Vietnam VBS

Our main reason for going to Vietnam was to help with a VBS. Before anyone panics, I have permission to publish this. We left Minh's house at 12:30 AM so we could meet our interpreter in Ho Chi Minh at 4:00 AM. Our final stopping point was a 9 hour van ride away. We checked into our hotel at about 4 PM. The next morning we went to the VBS site. It was held outside of a house church with about 100 kids in attendance. We created quite a stir when we arrived. We finally had to move the yard behind the kids so that they could pay attention! We had brought beads with us to make wordless bracelets. I got to share, through an interpreter, the gospel story as we put the bracelets together. The kids loved it. I don't think they get to do crafty things very often so it was a treat for them. I'm hoping they use the bracelet to tell their parents and friends the salvation story. After we finished with the bracelets, we had to leave. They were concerned that we would draw the attention of the police if we stayed too long.

The next day was Sunday. We were back at the VBS site early for Sunday church. We were early so we had time to interact with the kids. They were quite shy around us, most likely they aren't used to such pale skin. I guess we need more work on our tans! Digital cameras are such a blessing in these situations. It's a poor village and I don't think they've seen many cameras. After snapping their picture, I'd let them view it. It turned their faces into smiles and had them clamoring to be in the next picture.

After singing, or listening on our part, Skip shared the gospel through an interpreter. I got to help award prizes from VBS. After church we got the chance to speak to a few people. With the language barrier, it was difficult. No one could speak English. We left right away for lunch and then it was on the road again.

While there, the kids made a special new friend, Tien. She's 20 and could speak English. She was with us almost the whole time. Both Jackson and Maia loved her. We've since connected on Facebook to keep in touch. Skip and our interpreter also got to share the gospel with our hotel owner and family. Their daughter spoke a little bit of English and was enjoying practicing her English. The family thanked them for sharing.

We left at 11 AM and arrived back in Ho Chi Minh at 8 PM. Our interpreter wanted us to go to Sunday night services with him at his church. It had started at 7 PM but we went anyway. Unfortunately, the pulpit is right at the entrance door. No sneaking in late there! The pastor was expecting us so he stopped the beginning of his sermon for our introduction. We introduced ourselves and told them a little about what we were doing this summer.

It was late when we got to our hotel only to find out that our reserved rooms had given away. I guess they thought we weren't coming. They were very helpful, though, and went down the street to find us two other rooms for rent. At this point, a bed's a bed.

Vietnam with Minh

We just finished a whirlwind trip through Vietnam and Cambodia. Road trip is what comes to mind to describe it. Upon landing at 12:30 AM, we were met by Minh, her brother, and dad. (Minh is an Vietnamese student attending St. Francis University that we met through our niece.) What gracious hosts they were to be willing to pick us up at the airport at such an hour! It's a 2.5 hour drive to her house, which goes by quickly when you fall asleep. When we arrived, her mother was already up and cooking special dishes for us before she left for work at the hospital. We ate them for lunch and they were excellent. We had steamed rice with seafood, a seafood and egg dish, and snails. Surprisingly, I really liked the snails. We also got to enjoy some great fruit! We only had one day to visit so we crammed in as much as possible! We took a walking tour of the town, including an outdoor market, ordered iced coffee, toured the hospital were her parents work, had some more iced coffee (yum!) and got to go to her brother's birthday party. We enjoyed their favorite foods at the party: mice (ok, a little chewy), frogs (good, Skip loved), fish, and crane. We topped off our day with a trip to the night market, always a highlight for Skip & I. We love finding the deals! It was a quick trip so we only spent around 250,000. Ok, that was in Dong, which is much more impressive sounding than dollars. It was only about 13 dollars. We went back to her house to get a little rest before we left at 12:30 AM. Very short trip but worth it!

Malikongkong Revisited

As we arrived in the town center I couldn’t help but feel that I was cheating. Instead of the usual 2+ hour hike, a 45 minute motorcycle ride had me in Malikongkong fresh and dry. I was anxious to see the changes caused by the newly built road that provides easy access to the once remote village. After arriving and having a coffee to refresh ourselves, I set out to get the kids involved with the Matigsalug children. A few minutes of throwing the football broke the ice for Jackson and for the next 24 hours you could usually find Jackson, Mikol, Seth, and Randy running, throwing, laughing and just having a great time. Once Maia’s friends arrived from school, she was busy playing clapping games, dancing, playing with hair, and chasing and screaming with the other girls. Most of the day was consumed with teaching and playing new games with a host(and I mean large numbers) of Malikongkong kids.

After dinner at our hosts’, Pastor Jamie and Babet, house we had a fellowship on their lawn. The setting was perfect, a campfire, along with a hazy full moon illuminated the area, accompanied by faint flashes of lightning from a distant storm. The format was that typical of a Matigsalug gathering. The introductions caused a stir when I introduced myself as Kerry’s wife, then corrected it and introduced Kerry as my husband. We sang and the church youth performed a bunch of songs and dances depicting the history of their culture, the first missionary to visit them, and their acceptance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. First time visitor Ryan shared the Word on faith, then prayed for the villagers convicted by the message.

As I lay in my hammock that night, my mind ran over the changes in this community since my first visit 9 years before. The surroundings are different: metal GI sheets cover the roof, major CR(bathroom) improvements, upgrades in kitchen facilities, to name a few. Second change was the health of the people. 9 years ago skin and eye ailments were prevalent, hygiene was lacking, probably due to the lack of water in the area. Now, people seemed clean and healthy. Third, the friendliness and openness of the people, and the entire atmosphere of the village had changed. People now seemed to have a sense of purpose, a look of happiness, determination, as opposed to a look of defeat. Before where the children seemed lethargic and and shy, they now seem full of energy, excited to see and play with visitors. Lastly, the numbers of people attending the fellowship, and the excitement of the kids performing, spoke to the success of Pastor Jamie in discipling his flock.

One thing that did not change, unfortunately, was the rooster crowing at 3:45 to signal the day was soon to begin. After omelets for breakfast our team sat around the table and discussed the community and our spiritual visions for the future while the men and women of Malikongkong gathered. We met with these men and women so they could discuss agriculture and health with Ryan and his wife Kathryn. They are a fish agriculturist and Nurse Practitioner respectively. Understanding the lives of these people was very enlightening to all of us. After a visit to a farm to see the crops firsthand, we ate lunch and prayed with Pastor Jamie and Babet. The motorcycles arrived and our trip ended as it began, on the back of a bike.

Sitting in my room in the city this morning, I can’t help but picture Malikongkong in another 9 years. Progress has benefits, but also leads to new problems. Logically, a road accessible by motorcycle will lead to one useable by jeepney, to electricity, and an increase in outside influences. The priority Pastor Jamie places on culture and the “old ways” along with his spiritual guidance will become harder to maintain. A new level of materialism may develop, increased discontent with the knowledge of the way it is elsewhere. Recently “spirit houses” have appeared on all 4 sides of Malikongkong, signaling a new level of warfare in the spiritual realm. Some of the problems and battles of Malikongkong have been almost won, some are just beginning. A new level of prayer is needed.

Ephesians 6:12

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the powers, and principalities, and the rulers of this present darkness.

