Crazy Cousins

No, I am not implying that our kids' cousins are crazy (though if any of you know their father... :) ), but I AM saying that when you get the 6 cousins together for 2 weeks in a 2 bedroom house, it gets a little crazy from time to time. :)  We were SO thankful that they were able to come visit though and that the cousins got so much quality time together (and us with their parents, even the crazy one).

Picnics in the backyard

 Wakeboarding

 What my kids call "sitboarding" - it is their old toddler car seat affixed to a wakeboard.  They took their cousins on a couple rides around the lake this way.

 Like I said, just blame their genes...

 Their youngest really latched on to Zach.

 Little miss got lots of snuggles from everyone.  Such a fun age.

 The cable operators let Steve and the kids go "triples" for a couple rounds with all 3 of them hooked into the same carrier.  They had a lot of fun with that.

 We also took some time to visit our friends in the tribal villages.

 The hill you have to climb is pretty steep, but the views are spectacular once you get up there.

 These 2 little houses are where some of our tribal partners live.

 We are blessed to have some quality young men and women working alonside us.

 One of the teams has started to reach out in this new area, and the group there took it upon themselves to build this little hut so that they have a place big enough for everyone to gather to study together.  Notice the "attic" area - that is the bedroom for a young single guy.  So I guess that makes this a multi-purpose hall? :)

 Just hanging out with our friends

 We passed by this coprahan - a place where they make copra.  They husk coconuts, split them in half, then pile them up on top of the smoking pit.  Then they light the fire and push the coals into the tunnel underneath the coconut in order to smoke the pile.  The smoked/dried coconut is then used to make coconut oil, feeds for animals, and other products.

 While in the one village, my nephew (age 6) kept finding fallen coconuts and asking the guys to cut them open.  He became increasingly disappointed when all the fallen coconuts were old/rotten.  But then they took him down to their neighbor's house to buy a couple good coconuts for them to taste.  Well, the neighbor wouldn't let us buy any - instead he gave us a whole bunch so that the American visitors could taste them! 

 My nephew's response, "It's a coconut party!"

 We saw lots of critters on our excursions.  The kids especially liked to peek in at the pigs.

 Wilbur wasn't on the menu, but our friends did make us up some local food.  This dish is called laing. Pretty simple - just dried leaves and coconut milk.

 Stir and cook for a while, then add hot chili peppers.

 And here you have it!

Complete with a chili pepper garnish to enhance presentation.

 They put on quite the spread for us.  The laing, fried fish heads and tails, tomatoes in soy sauce, chicken and sayote (similar to a potato) in broth, and - of course - rice.

 The kids had a ball exploring in the villages.

 Lots of good places to climb when you don't have those pesky walls that block the supports.

So much more practical.

 They loved this cute little window.

 Some people were replacing their roof while we were up there.  Here they are braiding/weaving the coconut fronds to use as roofing "tiles".

 On our way back down the mountain to catch the boat across the lake towards home.  It had rained while we were up top, so the way down was a little slippier than the way up, but everyone did pretty well with it.  Maybe it was the threat Steve made that anyone with a muddy tush couldn't ride home in the car?  He's a big pushover though; he didn't enforce it.

 On the boat headed home.

 So thankful for such a special time with the cousins!

Training Times

Now that we have mobilized Bugkalot tribal partners to work with us to reach the Agta tribe, a lot of our time is spent in training them to be more effective in their ministry.  Sometimes this entails "on site" trainings & mentoring times.  Sometimes we do group trainings where we get everyone together in one location.  Here are some pics from our last group training.

Steve worked through Romans with the 1st group (the ones who arrived last year and are now busy discipling new Agta believers).

Two of the guys from the 1st group gave initial "story exams" to the new group that arrived 7 months ago.  They have to pass their language exams (they will be teaching in a language they didn't know before) and these story exams to make sure they know the Bible stories before they start teaching.

As it turns out, this 2nd group isn't quite ready to start teaching the stories yet - they still need some time learning the stories, but they have made a lot of progress!

While the adults are in meetings, the kids keep busy with books, games, playing outside AND - everyone's favorite - watching movies on the portable DVD player that a friend in the States sent (THANKS, Janice!).

Here a couple more pics of the whole group together.  We were working through the Bible stories together and hitting home the main point of each story, the point that will address specific barriers in the Agta culture to them clearly understanding the Good News.

We are SO THANKFUL for these tribal partners.  God is using them mightily here, and we are privileged to work alongside them!

