Visitors!

 For many covid years, we weren't able to have visitors or teams come visit, and we were so thankful to welcome dear friends from our home church for a sweet time of ministry and fellowship. And a huge bonus was that our boys were able to come too! We picked them all up at the airport and headed straight for Bicol for some time of ministry together at the Tribal Bible College.

We put on a Christmas party for our tribal partners, so we spent time wrapping presents and - in keeping with tradition - of course finding a giant toad to wrap up in one of the gag gifts!

3 presents each x 26 people means 72 presents!

We also spent some time worshipping together (and were requested to sing a special number), and we also got to visit several tribal areas and share testimonies. What a sweet time!

Next we were blessed to get to enjoy some refreshing time with them wakeboarding and then at the beach. 

So Incredibly thankful for these dear friends!

Ready or Not, Here They Come!

We are so excited to welcome our new teammates this month! Claire (in black & white) will arrive next week, and the McCoy family will arrive at the end of the month. On Friday this week, we'll head down to make sure their houses are all set up and ready to go. Please pray with us for smooth travels & transition for each of them as they move from the States and settle into full time language study.

Yikes!

I don't have a lot of new pics from Tribal Bible College or the BOOST center, but I do have this eye-catching one that they sent a couple of weeks ago. :)
We're headed down there next week, so I should have some additional pics next time, but thought I'd just leave this fun one with you for now!

 

The "Kids"

Yeah, I know they're not really kids anymore, but people still ask about our kids, so here are a couple recent pics. Mikayla is doing well as she serves in an after-care home here for girls rescued out of trafficking. Here is a pic from her recent update, and it features Ben's beagle, Alba, who is loving all the attention at their home.

We also had a blast last week when Mikayla was able to join a soccer tournament for the day; it had been a while since we'd been able to watch our kids play sports, so we had a lot of fun with it. Even though they had never played together (some hadn't even met before that day!), and it had been a looong time since some of them had played, they did very well and even took 2nd in the tournament!

I haven't gotten many pics from Zach recently, but he went back to Missouri for Thanksgiving, and my mom sent me this one as he was the official French Silk Pie chef.

Over Thanksgiving, Ben went on a mission trip to Guatemala. They were able to help with some construction, VBS type ministries as well as an ESL ministry where Ben got to tell Bible stories. They also got to roast marshmallows over volcanic rocks on their day off :)

The most exciting news about the kids is that the boys will be here in just a couple of days, and we will get to spend Christmas together here! So excited to see them again!

Ministry of Meetings

The last couple of months, we've been sick a lot (not any fun pictures from that); besides that, it felt like most of what we did was attend various meetings. First, we had a week of meetings with One Sending Body to do some strategic planning for the future.

Next was a meeting with someone who helps churches with mobilizing them to become mission-minded.

Then we attended the convention meetings for the Filipino Southern Baptist Churches on our island.

Immediately following that meeting, several of our IMB leaders met with leaders of that convention to discuss how to partner more effectively.

Then we went back up to Baguio for a week of teaching at a pre-field training for 2 ladies who are being sent from the nations to the nations. We can't show their faces for security reasons, but Steve led them in 2 days of discipleship training, and I taught for 2 days about culture & language study, with a practicum at the end. Steve also preached at the seminary chapel time while we were up there.

Thanks for praying with us in all the various aspects of our ministry, even the "boring" meetings!

Global Empowerment Team Trip

A couple weeks ago, our Global Empowerment team traveled to Bicol to visit the work and our tribal partners there. Besides our team, one of our new colleagues joined us to see what God is doing with Tribals Reaching Tribals.

We had a wonderful time reconnecting with our tribal teammates, hearing from them what God is doing, and seeing a few of the places where they are serving. 

We also spent quite a bit of time touring the property where the Tribal Bible College is located as well as the Bicol Out of School Training, where students study livelihood skills as well as church planting. We also had several meetings to discuss how best to coordinate the different projects that are operating on the same piece of property.

Lastly, we visited the town of Legaspi for some final meetings, and Mt. Mayon volcano showed up and showed off for sure. We even got to go back in the evening and see it erupting! It's been spewing lava for 5 months now, and we were able to view it from about 10 km away from the crater. Absolutely spectacular, and wow the sound of the gases and boulders tumbling...unnerving for sure.

Tribal Bible College

The Tribal Bible College in Bicol is going well, and it was encouraging to get to see the students studying, living in community with their teachers, and developing the land to be able to support themselves. Come for a visit and see for yourself what God is doing!

Jumble

Wasn't sure what to call this miscellaneous collection of pics from the last couple months. A couple of our Bugkalot partners came up for Bicol to represent the team at a conference at a church in Manila that supports their ministry. They created this banner for the event, and we joined them in giving God the glory for all HE is doing in Bicol with Tribals Reaching Tribals.

We got away for a couple of days with a group of our new colleagues to our favorite beach resort. It was so good to get to know our new folks and share this place with them. Always so thankful for the beautiful place we get to call home - and for time spent in a hammock on the beach!

Our new long-term teammates, Brandon & Macey, were officially appointed to join us, and we got to watch the appointment service from our back patio. So excited to have them and Claire join us in December!

Steve & I made a quick trip to Baguio for meetings for globalization as we help Filipinos send effectively to the nations. Such a beautiful place and chilly enough in the mountains to wear jackets!

25th Anniversary!

 

In August, Steve & I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. We were able to get away to a cute little beach resort for a couple of days, where we enjoyed some amazing sunsets, naps in hammocks, an infinity pool, and some gorgeous views from our porch. So thankful for the many precious years He's given us together!