Christmas and New Years in the Philippines

Ahhh, the "ber" months. In the Philippines we celebrate Christmas during the "ber" months. The "ber" months are about to come to an end here in just a few hours. Please don't get confused with the "brrrrrrr" you might be thinking of, as you are snuggled up in your cozy sweater, adding another log to your fire, and sipping hot chocolate. No, the "ber" I am talking about has to do with the names of the months...September, October, November, and December. Christmas music and decorations begin the first day of September, and continue through the end of December. Today as I was in the grocery store, listening to Christmas music, I thought to myself, "hmmm, the next time I'm here, there probably won't be Christmas music any more." Considering the fact that we've been in the Philippines now for six months, two-thirds of that time has been blanketed with Christmas music. Interesting. It just might seem like a different place :)

As I am writing this, there is already a kacauphany of booms and pops going off in the surrounding neighborhood. The main street outside of our subdivision has been lined with fire-work stands and the traffic has come to an almost standstill due to the throngs of people purchasing fire works. Those of us who are accustomed to fire-works being illegal are really enjoying the opportunity arrising tonight. Actually, since about the 20th of December, there have been numerous fire-crackers sounding in the distance. At first, it is a little unsettling, and then you just get used to the continuous booming. If you are lucky, and look up at just the right time, you will actually get to enjoy the experience. Usually, we are too late...the smoke is there, but the twinkle of the lights is finished.

Tonight we will go up to the school, which overlooks the city, and enjoy the sights and sounds of so many people welcoming in the new year. We too will accompany the multitude of people in decorating the sky with twinkling explosives :) There are certain guidelines and rules that the school has imposed, and we are grateful for those guidelines. The school has opened up the soccer field for use as a platform to let off fire-works. We are looking forward to this fun show!

We spent our Christmas time with as many people as we could be around, so that the sting of being so far away from our loved ones would be a bit neutralized. However, no matter what we tried, there is a hole that simply cannot be filled. However, we did have many wonderful times of celebration, and boy do these people love to celebrate the holidays! We spent the three days leading up to Christmas with one of the gals from the school staying with us. She was spending her first Christmas away from family, and we thought she might like the crazy Zane household, since our family is the same size as hers. Then on Christmas Day, we enjoyed our morning together as our little nucleus family, and in the afternoon, another family who were spending their first Christmas away from home came to join us for Christmas Dinner.

The day after Christmas, we left the city with another family, the Taylors, and headed up into the mountains to excape the heat. The weather was wonderful and we actually got to build a fire in the fire-place. Wow! It was fun. We did some sight seeing in the town, and just enjoyed the time together. The two highlights for me was when we visited the Easter Weaving Company. This is a place where women continue to weave cloth in the old traditional fassion. It was fascinating to see how complicated, yet how simple it was to them. The other highlight to me was when we let the kids go horseback riding. I am certain that the picture you have in your mind of our kids going horse back riding is completely different than it actually was. However, they had a really great time doing this, and we have fun stories to tell about it.

Here are two links to some slide shows of the Easter Weaving and the horses....

http://picasaweb.google.com/zaneyconnections/EasterWeavingBaguio

http://picasaweb.google.com/zaneyconnections/HorsebackRidingInBaguio

As the new year is closing in on us, I can't help but wonder what the Lord has in store for us this coming year. This past year has taken us to so many different places, with so many different adventures. Please be praying for us as we really try to dive into individual relationships with the people here. I have approached one woman about doing a bible study with me, and really want the Lord to either open that door, or close it. She has very limited English, and of course my Tagalog is even more limited. I have an audio Bible in Tagalog, and we can just use the scripture and invite the Holy Spirit to interceede and to do his wonderful works.

Thank you once again for all you have done to make it possible for us to be here. I have been so appreciative of the way our Church organization has made it possible for missionaries to be out on the field. Sometimes I hear the struggle of people who are raising their support individually, and I am just so thankful for our Nazarene Churches who love and support their missionaries.

We pray that you have had a very blessed Christmas Season, and will enjoy the closing of the year 2007, and welcome all that the Lord has in store for the new year, 2008. May God bless you in ways you have never experienced. May his presence become more real to you, and may you fall deeper and deeper in love with the Savior who came to the earth as a babe so many years ago.

Happy New Year!!!!

A Few Stories

We have been privileged to hear some wonderful stories recently and I want you to have the pleasure of hearing them...



