BEACH!!!

We were FINALLY able to get away to one of our beautiful Philippine beaches. We had planned to go to the beach in March 2020, just days after the country was locked down, and we've been trying to make it there since. We traveled with 3 other families. We all had to be tested, and it took a ton of paperwork and forms and stress, but we were so incredibly thankful to make it to the beach. And because everyone had tested etc, we didn't have to wear masks and shields on the beach, so it was WONDERFUL. Such a refreshing time and one we definitely didn't take for granted!

Language Coaching

This year, I (Jen) was asked to become the language and culture coach for several new families who are arriving in the Philippines. It's been a ton of work developing a language curriculum and establishing the program, but it has been super rewarding to see new families start to arrive. We have had 3 new families arrives so far and completed orientations with them, helped them get set up in their new homes, and they are off and running on language study. One more new family will *prayerfully* join them in a couple weeks! Please pray with us for these 4 new families as they work hard to learn the language so that they can be equipped to minister in the locations where they will serve here in the Philippines. Pray to for extra strength for me and for wisdom to know when to push them harder and when to give them grace during the inevitable challenges that happen during language study.

One of the fun things we got to do with one of the new families is we got to bring their 4 kids to family camp while their parents continued language study. Ben was the one in charge of the team that led the youth program, and he did a great job! Everyone was teasing us that it looked like we forgot to save our progress on our game and hit "restart" by accident so we were back to having little ones to chase after. :)

Biking & Bday

Ok, so maybe not exactly "biking" but that sounded better than motocross & bday.... 
Ben had the opportunity to go ride dirt bike on the track he learned on last year and had a blast with it. 

Steve and I also both celebrated our birthdays the end of May & beginning of June. Mikayla treated us to dinner out...it was wonderful! Thankfully our birthdays hit at a time when dining in restaurants was allowed. :)

Relief Work Continues

Steve has been able to make a couple trips down to Bicol to continue the relief projects that were started after the big typhoon in November. He has tested before he goes, and he has been careful while he's down there since we don't want to be the ones who bring it there. However, with virtually no cases down there, protocols look just a little different, and we don't want to get anyone in trouble, so I tried to choose pics that aren't likely to cause any issues. Hopefully. :)

Those of you who haven't seen the training center in a while (myself included!) may be surprised by what the property looks like now after all the rebuilding after the typhoon.

In addition to the house post relief project (scroll down through my posts at the end of 2020 to see pics of that), we are also doing some community shelters to protect villagers from typhoons. On Steve's last trip, they put in stakes to measure the area and broke ground for the first one.

Thankful that we are able to continue ministering in spite of the lockdowns. Please continue to pray for wisdom and safety for us as we try to juggle everything. Steve is planning to head down to Bicol again later this week (provided he has another negative test). Once there, he will check in on the relief projects...and maybe enjoy a few more spectacular views like this when camping at the project site.

Birthday under house arrest

 Man, it is tough to know what to post on the blog (or fb) right now. Since we've reverted to strict lockdown, there just isn't all that much excitement going on here. And what little bit we can do, we can't post about it for fear of getting people upset who disagree with our interpretation of what's allowed. 

So Ben celebrated his 17th bday while we were finishing up our 2 wks of quarantine from entering the country. That wasn't much fun BUT he did get to celebrate with a couple friends in the week after we completed our quarantine...but can't post about it. I was thankful it worked for him to at least see some of his friends at that time though. He also got to do a cake with his cousins and mastered the art of "blowing" out the candles by waving his hand over them instead of blowing with his mouth. :)

Then after his bday the beginning of March, things started opening up a little more all the time, and ages 15-17 were actually able to go out to few select places. So Ben and couple friends got into a mall for the first time in over a year. It was funny because masks and shields required, but as we were going into the mall, the guard had his shield propped on top of his head so we left ours on top of our heads and didn't put them down over our faces. But the guard stopped Ben (he had his on the back of his head, hooked on his ears backwards) and told him he needed to wear it properly. So Ben switched it to be propped on top of his head, and the guard gave him the thumbs up. :)

After this time when things seemed to be loosening up (we were even starting to plan a family trip!), cases started to skyrocket, so we reverted to the strictest form of lockdown where only adults can go out and only for food or medicine. This means that even the times of scheduled exercise with friends was taken away for Ben. These last couple months have been incredibly difficult for him; the youth here have essentially been under house arrest (no face to face classes, no school activities, no social activities, and now no exercise either - supposed to stay inside at all times) for more than a year. Super proud of how he's handling everything, but my heart hurts for him. Would you join us in praying for him and the many other youth in the Philippines who are struggling right now? And that restrictions would lighten up soon...

Despite the challenges of these last months, we are encouraged by reminders that He is our refuge and strength. Also so thankful that we now live in a place where we can get outdoors, even during lockdowns, without choking on pollution. 

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Partners @ Work

 Since we aren't able to be on site as much as usual because of lockdown restrictions, I have been sharing pics that our tribal partners in Bicol post in their social media accounts. Hope you enjoy seeing what they've been up to. And it seems that one of our partner couples hasn't been social distancing very well during this past year of lockdowns - our newest MK just joined the team today! :)
(see pic below)

Thanks for standing behind them in prayer!

Request to lift up!

Here's a request for this week specifically. The government here will be making decisions for what quarantine lockdown level will be implemented starting May 1. The lockdown level makes a huge difference in our quality of life (ability to get out and exercise with friends for example) as well as how easily we can move around for ministry. Additionally, while they are at the strictest lockdown, they don't process exemptions to allow foreigners to enter the country, and there is a strict travel ban. We have several new personnel hoping to arrive in June, but in order for that to happen, the ban has to lift in May so they can start processing the exemptions again. Cases have been on the decline again, so we're really hoping...Pls pray with us that the ban would lift!

Alive & Kicking

 Hello team. We're still alive and kicking here...but it's hard to know what to post. For this past month, Manila and its surrounding area has reverted to strict lockdown because of rising case numbers. While lockdown never entirely ended, it had started loosening up, but now we've been back at the "don't leave your house except for groceries and medicine" level. Prayers appreciated for strength as this time has been emotionally even harder than before, especially on our youth who have essentially been under house arrest for more than a yr. Steve actually has been able to take some ministry trips because humanitarian needs are an exception, but can't post info or pics because lot of people feel strongly about him doing that, even tho he tests first and follows laws. Then not much interesting to post about in regular life because not technically allowed to leave our homes. Can only post so many zoom screens and pics of us working on computers! So, apologies for not keeping up with posts and blog but just not sure what I can actually post about. Tnx for continuing to pray even without pics and updates!

Quarantined

When the Philippines opened back up to allow some foreigners with visas back in, they instituted a 1-week hotel quarantine upon arrival with a test on the 6th day. If negative, then you can do the 2nd week quarantine at home. You have to choose from a list of bureau of quarantine approved hotel facilities. We were on the 27th floor, and it was a 1 bedroom suite with a living area (where Ben slept) and small kitchenette. Meals were delivered to us (rice with meat and veggie for every meal), and we were not allowed to get deliveries. It wasn't a great week, but it could have been whole lot worse, and we were thankful to have little more space than a typical hotel room. And the sunsets were amazing! We tested negative and completed our 2nd week of quarantine at home. We were released from quarantine on a Thursday morning...and Steve left Thursday afternoon for a trip into the mountains. :) He's back already, planning his next trip to Bicol.