Saturday and full of adventure

Saturday morning welcomed us with cloudy skies and rain soon to follow. We had planned for a good tour down to the beach front so we waited out the rain through breakfast and mid-morning the clouds broke to what would be a very sunny day. Since this was our first trip south together, the pastor was kind to show us all that he could. First stop would be a meditation center nested up into the side of a mountain. From the view there you can see the entire shore line of the "long islands". Peaceful. Beautiful. Nothing is better than experiencing God's glory with the people you love. We laugh here because the pastor had told us before that we would be climbing 100 steps up the mountain...that was partially true! There were, in fact, 100 steps after we had walked quite a way in the forest to the steps. I actually almost titled this post "plus plus" because we say that we went 100 steps "plus, plus".

We comfy-ed ourselves back into the car and he drove us out to a little chapel. This particular chapel has deep meaning because this is where the people will come from miles away to light a candle...burning as a desperate prayer...prayer that a loved one would be able to enter into heaven from purgatory. There were little sari-sari stores surrounding selling candles for such occasion. The grim atmosphere made me sad and gave me a heavy heart. Desperately seeking hope without being able to find it...The low flicker of the candles would eventually burn out and then so does their faith...the process will start over again. {Lord, send a preacher to that people so that they may hear the truth of you.}

The beach would be the next to welcome us. We originally had heard of the waves' reputation for bringing surfers from far and wide, but today, we would see them for ourselves. This was not a good swimming beach, no white sands, only a hard coral-like surface for our tippie-toes...good thing we went ahead and purchased some water socks! So many shells to collect; we even took a few live ones home by accident, but I promise we let them go safely. As the waves rolled in, their sound could be heard before one could see them...First time I have ever seen waves like that~truly amazing! I have never had the desire to surf, but looking into the funnel of the waves, I can certainly understand the temptation.

After lunch we got ambitious to say the least. Paul, Karissa, and myself joined May, Daniel, and Joey for a walk to look over into the area where the rocky edge darts out into the path of the waves. The waves come in and crash against the edge which causes water to spray up into the air several meters. We could see a little of the action from where we had set up our camp for the day, so we walked to get a better look. Here's where we temporarily lost our minds; we decided that instead of just looking over the edge, maybe we should climb down and walk along the 2nd plateau to get a little closer. Oh my word....it was incredible, but I have never seen so many sea urchins in one place before! Ok, let's be honest, I had not ever seen a sea urchin until earlier that day, and now, there was new meaning to the phrase "watch your step"! We ended up walking further and further away just looking for a better place to climb back up...this took us right into the path of the crashing waves. We were no longer viewing them, we were part of them! No danger, just total awesomeness! {Photos to follow soon} We had a wonderful time...we were sore {I think we walked more than a mile out, or at least it felt like it!} and VERY sunburned, but it was worth every bit...definately one of those "once in a lifetime" moments. So glad Karissa was able to enjoy it with us.

Sleep would come without struggle...so grateful for that! No aloe, just Vasoline...oh, so greasy! Sunday would be a new day...God was already working on the souls who would meet Him for the first time...more on that later!

Ain't nothing like the South!

DAY ONE: Friday morning April 25 we boarded our flight along with Ptr. Primo Tabanda, his wife and grandson; and Ptr. Tom Raguirag and his wife. They are all such fun people to be around so right away we knew that we would be in for a good time. By the time we made it onto the airplane there were many times we had heard Karissa say "I have never seen that before"...that was a trend that was set for the entire trip which would bring much laughter. I must also add here that there were many things that even the 30-year veteren missionary had never experienced so in a way that brought some comfort.

Our flight was a relaxing 1 hour and 15 mins. The highlight of the flight was a toss up between walking the tarmac in the rain with a "complimentary" umbrella or the "in-air games" that the crew led. I think we were so busy laughing at that idea that we couldn't even hear what was happening with the game much. Hospitality at it's finest {I guess}.

After Karissa picked up her confiscated weapons, we were taken to grab a little lunch and then we were off to visit the MacArthur Memorial while we were still in Leyte. The memorial is placed at the exact spot where General Douglas MacArthur returned to the Philippines in 1944. It was quite overcast and the heavens opened up to pour down on us as we were leaving, but it was a wonderful site to see and we were all very excited to have the opportunity.

Day one ended with travel by car from the island of Leyte to the island of Samar. The four hour drive delivered us to Ptr. Raguirag's house for dinner and then off to the hotel for the remainder of the night. As with any roadtrip we would come away with laughter that cannot be explained to anyone absent and memories to last a life time.

Award for the best one-liner of the day: ".....For a bear!"

~~Coming in at 2nd place: "The more you hate, the more you love"

Bear with me, there is much to share. I will be posting the events of the trip according to days so hopefully day 2 will be processed this evening. Until then....

Bored?

The other day was a bit of a boring one at the start, so Karissa and I brainstormed a little about what we could be doing other than just sitting staring at each other. This is what we came up with: Make Sarah a shirt out of a piece of material I have held onto for about 5 years now! I just fell in love with it & I really thought we did a great job considering we had no official pattern to follow. There were only scraps left over from the material also, but I just hated to throw them out, so another idea blossomed...make a matching head band! Don't have pics of that one just yet, but the first time she wears them both together, maybe I can get one then.

Upcoming trip:

We are so excited this week because we are preparing to go on a "missions" trip of sorts. Some of you may remember when we travelled to Sorsagon last year to help canvas the area for a new church plant. We have been invited back this year for their 1 year anniversary but in addition to our visit there, we have also been invited to come and celebrate with Pastor Tom Raguirag in Guiuan, Samar in his anniversary as well, and will be taking a tour of 2 other works in Samar that were started by the same pastor. Pastor Raguirag holds a special place in Paul's life as it was a trip with Ptr. Tom that God used to call Paul back to the Philippines. One of the churches we will visit is the one where Paul helped move him and his family to start the work there back in high school.

