Got him!!!

Here is our house guest. All I can say is by having such a large rat, I feel a bit assured that there isn't a large snake out there eating the rats. However, I hope there aren't little rats attracting the cobras.

(Notice the mouse trap beside him....I just don't think that would have even threatened him)

Floods and Pests

I though I would put up some pictures from our flood last week...we did actually start moving stuff upstairs in case the water actually came in the house. Our home, for those of you who don't know this, is in an old rice patty. Hmmm. Our whole subdivision is. There is a stream that goes by our house...a bit away, but when the sky let's loose, the stream comes for a visit. There is a history of our home (which is owned by the Nazarene Philippine Field) being flooded with three feet of water as the record, but with many times coming inside the house, just not that high. Therefore, surrounding the house is a sealed, cement block wall. There are gates that we can open during dry season, but they are able to be sealed off during rainy season. Our driveway is also equipped with a ramp...somewhat like an oil changing ramp, for our car to rest on dry land when it does flood. There have been some very prudent missionaries living in this house who have gone to a lot of effort to keep the inside of the house dry. We are grateful to them!

(This is the driveway on a normal day...)

(The back yard floods after the front)

(The picture below is inside the wall...starting to get concerned!)

(This is the following day. The water was over the top of this bridge)

(There is a new building being excavated for here and the wall along the street fell due to the flood.)

The morning after the flood, I went to grab a "box" of milk out of the pantry and my finger went right into the milk. Scared me half to death...yes, I'm a little jumpy at times. I looked down at the box and this is what I found. Fortunately, the hole was chewed on the top of the box and not the bottom....

Then the next day I was watering my plants and noticed that one had some strange "dust" on it. I looked closer and noticed on the ledge beside it was a bunch of wood shavings...

I looked up (which was the only direction there was any wood and this is what I found...

(The hole is the size of a golf ball)

It appears that we have a stow-away in our home. Hopefully soon I can tell you the end of the story. In the mean time, I will probably be walking the house with a rather large stick!

I took the dog outside on the lawn to bathe him and discovered he was being the carrier of a family of ticks. I had even put the medicine on the back of his neck so he won't get them. Hmm possibly the medicine didn't work?

As he was out on the cement drying (after I had carefully sprayed all the dirt off the patio) I noticed that there were these slug-like, worm-like things heading toward him and he was having a fit! I called my helper to the back yard and asked her what they were. She got a little panicky and stomped on them and say "these are bad, bad! They will suck your blood!" Ewww! They were leeches!

Some days here I am blissfully ignorant to the wild-life that takes place all around me. I think I prefer to not know there are rat's trying to bunk with us. I would prefer to not have my dog providing nourishment for the local tick family, and, I CERTAINLY didn't want to know that the back yard that I let Mari play in, barefooted, is the home of leeches.

Well, despite yucky flood waters and pests, we still are still very grateful to be here. Fortunately, the good things outweigh the bad :)

At least it has been over a year since I have been awarded this orientation to our new home :)

Interceding

Recently, Eric found a great story in The Prayer Shield written by C. Peter Wagner. It has really given me a lot to think about. I want you to experience it as written by Peter Wagner ......

"In the days soon after the Iron Curtain had come down, John Maisel had made another of his frequent trips to the Eastern bloc. This time he lectured on "Is Jesus God?" at Moscow State University, then to a crowd of 20,000 to 30,000 in Bucharest, then home to their base in Vienna. Jane[a personal prayer partner of the author and his wife], in Dallas, was much in prayer for him. The lecture turned out to be excellent and many were saved. Obviously the forces of darkness were greatly upset, not only by Maisel's lecture in Moscow, but by the power channeled through Jane's intercession in Dallas.

On One of those nights at 2:00 A.M., Jane was awakened by the presence of an incredible force of darkness there in her room. She says, "I battled in prayer and still it was more than I could handle. It drained my whole energy and life support system. I couldn't move--I was totally paralyzed." As she communed with the Holy Spirit she was assured that John himself was in no particular danger at that time. She sensed that "this powerful force of darkness had been sent to destroy John, but it had attacked me because I was standing in the gap." At the peak of the battle, Jane cried out for reinforcements, both angels and intercessors. God sent then both.

In the twinkling of an eye, Jane sensed an angel come into the room and usher out the spirit of darkness. The battle was over but Jane felt limp and drained. Then a fever and laryngitis came. But she rejoiced that the victory had been the Lord's.