Winston was a school mate of Sam. After Sam's father was in a fatal accident that put Sam in a coma for a short time and seriously wounded, Sam recommitted his life to serving Jesus Christ. Winston saw the new life that Sam had been given and committed his life to serving Jesus Christ. Winston's family were not believers and Winston began diligently praying for his family. This was 1999. After a time, Winston got the pleasure of leading three of his cousins to accept Jesus Christ as their savior. Those three cousins also began praying for the unsaved members of their family. After a time, all three of those cousins got to experience the joy of watching their mothers (three separate ladies) accept Jesus Christ as their saviour. One of these three girls started running a "cell group" or small group Bible study at her college. That group is now running approximately 60 college students. Most recently, one of the girls mothers watched as her alcoholic husband requested, on his birthday, to not have any party, but to have the Pastor over to help invite Jesus Christ to be Lord and Master. Please pray for these wonderful people. they love the Lord with all their heart, and they are truly contagious Christians.


The Band that plays for Taytay First Church recently participated in a National Band Competition. They competed with people from all over the Philippines, from all walks of life and all sorts of religious beliefs. The band decided it was a perfect opportunity to witness and performed a song with an evangelical message. When the competition was at it's final moment, the judges awarded our band with the national title and stated that they were not only a great band, but that they were the only group that had lyrics that had a message. In March, the band will travel outside of the Philippines to compete in another competition seeking the title covering all of Asia. What an incredible testimony each one of these guys have.

Interesting Needless Information

I just thought you might enjoy some trivia. Along the roads/streets, there are numerous "billboards" as in the States. However, these billboards are much larger, and they are actually tarpaulins. Here is the trivia, when a typhoon threatens, they take them all down. I thought it was quite interesting. Here are two pictures...one with the tarpaulins up and one with them down :)

Whew...City life is CRAZY!!!

The last time I wrote was before thanksgiving. We've done quite a bit in the last couple weeks!

Jon had a very fun Thanksgiving feast at school with both 1st and 2nd grade together. They all dressed up as either Indians or pilgrims. The kids all put on a brief skit (1st grade) and Jon's class recited a poem. Then, Jon got the privilege of reading scripture to all of us. Then each child had prepared previously, something they were thankful for, and one by one, each child went up to the microphone and told us what they were thankful for. Jon said, "I am thankful that we came to Manila because I have such great friends."

We celebrated Thanksgiving with several other families associated with Faith Academy on Thanksgiving Day. We had a really nice time...turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, pumpkin pie, apple pie... :) We missed the Green Bean Casserole though :) Then on Saturday afternoon, we celebrated with all the Nazarene Missionaries. It was a wonderful time! More of all that wonderful food...including Green Bean Casserole :) We met at one of our homes and it was decorated so nice...twinkle lights, lots of harvest vegetables for decoration...great fellowship and such a pleasant night, gathering together in thanksgiving.

Saturday morning, we took Andy to his first rugby tournament. The weather was a little "iffy." We were being teased by a typhoon that was just sitting off the shore, twirling away, gaining strength. However, it sat there long enough to change it's course, and it headed north and didn't interrupt the rugby! The boys were all quite happy. Andy's team played four games that morning. They were nice and dirty, and a bit on the tired side when it was finished. They did well, and learned a lot!

Luke was involved in the middle school Band and Choir Concert. Luke is not in either of those, but he is in beginning guitar, and the guitar classes also performed in this special occasion. They all did really wonderful!

We took an afternoon and headed down town to get fingerprinted for part of our visa process. This was a rather long event, mostly because of traffic. We left our house at 11:30 in order to get downtown for our 2:30 appointment. We grabbed some lunch on the way, and got there just before 3:00. They took us in and we were completed by 4:30. Fortunately we went through the process with someone directing us because it would have been completely overwhelming without her! We came home a different direction because the we were going to get caught in rush-hour traffic. We did not escape it, but we did go via several areas we had never been before. We finally made it home by 9:00 pm. It was a really long, slow drive home.

One of the areas we went by was the "Smokey Mountain Project" Area. These people used to live in the area of Manila's largest dump site, rummaging, and doing what ever necessary to live, day to day. The government, along with Asian Development Bank came in and built places for these people to live, rather than the squatter homes they build on their own. We drove by both the dump and the housing project. The people have been living there for several years now, and they have added on and made their "apartments" even larger by building on to the sides. Take a look. If you are interested in more info on this, just put in "Smokey Mountain Remediation Project" into your search engine. It is an amazing thing. Jon's class is collecting items to give to (just a fraction) of these kids for Christmas. There are an estimated 50,000 people currently living in this area.

Jon's class put on a "Christmas Chapel" and we got to go to that. It is so fun how many opportunities our kids have here at this school.

This weekend we went to another set of games for Andy. It is really amazing the schools we have gone to so far. They are way beyond any high school I have ever set foot on. The only two schools we have been at so far have been international schools. They will also play a military school down south. There are a couple other schools, but I don't know much about them...yet :) This particular field is an AstroTurf field. Andy's cleats actually came home clean instead of muddy!

