Thanksgiving in Dibagat

Part of picking a ministry location is doing lots of research in order to really understand how God is already working in the area. Cole and I spent two days in Dibagat celebrating Thanksgiving and asking tons of questions. In this small village the New Testament was translated by some very faithful missionaries about 35 years ago. Their work has been greatly used by God. 

With the New Testament and portions of the Old Testament translated all that's needed are teachers willing to go. We've made three trips into this area and have met three great young men who are doing just that. With roughly 40,000 Isnag speakers there is much more to be done in the surrounding villages. That's where our families believe we can be a part of sharing God's Word with the Isnag people. 

Language Jar Reboot

During furlough I had several people ask about the jar of beads we were using to show hours logged in Tagalog study last term. Well, I dropped the ball and never showed you where we left off. I'm not one for cliff hangers so here's the current level of beads. The green beads at the very top are the new beads added since we've been back.

To make a long story short, it's been decided that we will only learn two languages. This means that we will finish out Tagalog then move on to Isnag. It was foggy for a long time what language we would study next, but we finally got enough information and the green light from leadership to use Tagalog as our main trade language and Isnag as our ministry language.

Some of you have already realized that new beads means that Alex found a language helper! This helper has been such a good fit. It's like he's been doing this for years after only a few training sessions. Unfortunately for us he is a full time college student as well so Alex doesn't get to get in as much time as he would like. This means that we are still on the look out for another language helper to fill in the gaps.

This week is packed with great things. Our two language consultants are coming to help Alex and Cole fine tune their language learning. We'll celebrate Thanksgiving with them and our coworkers. Then the boys are going to take a trip out to Isnag land to visit a small church for their Thanksgiving Celebration. This church is one of the few small pockets of believers in the Isnag people group so we are excited to forge relationships there and see what God has in store for the future. He's been at work in hearts long before we ever arrive on the scene so it's always humbling to see the path that He has prepared ahead of time for us. Be on the look out next week for an update about their trip out to the village!

Settled and Searching

SETTLED

I'm not sure how it's October already. The last month has been packed with so many new things. New town, new house, new milestones for Hinley, new friends, new pediatrician, and the list goes on. Thank you for praying for us as we are adjusting to this new place.

Big prayers that were answered...

• We have a house! God provided a place in no time flat. We were shocked that we found a place so quickly. It took a bit of time to make it our own, but it feels like home.  All of our stuff made the move with no problems, and our coworkers are all settled in as well.

We don't rent the whole thing just one of the lower floors, for those of you who were wondering why there is a house on top of our house :)

• The guys were able to take a short trip into a village of the people group we plan to minister to the future. They had a great time talking with a pastor and an elder of a small church that we could potentially work with to see the gospel reach beyond this small village to the whole people group.  

• Hinley is doing so well. She has handled all the changes like a pro. There was some loss of sleep, but that's to be expected since we've been living in so many new places. She is growing so fast. She can already crawl around and pull herself up on things. She also loves playing with other kids and definitely notices when other little people are around.

Hinley and Aaro hanging out during Bible study.

• The car. It was fixed! (Great answer to prayer) Alex found out that an ignition coil had gone bad, but he was able to find it and change it. That solved the problem and he was able to make the 11 hour drive from Manila up to Tuguegarao. Unfortunately, we are having different issues with it now. It's been to the mechanic twice now. We'll see if this latest fix does the trick.

SEARCHING

Now the next big thing we need to tackle is finding a language helper for Alex. Please be in prayer for this. It's a big deal to find someone who is capable and has time. We've already been in touch with a couple of local pastors, but haven't heard anything yet.

Part of my search as a mom was finding a pediatrician for Hinley. I'm happy to say that through the recommendation of another missionary mom we were able to take Hinley in for her 6 month appointment to a doctor that we really liked and felt did a great job.

There is also so much planning and decision making we have as a team (Us and the Hinderagers) : what our specific goals are in the village, what location we want to move to, how we'll function together as a team, etc... Please keep us before the Lord. The weight of the path laid before us is immense. We know that we don't shoulder the burden because God is the one changing hearts not us, but the gravity of what we hope to see come to pass is often on our minds. We are completely inadequate for what lies ahead, but that's the way the Lord works... in the midst of the weakness, not in the absence of it.

Every Kilometer A Thankful Heart

     It's been little over a week now and our time has been going well. We've seen God's faithfulness again and again. We just got home from our short trip to Bataan. It's a three hour drive from where we are staying. We had such a good time catching up with our friends and church. 

     On the drive back home, we stopped at a rest stop on the expressway/interstate to grab lunch. That's when things got a little shaky, the car that is. Our car started shaking in a very worrisome manner while it was idling. At this point we've already been praying that God would keep our air conditioner running so why not add shaking that rocks the entire car into the prayer mix. Alex checked all the fluids and asked if there was a mechanic at the gas station. No such luck, so we tried the next exit with the same results. We decided to just press on since the oil wasn't low and the issue only presented itself in idle. As we were driving down the interstate we prayed together that God would get us home. We knew that Manila traffic was ahead which means lots of stopping and idling.  Maybe some of you are like me when you pray. You know, you ask God to do something like keep your car running so you don't break down on one of the busiest streets in Manila, then in the back of your mind your actually making plans for when the car breaks down in the middle of the road, you know... just in case God isn't listening.

