Through Their Eyes

In July and August, we had a couple teams of visitors who walked with us through Agta villages.  These times are always such an encouragement to us as we have the privilege of giving them a glimpse of what God is doing amongst the Agta; and, after 9 years here in the Philippines, it is refreshing to see these people and places through our visitors' eyes.  It also gives me an excuse to carry my camera and capture some of images to share with you all. :)

 The picture below shows one of the forms of livelihood for the Agta.  They build a fire underneath a shelf, then put split coconut shells on the shelf to dry them out.  They can then sell this smoke-dried coconut, which is used in pig feeds and to make oil.

 The above picture is the outside of the structure, the one below is the inside.  This young mom lives here with her 4 kids and husband.  The raised living/sleeping area for the whole family is smaller than a queen size bed, there there is an additional sheltered area with a dirt floor for cooking.  Kind of puts our daily stresses in perspective.

Thank you for your continued prayers and words of encouragement.  A special thank you to those of you who made huge sacrifices to come and visit these places with us; you were such a blessing to us AND to the tribal people here that we love.

Vision Trip

Last week, we had two men from a church in California visit us here in the Philippines.  Their church is interested in partnering with us and the Bugkalot tribal church to reach the Agta tribe.  They came on a vision trip so that they could check out the area and see how they could most strategically fit in to what God is doing here.  We so appreciated their hearts in wanting to see what God is already doing and how they can best be used by Him, rather than coming in with their own plan/agenda.

 Steve & I both traveled to Bicol with them to visit a bunch of different areas so that they could get a good feel for the area and people.

 We traveled in lots of different forms of transportation in the couple days we were together - airplane, hired van, jeepney, trike, boat, taxi, and quite a bit by foot.

 We spent time with each of our tribal partners in the villages where they are ministering.  The guys asked great questions and also took time to pray for and encourage these precious men and women who are making so many sacrifices to make His name known in this place.

 They also got to meet several Agta believers and church leaders.

 While on this trip, we got some bad news.  You have seen pictures of this building before on this blog (these two were taken in July); this is where one of the Agta churches meets for worship.  It is actually a large porch built onto the house of one of the leaders (the porch is by far bigger than the living area).

 But the recent typhoon knocked the entire structure down!  Both the house and the porch/church are gone (the tarp-covered hut is just a temporary shelter erected after the storm).

 While we were saddened to see that the church is gone (the people are currently meeting outside, which is only a fair-weather solution), we were relieved to hear that everyone had survived the storm.  When we asked about how they survived, they led us to a pit where they had taken refuge.  The pit is only a couple feet deep, and you can see it is not very big, but 24 people took refuge in there for 6 hours!  So thankful that everyone is ok, but please be in prayer for the people in this village (and others like it) as their crops took a terrible hit, and they have a very difficult year ahead.

 We got to visit several different Agta villages, and the guys got to know our Bugkalot partners quite well.  

 It was such a blessing to me personally to watch the Bugkalot interact with the Agta.  It is amazing to watch how well they connect; God is using them mightily here!

 After visiting several different Agta areas, we gathered with our Bugkalot partners, and the guys took some time to ask them some questions.  While we started working with the Agta a couple years before the Bugkalot came on the scene, the Bugkalot are most certainly the experts here, not us.  They live on-site in Agta villages, and, because of their shared tribal status, they understand each other in ways that we would never be able to.  So we encouraged the guys to listen to the Bugkalot and seek their advice for how they can most strategically fit in to what God is doing here.

 To finish off the day, we visited the training center that the volunteer team helped to build in July (scroll through older posts to read more about that).

 We were all encouraged as we concluded our time together in worship.  The Bugkalot shared some worship songs in their heart language as well as some that they have written/translated into the Agta languages.  

We are so thankful that God is raising up more people to partner in the work here, and we can't wait to see what HE has planned for the future as we follow Him step by step.

Bugkalot Cultural Presentation

The Bugkalot tribe used to be fierce head-hunters.  In Bugkalot culture, the pinnacle of achievement was to take a human head; it was what young boys dreamed about, and they spent years preparing for this rite of passage.  A young man could not get married or hold a leadership position in the village until he had taken a head.  They had no regard for human life, and would kill man, woman or child to satisfy the demands of their culture. But God is not willing that ANY should perish – EVEN the Bugkalot head-hunters!  In a phenomenal story of God’s faithfulness and protection, modern-day apostles risked their lives to bring the Gospel to the Bugkalot people in the 1950’s, and the Bugkalot church was established. 