Malikongkong Revisited

As we arrived in the town center I couldn’t help but feel that I was cheating. Instead of the usual 2+ hour hike, a 45 minute motorcycle ride had me in Malikongkong fresh and dry. I was anxious to see the changes caused by the newly built road that provides easy access to the once remote village. After arriving and having a coffee to refresh ourselves, I set out to get the kids involved with the Matigsalug children. A few minutes of throwing the football broke the ice for Jackson and for the next 24 hours you could usually find Jackson, Mikol, Seth, and Randy running, throwing, laughing and just having a great time. Once Maia’s friends arrived from school, she was busy playing clapping games, dancing, playing with hair, and chasing and screaming with the other girls. Most of the day was consumed with teaching and playing new games with a host(and I mean large numbers) of Malikongkong kids.

After dinner at our hosts’, Pastor Jamie and Babet, house we had a fellowship on their lawn. The setting was perfect, a campfire, along with a hazy full moon illuminated the area, accompanied by faint flashes of lightning from a distant storm. The format was that typical of a Matigsalug gathering. The introductions caused a stir when I introduced myself as Kerry’s wife, then corrected it and introduced Kerry as my husband. We sang and the church youth performed a bunch of songs and dances depicting the history of their culture, the first missionary to visit them, and their acceptance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. First time visitor Ryan shared the Word on faith, then prayed for the villagers convicted by the message.

As I lay in my hammock that night, my mind ran over the changes in this community since my first visit 9 years before. The surroundings are different: metal GI sheets cover the roof, major CR(bathroom) improvements, upgrades in kitchen facilities, to name a few. Second change was the health of the people. 9 years ago skin and eye ailments were prevalent, hygiene was lacking, probably due to the lack of water in the area. Now, people seemed clean and healthy. Third, the friendliness and openness of the people, and the entire atmosphere of the village had changed. People now seemed to have a sense of purpose, a look of happiness, determination, as opposed to a look of defeat. Before where the children seemed lethargic and and shy, they now seem full of energy, excited to see and play with visitors. Lastly, the numbers of people attending the fellowship, and the excitement of the kids performing, spoke to the success of Pastor Jamie in discipling his flock.

One thing that did not change, unfortunately, was the rooster crowing at 3:45 to signal the day was soon to begin. After omelets for breakfast our team sat around the table and discussed the community and our spiritual visions for the future while the men and women of Malikongkong gathered. We met with these men and women so they could discuss agriculture and health with Ryan and his wife Kathryn. They are a fish agriculturist and Nurse Practitioner respectively. Understanding the lives of these people was very enlightening to all of us. After a visit to a farm to see the crops firsthand, we ate lunch and prayed with Pastor Jamie and Babet. The motorcycles arrived and our trip ended as it began, on the back of a bike.

Sitting in my room in the city this morning, I can’t help but picture Malikongkong in another 9 years. Progress has benefits, but also leads to new problems. Logically, a road accessible by motorcycle will lead to one useable by jeepney, to electricity, and an increase in outside influences. The priority Pastor Jamie places on culture and the “old ways” along with his spiritual guidance will become harder to maintain. A new level of materialism may develop, increased discontent with the knowledge of the way it is elsewhere. Recently “spirit houses” have appeared on all 4 sides of Malikongkong, signaling a new level of warfare in the spiritual realm. Some of the problems and battles of Malikongkong have been almost won, some are just beginning. A new level of prayer is needed.

Ephesians 6:12

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the powers, and principalities, and the rulers of this present darkness.

keys

My most recent assignment at TMFI was a simple one, or so you would think. Make some keyholders(keychains inAmerican) for the 13 rooms in the training center. The rooms are all named after Tribes around the world, Maori, Inuits, Lakota, etc to name a few. The keyholders were to be made from wood, and I thought that to make them Tribal looking I would burn the names in with hot metal. So I started on the project which, in true Filipino fashion, turned out to be quite the job. Without hand tools I cut some 1x1 wood to length, then cut it in half lengthwise. This was followed by sanding, sanding, and more sanding. This got them smooth and comfortable feeling to the fingers, not only smooth but rounded on all angles. I then found a peice of wire to heat and burn the names in the wood. After trial and error I found that the only way get it hot enough was to heat the metal in the gas flame of the stovetop and brand it in. Following that was to drill(my only concession to modern convenience) a hole then sear the hole tosmooth it. After presenting the almost finished project to Mimi she responded "very nice Skeep, but we need 3 for each room, duplicates" So repeat the above process 26 more times. After approximately 1 hour for each keyholder (after varnish, sanding, and more varnish) the holders were complete.

As you can tell I had plenty of time to think as I worked on the project. I thought about what holds the keys to a heart. At different times of my life, and even different seasons through the years, various things have and still hold my heart. I, similar to what I see in my kids, had toys as keys for awhile.(Legos for Jackson, stuffed animals for Maia, Star Wars for me) Sports as a teen had their share, as well as girls. While dating and through marriage, Kerry has a big part, as well as the kids. In different seasons hunting, skiing, missions, and the Mountaineers all take their share. Some of these things are good, some are neither good nor bad, but all take time, thought, and some of my devotion. What I know is that the real keys to my heart should be held by God, that these other things are temporary, and may be satisfying or fun for awhile, but like the Star Wars toys, will be outgrown. Even activities such as missions, while good in themselves, should not take over the passion for God Himself. This I think is where the danger can lie for Christians. We work for the Lord, overextending ourselves in His name, but neglect the relationship we need with Him.

"Take delight in the Lord and he will give you your heart's desires."Psalms 37:4

Just be careful, if you are delighting in the Lord, your heart's desires may change.

Dumalugdog

We left on Friday to go to Dumalugdog. We left at 5 AM and traveled by van (a thirteen passenger van about the size of a mini van plus all of our bags, food supplies, our building supplies, and the other passengers baggage) for about two hours, followed by a 45 minute motorbike ride to Pagat, and then the 3.5 mile hike to Dumalugdog. It was a muddy trail, too muddy for Maia to ride a horse. Jackson decided he wanted to hike it. It was a very steep downhill hike, made harder by the muddy and slippery path. It eventually leveled off and we followed a river. We crossed the river 4 times. It was up to the top of my legs with a strong current. It made me nervous to be carrying a camera! We started at 9:30 and finished at 3:00 PM. To enter Dumalugdog you have to cross a bridge that looks like it should have been condemned years ago. It has wooden supports and a wooden walkway. The supports were half rotten and a lot of the wooden slats for the walkway were missing. I'm not exaggerating! We crossed one at a time because we weren't sure how much weight it could hold. I crossed with Jackson, there was no way I wanted him to go alone! It was a scary two minutes! There were spots we had to slide our feet along the cables because our legs weren't long enough to reach the next slat. You do a lot of praying in those two minutes and thankfully, God provided safety! Jackson hiked the whole thing and did an awesome job!

We stayed with Pastor Jun and his wife Linda. They have five children and live in a two bedroom hut. They gave up their bedrooms for the females on our team. The guys strung their hammocks next door in the church. (The church building looks like a pavilion.) We greatly enjoyed our bath in the river!