The next morning the answering machine in Jane's office recorded a call from Cindy Jacobs who, like Jane, is one of my 19 personal prayer partners. Jane returned her call and routinely asked Cindy how she felt. Cindy's response was unforgettable. "I'm fine, Jane," she said, "but the question is how are you? What was that incredible force of darkness in your room at 2:00 A.M.? That was one of the most powerful principalities I have encountered! I was doing battle with you in intercession until its power was broken!"

We really want you to know how grateful we are to those of you who hold us up in prayer!

I hope this is encouraging to those of you who are fiercely doing battle for loved ones, friends or co-workers.

The best part about all of this is that Jesus is interceding to God on behalf of my requests and your requests! He is so great!!!

Our prayers are not in vain!

Umbrella Part 2

Wednesday...It had been pouring since about 11:00 that morning and after the rains the other night, I knew it was going to flood quite easily again. It was about 1:00 pm and I got the message from the school that there would be no after school activities because of flooding in Manila. The kids would all be sent home at 2:00, and if they rode the school service vans (aka school busses), then those would still be running.

Our boys usually arrive at about 2:25 when they ride the service vans, so at about that time I went outside to open the gate to make the delivery easier in the heavy rain. I was greeted with the creek yet again at the gate. Now, having just been driving in the flood waters the day before, I knew how deep the waters had to be between here and the school for it to be at my gate.

There were several men working on the house next door, and had decided to quit working in the deluge. That made me feel a little better since they were standing on some scaffolding. They were seeking shelter next to our gate, and just watching the creek rise. I finally discovered that they were actually waiting for a truck to come pick them up, and not just hanging out.

I moved the car up on the "ramp" to keep it out of the flood waters and went inside to wait for some word from the kids. I knew that they were with the bus driver, but what I didn't know was what exactly he was going to do with them. I knew that there was a significant chance that he would be sitting out on the main road, just waiting for the rains first to quit, then to run off. I knew that it was highly possible that he was just going to tell them to walk (or swim) home. I was not particularly excited about this idea. I phoned Andy (because of the different transportation styles we have, it is not good for kids to be without cell phones here), and discovered that he wasn't with his brothers, but that he was going to a friends house. Hmmm.

3:00 came and went and I hadn't heard anything from the kids. By this time, our driveway was covered in 8 inches of water, at the shallowest point. The other night is wasn't even covering the entire driveway. I know the service vans are taller than my car, so I knew that they could get through deeper water than I could.

I decided that I probably could text the bus driver (send him a note on his cell phone) and at least tell him he won't be able to get to the front gate. We do have a back gate that doesn't flood quite so rapidly. I suggested that he drop the boys at the back gate.

I kept going outside to see the water level and it just kept rising.

3:15 I heard whistling at the back gate...the whistles of two boys :)

I can't even imagine driving through what the driver had to in order to get me my kids.

I am very thankful for the school service vans!

The water receeded by about 5:00 :) It really runs away fast.

The first picture is out our back gate looking toward our street...if you went on down the "river," and turned right, the next right is the front entrance to our house.

Where is your umbrella?

Hi again!

I am always amazed at the amount of water that comes out of the sky here in Manila...especially as it accumulates on the ground and in the streets :) Yesterday we had two really heavy showers within about four hours of each other that rendered some pretty exciting moments.

The first storm started about the time I went up to the school to take Andy to the doctor for a strange rash on his foot/leg. I was a little dismayed that I had gone out in the middle of the sunny day without my umbrella, yet again. As Andy and I slowly climbed the hill from the seminary up to the medical clinic, I was amazed at the amount of water coming down the hill. Along both sides of the road, there is a "ditch" that is about 1 meter by 1 meter, and it had raging white water rushing down the hill. We came to a "Y" in the road and the water was accumulating about 6 inches deep. Many, many people drive a car like ours, so as I watched other cars like mine going through the water, I also proceeded. No problem...whew!

We got to the doctors office, after carefully making our way up the hill and trying diligently not splash all the people on their motorcycles or "tricycles" (motorcycles with a side car...carries anywhere between one to about 8 people, depending on how you stack them). Upon arrival at the doctor's office we were told that we had to return after 5:00, but before 6:00. We ran over to the grocery store in hopes that the rain would stop while we were inside, and it did. When we went back down the hill, there was no white water raging down the sides, and the "Y" had no standing water.