We've also successfully decorated our house for Christmas! I had to get the fan in the room and get the sweat off my brow as I was putting up the fake Christmas tree. It was pretty funny. I decided it was very similar to putting up the tree with too much wood in the fire place. Anyway, we are enjoying all the festivities that the season has to offer. It seems like we've already had plenty of Christmas celebrations, but there are several more yet to come :)

We love you!!! Thanks for visiting our site!!

Crisis Care Kits

There were some very helpful folks in Redding who gave money for Crisis Care Kits (CCK) to be shipped to Manila in our container. We unloaded them and put them in a storage room. A few days later, the District Superintendent from the Bicol area came and loaded up several of the kits to take home. Just this past week, the Bicol area was hit by two different typhoons. They were not near as devastating as the typhoon that devastated the area last December, but it is good to know that thanks to many of you from Redding, and all of you who donate CCKs, they have the resources available to pass out.

If you are reading this in an email, you can (hopefully) click on this link and you can watch the slide show. Otherwise, the slide show can be watched right on this blog page :)

http://picasaweb.google.com/zaneyconnections/20070928CrisisCareKits

Thanks to everyone who has ever participated in CCK!!!

Mari in the Mirror

Mari found a friend in my room the other day :) She came in and climbed up the little step ladder that was sitting right in front of the mirror. She was pleasantly surprised to find a beautiful little girl staring right back at her. I wanted to share the moment with you...and show you her cute new hair doo.

Foot Spa!

Isaiah 52:7 "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns!"

Thanks for allowing us to be here! Thanks for letting us be the ones to come here and experience God at work! Even amongst the homesickness and culture shock, it is such a privilege to be here as missionaries, doing that which God has called us to. It really amazes me that God has brought us to this place, for such a time as this!

We recently got the privilege of going on missionary retreat with all of the team here. Some of the kids we hadn't even met yet. We went to a resort on the beach for three days. We got to have meals together, swim together, snorkel together, laugh together, cry together, pray together and have communion together. This was the first time the team here has joined all together for such an event. Saturday night we had a blessed time together, praying for one another, lifting up the work here, and praying for the souls of those who have not yet met Jesus.

The work of APRC has just been bustling! The first contracted project has just about been completed. Our first project was to call all the Nazarene Mission International (NMI) presidents stateside, using voice-over-internet-phones to heighten awareness of Nazarene Compassionate Ministries (NMC)...sorry, that's a lot of acronyms in one paragraph :) There were five employees calling from Manila to all 4900+ NMI presidents in the states. All five of the employees took opportunities to pray with each president, and after just a few phone calls, all of them were reporting how exciting it was to pray for these individuals in their work involving missions. Wow! There are some other projects in the beginning stages that will all be internationally done. It is really exciting days for APRC. Please pray for continued guidance as we look to find the right people to be doing the contracted work. Growth is always challenging, and the team that has been involved from the ground up are really feeling the stretching. It is exciting to see God at work, orchestrating the work coming together with the correct people to put into these places.

Andy tried out for the Rugby team last week, and was selected to be on the team. I think one of the coolest things that happened is that the week he had try-outs, the rest of us were home sick with the flue. God protected him from getting it, allowing him to be at every try-out practice. He is learning about balancing a crazy schedule with added practice and games. His first game will be on the 24th of November. We are looking forward to going and being the fan section :)

Today we went to the feeding program that was supposed to be at our church, and when we rolled in, noticing the lack of people there, we were told that it was at another site today. We quickly conferenced about changing our plans and headed to the other church with the group. The village we headed to is know as a "relocation" village. The residents are all people who used to be "squatters" (one who just claims some land and begins to live there, despite true ownership) and the government established specific locations where these individuals could buy land for a very minimal cost. It is a great thing for the high number of squatters here. The road in was rather muddy. The pastor joked before we headed in that if we got stuck, the kids could all push us out of the mud.

As we arrived, the sound of children's voices reciting scripture in Tagalog, erupted out of the windows of the church building residing behind the fence. There was a big banner across the front that said "Church of the Nazarene." As we came up to the door, 200 plus little pairs of shoes sat outside the door, their inhabitants inside the church. We proceeded into the church and there, 240 little faces looked up at us from their places on the floor. They sit there every Saturday, getting fed scripture and then getting fed rice and some sort of vegetable dish. You might be thinking...rice Christians...I don't know. What I do know is that these precious little children are getting fed the bread of life! They are there getting their precious "feet" cared for, so that they can go out and spread the good news to those back in their little houses. The children meet the Lord, and become little missionaries in their own place. They come to the church for a little "foot spa" so they can march out and continue the work into the places we can't go.