Our plans in Dumalugdog were to build a cabinet for their FLIC (Functional Literacy for Indigenous Children) school. We had brought all our supplies with us from Davao. From the village of Pagat, some were put on horses and some were hand carried. The cabinet supplies didn't make it until Saturday after lunch time. So, I went to plan B. I was the group leader for this trip. Plan B was fellowshipping with the pastor and his family. He also invited the tribal datus (chiefs) and the government datus. We all introduced ourselves and then divided into prayer groups. I had the opportunity to pray with Pastor Jun and another lady from the church. She was concerned with church unity because this is a busy time in the fields for everyone. Pastor June was concerned about getting nails to be able to do some repairs on the church and for the unsaved in the village. He thinks probable only half have come to a saving knowledge of Christ. He himself is a missionary. He and his family moved from another tribal village to Dumalugdog five years ago to reach the people there. Pray also for their acceptance into the community. At times their is a lot of jealousy and envy, particularly with his wife who teaches at the FLIC school.

One of the datu's arranged a dance for us. They have this neat percussion instrument. It is a log suspended horizontally. Six people have sticks and they rhythmically beat it. There's at least three different rhythms going at once. It has an awesome sound. While they played, an older man performed a traditional war dance. Then they were doing some other dances for us. We got chances to do both. The instrument playing is a lot harder than it looks! Well, the dancing isn't that easy, either! It was a great morning. So, although we go with a purpose to build a cabinet, it's more important to build relationships.

After they showed us their talents, we showed them ours. How to play four square! The men joined in and then the boys. It took a little bit before they caught one and understood all the rules. The boys caught on quicker. It seemed to be a big hit.

After lunch our building materials arrived! Except for the one side of the cupboard. We got to work sanding and staining. It took us the rest of the afternoon to get all the pieces done. After dinner that night we had a fellowship in the town hall (a small pavilion) with the people of the tribe. Everyone sang and then our team introduced ourselves. Pastor Jun had made up the order of service so I was a little surprised when the Jeffries family was called upon to sing a special number. We picked a children's song, Jesus Loves the Little Children. The rest of the team was surprised when they were each also asked to sing a special number. I'm pretty sure it was pushing them all right out of there comfort zones! I knew ahead of time that I would be sharing about salvation, through an interpreter, of course, so I wasn't surprised when called upon to share. Pastor Jun spoke a little and then had anyone who needed prayer for healing to stand on one side and those who had a vision for the community to stand on the other side. We divided up and prayed for each person individually. It was an awesome time.

Sunday morning we attended church and Skip was the preacher. I think he enjoys it. It was funny after church how many people wanted their pictures taken with the kids! The leaders wanted their pictures taken and requested that we give them a copy. Jackson and Maia each received gifts. Jackson got a beaded cell phone holder and Maia got necklaces. I think they're getting used to the attention! As we finished up, our missing cabinet piece arrived!

After lunch, the guys went to finish off the cabinet. They recruited Pastor Jun and another guy to help. It gave them an opportunity to talk. Ate' Lisa spent some time getting to know Linda, Pastor Jun's wife. Grace, the kids, and I played with all the kids. Jackson & I played four square while Maia and Grace played the bouncy ball game. It's a very technical game that we made up last year in Botoy. You take a handful of bouncy balls, throw them into the air, and watch all the chaos ensues as the kids try to catch them. They collect the balls and give them back. You keep repeating this until you get tired. They have a game similar to duck, duck, goose that we played. They taught us a new game, the snake. All the kids get in a line, similar to a congo line, and "head" of the snake tries to tag the "tail" of the snake. It's a pretty wild game. We also taught them, stop go (i.e. red light, green light in the US.) They seemed to love it. I think the kids could have gone on playing until dark, but by 5, Grace and I needed breaks!

Sunday night we packed up our things and tried to get to bed early. Our plan was to get up at 4 AM for the hike out. You may groan, but we wanted an early start. The last part of the hike is all uphill and very steep at that. We all managed to cross the bridge without falling through the holes. It was six o'clock by the time we got on our way. There weren't enough horses so some leaders in the village volunteered to carry our bags. Jackson wanted a horse but there wasn't one available. Maia got carried, again. It hadn't rained the whole time we were in Dumalugdog so the trail was mostly dried out. It is a tough hike. The river was a little lower this time. We hit the uphill part at 8 AM but it was still hot. Jackson was quite the trooper. He was tired but managed to make it the whole way. We were very proud of him.

The motorcycles took us to the highway. They were less scary going uphill verses downhill. Or maybe I was so tired from the hike that my gratitude over not having to walk anymore skewed my judgement. Either way, it was a relief to be riding. The rest of the trip was uneventful. We are welcome back to Dumalugdog and I hope they saw our actions as Christ love to them. It was well worth the trip.

Wrestling

We recently completed a 3 day staff retreat with TMFI. The subject matter was Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership. Of the many lessons I learned during the sessions, the hardest was found during a activity dealing with solitude and hearing from God. After each of three readings of a passage in Numbers, we were asked to sit and be quiet before God for 2-3 minutes and listen for the answer to the question "What does God want me to do the next few days?" The words I was hearing from the Lord seemed to say "trust me". I preface the rest of this by saying that Kerry and I had been discussing our future plans, plans we did not want to give up. Later that day we were challenged about maintaining a Rhythm of Prayer and Action- Discerning and Doing the will of God. The first step in this was a prayer of indifference. This does not mean indifference to a situation , but after much prayer, indifference to the outcome because you trust God's will and goodness. A prayer of God's Will-nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. Wow! I was really struggling. I sat by myself in solitude wrestling with God. In fact, I wished for an actual angel to wrestle, like Jacob, so that I may have a little chance of keeping MY plans. After a long struggle I finally conceded to God and prayed, I trust you God, whatever happens is OK. Kerry reminded me of Proverbs 16:9, a verse she had been given the day before, "In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps." I am now at peace, regardless of how our future plans work out, I know it will be what God has planned for us. We will continue to serve Him however and wherever He calls, and hope to glorify Him in all we do.

top 10 things I miss about US hotels. (ie any lodging paid to stay in)

After staying in 4 different accommodations in the last week, we have come up with a list of our 10 things we miss most about US hotels. The order is by number, but these have changed depending on circumstances, and vary from Kerry to me.

#10 Rooster free(this usually vaults to #1 about 4;30 every morning)

#9 Drinkable water

#8 A toilet seat....yea really

#7 Free soap with a working faucet

#6 A Shower

#5 24 hour electric(some have been 4PM to 6AM only)

#4 Ant free

#3 Roach free(these are probably #1 for Kerry)

#2 Toilet paper......again yeah really

#1 Hot running water ( this is Kerry only)

These are all true, however this is all in fun. Most of the places we stayed in were filled and run by great people and we really enjoyed most of of the places we visited. It's great to be able to laugh at the lack of things we take for granted in the US, and makes you appreciate what some some consider luxuries.