*****

In the last couple years, we have had the immense privilege of partnering with Bugkalot church to send out some of their very own to reach the Agta tribal people in another area of the Philippines.  The Bugkalot used to be a weapon of the Enemy, bringing death and destruction wherever they went.  But now God is using them mightily to bring His message of salvation to those who have never heard.

*****

When we visited the Bugkalot territory last month with a group of volunteers (see that post here), the Bugkalot performed a cultural presentation for us.  Here are a few pics from that presentation.

We have been so blessed to partner with the Bugkalot tribe to reach the Agta tribe.  Tribals reaching tribals - God is using them mightily, and it has been such a privilege to walk beside them on this journey!

Our Team

Mikayla, Zach & Ben have successfully completed their first week of school at Faith Academy.  So far they are doing great with the transition (thanks for praying!).  They are in grades 9, 7 & 5 this year.  Mikayla made the varsity soccer team (a big deal for a freshman; we are really proud of her hard work!), and Zach and Ben are looking forward to participating in soccer and swim clubs.

 Recently I was asked to write an article and record an interview about how we involve our kids in ministry.  Our kids are key members of our ministry team, and God uses them mightily in many ways.  They realize what an amazing privilege it is to have the opportunity to be used by God to make His name known amongst the tribal people of the Philippines, and they usually make the most of that opportunity. :) While I already put up a post about the volunteer team that came to help us build a training center in July (click here), I thought I would post a few more pics of the kids' involvement with that team.

We spent 2 weeks traveling around the Philippines with this great group.  We experienced many different kinds of transportation, including the 3 pictured below - jeepney, overnight bus, & boat - as well as several not pictured here - 4-wheel drive, tricycle, & airplane.

 

 We visited 2 different tribal groups with the team, and we got to worship God together with both groups.  The pic below shows one of the most confusing translation sessions I have ever seen.  The man on the left is sharing a testimony in a tribal language.  Steve understands that language fairly well, but not as well as Tagalog.  So Jun (our partner in the middle) translated to Tagalog, then Steve translated to English for the team.  Then when my dad shared a testimony in another tribal language, Jun translated to the other tribal language while I translated to English.  It was mentally exhausting but such a blessing to be a part of that precious time of worship! 

(And I love Ben's expression here. :) )

 Giving the all-important coconut tree climbing lesson to the visitors.

 One of the main reasons the team came was to help us build a training center for our Bugkalot tribal partners.  The purpose is for them to have a place where they can gather to be trained to be more effective in reaching the Agta tribal people.  We were so blessed to have this team from the States to help with this project, but this mama's heart was also blessed to see our crew jump right in to help too.

 

 We worked long, hard days, and these kiddos worked their tushes off right alongside everyone else.  I was so proud of them!

 Here Ben is taking a little reading break before getting back at it.

 The guys carried these bags of rocks on their shoulders, but they were too heavy for Zach to hoist up there.  That didn't stop him though!

 We had one lady on the team, and she helped keep everyone fed and hydrated.  When Mikayla wasn't out there working construction, she was helping Mrs. Janice with food prep.

 A picture simply can't do the level of filthiness justice, but we definitely looked like we had worked hard in the dirt and grime by the end of the day!

 Ben's shoe had a fatal blow out from working so hard.  Or maybe because they were cheap shoes that he has abused for almost 2 years now...

 Just so you know, I wasn't just playing photographer the whole time, and I have proof; I broke both these hammers!  Mikayla and I spent a lot of time pulling nails from lumber and bamboo, and apparently I have enough strength but needed some work on my technique. :)

 This was the great team who came together to build this training center for HIS glory.  And those 3 kiddos in there are key members of that team!

 Lastly, here is a pic of our ministry team (minus my mom who wasn't able to come on this last trip).  My parents and Joseph & Lorraine are focused on the "livelihood" side of the project (establishing economy so that the Bugkalot churches can fully support the ones they send out).  Our family - all 5 of us - are focused on the "life" side of the project (helping the Bugkalot churches to effectively train the ones they send out).

Anyone who has worked with us knows that our kids are key members of our team, and we praise God for the way He is using them to shine His light into the darkness.