Mountain Adventure

A couple weeks ago, we traveled up into the mountains in northern Luzon (from where our tribal partners were sent out).  We went with some good friends (Matt & Erin) who will be partnering with us, focusing on that area/aspect of the work.  While Matt had been up there several times, this was the first trip for Erin and the kids, and I wanted to go with them to introduce her to the ladies up there and share what I've learned with her about making home/family life work in a village in the mountains.  That way she can avoid the mistakes I made and make some of her own, brand-new ones instead. :)  Unfortunately, I got really sick while we were up there (as did a few others), so we weren't able to accomplish all that we had hoped, but she has a good jump on it and feels comfortable tackling it again on her own - she'll do great! 

Erin just completed 3 great posts about our adventure up there (anytime getting to church entails a half hour drive, then an hour+ hike, followed by a river crossing - WITH a toddler and a baby, it definitely classifies as an adventure :) ).  I am just going to link her posts so that you can see our adventure through her eyes.  Make sure you flip through the pics in the two "slideshows" in the 2nd post - lots of great pics in there.  Click HERE to go to their blog, then scroll down to read all 3 posts about our trip.  If she has posted something else by the time you try this link, then just scroll down to the posts starting Dec 27. 

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

May you have a blessed day celebrating our Savior's birth.

Here are a couple pics from our celebration.
Steve was feeling sick, so Zach read us the Christmas story.

 Ready to open presents!  You like Zach's wrapping job on Ben's present?

 Ben LOVED the pocket knife his brother gave to him - hand-me-down or no, it is still pretty cool.

 Both boys got something to build - Zach's has lots of tiny bolts and screws and complicated instructions, but he did great and had a blast assembling the airplane.  Ben's is a little simpler but the same basic idea, and you can make 6 different solar-powered creations.

 Love this look. :)

 Can't believe she is almost 13!

 The kids also got "bop-it" and love it.

Here the kids are helping Dad open his last present - a game for the family.

We have all been pretty sick here in our house, but we still had a nice day as a family.  Hope you all had a wonderful day too!

Prayers appreciated

My "Nanny's" funeral will be this Friday (see post below for more info); appreciate your prayers as we are far away at this time. Also on Friday, we have an important meeting in Manila; pls pray for wisdom, ability to express our hearts clearly, and unified hearts. In addition, our family will be going north this week to visit the Bugkalot churches, the ones who have sent out the ones who are partnering with us in the work down here. Some friends with little kids will be going with us, and we are in for a 5-day camping, hiking, river-crossing adventure with a baby and a toddler. Prayers appreciated for that as well. :)

I leave you with a pic Steve took at sunrise that I thought you might enjoy.



Playing Catch-up

We have definitely been feeling like we have been playing catch up for the last couple weeks - catching up in school (6 days/wk+), catching up on paper work, and now I am making a small attempt to catch up on the blog.

First, a very special woman went to be with Jesus yesterday.  Jen's dad's mom passed away peacefully and is now rejoicing in the throne room. We are rejoicing with her, but it is still hard to say goodbye.  My dad was here in the Philippines when she passed, so he changed his ticket and will return early to the States to perform the funeral.  As a result, he won't be able to come down here next week like he had planned; we had all been very much looking forward to his visit so that makes it doubly hard.  Appreciate all your prayers during this time.  This pic was taken on our last furlough in 2009. 

In the midst of playing catch-up, we have been pressing ahead with several trainings with our Bugkalot tribal partners.  We have a couple different "venues" for our trainings, and this is one of the most peaceful.

 This is the "new" group that just arrived in May and are still in language and culture study time.  They are progressing well, and they will have their language exams this month as well as their "story exams" to see how well they know the Bible stories they will be teaching.  Pls continue to pray for this group as they prepare to begin teaching as soon as possible (for some it will likely be in January if they pass all their exams!).

 This is a common sight around here - these little "tricycles" (tiny motor scooter with a side car) haul several bamboo sala sets at a time.  It is amazing what they can fit on that little vehicle!  Coincidentally, we have been feeling a little over-loaded our ownselves these past weeks, so my heart goes out to the poor little scooter. :)

 The kids had a ball decorating for Christmas last weekend.  They are getting so big!  Steve and I mostly just sat and watched them do it all.

 Our newest teammate arrived safely!  Thanks for praying!  Little Kadesh (boy) was born 2 weeks ago after a tough labor and delivery so we are super thankful for his safe arrival.

 The kids are still wakeboarding from time to time.  Our schedule is crazier now, so we don't get out there that often, but we enjoy it when we do.  I put together a few recent pics in case anyone is interested.  I think you should be able to click on the photo to enlarge it if you want to see the pics better.  Ben is riding now as well, but he doesn't really do any tricks or hit any obstacles so I didn't take any recent pics of him.

Really would appreciate additional prayers right now as we are feeling a little overwhelmed at all that is going on at once.  Pray that we would place our burdens at His feet and rest in His perfect peace.