Thats all for now, Skip

Palawan

As I sit back and remember El Nido, I don't know which was worse, the flight in on the Suburban with wings, or the 7 hour van drive through a tropical depression to leave. The most lasting memory however was the most spectacular scenery I have seen in my life. Never have I seen God's majesty displayed in such a awesome way. Turquoise water lapping against 500 ft cliffs bordered by white sand beaches with a few idyllic coconut trees waving in the breeze. Slip on a mask and snorkel and see Hawksbill turtles gliding over the coral, while fish in every color of the rainbow dart around the ledges and rocks. I had to continuously thank God for his creation and the opportunity to see it, and Him in it.

El Nido is a very small town located on the northern tip of Palawan, Philippines. It was a great time of R&R, following our 44.5 hour door to door trip to the Philippines. One of the quaint things of rural Palawan is the unique experience of having electricity only from 4PM-6AM. The worst thing about this however was the fact that these times were when our jet-lagged bodies were craving sleep.

From El Nido we traveled South with our friends Beng and Lilet to visit the Philippine Underground River, one of the heritage sites in the Philippines and reputed to be the longest in the world. More to my liking was the canoe ride into a Mangrove forest to see snakes, monitor lizards and monkeys.

Finally we ended up in Puerto Princesa and met some new friends and toured some other sites. Most important was the bonding time with Beng and Lilet. It never grows old hearing stories and growing a deeper friendship with godly women and missionaries.

Now the work will begin.

Meeting John Mark, our Compassion Child

After eight years, we got to me the boy that we had been sponsoring! We went with three compassion staff to his school to pick him up for the day. His mom met us at his school. They had arranged ahead of time for him to be able to leave school. At first he was very shy, just tipping his head up for yes, a typical Filipino gesture.

When asked what he'd like to do first, he wanted to take us to his house. So off we went. He lives in a squatter's settlement in a house similar to a hut in the mountains. We were probably quite a sight walking to his house. It was our family, Pio and his sister, Joanne, Katrin, a volunteer from Germany, and 3 compassion staff workers. Skip, the kids, and I were given chairs to sit on in the kitchen. I was giving out presents when the floor dropped a couple of inches. Skip thought it was a good time for him to step outside! Apparently, the floor isn't used to so much weight! We took a group picture with our family and his and then left.

We took John Mark, his mom, dad, and younger brother out for lunch at a buffet restaurant. They looked like they might need a good meal. As soon as we finished eating my kids had the Uno cards out. It was one of the gifts we had given John Mark. As we started playing, John Mark began to relax and feel more comfortable with us. We played several rounds and were having fun.

While I was playing cards, Joanne starting asking his parents some questions to get to know them. She is a formal social worker and has previously worked with World Vision. She seemed to know what questions to ask to get them to start to talk. Emma, his mom, shared how they had met. Before they were married, her husband used to stalk her. Emma's mom was afraid he would rape her so she insisted that Emma marry him. A decision I'm not quite sure I understand. Emma cried through the wedding ceremony, knowing that she was marrying an alcoholic drug addict. Their life together was very rocky. Emma is a construction worker and very strong. At times she had to literally carry her drunk husband home. She would get angry at him and beat him. One time, she almost strangled him to death but someone intervened. Two years ago he developed asthma. It forced him to get off of drugs. Emma currently works as a construction worker making 170 pesos a day. His dad is unemployed. They spend 60 pesos a day on rice. John Mark and his 11 year old brother each receive 30 pesos a day for food while at school. The remaining 50 pesos is used for food to go with the rice. Not much to live on!

John Mark was such a sweet, polite boy. He had a ready smile and seemed quite bright. He does well in school, especially in math and science. It's hard to believe that he has been growing up in such a rough home life. His parents seemed to have reconciled and were amicable to each other. John Mark and his mom know Christ but his dad does not. It is required by Compassion that the mothers of sponsored children attend a weekly mom's group. Emma is trying to get her husband to attend since she is working and he is not. Please pray that the influence of his family and that of Compassion will help bring his father to the Lord. Only Christ can really make a difference in this family.

We ended our trip with a stop at the mall to get John Mark a basketball. I had brought an air pump with me but the basketball didn't fit in our already overloaded suitcases! I saw a court nearby his house that he'll be able to play on. We also gave money to Joann for her to take Emma grocery shopping. She was able to buy enough rice for three weeks and vitamins for the kids. She was overwhelmed by the gesture.

I'm very thankful for the chance to meet the Valores'. I learned a lot about his life in a very short amount of time. His house was nicer than I had imagined but the home life was much worse than I thought. That had never come through in the letters. It was such a gift to get to meet them and I now know how to better pray for him. By the time we left, the kids and John Mark were playing together and enjoying each other. I hope this becomes an annual event.

Hong Kong

Our spur of the moment trip to Hong Kong to avoid paying the renewal fees for our visas, worked. We came back into the Philippines yesterday and were granted another 59 days! Who would of thought that flying round trip to another country would cost less than renewing our visas? But, God worked it out wonderfully and we got to meet new friends.

Hong Kong is small in land mass but large in population. As a result, it is all tall buildings wherever you look. It's a very clean city with a great, easy to use public transportation system. We were able to navigate the city by ourselves if it was needed. The most confusing part is after you get off of the MTR, the train that goes both underground and above ground. The most congested parts of Hong Kong are underground. When you get off its like an underground city! There are restaurants, shops, and malls. It was really cool! You can walk blocks and cross streets all underground and in air conditioning! There were escalators everywhere. Hong Kong is very mountainous, which makes for a beautiful backdrop to the city skyline. So there where even escalators outside. It's definitely a very modern city. Skip said he felt like a country bumpkin gawking at all the tall buildings

Helen, who was part of our team last year, met us at the airport. She took us to where we were staying and took as to dinner. It was a traditional Chinese meal, served family style. Unlike the US, chopsticks are not optional, they are the only thing available. Its either learn or starve. I don't think I'll be switching to the Chinese menu anytime soon! (skip enjoyed it)We had 11 courses and dessert. The first course was a platter of pig's feet, cow tongue, pork in jello, and jellyfish. It got a little better after that. Maia liked the dumplings and ate half of them. Jackson didn't like any of it so we stopped at McDonald's on the way home. Thank God for MickeyD's! The kids may not have survived without it!

We stayed with Agnes, a friend of TMFI. She has previously been to the Philippines on a missions trip. She has a 3 bedroom flat on the 28th floor. The kids kept calling it a hotel. They seemed to think any tall building you stay in is a hotel, not a home! We took a bus from the airport to Lam Tin, the section of Hong Kong where Agnes lives. Jackson loved the ride on a double decker bus! We sat up on top, of course. We went across a bridge over the ship yards. Again, Jackson was loving it. He's always loved ships. From the window at Agnes', we over looked the water and could see Hong Kong Island. Jackson spent lots of time looking at the cruise ships, ferries, and cargo ships. The city skyline looked beautiful at night.

Sunday was our first full day. Agnes took us to church at St. James, an English speaking church. The pastor sounded like he was from the UK. It definitely had the British influence with its formal service and conservative singing style, very un-Asian. Another friend of TMFI, Courtney, met us at church. We all went to lunch afterward. This was also Chinese but very good. Next we were off to see take a tram up to "The Peak," a great spot above the city. To get there we crossed to Hong Kong Island by ferry, a highlight for Jackson, of course. The Peak is a building shaped like a boat on a short tower. It has a great view of the city. From there we took the MTR under the water to get back to Agnes' flat, another exciting adventure for the kids. Helen, Juliet, and Ada met us there. Helen had cooked for us. I can't remember the name of what I really enjoyed but it was similar to a corn fritter with shrimp inside. Dipped in banana ketchup, it was delicious! Afterward we got to know everyone and Skip shared a mini Bible study. Thankfully, the kids were able to get to bed after dinner. It was a fun night but the party didn't end till 11. Helen had an hour trip home and then work in the morning, yuck!