For one particular little girl, Mary Grace, she no longer needs to come get a foot spa. She used to come regularly. She used to get her "feet" cared for and she would go out and about, sharing what she learned. About one month ago, she went out for her last time, to the wrong place, and was killed. Mary Grace is with Jesus now, and I'm sure her feet are truly beautiful!

I want my feet to be beautiful. I want to share the Good News! How are your feet today? Maybe it's time for a spiritual "foot spa."

Miracle!!!

We want to thank you for your prayers regarding our visas!!! On Wednesday, we were granted our visas to stay in country for 2 years. WOW!!! For those of you who don't know, we were being told that we weren't going to get them because they were not convinced we were here to do missions work. We don't fit the normal mold with Eric having a Business Degree and myself being an RN. Nonetheless, God intervened, we got some extra paperwork, and now we are no longer "visitors." The great thing is that it only took 5 months. There are many people who didn't receive their visas for 1-2 years. We are praising God that this particular hurdle has been accomplished. Thanks for your prayers!

Trick or Treat Outreach

We pooled our resources and whipped up a quick little "harvest" party for the kids whose parents worked for the Seminary, and or on the campus. There were several houses on campus who were willing to be target homes for trick-or-treating, and then we set up a fun little "carnival" in our dining hall. It was really fun! The kids were all told to dress up, not scary, and come at 4pm. Then we gave them maps to the houses that were involved in the trick-or-treating, and they went around and filled up their shopping bags with goodies. When they returned back to the dining hall, we fed them hot-dogs, chips and drinks, then turned them loose on the few games we had scattered about.

It was so fun to see the MK's and the local kids intermingling and having so much fun together. We were in charge of the "fishing booth." Luke did the decorating of the outside of the booth. Andy helped the kids with their fishing skills. Most of these kids had never been fishing, and didn't know what it meant when the line was being tugged on :) However, Andy was there to guide the...he was a faithful fishing guide. Then, Luke took over the fishing guide job, and Jon came inside and clipped on toys to the end of the pole.

Some of the other games the kids played were "pin the nose on the pumpkin," "pumpkin toss," and we had a "cookie walk" rather than a "cake walk." The children really enjoyed themselves and it was a pleasure to interact with the whole family, not just the parents.

I've put in a brief slide show, of course, it's mostly of our kids, but you can get the general idea this way. Enjoy!

Childrens Outreach

The church has started a local outreach to the children who live in the local squatter areas. This was the second Saturday the program ran in Taytay. The church has been doing this in other communities, but this is the beginning of the outreach in this area. The boys went to help both the first Saturday, and then this second Saturday. The program is similar to a Bible School program, with Bible stories and singing, and then there is a meal provided.

The youth in the church go out to the local squatter areas and pass out tickets to the children and then the children have to present the tickets on Saturday to get in. The first Saturday there were about 50 kids. The second Saturday there were approximately 90.

It is a blessing to be a part of an outreach to these precious little people. Please pray for the continued blessing on the children's lives, that they will come to meet their Savior and then share Him with their families.

Green means GO!

Today, October 15, we dedicated the new Asia-Pacific Resource Center (APRC) office space!

Let me back up a little and give you some missing details :)

Shortly after we arrived here, a Work and Witness team from New Mexico got redirected here. They were supposed to go to another country, but the project fell through, so they were sent here...to us! They worked on the up and coming new library on campus part of the time, and the other time, they stripped and rebuilt the new office space for APRC. Half of the office is for the server room and the other half is for personnel. It was a wonderful surprise and a great experience! When the team left, they were able to finish most of it, but there were still details and finish work to be completed.

In the few months since the team has been gone, Eric's co-worker Danny has been diligently assigning tasks and hiring the necessary people to complete the office space. There were power issues that had to be corrected. There were new lines that had to be placed. There were air-con units that needed to be put in to ensure the server rooms stayed cool enough. There were security issues for safety. The list went on and on.

Remember the computer racks the guys carried up the stairs from our container? Well, Danny and Eric got to put all the goodies inside those and were constantly blessed and amazed at how God purposely placed inside the boxes all the equipment they needed to run the servers. A very special thanks to the gang from Redding who donated such incredible stuff!!! It's going to be great to see what God does with all this equipment.

This weekend, Danny got to plug it all together and this morning we had a wonderful time of dedication to the Lord's work inside this beautiful new office space. We enjoyed a time of singing together, devotions and a wonderful time of prayer offering the work that will be done in this new office to the Lord.

