Building Our Co-Worker's Home

     House building is a lot of fun and a lot of work. We are amazingly blessed to have help from a contractor who has spent a lot of time in the Philippines. He's made the work speed up 10 fold not just because of his house building knowledge but also because of his Philippine experience. Despite having to wait out two big typhoons and only being able to stay out at the work site for about a week at a time we've accomplished so much in just 3 months. The hardest part of all of this has been leaving our families in town while we work in our ministry location. 

     

     Next week I'll be ordering the lumber for our house! Our co-workers will be in the states for the next few months to have their baby. While they're away I'll be working on a few projects on our property and starting the foundation of our house. God, working through our sending churches, has FULLY FUNDED our house project. That is obviously a huge blessing but it also means I can choose some higher quality materials so that, Lord willing, I will never have to deal with them again. Things like better quality batteries and better roofing material will make it so that we can focus on the task at hand, spreading the gospel. 

The beginning of block work

Puting floor joists on

The first wall up

Roofs done

Plywood walls

First Two Projects At Our Soon-To-Be Home

     We're moving fast toward moving into our soon to be home. Cole and I are making trips back and forth to get little projects done before we begin work on their house. We've already got a large water tank made that will service our teams houses and also the land owners house. We've already been hugely blessed with the skill level of the guys there and they're excited to work! Some days we actually have too much help. One day we had 16 men working for us! 

The beginning of our ferro-cement tank.

First layer of cement being stuck to two layers of wire mesh.

 

The complete 5,000L tank.

     Our second completed project is the septic tank. It took three full days of digging with 4-5 guys in the hole all day. The hole ended up being 13' X 7' X 7'. 

The start of our hole.

Complete hole for two chamber septic tank.

Cole with a few of the guys.

Finishing up the tank.

Next to me is one of the local pastors we hope to work closely with in the years to come.

     Our plan now is to start work on our partners house this coming month. It's really exciting to see relationships being built with the people we will be ministering to. Pray for us as we begin the big job of building two houses! Pray that the rain won't hinder progress. 

Dibagat Youth Camp

Cole and I had a great time helping out at the Dibagat Youth Camp. It was an amazing opportunity to meet the young people from around the area we hope to be ministering in soon. Watch the video to see the great time we had!

Head First Into the Deep End

                             Isaiah 43:2

When you go through deep waters,
    I will be with you.

Oh that feeling, a mix of excitement and suspense, as you step up to the edge of something new. Staring into the deep can be unnerving. We are willingly going in way over our heads! But God's grace has been deeper still, and staring into the depths of his love is an anchor for our souls.

We've been moving towards the "deep end" for a long time now. The time has finally come to dive in head first! Alex passed his final Tagalog language evaluation! This means we are closing that chapter and moving on. We are officially doing full time PGA (People Group Assessment). This is the process of deciding all the specifics of our long term ministry.

Alex and Cole will be spending a lot of time in the coming months making trips out to villages and towns to gather more information and connect with people. It's quite the undertaking so we desperately need prayer. The guys also have a great opportunity to share during communion on Easter Sunday at a small church out in one of the villages. We are really looking forward to connecting to this body of believers on a deeper level. Who knows how God will use those relationships for His glory, our growth, and the spread of the gospel.

We have SO many pivotal decisions to make. Please pray with us as we...

• Make final decisions on what language we will minister in. (Yeah it's complicated!)
• Continue to better understand the people group we are going to be living with.
• Search for a strategic place to base our ministry in.
• Get in touch with people who have the authority to let us move in to their area.
• Find land to build a house.
• Eventually build said house.
• All the while, laying foundations for the gospel to be preached.

Like I said, head first! I think we're going to need some arm floaties. 

Looking Back and Looking Forward

2017, it was honestly a blur so we'll give you the non-blurry, nutshell version of our highlights. Then we'll lay out our hopes and dreams for 2018.

We started out our year in Indiana, where we had our baby girl (the best thing about 2017!) and spent time with our church and family. We moved to Oregon in the spring and finished our furlough there. We returned to the Philippines in August and life got even blurrier. But this is the nutshell version so we'll leave out the whirlwind details. We moved to northern Luzon, and Alex picked up where he left off in Tagalog study. We finished out the year by celebrating the holidays with friends and refocusing on our plans for the upcoming year.

That leads to... drum roll please....2018! Do I dare write down all that we hope to see come to pass? It's intimidating to say what we hope for because of the disappointment that follows if it doesn't happen.

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." Prov 13:12.

We are certainly longing to "get our hands dirty" for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our goal is to finish Tagalog study by early March. We can then get into full time PGA (People Group Assessment). This is a time and labor intensive process that involves many trips to the region we'll be ministering in. It's the beginning of so many relationships that we hope to see grow into a mature church one day. This process helps us decide where to build our home, how we will approach ministry, and who our primary audience will be. There's even a possibility we could start studying the Isnag language this year if everything moves along.

Prov 16:9 "The mind of a man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." This verse brings so much comfort and excitement. What relief to know that the Lord is the one in charge of all this, and how exciting that He wants us to be a part of the planning process. It's such an honor to be a part of what God is doing to build His church.

Maybe this time next year we'll be writing you from our new home out in the middle of the jungle!

                                       
                                                  This little cutie wants to wish you a happy new year!