Monday was the highlight for the kids. It was off to Disneyland Hong Kong! We took the MTR, meeting Courtney along the way, switching lines, and eventually getting onto the Disney MTR. The Disney experience began here. This one was above ground and the windows were shaped like Mickey's head & ears. Inside it had Mickey handles and Disney sculptures. Courtney had taken off work to go with us. She had a Disney employee for a friend who gave us three tickets to get in! After we went through the gates, I was approached by another employee. She wanted to know if we'd be the Grand Marshal for the parade! Of course, we agreed. It was in the afternoon and we all got monogrammed Mickey hats to keep. It was fun! (Jackson & Maia's favorite line of the day was, "Grandma will be so jealous!") When asked what their favorite rides was, the kids can't couldn't come up with just one. Every time we got off a ride, they wanted to ride it again! They liked Buzz Light Year, It's a Small World, and Space Mountain. Maia was just tall enough to ride Space Mountain and we rode it twice. I was surprised she enjoyed it! Skip, Lilet, and Courtney got tired but the kids and I kept going! We ended the day by watching a great fireworks show over the castle.

Tuesday we went to Helen's house for breakfast. She lives in the "country" on the 31st floor of her building. Obviously, countryside means something different in HK than in the US! I defined it as having some space between the buildings! Actually, here it was less crowded and there was a bike rack outside of the MTR station. Some of the buildings were only 4 stories high. This is the edge of HK and we could see across the border into China. On a side note, we had hoped to go "underground" in China but it didn't work out. While at Helen's, we met her 76 year old mother. She just recently had nasal surgery and suffers from depression. Se even came out of her room to see us. Before we left, we prayed for her. I think she enjoyed seeing kids.

Helen took went with us on the MTR to meet with two ladies from the Cedar Fund, an organization that has been supporting TMFI's FLIC projects. They took us to lunch, which lasted most of the afternoon. They have not been to the Philippines yet to see what they have been funding. We took the opportunity to share about our experiences this summer. They had lots of questions. It was enjoyable afternoon.

We had about two hours before we met Ada, so we took the MTR to get to some street markets. We love hitting the outdoor markets! They are like fleas markets but selling new items. I enjoyed the ladies market and the kids liked the goldfish markets. It was two blocks of fish, lizards and turtles. (While there, we found Nemo! He was with Dori! Soooo, glad that's solved.) We went to dinner with Agnes, Courtney, and Ada and then off to more markets. I made a purchase at a little grocery store and then the man, who I think was the owner, came with me to make two additional purchases on the street. He was my negotiator! Between Agnes and I, earlier in the day, and the store owner later, I got some good deals! It was quite fun but tiring! We didn't get back to the flat until midnight. Fortunately, the kids were troopers and didn't even complain! Maia did fall asleep in my arms as we were shopping.

After staying up till 2 AM trying to figure out how we were going to get it all packed and most importantly, distribute the weight in our bags to meet the airline requirements of 30 pounds, we were off to the bus stop at 7 AM. That completed our whirlwind tour of Hong Kong. We had a great time but more importantly, made some great new friends. They were incredible hosts and we're hoping they'll visit us some day so we can return the favor!

Pastor Robert

Please pray for Pastor Robert. Pastor Robert has been hospitalized with malaria. He is the pastor who has the heart to plant a church in Botoy. Two months before our team arrived his infant son died of complications from a hole in his heart. While we were in Botoy, he took his six year old daughter to the hospital. She died later that week from malaria. Please pray for his recovery, that his wife and two remaining children stay healthy, and that he will not become discouraged. Satan is trying to stop the church in Botoy. Please pray that he won't succeed.

agusan

We recently had an invite to attend a church on the outskirts of the Agusan marsh. Apparently being a foreigner leads to the assumption that you are a good preacher. (so far I have been introduced as Pastor Skip 3 times) We left Saturday the 3rd for Agusan. Public transportation is the way to go here in the Philippines, so we boarded our air-con bus and set out. The 5 hour bus ride to San Fransisco was pretty unremarkable, other than the fact that a trip of probably less than 100 miles took 5 hours. The bus terminal CRs(bathrooms) were very remarkable, but I won't get into that here.
We were met at the San Fransisco bus terminal by Pastor Don-Don and his wife Jeanette. They took us to lunch then to our hotel. We had come packed with hammocks and mosquito nets prepared to sleep at his house, only to be surprised and escorted to the nicest hotel in SF. The tribal pastors that Ptr Don-Don oversees had God speak and tell them to sow seeds in good soil. They were told we were good soil, so they all chipped in and paid for 2 nights in the hotel for us. I would've been content at Pastor Don-Don's house, but my first hot shower in 2 months felt pretty good.
The next day we took the bus 15 min to 4 square church. Whites always create a spectacle in these situations. The congregations are so welcoming it's humbling. After the Philippine praise and worship, which really has to be experienced, not described, I spoke on love, specifically the love of Christ, as being our motivation for everything we do. I used 2 Peter 1:3-11 as my main passage, and talked about how we can grow to love people more, with the love of Christ, and when this happens we will be more productive and useful. Now I am far from a great speaker and was relying on God to give me the subject matter that would impact the people. I was told afterward that the sermon fit in with what they had talked about the week before, and also went right along with the prophecy spoken during praise and worship. I thank God for using me!
After the agape meal after church Kerry spoke to the women of the church while I sat in on the pastors meeting. This was with 10 tribal pastors and several leaders. I kept myself awake (unsuccesfully) by watching the pastor's evil pet monkey. He would seem friendlly until someone would approach him. When they were just out of reach he would lunge from his bamboo perch, arms extended, shreiking a blood curdling scream. Just as you thought he would claw out your eyeballs, the chain would catch him and he would do a complete flip around the bamboo and sit back with a smug expression. It was fun watching people have the same reaction I did when it happened to me.(yelling and ducking so fast you almost hit the ground)
For the evening we had another agape meal, this time a Philippines specialty, Lechon Baboy.(roast Pig) This was delivered off the back of a motorcycle along with pop, fruit salad, and rice. The evening ended with 2 of the pastors returning with us to the hotel for prayer.
This was a new place for us to visit, and we were invited back to visit the interior of the marsh and visit the tribal churches. These are accessed by a 3-6 hour boat ride, depending on the water levels. From my understanding the marsh encompasses about 1,000,000 acres and is home to many species of wildlife, including crocodiles. I can't wait to go!
The Indigenous people of the Philippines continue to amaze me with their generosity, hospitality, and most of all their faith. They live under some of the most difficult conditions I have seen, and depend on God literally for their daily bread. We in the West seem to make it our goal to not need God in our lives. We plan for retirement, we have health insurance, life insurance, house/car insurance, excesses of food, clothes. What do we need God for? I think without a dependence on God for physical needs, we have a harder time with dependence for our spiritual needs also. America says that money is the key to happiness. Our wealth blinds us to the poverty of our souls. The American Way says we can always do it ourselves. We CAN'T! God's grace for our sins is the only solution.