We returned to the doctor, and after a quick visit, headed into the pharmacy next door. While we were inside the pharmacy, the sky opened up again. Once again, I had not brought my umbrella with me...it was in the car. We made our purchase of some topical medicine and some antibiotics and headed back down the hill.

We got to the same "Y" and the traffic was stopped...there were cars that were not going through. Slowly, the traffic director was guiding certain cars through...my car was allowed through. The traffic worked it's way slowly down the hill and as I passed the seminary, I looked at the "water fall" that was rushing out the gate. We worked our way down the main road to our house and traffic slowed way down. Again, we hit an area where the water was accumulating and traffic was going one car at a time through. Occasionally, there was a Jeepney that would just gun it and go like a motorboat right down the street. At one of the three really bad spots on this main street, Andy noticed the Barber shop had about 6 inches of water standing inside their shop. The peculiar thing was that there were still hair-cuts being given. The barbers were just standing in the water cutting hair just as though nothing were out of the ordinary.

Finally, we turned into our subdivision and worked our way around the car that had either stalled, or decided it was going to wait out the rain. Down the road just a bit, we could see there was some cross flow of water going across our main street. As the cars in front of us cleared and proceeded through, I could see that there was a large gate that had been opened and water was rushing out, just like the dam had been opened. Down the way just a little further, there is a sidewalk with about 5 feet walls on both sides...that gate was also opened and it looked like someone had opened up a fire-hydrant and it was shooting white water into the street.

The worst "puddle" we went through was one of the intersections in our subdivision and I found that my knuckles were getting about as white as some of the water I had seen rushing about in our excursion. I am certain that if we had been even 10 more minutes we would have not gotten home until late into the night. As we approached our street, we were greeted with the "creek." It must have wanted to come up for a visit. Andy climbed on top of the car and opened the gate from a top of the car...then I pulled forward as he closed the gate from the top of the car also. The creek hadn't come all the way into our driveway, for which I was grateful. We were home by 7:30, safe and praising God for yet another safe journey.

One of my friends was coming from the opposite direction at about 7:30. She and her husband ended up completely stopped on the main road until 1:30 am ... waiting for the rain to run off so that the cars could get through. Again I am so grateful that that is not our story.

This morning, as I was driving up to the seminary, I was amazed at the way the streets were already cleaned up. Unfortunately, there is a lot of rubbish that flows in the waters when they rise. However, the streets were already swept clean, and many individuals were sweeping up whatever gifts the flowing rivers brought to their door. Just like the barbers, it was just no big deal... It is really amazing to me the way we adapt :) Thanks God for making us like that!

Time Flies

Thank you to all who have prayed for Eric and Nathan while they were in PNG. They arrived back in Manila safe and sound. God was definitely working ahead of them. The greatest thing is that now it is possible to help remotely. We can help their computers in PNG, from our tech room here in Manila. Technology really is amazing. Eric got to connect with so many of our dear friends! It was great water to his soul.

While Eric was there, he was sitting in front of his computer, stumped as to how to fix a problem. His Skype phone rang and it was one of his friends from home who happens to also be in the same line of work, Rai. Rai asked Eric what he was doing and Eric relayed the problem he was stumped on. They tossed around a few ideas, and then Rai picked up his cell phone and called another friend Mike (who actually went to PNG last year to work on their computers). Rai put Mike on speaker phone, and placed it close to the microphone on his computer. This way, Eric could hear what Mike was saying, and also talk with Mike. They had a conference call using Skype and cell phones. If you are not terribly impressed with this, you have to understand that when we lived in PNG, we couldn't even get email files that were over 500k, sometimes over 300k. As they dug into the problem, they realized that some of the programming was in German. Rai speaks German. The three of them together were able to solve the problem. It is so fun to see the way the Lord goes before us :)

Another great story from PNG...Eric wanted to connect with our friend Pastor Jerry. It was quite a journey, but Eric, Nathan and Dr. Becky went to Pastor Jerry's church on Sunday. When they got there, they were told Pastor was speaking in another church. After going to a couple different churches, they found him. He was being a guest speaker for a brand new church, six weeks old. There was a young boy in that village who got very ill. He went to Kudjip Hospital and there found Jesus Christ. His parents also found Jesus Christ while there. The boy got well, and the family returned to their village, on fire for Christ. In their enthusiasm, they asked to start a church. When Eric was there, it was running 40 some people. It was great to see how the whole picture works. The seed was planted in a time of crisis. God grew that seed, now the family is scattering and watering seeds in their village. Now the village has started a church and they are having guest speakers until they can get their own pastor. Please pray for the new pastor for that church! Praise God!!!

