The Kids Step Up

At the end of December, our family traveled down to Bicol to celebrate New Years with our tribal partners. Since Typhoon Nina had just gone through, we had no idea what we might find down there.  Some friends of ours from Faith Academy joined us for the adventure.

As we got closer to where the eye of the storm had passed (directly over our partners' homes and the training center!), the devastation to homes and property was crazy.  Hundreds of electric poles were down and massive trees uprooted everywhere. It took us almost 16 hours to arrive at our first destination in Bicol!

We were so thankful that our tribal partners were all safe after the storm.  The guys enjoyed a quick game of basketball - in the mud - right after we arrived.

 On New Years' Eve, we hosted a big party for our partners.  Someone had unexpectedly donated some money towards the party, so the we were able to buy extra gifts and have extra special party food.

 It has become a bit of a tradition for us to have a game of "Dirty Santa" where we bring all the gifts for everyone.  This year, we were able to do 5 gifts each, and there was a lot of good stuff in there...as well as some used clothes/shoes and even some prank gifts like rocks and a live toad!

 Everyone had a blast with the game and the gifts! Was so fun to see their big smiles and hear the laughter.  The typhoon knocked out the electricity (could be off for 6 months!), so we had he party by flashlight, but they were still thrilled.

 These are 2 classmates of Mikayla who came down with their parents.  We had fun getting to know them better, and it looks like the dad of the family will be able to help us with some strategy things pertaining to livelihood. Such a blessing!

 Remember I said we had some extra special food?  Well, this is how they chose to spend the party food budget.  A meal of sweet spaghetti and macaroni (with mayonnaise and fruit cocktail) eaten at midnight.

 The storm knocked down all the banana trees, so we had lots of bananas while we were there.  This is a yummy snack called sinapot (bananas dipped in batter then deep fried).

 We had a lot of meetings in the couple days we were there.  The teams were planning out the strategy for 2017.

 For part of the time that the adults were meeting, the "kids" did the food prep.  Has been amazing to watch these kids grow up to young men and women who are both capable and eager to serve.

 So Ben felt led by God to give some money from what he earned over the summer working for grandparents. He decided to buy some Christmas gifts for the kids of one of the Agta church leaders.  

 It is so cool to watch God work in the hearts of our kids!

(Note the long scratch up Ben's shin. Lots of downed barbed wire from the typhoon, and that one's gonna leave a scar.)

 We hiked up to the Agta church leader's home to deliver Ben's presents.

 Thankfully the main part of their house was standing, but their kitchen and one of the other little houses up there were wiped out by the storm.

 The kids were so thankful for the presents.

 Someone donated a bunch of shoes for the tribal people down there, so one morning we set out to deliver them. 

 The adults were still in meetings with Steve, so all the tribal MKs (and the expat MKs too!) piled in the back of the pickup to go with us to deliver the shoes.

 It was so cool to see these guys serve in this way.

 One of our partner's homes was knocked down by the storm.  Thankfully they had taken shelter in the hut right next to this one.  That one swayed back and forth but managed to stay upright.  They were huddled under the table, praying through the storm. A terrifying night for them, but we are so thankful everyone was ok.

 We hiked through the mountains to deliver the shoes.

 We saw a lot of devastation from the storm.  This house caught my attention, not just because of the massive tree that fell on it, but also because of the little girl peeking out the window.

We also saw some adorable kids like this little guy.

 We were so blessed to be able to deliver the shoes to the people and be a little bit of an encouragement after they had been through so much. And it was wonderful to watch the kids serve God together with our tribal partners' kids in this way.

Our Team is Growing!

Our partners, Joseph and Lorraine, have found an effective way to expand our team.  We all enjoyed meeting the newest addition to our team, Lizzie.

(Yes, even Zach enjoyed meeting her, even if he was too cool to show it. :) )

Merry Christmas! And a Super Typhoon...

 We got back from the mountains just in time for a quiet family Christmas at home.

 Mikayla's favorite present was a camping hammock all her own, Zach's was a new amp for his electric guitar (I love his smile below - he was really surprised!), and Ben's was the fact that he gets to open his own FB account now. :)

 On Christmas day, Super Typhoon Nina made landfall in Bicol where our Agta friends and Bugkalot partners live.  Two days later, and we still haven't heard from them (though we are assuming it is because cell towers are damaged and/or circuits are busy - we can't get through). We have someone traveling there today to check on them and send word.  The typhoon went directly over them, and it was a strong one.   

 The pic above is of the wakeboarding park where we have spent so much time as a family. We've stayed in those cabins - now leveled - many times. Crazy devastation.  We think they will have fared better at the training center because it is more protected by mountains, but please pray with us for them! Our family will leave on Friday to travel down to Bicol.  Prayers appreciated as well for us as we are not sure what we will find there.

Annual Christmas Adventure

We just returned from our annual trek into the mountains with the Maxwell family.  This was our 3rd year of doing this with them, and we once again had a blast.

We spent some time visiting in the village with the people.

 We also had a "work day" at our tribe house.  Mikayla and Z worked together to make this window a little more usable.  

 The other kids worked to haul gravel and spread it on the mud steps going up to the house - SO much nicer now!

 It is great to work alongside another family who values the act of working hard together.

 It wasn't ALL work though! We also had our annual Christmas hot dog roast down at the river.

 Ben and Chloe found this contraption (usually used for cooking rice over the fire), and Ben used it to roast his hot dog by skewering it on the hook.

 We also went on another Christmas hike.  We had to drive about an hour first - on some exciting mountain roads.

 And they're off!

 We are all used to hiking through the jungle, but this trail was pretty scary. I didn't take the camera out at the treacherous places, so you'll have to take my word for it, but it was one of those trails carved into the side of the mountain.  I call it a "fall away" trail because half your steps feel like the trail is going to give way and send you sliding down the mountain.  Not to mention it was so narrow that one little misstep could send you tumbling waaaay down the mountain. NOT my favorite.

 Once we crossed this river, we started up an even scarier trail...and then we called it.  Decided if it rained while we were up there, we would be really stuck, and we had no desire to sleep on the jungle floor. Or slide off the mountain for that matter.

So we decided to have our picnic at the river instead of continuing on up to the waterfall. It was a GORGEOUS spot, so not a huge sacrifice.

When we waded out to get this picture, Mikayla spotted a snake swimming along the edge, and it chose that moment to cross over to the other side! Lots of clamoring up out of the river suddenly ensued; swimming with snakes is not our idea of fun either. 

 Turns out it was a poisonous snake, so the guys worked together to kill it...then they lost it.  But we think it was dead.

So we went swimming. :) 

 It was once again quite the adventure, and we thoroughly enjoyed the amazing views in His creation.

I took this pic at the end of the hike. 

The kids also did their annual Charlie Brown Christmas Tree.  This time it was complete with an "unveiling" program. Love their creativity and the way they have fun together!

Playing in the river is always a highlight of our time in the mountains.  We actually saw ANOTHER snake in the water on this day!  All told, we saw like 6 snakes while we were up there this time!

 A couple of the crazier ones actually jumped off this bridge this time too.  That's Ben you can see in this pic.

 The kids also slept in hammocks again.  It wasn't as cold this time as it has been some years, but it still gets pretty chilly up in the mountains this time of year.

So thankful for another year of memories with the Maxwells in the mountains at Christmas.  We will miss them next year when they are on furlough!  And then Z graduates this year, and Mikayla next year... Not sure if/when we will get to do this again, but we've made a lot of memories to cherish!