On the lighter side...Public Transportation

I want to fully experience the culture and part of that is being able to get into and out of the city by myself. We live about 15 miles from downtown, or a one hour commute using public transportation. The Saturday before the Kurtz's arrived I was making my second solo trip to the city to go grocery shopping. I was going to a different grocery store, conveniently located in the mall, which required going a different way than my first trip. I needed to switch jeepneys in the Matina section of the city. I thought I new were that was. I got off the jeepney, walked around the corner, and their sat another jeepney. I asked if he was going to NCCC and he replied and motioned to me. I couldn't hear what he said, so I repeated my question. I still couldn't hear or maybe understand, his reply but his motion's seemed to indicate that yes, he was going to NCCC. He seemed annoyed that he had to repeat himself. I hopped on board and off we went. Immediately, the road seemed wrong. I knew it was a short ride so I decided if I didn't see the mall soon, I'd get off. Well, no sooner had I decided that when we turned onto a narrow, one lane road. I knew this was not right. The problem was, if I got off, I didn't see any jeepney's going the other way to get back. It was a very poor section and I knew they didn't have white people walk down their street everyday. I figured all jeepney's have a route and it would either turn around or go in a circle. I thought I'd just ride it out. I began to see water on my right. Definitely, I was not going to the mall! When I was the last one left on the jeepney, I asked the lady taking the money if it turned around or went in a circle. She didn't speak English. I pointed to myself and said, "Wrong jeepney. How much?" The driver turned around and said 5 pesos. As I was handing them my money, a jeepney was coming toward us. The driver of the jeepney I was in leaned out the window and said something to the other driver. He looked at me and said, "Matina?" I answered yes. He motioned me to the other jeepney. I thanked him and hopped on board the other jeepney. When we got back to where I had first switched jeepney's, I paid my 5 pesos and got off. I didn't know the minimum payment was 7 pesos. I figured if it was 5 one way it would be 5 to go back. Oops!

I had figured out where I had gone wrong. When I got off the first jeepney I wasn't supposed to go around the corner. I was just supposed to switch jeepney's. I went around the corner to the correct street and there was another jeepney. A man looked at me and asked, "NCCC?" I answered yes and hopped on board! Thank the Lord, I made it safely to the mall. I just refer to my detour as a cheap sightseeing trip, a spot most tourist overlook!

I do much better now, the Kurtz's allowed me to take Emi to the mall. My only concern now is that car rides put me to sleep. Especially, long hot rides. I hope I don't fall asleep some day and find myself in an unknown location! It may be my next adventure!

Botoy

The entire team was too large to take to one village so we split into two. The team that went to the village of Botoy was myself( Kerry), Maia, Dusty, Emi, Tiara, and Lilet, our leader. Botoy is located at the top of mountain, a 5000' climb. The first third of the hike was steep but after that it became a gradual uphill. This is the rainy season so it wouldn't be a hike without a little mud, just enough to keep it interesting! We were the second team ever to visit Botoy and the first foreign team. It would be 5 days of a lot of firsts! Our objective was to build relationships in the village.

We stayed at the Datu's (chief's) hut and it was the largest and nicest hut I've seen in the mountains! It is on top of the ridge line overlooking the village below. It was a great location: great view, nice breezes. He didn't stay with us, instead preferring to stay at his hut by his fields. He was to come on the day we arrived but it was Monday afternoon before he ever arrived. I was beginning to think we'd have to go to his field if we wanted to meet him! He had given his permission for the people to have a church service but he had made it clear in the past that he wasn't interested in a church. Our job was to help change his mind.

When we arrived, we met pastor Robert. He is the pastor in the next village and his heart is to plant a church in Botoy. We thought that they had been holding church services in Botoy before we had arrived only to find out that we would be a there for the very first church service ever on Sunday! On Saturday evening we hosted a fellowship outside the chief's hut. Dusty played and Emi, Tiara and myself sang with him. Then I shared the gospel. I didn't ask people to step forward or raise their hands, so I'm not sure if anyone accepted Christ but it seemed well received.

The church service on Sunday was held at the billiard hall. They didn't have a church but they had a pool hall! Our group sang again and Dusty preached his first sermon ever! It's always an adjustment to talk through an interpreter but Dusty did great. Pastor Robert asked if anyone wanted to accept Christ and at least 15 people did! It was an awesome first church service! Afterward, we were trying to get to know people. It's kid of hard when you don't speak the language! I've been picking up some words here but I'm learning Visian not the Matisalug tribal language. It's all confusing to me! Anyway, Tiara, our teammate from Manilla, was able to interpret for us. Emi was answering questions about herself and life in the US. At first I was taking videos of people & then letting them see it. Normally, this is a big hit with the kids. I barely got a few smiles this time. Most were very camera shy. Next Maia & I tried playing with bouncy balls with the kids. They don't bounce well on dirt so I was throwing them in the air. They'd catch them and throw them back. I only had two and Maia wanted more. I returned with about 8 more bouncy balls. I threw them all in the air at once and it was so funny to hear the squeals and see the chaos that ensued. We finally found something the kids enjoyed! We played it, and played it, and played it.

After lunch, Emi, Maia, and I taught them "stop, go," our culturally relevant version of red light, green light. We figured no one had ever seen one of those before! We also taught them "manok, manok, okonos" literally, chicken, chicken, rooster, aka, duck, duck, goose. We also didn't sit on the ground, it was too muddy. The kids never seemed to tire of that game! I, on the other hand, got a little tired of it after the 50th round! But, I enjoyed playing with the kids. Mostly the kids who would play with us were boys. There were only 2 girls who would play. The other half of the kids sat and watched us play. We had piqued their curiosity but not enough to get them to interact with us. Even the little girls shied away from Maia, which was surprising. In our previous two mountain trips, Maia was a celebrity with kids huddled around her just wanting to be with her.

Lilet had asked me at lunch on Sunday to invite the military to eat dinner with us. We had 15 army guys with us. I asked Lt. Pito, the man in charge, for all of them to join us. It's a good thing I'm white. It made him feel obligated to agree! The look on his face when I asked him was, "No, that's the last thing I want to do, I think I'd rather starve," but he just nodded and said, "Yes, ma'am." They all showed up! They don't speak conversational English well so they are uncomfortable talking with us. We let Tiara interpret for us! (I am surprised she didn't have a headache after all the interpreting.) After we ate, we had a mini battle of the bands between Dusty and one of the army guys. They would sing a song and then pass the guitar back. After Tiara told them they didn't have to sing religious songs, they relaxed a bit. Karaoke is popular in the Philippines and so they like to sing love songs. Dusty had to rack his brain to remember the chords & words of a few long songs. We wanted them to feel comfortable around us. He'd only come prepared with praise & worship type music but he pulled it off. He and Emi even sung a duet. Dusty shared the story of David & Goliath. Lilet explained that we never like to miss an opportunity to tell others about salvation. She explained salvation and all 15 men accepted Christ! God was definitely working in this village. I asked if I could get it in their language, how many would like a Bible, and they all wanted one! We haven't had a chance to shop for them yet but they all want a pocket Bible. I'd like to highlight some verses for them. (Let me know if you have suggestions, besides salvation, I was thinking of words of courage for when they're in battle.)