Our kids have started back to school, and actually are having their first "full" week of school this week. They have had holidays or in-service days and so even though they started school Aug 12, this is their first full week. I suppose they might feel a little tired by the time Friday is over. Andy is playing on the JV Volleyball team. He is enjoying learning a new sport. They have done really well so far, winning 3 out of 4 games they have played so far. He has started his Sophomore year in high school, and is enjoying this year. He has a busy, busy calendar. Luke has started his 8th grade. Whew! They grow so very fast! He has decided to learn how to juggle. One of the teachers is teaching a group of kids after school. It will be fun to watch him master that. He also is enjoying his art class. He is really a good artist! Jon has started his 3rd grade and is class this year is only 13 (as compared to 27 last year). He is also playing soccer with some of his buddies on the elementary soccer team. They have Saturday "tournament" type competitions. They play six games that are 12 minutes each. He will participate in four Saturdays like this. He is enjoying it. Mari is adjusting to playing by herself again, since her favorite play-mates had to return to school. She is continuing to speak, more and more...I think that one of these days she will be consuming the talk space...that will be a praise!!!

We are planning to start up a bible study for adults in our home soon. We found the leaders who are Filipino, who will come to our house and lead the study. We were specifically trying to start this for the traffic enforcer who works outside of our subdivision gate. His name is Levy. Eric has been building relationship with him over the last several months. Levy is asking a lot of questions and really wanting information. Eric was able to give him a Bible some time ago, and now Levy specifically asked to go to a Bible study. When Eric went to invite him to our home for the Bible study, Levy's co-worker told Eric that "yesterday was his last day, he resigned." Eric is really discouraged about this, but we know that God will work all things together for His perfect plan. Eric has no contact information to contact Levy, except for there at the intersection. Please pray for Levy as he is searching. Also, please pray for Eric to get another opportunity to connect with Levy to invite him to the Bible Study.

Please be praying for the people in the Philippines. We don't really watch any news here, and only occasionally get tid-bits from the Internet. There is fighting down south, but we are safe here in the northern part. Please be praying for our pastors and church members down in the southern parts. We have several students and workers who have family down there who are being greatly effected by the fighting.

We love you all and love hearing from you!!! Keep up the great communication :)

Hugs to you all!

God is Making the Way in PNG

Many of you know that Eric is currently in PNG with our volunteer Nathan (from MVNU), working out some bugs (haha) in the computer system there. I wanted to share with you the message that Eric sent out this morning :) He and Nathan return to Manila on Aug 12, and Nathan returns to the states on Aug 18. Please keep them in your prayers.

Greetings to all of you,

Linda gave me a verse in Isaiah 45:2 "I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron."

God did that yesterday and is doing it again today. Papua New Guinea is a spiritual battle zone and our enemy is bold here. Our God is bolder!

We accomplished yesterday (our first day) what I thought would take 3 days or not be possible at all. We now have installed a new Firewall (Internet protection) and the ability to remotely access the Kudjip Hospital network in Papua New Guinea (PNG) from the APRC office in Manila. Wow!

We can access even a missionary or hospital workers local computer and help them fix the problems. We see what is on their screen and share keyboard and mouse control of their computer with them. Obviously they have to know we are doing it and allow us access. Wow! again.

God is really allowing APRC to have a long technology assistance reach. Praise His Name!

Another miracle this morning. I am only aware of one man from PNG whom I would trust to provide contract support for the Kudjip Hospital network. His name is Timothy Kapak. I trained him to install computer cabling in May 2004 before my family left PNG. He now owns a large Electrical Engineering company headquartered in Mt. Hagen near Kudjip Hospital. He also owns a computer support business. I have had no contact with him since I left PNG in 2004. This morning I called his office from Kudjip and reached him. Amazing. There is a long list of miracles here:

Kudjip only has one working phone line at the moment, I found it and it was not in use by someone else.
Timothy has been gone for 4 months doing contract work on the coasts of PNG, he is just back in Mt. Hagen this week
This is the only week I will be here, he is available this week to meet.
His company has a new technician that appears to have a skill set that meets the Kudjip needs.
God's timing is perfect, what a miracle.
Praise God for the way He has been leveling the mountains before us!

We have 7 more days and lots more miracles needed so please keep praying.

Blessings,
eric zane