Trainings & Meetings

Something that is part of our regular life is hosting various trainings for different groups. 
Over New Years, we had a tribal team training - as well as some fun fellowship too.

The leaders of the tribal churches here in Bicol initiated a monthly leaders training about a year ago, and it's still going strong. Here are a few pics from the most recent one.

We have long since seen the need for some training for lowland Filipinos (non-tribals) who have a desire to (or who already) minister to tribal groups here. We recently had the first one of these, and we had a great group come together for it. We talked about what our core task actually is (entry, EV, discipleship, church planting, leadership development, and exit to partnership) and how to best implement that in the tribal context, taking worldview into account (and specifics like animism) as well as how Chronological Bible Storying can be very effective. 

Thankful for Filipinos who have a desire to reach tribal groups!

We also had a strategy meeting with some key convention leaders as well as a report from leaders of Philippine Challenge, who keep track of stats of Gospel presence and churches here in the Philippines.

We're thankful for opportunities to be involved in many different ways as the light continues to shine into the darkness. Thanks for the way many ways you partner to make all this possible!

Fun with Visitors

At the start of the year, we were blessed to welcome some visitors. They really came more to see Mikayla (it was her prior teammate, Allison, with some of her family), but we all had a great time at the beach & and down in Bicol. Even got in some wakeboarding & hot springs time!

While we were in Bicol, we were able to see Mt Mayon erupting at night again! Such an amazing experience. 

Can't beat the sunsets around here!

My (Jen's) dad also got to come for a visit, and we enjoyed going to see a musical together. It's not all mountains & beaches. :)

Christmas & Congratulations!

We were so thankful that both Zach & Mikayla were here in the Philippines this year to celebrate Christmas with us. We love going to Baguio over Christmas because of the cooler weather - there are even fire places!

We had a wonderful time as the 4 of us, and there were other families (some of our teammates too), so we enjoyed a candlelight service together on Christmas eve and a potluck Christmas dinner. 

Over Christmas, we also got the exciting news that Ben and Katye got engaged! Katye is absolute gem, and we are so thankful that we go to serve alongside her all this past summer. We are thrilled to welcome her into our family and are confident that God is going to use this couple in mighty ways for His glory!

 

Survey Work

Those of you who follow our lives and ministry know that one of the things that we've been working on in 2025 (and will continue to work on in 2026) is updating surveys for tribal groups across the Philippines. The purpose of these surveys is determine where the people groups are located and to ascertain what level of Gospel engagement is happening with that group (who's reaching out to them, if anyone, and how effective/far-reaching that engagement is). Zach and our teammate Claire went on another survey a couple of weeks ago, and they had a wonderful time with some dear folks. They were able to survey the one side of the island and hope to finish the other side early next year.

Thankful for partners in the work who have a passion to see all tribes and peoples reached with the Gospel!

Construction Continues

The development on the land in Bicol continues to move forward, and we created this picture to help visualize the campus and all that is going on down there.

Construction on the house for our teammates (and where we'll be able to stay when we're down there) is nearing completion, and it is so fun to watch it come together. One of the trips Steve took last month was with someone from our organization to check on the progress.

So thankful for an organization that is stands behind us this way! Very much looking forward to the house being done so we have a place to stay (no more tents...or at least not as often since not needed there) when we visit our teams for check ins and training times.

Christmas is Coming

Recently, the Bicol Tribal Church Assocation held a Christmas party, and our teammate Brandon was able to share in Tagalog about how Christ's coming fulfilled the promises. It was a rainy, muddy day, but they had a wonderful time celebrating together.

We also took an evening to decorate our Christmas tree. Missing Ben this Christmas, but so thankful to have Mikayla and Zach both here, and of course our teammate Claire to join in the fun.

We pray that your Christmas is filled loved ones and precious memories as you celebrate His birth.

Networking

One of the things that we spend a lot of time doing is networking, which basically means LOTS of traveling to meet with different groups of people. The purpose is to make connections with these various groups and try to help connect them to kingdom work.
Here are a few of these meetings form the past couple of months:

Board meetings for both the Bugkalot and Mangyan tribes, 

a large meeting for Baptists across SE Asia (sorry no pics of that one), 

and a smaller meeting for Baptists across the island of Luzon (where we live in the Philippines). 

We were also blessed to attend a meeting to welcome back a Filipina who served a two year term on the field in Africa. We are so thankful for the many different opportunities that we have to be a part of what He is doing here and around the world.