LOCKDOWN

On March 15, 2020, the city of Manila went into enforced lockdown. It was such a disappointment as we were supposed to leave the next day for Zach's last school break in the Philippines and a much-needed break for all of us, wakeboarding and surfing with friends and family. But we decided to make the best of it and have some fun at home for that week. Since my sister's family lives a couple streets away, we decided to count ourselves as one household for the lockdown period. The first few days of lockdown, we did tons of activities: an escape room, science experiments, water balloon fight, obstacle course, photo scavenger hunt, photo remakes, and game nights. We also chose ideas from a jar for themed food nights that included Korean, Italian, Mexican, Hotdog roast, hobo dinners, etc.

 

 While it was such a disappointment, we were so thankful to have my sister's family to hang out with; and we definitely created some great memories!

Ben and Gabby both have birthdays in March, and they were supposed to have a combined sweet sixteen birthday party, but the lockdown... so that is on hold right now, like so many other things. Instead we did a french silk pie and enjoyed game night as family.

 After spring break, the boys went back to school...online. It has been an adjustment for everyone, but they are handling it well overall. It is funny how different teachers are handling the "online" aspect of school. For PE, Ben has to work out with a clock visible behind him to show how long he is working out. Smart. :) They also do time-lapse videos of their workouts to submit. Zach's Advanced Foods class has been fun since we get to benefit from his cooking (though it is a challenge to find recipes that we can actually find ingredients for at our tiny grocery store).

While there have been lots of disappointments (our family Christmas gift was a trip to Singapore to watch a Rugby 7s tournament this past weekend...cancelled), something cool that has come out of all this is that Zach has picked up guitar again. And he has taught himself a new skill - leading worship with it. My niece has worked with him, and the two of them have been leading our house church worship and Zach has led other family worship times.  

We have been so crazy proud of our guys and how they have handled all this. It has been HARD. We are on day 33 of total lockdown - not allowed to leave our house. ONE person is allowed a quarantine pass that allows them to go to the corner grocery store to buy food (must bring the pass and wear a mask and go through disinfecting tents). For us, Zach is the one with the pass since Steve is high-risk with his asthma, and I can't carry groceries home with my wrist. Last time Zach went grocery shopping for us, he waited 2.5 hours in line outside the store, only to get in and have incredibly limited selection (tiny store) with lots out of stock. Don't worry, we're not going hungry...we're just having to get creative on what to eat, and it's not necessarily our first choice options. For the boys, the hardest thing is that they miss their friends and are sad about so many cancelled things - the spring musical they were both in and had practiced months for, sports tournaments, vacations... And Zach is missing out on his final few months with his friends before everyone says goodbye and heads to their home countries around the world. Honestly makes me tear up if I think about it long. Really hard stuff. But they have handled it amazingly well. Such grace and strength. So thankful for our guys. 

Would you pray with us though? Last we heard, the president here is saying that we won't be able to go out of lockdown until there's a vaccine...who knows if he's serious, but this is nuts. We are supposed to be coming back to the States for the summer to settle Zach into college...but everything is on hold and up in the air right now. And not just inconveniences like for us; many are starving, and things are getting worse by the day. Also pray for health for Steve as he still struggles with his asthma and for wisdom to know if we need to do something else for him.

Ok, I'll leave it on a light note. A friend of Zach's made this meme for him after his last grocery trip.

For those who are wondering about Mikayla. Her college went online now as well, and she is staying with my parents in Missouri. She is doing well, and we are so incredibly thankful that she has them.

Ministry Travels

While Steve has continued to struggle to control his asthma (appreciate your prayers!) and has had to cancel several trips as a result, he has been able to do some traveling in the last couple months. As we've talked about before, while tribals reaching tribals is still our primary focus, God has blessed us with several new opportunities in mobilization and training. One of these is as a consultant for One Sending Body as they send Filipinos internationally. Another is as the representative for SE Asia to the Globalization Advisory Council as our organization works to partner with more and more countries as they send workers into the harvest. Steve took at trip to a neighboring country for training for this.

 He was also asked to accompany someone from our organization to a seminary up in the mountains to connect them with the president there. The first attempt was cancelled due to the volcano eruption; the second attempt was cancelled due to travel restrictions for the pandemic (before the lockdown). However, for the second attempt, it was scheduled over the seminary graduation, so Steve was supposed to speak at baccalaureate, and our friend at commencement. Even though the purpose for the trip had changed, Steve couldn't leave them hanging at the last minute without speakers for the two big events...so he went and spoke at both. It was a great time of developing relationships and networking as well as a blessing to see how God is at work there.