Last year we took a ride with a group of members from San Juaquin and made the 14 hr drive to Sorsagon. This year, we will have the opportunity of flying into Leyte and driving through Samar and then we will take a bus ride and ferry over into Sorsagon before we fly home from there. What a difference flying makes...we will be in the air for only 1 hour! Praise the Lord for His deliverance! I have included a map to indicate the amount of travel that lies in wait for us. In addition to the many experiences with the churches we will have the opportunity of veiwing the Macarthur Memorial there in Leyte.

We would like for you to be in prayer for us as we make this trip. Paul, his dad, Karissa, and I will be making this trip as well as many others from San Juaquin, however, Paul's mom and the kids will remain here in Iba during that time. Thursday we will hold the BBS graduation in Manila and our flight will leave Friday morning....the trip will total 10 days. We are praying that God would supply all the needs of those who are here at home, that God would protect us in the travel, and that many will be reached with the gospel during our meetings there. This trip is an incredible opportunity and I have to admit that satan is already beginning to start the struggles with fear and doubt...I know that God will do an amazing work and that we will experience life-changing events, so I am also adding to the prayer list that satan would be bound and that God's work would not be hindering in any way....even in the way of attitudes, etc. Thank you for the prayers in advance.

*Updates will follow upon our return as we will not have internet access during our time away*

Introducing.....

I would like to introduce my son, Jared, to the blogworld out there. He is 12 years old and has decided that he would like to start his own blog; a way to portray "life in the Philippines" from his point of view. You can read his first couple of writings here. Also, make sure you add him to your subscription list, I'm sure you wouldn't want to miss anything! {shameless advertising at it's best!}

Thank you for your support!

Family Camp 2008

Each year, just before Easter, the fellowship of churches founded under Paul's dear parents, come together for family camp. It is a real blow-out event. Entire families travel many hours in order to make this annual happening.

The focus this year was "What Matters Most in the Christian Family?" Teachers prepared topical lessons, Choirs and soloists alike present their best specials, Musicians play their hearts out, Preachers preach God's Word with power, Sports teams bring their uniforms for "official" play, Bible school students prepare their thesis presentation, Children come for a week of VBS fun, Trophys are purchased, Hearts are challenged, Souls are saved, Lives are surrendered...God moves in the midst of His people! It is a wonderful experience and we were even more grateful to play a part this year than the last.

This year our special guest speaker would be Pastor Steve Brown and his wife Cathy from 1st Baptist Church of Meadowview. What a hoot! Ptr. Steve was in no lack of excitement and interest from the get go. Oh, we had so much fun watching him with these other pastors. He had developed a plan to surprise the crowd each night as he arrived to preach. He rode in on a motorcycle, he was delivered in a tricycle, he was carried in on a stretcher, then the final night he intended to ride in on a karabou, but the crazy thing ran away on us, so the pastors pulled him in on the work cart instead....like I said, what a hoot! Let's not forget that he challenged dad and, the MC for the week, Ptr. Garcia to go down the mudslide with him on Friday afternoon. And I am happy to say, that yes, they went! I have the pictures to prove it! There was definately not a dull moment.

Aside from his silliness, his messages were wonderfully prepared and God spoke directly through him to the hearts of the people. After each service, there was no lack of bent knees at the altar...what a beautiful sight to behold. 26 became new believers while over 20 surrendered to fulltime service {there were a couple of men ready to start preaching had they been given the chance}! We also witnessed the baptism of 5 on Friday afternoon. Praise the Lord!

I didn't even mention Mrs. Cathy yet....Let me tell you, that lady was a wonderful encouragement to me personally, but from the sounds of our ladies, she blessed their hearts just the same. She brought 3 beautiful lessons to the pastor's wives and graced us with her singing each service. We didn't get her down the mudslide, but it wasn't because we didn't try! She was an overall blessing; we were all so grateful that she was able to accompany Ptr. Steve on his visit.

Photos are in the posting process, so be sure to check back for the mudslide chronicles. Available now are albums for the following {just click on the photo}:

Thoughts from the kids...

I asked the kids to help me with a writing assignment. My voice is heard quite often, but I wanted to share something from them. I asked them to either write a story or a list of their thoughts on their first year in the Philippines.

Jared made a list of the things he has enjoyed about his new life so far:

*Made new friends

*Flew for the first time in an airplane

*Tried new foods

*Learned more Tagalog

*Learned how to drive a tricycle

*Got a great new house

*Learned a little bit about cooking

*Found out that life is not easy. Well, not as easy as it sounds.

*God is faithful

Sarah decided to make hers' more of a categorized list:

*Scary things-

*Filipinos staring at me all the time.

*Things I learned-

*God takes care of me whenever I have a need

*Answered Prayers-

*Friends

*For the kids in the school to not be mean to me anymore

Rachel wrote a short paragraph about her friends {because that is the best part about it all to her}:

I like my friends because they taught me how to speak Tagalog and they care for me and my teacher is nice and everyone is nice to me.

I sat down with Jonah to get his thoughts or ideas and he indicated to me that he is happy that he has his Thomas to play with...Priorities people...priorities!

I am so thrilled that the kids participated in this project...I love how you see the individuality in the way that God met each one of them, yet He also filled the universal need of relationship in all of them. Isn't that just like Him. He is so personal...I am so thankful that the kids are seeing that in their lives as well.