She's Really Walking!!!!!!!!!!

We have met a great milestone with Mari! I will officially say now that she is walking! She has been increasing her steps day by day...or maybe more like month by month, but she has just recently really taken off. Tonight Eric and Mari and myself were playing "catch" with a ball, and all the sudden she threw the ball aside and started walking to each one of us...playing catch with herself. She is choosing to walk more than crawl now, unless she really needs to get somewhere in a hurry :) Her record steps (as counted by Andy) were 48 steps! We are pretty certain she has walked more than that, but none of us are counting anymore. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy!!!

Valleys (con't) and Manna and Gifts

Exodus 16:4 "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day."

I'm still processing the idea of living in the valley and being thankful and blessed to have mountaintop experiences. I picked up a book that our dear friend Esther gave us several years ago, "God's Best for My Life," by Lloyd John Ogilvie. Of course, the Lord had more stuff to say to me..."We can learn how God has revealed Himself to us or others in previous concerns, but we cannot hold over spiritual strength from one event to the other. God gives us a new portion of His power and wisdom for each crisis so that we may discover the unique thing that He seeks to do in each situation, and with each person with whom we come in contact or for whom we are responsible." He related God's grace to the provision of daily manna to the Israelites. God told them to daily take only what they needed. If they hoarded more than they needed, it rotted and got sick and yucky. I was thinking that my wanting to be on the mountaintop and not in the valley is no different than hoarding the manna. Do I not trust God to give me the grace I need to make it through each and every day. What's wrong with being in the valley...in the ho-hum...in the reality that life isn't always giddy and exciting...in the tears, and the laughter. I need to trust God in the daily portion of grace that He has just waiting for me to partake of...all I need to do is to gather it.

As I'm thinking about daily gathering the "manna" in my life, those gifts that God has given me that remind me and show me of His grace for my life, I've seen a few really fun things. I was sitting at the kitchen table and looking out the window toward the cement wall with spikes and razor wire that surround my home. Unfortunately, I wasn't really finding any joy in that at the moment. Then, the Lord brought to my attention a beautiful pink blossom that I hadn't seen. It was on a plant outside the window that I had been curious about...it's first bloom since our arrival. It was gorgeous. I jumped up and took out my camera, and not only was there that one bloom, but down below, there were several more. It was a special gift for me to enjoy to remember that God is just waiting there, wanting to give me grace and "manna," if I will just take it.

Then I decided to go on a little journey around the house and take note of some of the special plants and flowers that God gave me. All around the house are beautiful pink amaryllis...I really don't know how to spell that. They are special to me because I always remember my mom getting one at Christmas. Then, when we were in PNG, our house helper brought several of them and planted them around our house there. There is also a beautiful bougainvillea plant that has been blooming constantly since we arrived. That also reminds me of my mother. She always grew one at home, and would have to bring it inside in the winter so it wouldn't freeze. There are gardenia bushes out front, and I have always loved them. All around our house, there are special gifts that God has planted and watered (which to me is really important because I'm not good at watering). This morning, the birds were right outside our window singing a beautiful worship medley to their creator, and invited me to listen to the chorus. Then the roosters chimed in and so did the dogs :) Those dogs must sing in the bass section!!!!!

To carry the "manna" analogy a little bit further, I have one more thought. Today is Sunday here...God told the Israelites to double up the amount of manna they collected on Saturday so that they wouldn't have to go out fetching manna on Sunday. This would allow them to spend the day in rest. I'm not really sure how I would double up on receiving God's grace on Saturday so that I can rest on Sunday...but I do know that today, God gave me a wonderful gift...one that I knew I would receive, but not sure in what form. Today I can honestly say that our precious girl is walking! You'll have to read the next post to get the rest of the story :)

To quote Lloyd Ogilvie, are you living on "stale grace?" Go out and get your collection of grace for today...it's just waiting for you to pick it up :) PTL!

Winepresses and Valleys

Have you ever been in the Napa Valley in California? It is truly beautiful place, especially in the fall! There are beautiful grape vines and rolling hills and rugged hills, and neat old historic buildings, and SO much character. I'm guessing right about now would be a wonderful time for a trip there. Maybe I'm missing the beginnings of fall. Maybe I'm simply homesick.


God has ever so gently been reminding me of a few things. If you like to read Oswald Chambers, then maybe you are on this journey with me, in your own way.


Here are a few of his quotes this week... "Grapes become wine only when they have been squeezed."


"I wonder what finger and thumb God has been using to squeeze you? Have you been as hard as a marble and escaped? If you are not ripe yet, and if God had squeezed you anyway, the wine produced would have been remarkably bitter. To be a holy person means that the elements of our natural life experience the very presence of God as they are providentially broken in His service."