Matthew 17:20 "Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

I didn't need enough faith to move a mountain; I just needed enough to get our car to the guest house. That's exactly what God did by the way. We never came to a complete stop on one of the busiest streets in Manila (that never happens!). Have you seen a mustard seed? It's ridiculously tiny, and I don't even have that most of the time. I have such a small, fragile faith. The Holy Spirit has this gentle way of convicting us and teaching us at the same time. As every kilometer passed my heart became more and more thankful. God is really nurturing my minuscule faith, and making it into something beautiful. Granted it's a slow process with a scaredy-cat like me. I feel like a tiny sprout reaching up for the light who needs the Gardener to come along and tend it. At least I'm in good company. Look at who Jesus chose as his disciples. 

Matthew 17:14-20 When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.” “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “How long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment. Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Praise God from whom all blessings flow, 

• We are through the worst of jet lag. Now we sleep as well as anyone else who has a 5 month old.
• Alex had a safe trip while picking up our car.
• We just had a wonderful visit with our church and friends from Bataan.
• All of our belongings look great! We don't have to throw anything out. I couldn't find any mold in the house at all, just lots of dead bugs... Big Ones. Yuck!
• Hinley was a little champion the whole trip! Even with skipped naps, and lots of brand new things and people to meet she did great.

Pray to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,

• That we figure out what is going with our car before Alex has to make the 12 hour drive up north.
• For Alex, he has a bit of a stomach bug.
• We are getting together with a couple of our Language Consultants early next week. They'll be helping us get back in gear for language study.
• We are going to immigrations next week to get Hinley's paperwork finished.
• Also next week, we will be flying up north to look for a new house and possibly the guys will do some survey work.
• We are still trying to get in touch with the movers who will transport all our belongings up north.

God Even Cares About a Blankie - Our Trip back to the Philippines

     We're back in the Philippines! It's 4:30 a.m here as I'm writing this. We've been up for an hour already so we're right in the middle of the delights of jet lag, but it's been getting better every night.

     We had a really good trip from Oregon. Honestly, we knew people were praying for us. It started out with a 4 hour drive to Seattle, during which Hinley only cried for about 20 min and we only hit 30 min of traffic. A great start to a very long journey. We stayed the night at a hotel, and took a shuttle to the airport in the morning. While waiting for the shuttle, I was standing in the lobby of the hotel babysitting our luggage and our daughter as Alex was putting the car seat in. For no apparent reason, it hit me like a lightning bolt that I left Hinley's blankie on the bed in the hotel room. This is not just any blanket mind you, it's the blanket she uses for ALL of her sleeping. Parents, you know what I'm talking about. My heart started to race as I prayed that God would take care of her blanket. We had already turned in our room key, and told the cleaning people upstairs that the room was ready to be done! Hinley and I abandoned our luggage in the lobby, had the front desk make another card key, and raced to the elevators which were painfully slow. As the doors opened a nice Spanish speaking man was rolling away two laundry carts. Of course I was thinking that her sweet little blankie was mixed up in all those sheets. I tried to tell him about my problem, but there was an obvious language barrier as he kept saying, "Front Desk". All I could think of was Tagalog, no help at all! He continued down the hallway, and I waited for the elevators AGAIN... soooo slow. I finally ran into the room to find her blanket draped on a chair with all the other sheets.

Hinley was very perky at midnight... We were not :)

The infamous blankie pictured here. The yellow and white one.

   














                                 Sweet relief and praise for such a small mercy that didn't feel small to me. There's no reason I should have remembered that blanket. I had a thousand other things on my mind, but God in his tender care brought it to mind. He cares about all the details, and He wants us to come to Him with ALL our burdens, even one as small as a baby blanket. 

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

Hinley and Aaro

I felt like a T-rex trying to eat with tiny arms :)

     















                                              The rest of our trip was filled with special little details from God.

• Our carry on's were overweight but there was enough space in other bags so nothing was left behind.
• We got to travel with our partners, Cole and Hannah, and their two kids Cameron and Aaro.
• Our flight was only 11 hours when we were expecting 12.
• The lady on the end of the row asked to trade seats with us which gave us the pair of seats where the arm rest pulled up out of the way.
• Hinley fell asleep in the bassinet right before the food came.
• She only slept about 5 hours out of 24, but she was happy basically the whole time.
• We were able to find a quiet spot during the layover.
• All of our luggage made it.
• Immigrations was a cake walk.
• We caught a taxi so easily. 
• Tagalog came back so quickly as we chatted with our taxi driver.

     We were completely exhausted, but the trip went so well. Praise God, He really does hear the prayer of His people. Thank you for bringing us before His throne of grace. 

Continue praying for...

• Hinley's visa
• Jet Lag
• Moving all of our belongings
• Finding a house
• Traveling
• Doing some survey trips
• And a flurry of other things that need to get done.