Another Graduate!

We are so proud of Zach for graduating with highest honors from William Carey University with a Bachelor of Science.

We weren't able to go back for his graduation, but his brother was there for him, and we watched online in the middle of the night.

Besides Ben, my parents also made the long trek to celebrate Zach, and they helped him move back to Missouri. So thankful for the many ways my folks have stood behind our kids, especially when we're so far away!

Mikayla is in the midst of summer break with her girls, and they've had a couple birthdays to celebrate. We got to join them for one this past week that involved a party game with flour. Thanks for continuing to pray for these precious young ladies and for Mikayla and the others as they serve.

Ben is on his way back from SE Asia where he just spent the last couple of months leading a Nehemiah team into very remote areas. I can't post many pics for security reasons, but here are a few (and I'll try to add some of his team once I get permission from him for that).

 Truly such a joy to see our kids serving Him. Thankful.

Other Hats

So this is a new challenge for us - I (Jen) am wearing these leg braces for 6 months as we try to avoid surgery on torn meniscus in both knees. Pls pray with us that the treatment works (braces plus couple different kinds of injections) and for endurance for us as the braces are hot/uncomfortable & limit my mobility, which means Steve is having to pick up extra slack at the house.

In May, we were privileged to take two trips as part of other ministry hats we wear. The first one was to the island of Palawan here in the Philippines to visit some dear friends. We have the joy of being their mentors, and we had a blast hanging out and catching up with them. Discovered a "bunny cafe" with the kids, visited the beach (though I just watched from the shade because of my leg braces), and enjoyed a fun beach-side buffet and some wonderful time of fellowship. 

We also got to be a part of a "goer's training" for Filipinos who are feeling called to GO to the nations. Held in the mountain city of Baguio, and it was an initial training to help them process through their calling and consider next steps as they step out in faith.

We have so enjoyed working with our teammate, Claire. She joined us for this training, and God is using her in big ways for sure!

While there, we also got to catch up with some old friends - I've known this dear couple since I was itty bitty here in the Philippines!

So thankful for the many opportunities God brings our way. Makes for busy days/weeks/months, but it's such a joy to have a front row seat to see all that HE is doing here.

Partner Pics

Since our primary role is now training/consulting, we don't get as much time in Bible Studies & outreach groups as we used to. But we have some great partners who are deep in the heart of it, and it's a blessing to look through the pics that they post.

This month, we had a group of American young people who worked with our partners for a couple of weeks, and it was fun to see them showing up in the pics as well. If you know of any young people who are looking for an organization to go with on a short term trip, we highly recommend Nehemiah Teams. Both our boys have done NT, and we have always been blessed by the teams they send to partner with us. They are well-trained, and we love the philosophy they implement. I'd love to give you more info - just ask!

Our teammate Claire did a great job supervising this team; she's been such an incredible blessing to us and our team!

We welcomed two new families as tribal partners this month! One Bugkalot family & one Mangyan family. We are so excited to see how God uses them. One of the things we are happiest about is that this means we can now re-open the work with the Manide tribe. Please pray for these sweet couples & their kiddos as they move to this new area and begin church planting in the Manide tribe!

This last one is just for fun - Steve saw it on a friend's FB page. An adorable little Bugkalot guy in traditional dress - except maybe the crocs :) 

Mangyan Update

As I mentioned in the post below, Steve has been hard at work, following up with both the Bugkalot & Mangyan as they reevaluate how they're sending and see how it can be tweaked to be more effective. He also got to attend the believers conference for 1 of the 6 Mangyan tribal groups, and he was so blessed to be a part of this group who is worshipping God together and has a passion to reach other groups with the Goon News. The pictures inside the venue didn't come out very well because of lighting, but this is the overflow area!

Bugkalot Update

After the 8 steps training (see posts from Feb), Steve traveled to follow up with both the Mangyan & Bugkalot leadership boards to see how they want to move forward and what changes (if any) they want to make with sending. They have decided that they would like to pursue a more structured sending program, and we will be helping them walk through that in the months to come. We are excited as we think this will help them send even more effectively.

Steve's on his way back today from the annual believers conference up in Bugkalot. Several of our Mangyan partners attended some of it to strengthen that partnership, and quite a few of the ones they have sent down to Bicol came up for it, as well as quite a few of the Agta church leaders. It was a great time of seeing all these tribal groups partner together for the sake of reaching other tribal groups.

One of the things the Bugkalot leaders had asked Steve to present at this conference was the idea of small groups and how discipleship can happen in that context. They tried small groups for the first time, and we are praying it will be something that God uses to strengthen their churches in the future.

 
Our new teammates continue to do well, and Claire just passed her first language evaluation, which means she can now transition to part-time language study, and we can start putting her to work! That's the earliest we've had anyone take that first eval, and Brandon & Macey are also taking their first one this coming week. So thankful for them!
Brandon took his first "immersion trip" and attended the conference that Steve has been at this past week. It was a crazy hot week for camping (record-setting temps!), but it sounds like it was still a great opportunity to be immersed in the language and learn.

Bicol Update

A recent development on the land in Bicol is these fish tanks to demonstrate aquaponics. It will allow the students to learn these techniques and hopefully also provide some income for the schools to help them be more self-sustaining. Pray for these dear partners as they work to learn the technologies & implement them well.

I love this pic! As we enter the land where the Tribal Bible College & Boost project are located, this beautiful sign of His promise spanning across it. We are so thankful for His many blessings & promises as we continue to partner with tribals to reach tribals.

 

Family & Team Update

 So I don't have a ton of pics for this one, but just a quick update. We were blessed to have my parents visit the Philippines last month. We failed to take many pics, but I love this one of Mikayla with them. We had a great time catching up, and they were able to join for a team retreat for a couple of days that went really well.

And I don't have any current pics of the "kids" but wanted to let you know how you can be praying for them this summer. Mikayla will have a busy couple of months as the girls in their home are off school, so that makes the home a busy place. Zach graduates college next week, and he'll be helping with the training for the group going to Fiji (where he served last summer), then he'll head back to Missouri to work while he continues with the application process for a 2 year position with IMB. Ben will be leading a 6-wk summer team to a different country in SE Asia, where they will travel to very remote areas to survey & gage gospel access. We so appreciate your prayers for our crew as they continue to serve where God has called each of them and seek Him for future direction.

They're here!

You prayed; God answered. Our teammates have arrived in the Philippines and are hard at work learning Tagalog. It has been such a blessing to get to know them better and spend some time discussing what life and ministry in the Philippines looks like. And we're loving having little kids around again. :)

Please join us in praying for them as they work hard to study the Tagalog language and build relationships with Filipinos. Please also pray that God would allow them to plug into effective ministries while they are in language study.