"We are not made for the mountains, for sunrises, or for the other beautiful attractions in life— those are simply intended to be moments of inspiration. We are made for the valley and the ordinary things of life, and that is where we have to prove our stamina and strength. Yet our spiritual selfishness always wants repeated moments on the mountain."


"The height of the mountaintop is measured by the dismal drudgery of the valley, but it is in the valley that we have to live for the glory of God. We see His glory on the mountain, but we never live for His glory there. It is in the place of humiliation that we find our true worth to God— that is where our faithfulness is revealed. "

I do want to live my life up on the mountaintop. I don't want to come down into the valley to get squeezed. I don't like it. I don't like that my heart aches for people not here. I don't like that the enemy tries to distract me by making me long for places and people I can't be with right now.

The other day, as God so regularly does to me, pointed out a scripture in Isaiah 65:17 "...the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind." I am no theologian, but the way God comforted me with that verse this week was to help me understand that the homesickness I feel here in Manila will never be experienced in my eternal home, Heaven. When I finally get there, there will be no mourning for that which I have given up to be where God has called me.

I know that those things are experienced in a multitude of ways. Whatever the transition, there is always the euphoria of the mountain, and then the duldrum of the valley. Saying "yes" to God seems to put us up on the mountain. Living it out in the valley of Manila is where the reality begins. We are there. But God has promised to always be with us. As strange as this may sound, there is comfort in the fact that God doesn't expect me to live on the mountain. He does expect me to live in the valley. I have many times in my life felt frustration at not being on the mountain top, and I'm learning that not only is it ok, but Jesus didn't let his disciples build shelters on the mountain top. He made them go down into the valley.

How is God squeezing you? Are you on the mountain or in the valley?

Please keep us in your prayers as we march through the challenging times and tears of homesickness and culture shock.

We love you and miss you!

Container Arrival

WOW!!! I wish you could have all been here to just observe the process of unloading the container! We got a phone call telling us that our container would be arriving on the seminary campus between 12 and 1pm. The crazy thing was that Eric had numerous appointments that day and he couldn't be involved in the process at all. Enter Linda :) I arrived at the campus and waited for the container to do the same. In the mean time, the sky is getting darker and darker, and I'm thinking it looks a little bit like rain. At 3pm, they pulled in just a few minutes after the sky let loose of several gallons of water. The pastor who was the contact man didn't let the rain get in the way. The next thing I know is the truck is backing up to the office building, and the maintenance crew has all the necessary things to put a tarp up between the building and the container. It worked wonderfully. Then the moving team set to work, and in two hours, the container was empty and the truck was pulling out.

The most noteworthy thing that happened was when the five computer racks had to be carried up the stairs into the computer room. It took about ten guys to carry them. They certainly earned their pay that day.

We loaded all of our belongings into another truck and it was delivered to our house the following day. The maintenance crew had all of our stuff in our house in 30 minutes. They were great. Enjoy the pictures...

Many hands make light work.



Yes, all the way up those stairs, and up to the second floor of the building.

Even in the midst of grunts and groans, they could still smile.


Pastor Tommy and the maintenance crew that helped move our boxes in the house.

Mari was quite excited to find a box with her toys in it :)

Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!!!

Dear friends and family,

We would like to give you all a very special "Thank-you!"

We were able purchase a car last week (that "we" includes ALL of you). Thank you so much for giving to our deputation fund so that we could have transportation. I am continually overwhelmed by the number of people who have joined with us in this journey. We have been told that we got a really great deal on our car, and that it is in great condition. It is a 2003 Mitsubishi Adventure, and it seats between six and 10, depending on the size of the passengers :) We are also thankful to Virgil, who located the car for us. We are grateful for your ministry Virgil!

We are truly blessed to be part of your team. Thank you so much for enabling us to be here, and thank you so much for your continued prayers!

God bless you today as you serve in your field.

Bunk Beds and Farewell Crib

I have told some of you about the adventure of getting bunk beds, and thought it was about time I showed you the pictures. For those of you who haven't heard the story, there really isn't too much to it. We drove down the road and went to a furniture store along the side of the road, specialty...beds. Here is the picture...

We took a local pastor with us who could speak both English and Tagalog. We told them what we wanted, and they told us they would be done in three days. Great!!! On Saturday, they phoned us and said they were ready to deliver the beds (which we didn't know they would do, so we were quite pleased!) They brought them to the house, took them into the room and finished assembly. Here is the finished product with the contractors...