Monday morning we tried our hand at farming by helping to plant 70 fruit trees. It was a very steep mountain side that someone had to go ahead of us with a bolo (very large machete) and clear a path. The holes had already been dug and they were spaced about ten yards apart. A very long ten yards! It was very rugged terrain. Farming is not an easy life. We managed with only minor falls and no injuries. It just added more laughter to our trip, of which, their was plenty of it on this trip!

In the afternoon, we handed out toothbrushes to the adults, flip flops to the boys, and panties for the girls and small children. Sadly, the panties seemed to be the only clothing some of the small children had. We would later see them walking around in just their new panties. The funny thing about flip flops in the rainy season is that it's easier to walk without them! When going up or down a hill, most people took them off. Actually, if my feet were tougher, I think it would have been easier, too!

On Tuesday the most of the children went to school. They have school Tuesday, Wednesday, and a half day on Thursday. Odd schedule, but that's a story for another day. While they were away, Pastor Arnell and some others attempted to teach us the traditional tribal dance and to sing a song in Matigsalug. I thought they were just trying to entertain us for the afternoon, little did I know, I'd be performing it for the whole tribe! We had a final fellowship that night, celebrating our last night with a bonfire. Pastor Arnell and Norma performed the dance and than Dusty and I danced. (Emi says she doesn't dance and Tiara thought it should be 2 white people dancing. That left me by default, not by my dancing skill!) Amongst great cheering and laughter we danced. It started raining as we finished so we moved to the billiard hall. They asked us to dance again. We laughed a little harder, but danced again. Now if anyone is familiar with the Philippine culture, you would know what's coming. They have no qualms about putting you on the spot. They asked our group to perform something as our goodbye. Then they said that Kerry will be sharing something with them. Then they announced Dusty would like to say something. We had joked earlier with Dusty that if he had to preach, we'd give him five minutes notice. I didn't even get a five second notice! But, the point of our mission is to take advantage of every opportunity to share Christ. We performed & shared happily and more people accepted Christ. Praise the Lord! As we were finishing, they said someone had missed us dance. They asked us to dance for a third time. We complied. We laughed and they laughed. Laughter is a universal language, no interpreter needed! It had taken our entire trip but I felt we had finally connected. As we sang a goodbye song and shook hands, we received hugs and saw some tears shed. I looked at the kids, with most having a runny nose, a cough, some smelled, and I thought, these are the cutest kids! It was a sad goodbye.

On a lighter note, it had poured the entire time we were at the billiard hall. The datu's hut is at the top of the hill, following a very dirt packed path. A path that becomes a sliding board when wet. I attempted to carry my sleeping daughter up the hill, but, well, let's just say I would have been better off to do what the natives do: take off my flip flops! I ended up muddy but saved Maia. It only added yet another joke and more laughter to the trip! This was followed by a large spider sighting at the hut. The reaction to the spider by a fellow teammate almost caused Tiara and I to roll on the ground in laughter. Oh, team bonding at its best!

We left at 5:20 AM the next morning and quite a sight we were. We consisted of 15 military, 6 team members, people carrying our backpacks, two or 3 guys that took turns carrying Maia, and several teenage girls who had helped cook for us. They skipped school so they could walk us out of the mountain. That's how they say goodbye. We kept a great pace, thanks to our military escorts, and were out of the mountain in less than three hours. The last part of the hike was steep and slippery. A farmer had built a hand rail along his field to go up & down the trail. I knew we were in trouble if the natives needed a hand rail! Let's sum it up by saying that we ended up muddier than when we started with many more funny stories. We did earn the distinction as being the loudest group ever escorted by Lt. Pito, but he said, "at least they had fun."

I end this saga with a heavy heart. Pastor Robert, whose heart it is to see a church planted in Botoy, has just lost his second child. Six months ago after the first team left the mountains his 3 month old son died of complications from a heart defect. While we were in Botoy, they had taken his son to the hospital with malaria. He died 3 days later. Please pray for Pastor Robert, his wife Gem, and their remaining child, a 4 year old girl. Please pray for their protection from the enemy because it is a spiritual battle. Pray that satan will not win.

"fruit"

We went to the market, Bankherotan, again today at 4 AM. walking through the aisles, as I have said before is a shock to the senses. The people, sights, sounds, and especially smells, just hit you as soon as you step out of the truck, and remain until you leave. Walking through the fruit aisles is my favorite. The smells are better for one, and the exotic fruits are so varied in their color, smell, shape etc than anything we have in the states, its an experience just to look.

This brought me to think about the spiritual fruit mentioned in the Bible. Galatians lists the fruit of the Spirit as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. The New Testament mentions fruit alot, starting with John the Baptist speaking to the Pharisees in Matthew 3:7-10. Verse 10 says"even now the ax of God's judgement is poised, ready to sever your roots. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire. Matthew 7:15-20 and John 15:1-4 have similar messages.

Jesus and John don't beat around the bush in these passages. He says if we have no fruit we will be cut off and thrown into the fire. It seems clear to me He is talking about Hell.

It isn't easy to read these passages, but like I said, Jesus wasn't known for making following Him easy. If you claim to be a Christian, think about your life and determine if there is spiritual fruit. If we are truly children of God we WILL have fruit. We need to evaluate our lives to see if we are producing. Faith without works is dead. Read James 2: 14-20. Vs. 17 says So you see, it isn't enough just to have faith. Faith that doesn't show itself by good deeds is no faith at all-it is dead and useless. The rest of this passage and Mt 7:21-23 tell us that not all who call on the name of the Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, to some he will say, depart form me, I never knew you.

I must also clarify that we are not saved by works. There is nothing we can do to earn or deserve Salvation. We are all sinners and are only saved through the grace of God by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. But, if we are a "good tree", one of Gods children, we will have good fruit.

One of the reasons I am in the Philippines this summer is because after thinking and praying about these passages, I determined that this was where my life produced the most fruit. After taking a missions course this week I have been reminded that one of the reasons we as Christians are here is to fulfill Gods redemptive plan to the nations. We are to go and make disciples of all the nations. Too often we get the mindset of Jonah, who wanted the benefits of election, but none of the responsibilities. We have become to introspective and desire the blessings of God, but do not want to be a blessing to others.

We don't need to travel to the Philippines, or to anywhere for that matter to fulfill that responsibility. We need to be fulfilling it wherever we are. We need to boldly tell and show people our relationship with Jesus Christ, and His love, grace, sacrifice and mercy, not try to justify our faith through facts, or cliche sayings.

Go make some "fruit"

On the lighter side...

Here's the food update for Sue! We've enjoyed fresh pineapple, mangos, bananas-both table and cooked, avocados,, lusones, and today had saursop shakes for lunch. They've been delicious!

