke into groups to write some songs.  Since we are working in FOUR heart languages, we need worship songs in FOUR different languages!

 Break for lunch

 More song-writing time after lunch

 So exciting!  By the end of the day, we had a new worship song written in each of the languages!

 Each group presented the song that they wrote. Since they got some hands-on experience at actually writing a new song, hopefully they have the abilities AND the confidence now to keep writing new worship songs in the heart languages of the Agta! 

So very thankful for this team that was willing to make sacrifices to come and partner with us in this strategic way.  God used them mightily in the church plant amongst the Agta tribe!

Family Time

This past month has been a whirlwind of travels.  We have been blessed with some precious time as a family and also as a couple.  Our travels started with medical stuff in Manila (went really smoothly and all good news!); then we flew to the country where my siblings are living to visit them for a couple days on our way to meetings in Indonesia.  Unfortunately, one of my siblings is having visa issues so they were not able to be there, but we had a great time re-connecting with my other sibling and his family.  After that, the kids had an opportunity to attend an amazing summer camp in Indonesia.  It is a camp staffed entirely by coworkers in our organization and designed especially for our precious MKs.  Since most of the campers and staff all come from secure areas, I can't show you any pics from the kids' time there, but it was a WONDERFUL time for them.  Normally when kids return from camp, you hear all sorts of stories of the fun games and pranks they pulled.  And while we heard plenty of those stories, their first comments and stories were all about what they learned about God during camp.  They all 3 grew spiritually, and I truly believe they will look back on this as a spiritual milestone in their lives.  Some dear friends helped make it possible for them to attend this year, and we are hoping that we can make it happen every summer. 

While the kids were at camp, Steve & I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary at an amazing hotel - this is what we found when we checked in!

After that week of camp/anniversary celebration, we had a week of meetings in Indonesia.  The focus this year was on revival and renewal, and we were spiritually refreshed.  Since all the pics of that time include friends whose pics I can't post on here, you will just have to take my word for it that we had a good time.  SOOO thankful for an org that makes spiritual refreshment such a priority!

We arrived home to no electricity OR water, termites flying everywhere, and a layer of mold, dust & dead bugs covering everything.  But we have resolved MOST of that now and are busy playing catch up from our month on the road.

Since I can't show you any pics from our travels, here are some we took just before we left.

 

Thanks once again for continuing to stand behind us.  We couldn't be here without you!

Zach's 11th birthday

We went to a pool for Zach Man's birthday celebration.  He had requested a pool with a waterslide, so we checked it out, and it was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, so we scheduled to go on Wednesday.  However, this particular week they decided to close on Wednesday as well. :(  So we went to another pool that has a smaller slide...only to find out that they don't have water in that pool right now.  That is how things tend to work around here, but thankfully Zach had a great attitude, and we still had a lot of fun at a pool without a slide.

A couple of his friends were able to join us for the day, and we played a couple games.  This one is a local party tradition where the grid with goodies tied to it is lowered and raised quickly over and over so that you have to jump to get your treat.  It's kind of dangerous in my opinion since inevitably someone gets an elbow to the mouth as they are going up and their neighbor is coming down, but what 11 year old wouldn't enjoy that anyway? :)

Pin the spider on the web...

 ...and a water balloon toss.

 I think the dive-for-matchbox-cars-that-mom-throws-into-the-pool game was their favorite, but since Mom was throwing cars, she didn't get any pictures.

Zach requested fudge instead of birthday cake, and it is tough to get candles into fudge, so we put the candles in watermelon instead. :)

 Zach loved the yummy fudge his sister made for him.

 Time for presents!

 

 Ready to open the present (superheroes lego set) from his grandparents, already wearing his new green sports shirt from his parents.

Happy Birthday, Zachary!  We are so proud of the young man of God that you are becoming, and we can't wait to see what amazing plans HE has in store for you.  We love you!



Casting Vision

We feel like one of our primary roles is to cast vision to the people we work with.  You see, from the very beginning, we want to be working ourselves out of a job.  We do this in two steps (though each step has various components).  The first step is to cast vision for others to have a heart to reach the Agta; the second is to empower those who catch the vision to be effective.  This past term, our focus has been on casting vision and empowering the Bugkalot tribe to effectively reach the Agta tribe.  But one of the things that we believe will help them to be effective is if they are also trying to work themselves out of a job.  The first group of Bugkalot partners that came down here to work with the Agta are now seeing the first fruits of their ministry; many have come to faith and several baby churches have been planted.  This past weekend we gathered together with our Bugkalot partners AND the new leaders of these baby Agta churches.  We cast vision for Agta men and women reaching the Agta and gave them some practical tools for how to do this.  While we are so very thankful for all the God is doing through our Bugkalot tribal partners, we know that they are not just our partners in reaching the Agta; they are our partners in empowering the Agta to reach their own people.  We want to make sure that the Agta believers do not depend on the Bugkalot to reach their people; we want them to catch the vision for Agta reaching Agta.

They had some worship and training time with the whole group...

...and also lots of small group discussion times. 

 Time for fellowship and just hanging out is key as well.

 One of the Agta leaders helping to lead a session.  Apply the principle right away, right? :) 

At the end of the time, each leader/group of leaders developed a plan to implement what they feel God is calling them to do at this time.  For some, that meant stepping up and taking more leadership in their new church.  For others, that meant new outreaches in new areas.  Exciting!  One of the coolest was hearing about what God is doing down in one of the most recent outreaches - now a baby church.  This guy is from an area several hours away where some of our Bugkalot partners have been doing an itinerant outreach off and on the last 2 months.  The leader from that baby church came up for this training, and it was encouraging to hear how he is not only faithfully leading his baby church, but that church has already started another outreach group!  He said he came up in order to get some tools on how to teach more effectively.  This guys has caught the vision! :)

Here's a picture of most of the group, though some had already left by the time they took this shot.

We are so very thankful for this great group of partners in the work, and we can't wait to see what God will do through them!

Here, There & Everywhere

Here are some pics that we took with our phones in the last little while.

Mikayla loves babies, and she does a great job with them.  Baby Paige (our partners' baby) has enjoyed many naps on her shoulder.

 We recently partnered with a Filipino church in Hong Kong who came and did a medical clinic & VBS for the Agta.  This was on the first day, and it shows our Bugkalot tribal partners welcoming everyone (the doctors as well as the patients & participants) to the activities.  The doctors were able to help a lot of people in the week that they were here, and the kids all had a blast with the VBS.

  Global Empowerment are our partners in the work to help the Bugkalot church to be able to fully support the ones they have sent out, and they have been BUSY!  There are several projects going up in the Bugkalot mountains now - one is fresh produce like strawberries and tomatoes, and another is coffee.  This is a picture of one of the nurseries nestled in the mountains.

 So exciting to see that end of the work progressing as well!  It is such an important piece of the puzzle if this tribal church will be able to sustain their own program for sending out apostles.

 A nasty critter we ran into on our travels.

Unbelievable how high they can stack those loads!  The load is higher and wider than the jeepney that is hauling it.

 Mt. Mayon at sunrise.

This is the volcano that recently had a minor eruption that killed 5 hikers that were climbing it.