One of the requests we made on this particular bunk bed was to make the bottom safe for Mari to sleep in. They put side rails on all sides so she can't roll out. So, Mari has officially made the move from crib to bed. Ouch...milestones are great, except when they hit you :) It was probably good I had a little shove making the transition, because I might have drawn the inevetible out. She does love her big girl bed.

Thoughts

Today is my dear brother's birthday! Happy Birthday Bryan!!! We love you! Give yourself a big birthday hug from us :)

Today is also Sunday...we had a wonderful morning in church. The church we have been attending is very focused on young people. It is alive with the Spirit and we have thoroughly enjoyed going there. Our third Sunday here, our neighbors asked to go with us, and they have been going with us ever since. It's really been fun! The Pastor, Pastora Luz is a woman who has been widowed for several years now. Her husband was the pastor, and a district superintendent. He was killed in a car accident and one of their three boys was severely injured and in a coma for a short period of time. After Luz's husbands death, she felt called to take over the pulpit. Their son who was in the coma was fully recovered and currently leads the music in the church. Their journey has been a tough one, but has deepened not only their lives, but also the church members. We have only experienced one other church since we've been here, but believe that until we have different direction with our neighbors, we will continue there.



We have gotten the word that our container has cleared customs, they have closed it all up and hopefully we will have access to it either Mon or Tues this week. We have been tossing around some interesting emotions knowing that it is soon to be here. One of them is excitement to have our things...things that just make us feel a little more like "home." The second thing we have been processing is that we feel ashamed for the things we will be unpacking. It seems like we have just handled life without it fine, even though the dishes etc., have been on loan to us. What does all our "stuff" communicate to others? The third thing that I have been dealing with is fear. I have just realized that it means I'm staying here. This isn't some short vacation that will be over in a few days. Ouch! Today that is a harder thing to process than other days. There is an overwhelming ache that is never really gone. Maybe it is like the thorn in Paul's side. Despite the crazy mix of emotions, we have peace in our heart that we are exactly where we are supposed to be.

Emotions are a strange thing...I'm glad for them though, because if I never experienced the sorrow, I wouldn't understand the blessing of the joy. May you find the joy of the Lord today as you walk your journey.

Let's go for a drive!

I thought I would take you on a little drive with me. I went to the grocery store, and snapped pictures along the way...this way you can see the sights around me and get a feel for the traffic :) And don't worry, I didn't crash while taking pictures. Actually, I just held the camera on the top of the steering wheel. Unfortunately, I never took a picture of the grocery store once I got there. Once I did take a picture inside the grocery store and the security guard told me that I wasn't allowed to do that and made me delete the picture. Now I'm a little shy.

Here we go, out the driveway...

This is the main street through our subdivision. The bicycles with side cars are called pedicabs and are always taking people here and there.

Now we are pulling out onto the main street...not lights, just go. I just get right on the bumper of the car in front of me and go for it...people are very polite and that is the way it's done. I've heard it said...today it's your turn, tomorrow it will be my turn. As initially crazy as it seemed, the traffic really has a polite flow. Whew! Made it onto the main road...always a huge relief!

This is the next major intersection. It is actually a three way intersection with no light or stop signs. Occasionally there is a police officer directing traffic...once again...just get right on the bumper of the car in front of you and you'll be okay. The other saying here is...any space is free space.

These two pictures show the commonly found parking in the right lane.

A bakery that also sells donuts.

If you would like, you can purchase a door along the road. There are also stores like this to purchase beds (of which we did), mufflers, chairs and other furniture, and a sundry of other things.

Here is the last intersection....with a stop light. Notice the fellow is coming to my window to see if I want to purchase towels, steering wheel covers, or feather dusters.....not a good picture, but considering I was taking photos through my windshield, it's ok. :)

Well, the grocery store is just to my left and I need to procur some food.

Hope you had fun!

Container

Well, we got word today that our container has arrived in country! Yahoo! It's a funny feeling knowing that our worldly possessions are now so close to us. It could well be equally as long to get our belongings to our door, as it was to get it across the ocean and around a super typhoon. We are so thankful that the typhoon didn't claim all those boxes :) God has been more than gracious in supplying what we have needed for the time being.

Funny, but I think one of the things that I am looking forward to are my covers for my bed. I am continuously shaking my head at myself regarding this. You see...there is a fine art in getting the temperature just right at night. It's either hot with a fan blowing on you, or it's cold with the air-conditioner going. Now, I have, after two months, begun to figure the precise location the two dials need to be set at in order to not wake up chilling at 3 am digging through the closet for a sweater. Don't think for a moment that I am not supremely grateful for that air conditioner. It has been something that has really helped with a large chunk of the culture shock that I have been dealing with. Also, because our precious little girl believes that there is no better place to be than in front of the cold, blowing, air, I have been able to maintain some sanity.