Vacation Bible School

We just completed the the first ever TMFI VBS! Last week Mimi took Jackson & Maia trough the neighborhood inviting all 7-13 year olds to VBS. They thought the white kids might draw the crowd in! They expected 40. Our first day we had about 30 kids come in our target age group and about 10 kids between the ages of 2-6. We didn't want to turn anyone away so we left them stay. We also noticed that a lot of moms came and either stayed with their younger children or sat outside. Beng decided we'd have Skip & Chad (Miller) alternate days and speak with the moms while their kids were attending VBS. I had brought prizes and play money with me. We handed out money as rewards for memorizing verses, attendance, good behavior, participating, etc. The kids had fun and started inviting friends. Everyday we had more kids. Their was also the theory that kids heard we were handing out money & prizes and wanted some, too. Whatever it was, we grew. By the end of the week we had 25 kids between 2-6 and 48 kids between the ages of 7-13. PTL!

Belle and I were in charge of crafts. Being on a tight budget, we didn't have many extra crafts-if any. On more than one day we were scrambling to make more! On our last day, we made a key chain with a cross and beads with a kit I had brought with me. We had one left over! The beads on were a wordless tool to tell the gospel story. I told the kids about salvation as we assembled the key chain. It was probably the first time many of the kids had been presented with the gospel.

The redeeming of money for prizes was a big hit. The prizes we had left over we gave out to the kids who could say a memory verse. The kids crowded around, trying to be the first to win more prizes! Most of the prizes were school supply type items: pens, pencils, scissors, ruler, erasers, etc. I'm glad that's the types of things we had because one girl told me what her mom had told her. "Don't get any toys, get school supplies." I think for many the basic school supplies are luxury items! Most of the leftover prizes were the toy items: jump ropes, water colors, markers, colored pencils, etc.

The last day we had a graduation ceremony. Most of the kids got some kind of reward: good attendance, good listener, good at memory verses, most cooperative, etc. Lots a rewards. The mothers were invited to attend. They were proud of their kids as they received rewards. I was also the graduation speaker, again, low budget event. I presented Christ to the moms as well. We think it was the first time any of the mothers had heard that as well.

Overall, it was a great week! The kids made a few new friends. Jackson told me one of the boys might come up to play tomorrow. I hope so. Maybe more language will rub off on the kids. We are all learning a few words. My problem is, I can't remember them! They group letters together that we don't group to together in English. It makes it difficult to remember and pronounce! I was going to say good afternoon in Cebuano, but, well, I can't spell it!

Tonight is a good bye party for Chad. We're having a bonfire and a bar-b-que. Can't wait!

Life in the City by Kerry

We're at the training center located about 10 miles outside of Davao City and adjusting to life here. Some things that I've noticed is that's it's very common to have brown outs. Normally they last about 12 hours during the day. When the power goes out, so does the water. Normally, it takes about 2 hours to get the water back after the electric comes back on. There are also times when we have electric but still no water. So, the things I've learned:

1. Always keep the 30 gallon bucket in the bathroom full of water. It ensures you have water when you need a shower. (which is frequent in this heat!)

2. Always keep a water pitcher full in case you're thirsty when the water is out.

3. Do your dishes right away, you may not have water later to do them.

4. Life in the U.S. is very pampered-enjoy it!

5. With or without electric or water, life is fun here and we're enjoying our new community.

6. Days start early around here-so I'm going to bed!

Back from Another Asia Trip by Kerry

Hello! Lilet and I arrived back in Davao on Saturday afternoon after starting our travel at 12:30 AM and having a layover in Manilla from 4 AM to 11:00 AM. I'm not sure the cheaper ticket was worth having to travel all night! It was a very eye opening trip. We had arrived in the country at it 1:30 in the morning and the missionary picked us up at the airport. We drove 2 hours to her farm. We went to bed @ 4 only to get back up again at 7. (Sleep is very overrated!) Since I was American, she preferred to bring me in at night so I'd draw less attention to her farm. We had an orientation that morning and she said she had no clear calling from God what we should do that week. She has 3 different aspects to her ministry and had recently been traveling a lot with them. She felt she really needed fellowship with other believers. I shared that that was okay, I felt my summer was a continuation of how Skip & I met, as being encouragers. Our schedule for the week was to work on her farm. She needs a valid reason to stay in the country. She is in the process of starting an organic fertilizer company with a demonstration farm. That afternoon we worked on her farm planted small fruit trees. It didn't take long to plant 30 trees since the holes had been prepared for us. It is similar to the Philippines in that everything is done by hand and they are limited tools. We didn't even have shovels for planting! Monday's temperature was 98'F and 98% humidity. The rest of the week seemed about the same. Our days had the schedule of breakfast, devotions, work, lunch break, work, and then dinner. We worked hard and sweated even harder! I was starting to feel like a fish, always wet! We raked grass, leaves, palm branches, sticks, and anything else that was on the ground. On one side of the farm we put our debris into a canal that they were in the process of closing in. On the other side of the farm, part of the team used a shredded on it to be used for mulching. It is a natural, organic farm. We also helped clean up the front yard from a previous construction project and to make way for a new construction project scheduled to start in June. I also helped bag over 60 bags of coconut quire (shredded coconut tree and coconut shells, used in making fertilizer.) We did have 2 shovels to use for that along with a metal cookie tin and a dustpan. Sometimes, there just not enough tools to go around!

Being a group of foreigners, we attracted a lot of attention. It was a small village and everyone knew what everyone was doing. (Even more so than in the Cove!) People would just walk or drive by on their motorbikes to see what was going on. You'll notice in the pictures on Facebook that I'm always wearing pants, long sleeves, and a hat while outside. I was trying to hide as much as possible. The long sleeves were to have the added benefit of protecting your skin from the heat. I really didn't find that to be the case, though! One morning we started our devotions by singing. I looked out the window and there was a man staring at me. The missionary went outside to talk with him. He was just curious! He was one of the guys there to work on the farm for the day.

Politically and culturally it was eye opening. There are a lot of rights we have in the US that we take for granted especially the right to assemble and freedom of religion. Culturally, they are very family oriented with the family patriarch having a lot of influence over the family. There's so much family influence that most won't switch to Christianity if the family doesn't approve. It prevents lots of obstacles when trying to share the gospel, not that it's legal to share gospel! I got the opportunity to go to her Aunt's house and meet some of her family. We also went to her cousin's house and store to pray for her cousin. He was diagnosed with hepatitis years ago but it wasn't treated. There is free health care in this country but you have to bride the receptionist to see the nurse, bribe the nurse to see the doctor, and bribe the doctor to give you a diagnosis. Since it wasn't treated , it has since progressed to liver cancer. She is praying for a miraculous healing with the hope that the display of God's power will be a witness to her family. Her family members are not believers. We had to cut our prayer time with him short since it was drawing too much attention. She didn't want the neighbors to start to ostracize them and their store. Her cousin, though an unbeliever, thanked us for praying for him. Please also pray for the son of Uncle #7. (Odd as it sounds, they number their relatives and call them by their number!) He has a wife and 2 children.

There's a lot more to say and a lot of pictures. Some of the pictures are on Facebook. I can't wait to share of my experience in person! We topped off our trip by shopping in the city before we flew out and midnight. Lots of bargains to be had after haggling over the price. I managed to get some deals!