Graduation, Training & Typhoon!

In September, our team traveled down to Bicol to attend the 1st full graduation for the Tribal Bible College (they have a graduation after the completion of every semester, but this was the first time we had graduates who have completed the entire program - all 7 semesters! We had 3 graduates, as well as 6 others who completed this particular semester (they can be completed in any order). 

While down there, we had another training with all our tribal partners. Steve wasn't feeling well one of the days, so our teammates picked up the slack and helped our partners learn about some of the new programs we'll be using for more structured ministry reporting. Meanwhile, some of the ladies watched the MKs while the parents were in session. So thankful for our team!

Last week, a typhoon came through that dropped SO MUCH WATER - it was the worst flooding in the Bicol area in more than 30 years! There were casualties & damage all over the province, and our tribal areas were impacted as well. We were able to get some relief funds from SEND relief (thank you, Southern Baptists!) for our tribal team to do food packets for those who were hungry from not being able to work & having their homes flooded out. They were able to get to 700 families with packets that included rice, noodles, meat, salt & soap. The roads from Manila were not passable, so the fact that we had a team in place in Bicol who could bring relief to affected areas was huge. They of course also shared the Gospel as they gave out the relief; pray with us that many would be interested in studying the Bible more & many more outreaches started as a result of this relief effort.
There are SO MANY pics, but here are just a few:

Sadly, some died in our outreach areas too - notice the coffin in the pic below.

The team did a great job working together on the shopping & packing relief packets - we're so thankful for our teammates! They even pulled in believers from a few of the outreaches to help.

France!

Before 2024, we had never been to Europe, and this year we had meetings TWICE that took us there! This time, we were blessed to be a part of meetings with globalization, networking about how the nations can partner together more effectively to reach the unreached - not just Americans being sent out, but how we can work with other nations to partner together to accomplish the Great Commission. The time together was such a blessing (though Steve got sick, so I had to carry most of the load for this one). I can't share pics from those meetings due to security concerns, but we stayed at an old abbey, and I can share this great rainbow pic from our time there. 

After the meetings, Steve & I tacked on a couple of days to explore France. We stayed in a lovely little airbnb & had a nice time exploring. We saw lots of different castles (Mount St. Michael was our favorite!) and enjoyed the little taste of fall foliage (don't get that in the Philippines). Of course had to get that obligatory Eiffel Tower pic, and we drove the circle around the Arc de Triumph (sites said it is the craziest in the world, but those travelers obviously haven't been to Asia - we can know several that beat it hands down). 

So incredibly thankful for the many opportunities to be involved in His work!

Special Visitors

On one of our recent trips, we were blessed to have some of our head leaders from our organization join us for a day in our tribal area in Bicol. They live in the USA, so they traveled a loooong way for this visit!

They got to see the BOOST livelihood training center...

...as well as the Tribal Bible College.

We enjoyed lunch with our partners in the work, and they shared a word of encouragement from His word (Steve translated), and it was such a blessing.

We are so thankful for leaders who love to take the time to visit the hard places and see what God is doing all over the world.

We also had fun bringing them to see a couple little villages & get to know some of the folks in our outreach areas.

After that one day in the tribal villages, we jumped on a plane to fly to a different island to attend some convention meetings. Both our guests & Steve had speaking opportunities at the meetings. We are thankful for the many different ways that we are able to be involved in what He is doing, all for HIS glory. 

Here, There & Everywhere

Actually, most of the last couple of months have not included much "here" time at all - pretty much we've been "there" and "everywhere". :)
In partnership with a Filipino Christian counseling group, Steve traveled to one of the Bugkalot areas to host a training for pastors & wives in how to do member care for those in their churches. It was well-attended, and we are praying that God will use it in big ways.

We also traveled as a couple to the mountain city of Baguio to help with a pre-field training for people from the nations (from Taiwan & India in this case) who are going to the nations to share His message there. Steve taught a couple of days on discipleship, and I taught on the importance of culture & language study for effective cross-cultural ministry. We can't show you pics of the participants due to security concerns where they will be serving, but the picture below is from the practicum time when they learned the words for several different objects (flower, stick, stone, etc), using the language-learning technique we studied.

Steve also got to meet with the seminary president while we were there.

We also traveled to the island of Mindanao for a 2-fold trip. First, we helped to coordinate & teach a "goers conference" for those who feel God is calling them to GO to the nations - kind of a next steps training and talking about what life on the field is like. 

Please pray with us for the 16 "goers" who are praying through what God has for them in the future and learning to step out in faith (picture includes others who helped host the conference). 

From there, we traveled to another area of the island to Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center and met up with some of our Global Empowerment teammates there for some meetings and trainings about coffee plantations & other agricultural techniques and breakthroughs that have been proven helpful on the livelihood side of the work. 

We are so thankful for the many opportunities to be involved in what HE is doing, but we are feeling the wear & tear from so many miles in a short amount of time (you'll see the next posts I share also talk about other travels during this busy time). We appreciate your prayers for strength & perseverance.

No Longer a UUPG!

Some of you are familiar with the term "UPG", which means unreached people group. Well, there is also UUPG, which means they're not only unreached but also unengaged - no one has a plan/strategy for reaching them. Well, this summer the Manide tribe went from UUPG to UPG. The Manide are one of the tribes in Bicol, and our Bugkalot tribal partners were able to engage them. Two couples with their 4 kids have moved in amongst the Manide and are building some simple homes and starting into language study. One of the families had lived there previously (lost access during covid lockdowns), so they just need a refresher on language but now also have teammates to help them in the work. 

This is one of the couples with a couple Manide kids.

Last week, Steve & Claire (plus a visitor) traveled to Bicol to help these 2 couples, as well as 3 other couples who have decided to formalize our partnership and join what's called the GMP program with our org. This program gives them access to resources, including laptops & phones to use in their ministry. The team worked to get these partners onboarding, which meant creating email addresses for them, itunes accounts, dual factor authentication, tech training as well as other onboarding training - quite the job!

Thankful for the part we get to play in shining His light into the darkness in these villages so these precious children have a chance to hear the Truth.

Thank YOU for partnering with us in this! We couldn't be here without you!