Bayawak Baby

A couple weeks ago, a bayawak (monitor lizard) got into a friend's bathroom. Her husband was out for the day, so Ben volunteered to come to their rescue. 

When he saw it, he said it was just a baby and how cute it was - slightly different reaction from others'. :) He then caught it in a towel and, while walking through the house to release it outside, he asked where to release it. My friend said "just anywhere" so he pretended to bend over to release it in the living room. He got the reaction he was hoping for with that move. :)

Ben started his senior year...online again. Pls pray with us that he gets to have some face to face classes during his senior year!

Gotta love the gorgeous sunsets here!

Graduate!

So crazy proud of Mikayla! Graduated summa cum laude (highest one if u get lost in the laudes) after completing a 4 yr degree in only 3 years while holding down multiple jobs to remain debt free and winning special honors in her department. We were disappointed to not be able to attend her graduation in person because of travel restrictions, but we were so thankful that we got to watch it online (in the middle of the night!) and that may parents and Zach were able to attend and celebrate with her. God has used her mightily on campus, impacting lives as she served as RA then Assistant Resident Director. I know He will continue to use her as she works full time in her field, using adventure therapy to help troubled youth work through difficulties...and who knows where in the world He will lead her on adventures in the future!

The Work Continues

The last couple weeks, I have had many FB memories popping up about summer teams we've had here working with us to reach the tribals. It's sad that we can't have one this summer because of travel restrictions, but as I look through the pictures from our tribal partners, it is so incredibly exciting to see the work continuing. It feels like every other week, there is another post about new baptisms and new Bible studies starting. They have seen more baptisms in the past few months than in the last 8 years combined! While covid restrictions have been so incredibly difficult, it is such an encouragement to see God at work and people so eager to hear the good news.

A couple weeks ago, we faced the sudden death (heart attack) of one of our closest tribal friends and partners in the work. It was incredibly difficult and still impossible to understand from an earthly perspective. However, we trust that God is sovereign and will continue His work. Please pray for his wife and two daughters as well as our partners in Bugkalot coffee as they scramble to fill the massive hole that is left behind. 

BEACH!!!

We were FINALLY able to get away to one of our beautiful Philippine beaches. We had planned to go to the beach in March 2020, just days after the country was locked down, and we've been trying to make it there since. We traveled with 3 other families. We all had to be tested, and it took a ton of paperwork and forms and stress, but we were so incredibly thankful to make it to the beach. And because everyone had tested etc, we didn't have to wear masks and shields on the beach, so it was WONDERFUL. Such a refreshing time and one we definitely didn't take for granted!

Language Coaching

This year, I (Jen) was asked to become the language and culture coach for several new families who are arriving in the Philippines. It's been a ton of work developing a language curriculum and establishing the program, but it has been super rewarding to see new families start to arrive. We have had 3 new families arrives so far and completed orientations with them, helped them get set up in their new homes, and they are off and running on language study. One more new family will *prayerfully* join them in a couple weeks! Please pray with us for these 4 new families as they work hard to learn the language so that they can be equipped to minister in the locations where they will serve here in the Philippines. Pray to for extra strength for me and for wisdom to know when to push them harder and when to give them grace during the inevitable challenges that happen during language study.

One of the fun things we got to do with one of the new families is we got to bring their 4 kids to family camp while their parents continued language study. Ben was the one in charge of the team that led the youth program, and he did a great job! Everyone was teasing us that it looked like we forgot to save our progress on our game and hit "restart" by accident so we were back to having little ones to chase after. :)

Biking & Bday

Ok, so maybe not exactly "biking" but that sounded better than motocross & bday.... 
Ben had the opportunity to go ride dirt bike on the track he learned on last year and had a blast with it. 

Steve and I also both celebrated our birthdays the end of May & beginning of June. Mikayla treated us to dinner out...it was wonderful! Thankfully our birthdays hit at a time when dining in restaurants was allowed. :)

Relief Work Continues

Steve has been able to make a couple trips down to Bicol to continue the relief projects that were started after the big typhoon in November. He has tested before he goes, and he has been careful while he's down there since we don't want to be the ones who bring it there. However, with virtually no cases down there, protocols look just a little different, and we don't want to get anyone in trouble, so I tried to choose pics that aren't likely to cause any issues. Hopefully. :)

Those of you who haven't seen the training center in a while (myself included!) may be surprised by what the property looks like now after all the rebuilding after the typhoon.

In addition to the house post relief project (scroll down through my posts at the end of 2020 to see pics of that), we are also doing some community shelters to protect villagers from typhoons. On Steve's last trip, they put in stakes to measure the area and broke ground for the first one.

Thankful that we are able to continue ministering in spite of the lockdowns. Please continue to pray for wisdom and safety for us as we try to juggle everything. Steve is planning to head down to Bicol again later this week (provided he has another negative test). Once there, he will check in on the relief projects...and maybe enjoy a few more spectacular views like this when camping at the project site.