Fun at the Lake

We have been thoroughly enjoying reconnecting with our family here at the beautiful Lake of the Ozarks.

 The kids had so much fun taking out these little sailboats with their cousins.

 Grandpa Hagen has made this cool contraption - a pontoon sailboat made out of 2 canoes.  And of course you need a platform mounted on it so that you can fish with a crossbow.  Needless to say, the kids are having a ball with all these new adventures. :)

 The best part though has been just being with family.

Back in the US of A!

The kids and I (Jen) arrived back in the States almost 3 weeks ago to begin our short stateside assignment; Steve just landed in Chicago a couple hours ago, and we will pick him up at the airport here in Missouri tonight.  Steve stayed behind in order to do some strategic ministry travel, both up north with the Bugkalot sending churches as well as final training and on-site visits with our Bugkalot tribal partners.  Everything has gone very well, and it has been an incredibly profitable time; but we are definitely all ready to be together as a family again!

Even though we have missed Steve, the kids and I have been having a wonderful time re-connecting with family and friends back on this side of the world.  We are staying with my parents, and my sister and her family are currently staying with them too (they are having visa issues in their country in SE Asia so are back for a couple months in the States), so we have a FULL house!

With 6 grandkids under the same roof, my parents' rug seems very appropriate. :) 

Lots of sweet snuggle time with Papa

 Opening presents for Papa's birthday

 Reading books with the littlest cousin in the house 

We also had a very special visitor.  Ben's speech therapist came to visit us to do a required evaluation in order for us to get medical clearance.  Jennifer is an amazing woman, one whom God used mightily in our first term to keep us on the field.  We were at the point that we were going to have to return to the US to address Ben's speech disorder, but then Jennifer heard about our situation and volunteered to come and help.  Despite MANY barriers to her coming (4 young kids, husband with bad back, etc), her husband allowed her to come for 3 weeks; and others helped make it possible too - someone from our church in Missouri paid for her ticket, and her church in Alabama rallied around her family to make it possible for her to come.  She diagnosed Ben in our home, developed a speech therapy program AND trained me how to implement it.  I then sent her monthly reports for the next year, and she offered guidance and direction from afar.  God used her in a mighty way to keep us on the field at a critical juncture, and now He has used her once again; she flew up to Missouri to help us out once again.  And gave us wonderful news - Ben is doing GREAT with his speech, and we are cleared to return to the field!  SO VERY THANKFUL for this amazing woman! 

 

We have also been able to do some fun activities together with the cousins.  One day, we went and visited Papa's friend at the fire station, and we got a great tour of the station, trucks, and equipment.  The kids were enthralled and learned so much.

 Love the look on Ben's face in this one!

 A friend invited us to go ice skating with them in a nearby town, and we had a blast there too.

Silly faces! 

 We also got an educational tour of the factory that our friend runs.

And of course we have had a few stops for ice cream. :)

  So very thankful for this opportunity to be with family.  Excited for Steve to get here and join us!

Village Visit

Yesterday we spent the day visiting our Bugkalot partners in the village where they live. Some of the roads getting there are pretty narrow.  I (Jen) actually ended up driving in and out of here a couple times yesterday (long story), and I was so thankful that we didn't meet any oncoming vehicles and  didn't have to back up long stretches (as Steve has had to before).

 You actually drive to the end of the road, park and then cross a long hanging bridge (didn't take a pic this time since I have previously posted pics of that bridge - here for example) to continue walking the rest of the way. 

 This little house is where some of our tribal partners live.

 Warm smiles always greets us when we arrive.

 Mikayla right away got to work with the girls, plucking leaves off malunggay branches to add to our lunch - one of our favorites! 

Ben helped pump some water from the well.

 We spent most of the day just visiting.  Some strategic discussions, and a lot of just laughing together.

(Notice the Bible verses they have taped to their walls - love it.  Also, you see that colorful valance/decorative curtain over their door?  Made entirely out of used candy wrappers - click on the picture, and you should be able to see a bigger copy.  Ingenious.)

 The kids didn't work the whole day - they had lots of time for hanging out and visiting too.

 Our Bugkalot partners' kids have become our kids' best friends here, and they have a lot of fun together.

 Everyone got a kick out of the fact that Zach is now taller than our 77 year old partner.