It will also be so nice to have my own pots and pans. It's quite surprising, but it does alter the level of comfort and simplicity in cooking when you are using equipment that you know and trust. Now, that doesn't mean that I will be doing a lot more cooking, because the temperature in the kitchen is still....you guessed it...hot.

The kids have been dreaming about their belongings that are so carefully tucked away in boxes. They really have been troupers here without their toys and books. The number of times I have been asked when the container will arrive have been increasing steadily. They keep commenting on the fact that when their stuff gets here they won't feel so cooped up in the city. Hmmm...we'll have to see.

I know all this sounds so terribly shallow. Simply put, it is. I am continuously amazed at how the enemy uses the simple things like temperature and convenience to get us off track. The trick is all in the attitude. I know that God cares about the little things like cooking utensils, and temperature, and He understands how the enemy blows them out of proportion. Fortunately He is beyond that, and has conquered the enemy already. I have thought many times how I would react if I never got my "stuff," and I know that it would be a bummer, but that God has supplied all of our needs thus far, and promises to always do so. It's just "stuff," and I've already forgotten a lot of what is packed away in those boxes :)

Please pray for the details of getting our shipment through customs and at our doorstep, for not only is our "stuff" in there, but several other people have miscellaneous items, along with the necessary equipment for our work.

Here is our "stuff" before it was loaded into the container (left) and our "stuff" during the loading process (right). Millions of thanks to those of you who offered your sweat and muscle to load up all those boxes!!!!

Language Study

We have now had our first two language class. Our teacher has been teaching for 24 years and has had many, many students. There are not only new sounds and tones we have to learn to use, but there are also new parts of speech that we are not familiar with. It is a hoot listening to us trying to make the new sounds and form our mouths and lips in new ways. We spend quite a lot of time so far laughing. It is a really pleasant experience and I am very eager to learn the language. Most people have a grasp of English, but it's not their heart language. Please be praying with us that we can eagerly and quickly get a grasp on the language. We have to work extra hard on it because we are not immersed in the language...we can get by with English. However, none of us want to just get by. Our eldest son is also studying it in school, so we continually challenge one another to learn and study. It is fun.

Connecting

It's great to be able to easily give you something to read from us. We have been dealing with trying to get newsletters out with no Internet connection, with only part of our computer programs, and with me as the operator :) I am quite happy to finally have a way to say HI and to tell you what's up.

This past week has been really quite a great week. We have been here now for over two months, and just last week, we opened our bank account, got cable (can you even believe that we have cable? It's actually the first time our life we have purchased it), and we got our Internet connection. It is a wireless connection, and I hear rumor that when there is a big storm, we'll lose it for several days, but it's better than not at all. It only took two months to get all those things finalized :) I felt like I really put down some roots last week. The other fun thing that happened is that we got mirrors for our bathrooms :) Silly I know, but our bathrooms were completely redone before we arrived and in an attempt to allow us to make this our home and not someone else's, they left the choosing of mirrors and towel hangers to us. So, we chose all those things, and our mirrors actually just came. We have already installed two of the three. Sometimes I think it's been a blessing not having mirrors. I suppose now we'll have to face the reality of what our hot sweaty faces really look like :)

Yesterday my friend "Liza" (I don't even know if that is really her name) came by to see me. She is what we call a "squatter." They are people who do not have any ownership of the land they live on, they just move in and take possession. She came with a golf-ball size abscess on the back of her leg, asking me for money to buy the antibiotics she held the prescription to. She frequently comes to see me asking for money (typically for medication) and food. Each time she comes I have an opportunity to pray with her and she is very open to that. I cannot communicate with her because she doesn't speak any English. Every time she comes I wrestle with the fact that she very well could be totally lying to me, and taking advantage of me, but at the same time, what if she isn't. We have dealt with this before in other places, so it's not terribly new to me, but it is very frustrating to me that I cannot communicate with her. She will even bring her friends to see me, and then tells them that they have to stay for prayer. It's really funny. One day she was asking for a large amount of money and I offered her to do some yard work outside our gate/fence, and much to my surprise, she came and worked very hard for a whole day. Please pray for "Liza." She is a divorced woman with four children and has no income. The whole "squatter" lifestyle really traps people into that road. One generation that comes to the city to find work and ends up a "squatter" begets children that do not know how to farm, and consequently can never go back to that lifestyle. It is quite a predicament. Please pray for us also as we try to direct these people to the proper ones who can help them, and pray for us to have very clear discernment as to what God needs us to do for them.

We sure do miss all of you, and love to hear from you. Thanks for your posts, those of you who have. It'll be fun seing how this works for us!