 Another trip was to a southern island in the Philippines to speak at a convention of tribal churches there. He was able to cast vision for how they as tribals can be used by God to reach other tribals and help them start thinking through what that might look like. He only took this one picture on the trip, so doesn't look very exciting, but it was an exciting trip. :) We also took at trip to yet another island for a retreat time with our colleagues. However, I can't post pics of that time, so you'll just have to take my word for it. :)

Another trip was to the Mangyan on an island just south of us. Some of our Bugkalot partners went with Steve to meet with the Mangyan tribal church leaders to further discuss a partnership between the two tribal groups to reach the Agta in Bicol. It was cool to see the map they had developed to show the areas that need the Good News and their desire for how a partnership could make this happen more effectively. Sadly, the lockdown has meant that the next meeting with this group to develop some concrete plans has been cancelled for now. We will trust God to move this forward in His time.

 Excited to report that the Mangyan officially decided to partner with the Bugkalot to reach the tribals in Bicol. Taking tribals reaching tribals to the next level!

 Another trip Steve took was with the Global Empowerment team here in the Philippines up into the Bugkalot mountains to meet with the church leaders in conjunction with key ones they have sent out. The idea was to evaluate how "sending" has been going and develop a plan for the best way to move forward together. It was a productive time, and they all felt good about the next steps. Unfortunately, two different important meetings to move this forward had to be cancelled for the lockdown, so we are now in a holding pattern. A big prayer request is about the support for the Bugkalot who have been sent. A foundation had been partnering with them to help them send their missionaries, but more recently a church in Manila had indicated their desire to partner with them. An important meeting between that church's board and the Bugkalot church leaders was cancelled, and the church cannot proceed without that meeting...which can't happen until the lockdown is lifted. They have enough support through the end of May, but April and May are the summer months here, so if there won't be support for them for next year, they need to know whether to move their school-age kids back home over summer or not (cannot transfer school mid-year here). Anyway, many things affected by the lockdown; prayers definitely appreciated as we trust His timing and plans when so many of ours are being uprooted.  

Spring 2020

Ok, so we don't really have "spring" in the Philippines, but somehow we still think of this time of year that way...

In February, Taal Volcano blew. School was cancelled for several days as ash fell on the city of Manila. The middle school was preparing to spend a week of "Outdoor Education" camping on the volcano a couple weeks later, so they obviously had to make a last-minute change.

Zach was asked to model for a new company opening in the Philippines. Not sure how the pandemic will affect it, but it was fun to watch him try something new.

 And another banquet. The kids have so much fun dressing up and hanging out with their friends.

 On March 12, Zach left with his class for their senior trip on another island. Sadly, their time got cut very short as it was announced that night that the city of Manila would go on lockdown, and flights would not be allowed into the city on March 15 - the day they were supposed to come home. Everyone scrambled and worked to get the 62 students and chaperones new flights back to Manila on Saturday. At the last minute, several flights were cancelled, and Zach ended up with a group of 11 who did not have tickets. But God worked mightily, and by the end of the day, with only a couple hours to spare before the lockdown, every single person was back home. 

Sadly, this dramatically affected their senior trip, with the snorkeling outing cancelled and much time/energy given to trying to figure out the new plan. We were thankful though that they were able to go at all and that they all got home safely before the lockdown started on March 15, 2020. 

Rugby Trip

In Feb 2019, the boys had the amazing opportunity to travel to Bangkok to play in a rugby tournament. It was the first time their school team traveled for a tournament, and it was such a blessing that it came together Zach's senior year, allowing the boys to experience it together. Since Ben was still under 16, he also got to play on the u-16 Philippine national team so he played on two teams in the same tournament, literally changing uniforms as he ran between games. Both teams took 2nd place in their division. While ending on a loss is never fun, they all made great showings for themselves against much bigger and stronger teams. Steve and I both had the privilege of accompanying the team as chaperones (I handled all the logistics), and we had so much fun as a family. We were also super proud of them!

 While we were there, the team led a rugby clinic at an orphanage for kids whose parents are in prison. The clinic went great, and both Zach and Ben were able to share their testimonies at the end. 

We also had some fun at a local park - swan boat races!

 Ben turned 16 the last day we were there, so we had a pizza party and the guys threw him in the pool.

 One of our favorite parts of the trip was watching Zach lead his team. Even after a tough loss, he encouraged them and kept their perspective right. So thankful we had the opportunity to be a part of this trip.