 And a few group pics of the kids with their friends.  We are sure going to miss them while we are in the States this fall!

So very thankful for these wonderful partners in the ministry!

Stalker Monkey

Most of the team had to leave (see post below), but Toby was able to stay an extra day so he joined us for an adventure.  We decided to hike to a waterfall that we haven't been to in quite a while; it is located on the volcano about half an hour from our house.  We drove to the end of the road, then hiked about half an hour, then "bouldered" another 45 minutes or so to make it up to the waterfall.  while hiking through the jungle, there were huge fever ants to contend with; once we made it to the water, there were tons of leeches, so we couldn't win. :)  All part of the adventure though.

It was absolutely GORGEOUS, but those green rocks were very slippery; and some of the areas were pretty challenging, requiring some significant teamwork to get all of us through.

 We made it!  Nothing like a picnic lunch at the foot of a waterfall to celebrate.

 The view was definitely worth the effort.

 As we were getting ready to leave, this guy showed up.  He didn't seem very scared of us, which had us a little concerned.  Monkeys can be pretty vicious.  The guys gathered some "monkey whacker" sticks to bring with us just in case.  We had to walk under "his" tree in order to leave, but he let us pass by without incident so we thought it was all good.  But then he started to follow us down the trail.  He would even lunge and bare his teeth at us. 

 The guys stayed at the back of the group with their sticks and had to keep encouraging our stalker to keep his distance.  A couple times he left the trail briefly, and we thought he was going to circle around to the front of our group (a thought that wasn't too appealing to those of us at the front who DIDN'T have monkey-whacker sticks).  He looks so mild-mannered and innocent in this picture...don't let him fool you!

Meanwhile, we took a different trail out of there, and some of the stretches on this trail were BAD NEWS for even good hikers. Let's just say I was wishing we had brought climbing ropes so that we could tether in for safety.  And we were trying to do these treacherous sections with a monkey stalker threatening to attack any moment so at least one of the guys had to stay back there to keep him in check.  Then Mikayla got bit - twice - by those nasty fever ants...it was quite the adventure by the time it was all said and done.  We arrived safely back at the car and used the stun gun to shock Mikayla's ant bites to neutralize some of the poison (their poison is so strong it can actually make you sick - which is why they are called fever ants).

Adventures like that are why I prefer to sit in Starbucks on our day off rather than hiking to the waterfall (Steve & and I often have this discussion when deciding what to do on our day off ).  Granted, sitting in Starbucks definitely doesn't make as good of a story as stalker monkeys, fever ants, and crazy cliffs!

Heart Worship

The first language you learned is called your heart language, or sometimes "mother tongue" because it is the one you learned from your mother.  It the language that was used in your home as a child, and it is the language that connects the best with your heart. It is the language you use when discussing deep, emotional issues; and it is the language that is most effectively used to communicate spiritual things.  Since it is the language that connects with your heart, you will feel the most connected to God when you worship Him in your heart language; this is called heart worship.

We had a team come this past week that was a huge answer to prayer.  They taught a seminar for our Bugkalot partners and Agta believers about how to write worship songs in your heart language.  The team leader was actually a friend of my sister's from high school.  

 There were 3 couples on the team - Toby and his wife plus these 2 great couples.  They even brought a few donated guitars to use in the ministry here!

 Headed out to the village

 I love seeing pics that others take when they visit the village; I feel like I get to see things through their eyes and notice the things they notice, things that are common-place to me now

A typhoon off the coast was causing occasional rain showers, so we brought a tarp to hang to create a meeting hall

 Steve introduced the group and got things started

 Each couple on the team was able to contribute different things to the seminar

 Everyone took turns keeping the babies occupied too

 This is Ginny, Toby's wife.  Not many pics of her since she was also the photographer.

 After spending some time on song-writing principles, they broke into groups to write some songs.  Since we are working in FOUR heart languages, we need worship songs in FOUR different languages!

 Break for lunch

 More song-writing time after lunch

 So exciting!  By the end of the day, we had a new worship song written in each of the languages!

 Each group presented the song that they wrote. Since they got some hands-on experience at actually writing a new song, hopefully they have the abilities AND the confidence now to keep writing new worship songs in the heart languages of the Agta! 

So very thankful for this team that was willing to make sacrifices to come and partner with us in this strategic way.  God used them mightily in the church plant amongst the Agta tribe!