Drum Roll Please...

We are so excited to formally introduce you to our new teammates! 

We have been asking for prayer in juggling the many balls up in the air on the Bugkalot side of the project, and God has answered by providing some new jugglers!  They will be based in Manila and will focus more on the Bugkalot side of the project – empowering and equipping the Bugkalot tribal church to effectively send out and support some of their very own to reach the Agta tribe.   

Matt & Erin Castagna (with Alaena, Logan & Paige) have already been a HUGE help as they have served in an informal/exploratory role.  Recently, they have felt led to join us as full-time partners; we are thrilled to have them on board, and we are confident that God is going to use them mightily to empower tribal people to reach other tribal people.

Matt & Erin are actually both MKs from here in the Philippines, and we all knew each other as kids!  If you want to get to know them a little better, check out their great blog by clicking HERE.

Please pray for Matt & Erin and their kids as they transition into this role, especially as they just found out that they will have to find a new sending organization (this role does not fall within what their previous organization normally does).  Pray with us for a smooth transition and that God would go before them each step of the way as they step into this new ministry.

 And as though one new partner were not enough, God has blessed our socks off by giving us another one too!

 This is Joseph Tanchi, and we first met him when he came over on a vision trip in January 2012 (click HERE to read about it - it's the 2nd half of the post).  He quickly connected with our family, and he has been an active partner in what God is doing here ever since.  For example, I had a dream of one day being able to do a conference for our Bugkalot tribal partners, one where they could be refreshed and renewed and prepared to continue on in the work.  I had shared this dream with several people, but when I shared it with Joseph, he DID something with the idea - he gathered a team of volunteers to come and help us make the dream a reality!  (more to come on that soon)

Please pray with us for Joseph as he transitions into this ministry.  He recently resigned his high-paying job in Singapore, and he will be moving to the Philippines in May.  Pray that God would provide abundantly as he makes this leap of faith and that he would stay sensitive to the Spirit's guidance each step of the way.

Praise God with us for these new partners in the work,

and pray for them as they journey down this crazy road with us!

Happy Birthday, Ben!

Ben turned 9!  Can't believe how fast our "baby" is growing up.

 He decided he wanted to do his birthday cake and presents while we were at meetings with our close friends (and new partners!).  Here are all the kids together.

Notice the mark on his nose between his eyes?

It's a run-in with a frisbee...I think the frisbee won. 

 A classic Ben expression here as he opens his present from Grandpa and Gram Hagen.

 It was so speciasl that Papa Jackson got to be at his party too! 

 

 Lego super heroes from Papa and Grandma

 And a scooter from us.

 After our meetings, we got to spend a whole day with Papa at the zoo!

 Then we met up with some close friends for a birthday dinner at Chili's.

 

So thankful for our Ben and the young man of God that he is becoming.

God has big plans in store for you, Ben!  We love you!

Trip to Thailand

 After we celebrated Mikayla's birthday, the kids and I headed to Thailand for their annual tests to make sure that we are staying on track with our homeschooling despite our crazy schedule and constant travel.  We are thrilled to report that everyone is doing great in spite of everything; we are so proud of them!

It's not just a week of testing though - there are lots of fun activities for the kids as well.  One of the things they did this year was essentially an extensive oral book report - complete with costumes and props! Many thanks to "Gram" Hagen for all her help with the costumes for Peter Pan, Pippi Longstocking, and Worm (from Diary of a Worm). 

THIRTEEN!?!?!

After our family getaway in Baguio, some good friends met us in Manila to help us celebrate Mikayla's 13th birthday.  We are officially the parents of a teenager!  We were so thankful our friends came up to hang out for a couple days and help us celebrate her big day.

 At Mikayla's request, we went to Enchanted Kingdom (a small amusement park in Manila) to celebrate.  They have some fun little rides, made all the more exciting if you are at all acquainted with how Filipino engineering is usually maintained. :)  However, everything seemed well-taken-care-of, and we felt safe so don't worry, Grandma! :)

 Mikayla so enjoyed having one of her best friends with her to help her celebrate.  The two girls got their faces painted - right before going on a water ride.  Fail. :)

 Carly also helped us do some swimsuit shopping for Mikayla's birthday present.  Shopping is always more fun with a friend, right?

 We also got to eat at Mikayla's favorite restaurant in Manila - Chili's.

 And of course we made sure they sang to her.

 Happy Birthday, sweet Mikayla!  We love you and are so very proud of the young woman you are becoming!  God is using you mightily, and we know He has big plans in store for you as you continue to seek after Him with your whole heart.

Family Getaway

These last two months have been an absolute whirlwind for us.  January was packed full with several groups of visitors, some training times with our tribal partners, as well as a trip to Thailand for Steve.  February has been even crazier as we have been on the road all month (and we are actually STILL on the road for a few more days!). 

Mikayla started out the month by camping for a week of "Outdoor Education" with the middle school at Faith Academy.  They visited Bataan and Corregidor and learned about World War II.  Then we met her in Manila and headed north for a short family vacation in the city of Baguio in the mountains.  Baguio is known for its cold weather, pine trees, horses and strawberries. 

We had a great couple days reconnecting as a family - and enjoying the chilly weather. :)

 The kids had a blast on the horse ride through the forest.  It actually ended up being more of an adventure than we were banking on.  Assuming that it would be a slow trail ride where the handlers held the bridle the whole way, he talked to the handlers to let them know that we knew how to ride.  I think he may have oversold our ability because we took off at an unexpected gallop several times through the rough terrain.  Thankfully, we all stayed in the saddle, and we came out of it with a fun memory so all's well that ends well. :) 

 The pine forest was absolutely beautiful and just so different from the tropical jungle we are used to.

 We were so thankful for this special time as a family to reconnect after the time apart.

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!