Christmas Day

We celebrated Christmas by inviting one whole Filipino family to our home. You see the precious grandmother, then there are three siblings (one our house-helper, another our language teacher, and the other their brother). All the rest you see are the kids and spouses of the three siblings.

They told us that it was the first time they ever had a family reunion! I couldn't believe it, but it was true. How wonderful to be a part of bringing this family together to celebrate Christmas together.

It was a GREAT blessing that God provided a family for us to celebrate with! We were filled with joy and contentment even though we were an ocean away from our families.
Here is the kids table with the food. We planned for the Filipino favorites--rice, roasted chicken and mangos served with Coca-cola. They loved it!
At the adult table I also prepared two American dishes for everyone to try (and for my wonderful husband and I to eat). Nate's mom's famous broccoli casserole, and the traditional American recipe for green bean casserole. They tried the dishes but thought they were gourmet and unique.
After lunch we sang Christmas carols together, just like my family usually does at "Sing For Your Supper" on Christmas. I played my violin, Nate sang, and Kuya Bobong played the guitar. Nate was sweet to bring from school a bunch of percussion instruments for the kids to play along with, like tambourine, shaker and triangle.
Next, they took turns reading the Christmas story in Cebuano, their own language.

Meanwhile, we included Nate's family tradition using the nativity set. Each person gets a piece of the nativity. Then when that character is read in the story the person adds it to the scene. Very special that our guests participated in this family tradition of ours.
Then for the presents! I think this was one of the most fun times I have ever had in opening presents. We did my family tradition of taking turns choosing a present and giving it to someone to open. Then the Filipinos were hilarious as they chanted for every present, "Gisi-Gisi--Gisi!", which means "tear it, tear it!" Once the gift was revealed they would all cheer, "Wow! Oh!! Yay!" It was so fun!
The fun continued outside after everyone helped clean the wrapping paper. We had an ice cream bar in our carport--a very special treat. Not only did they get ice cream but they got to decorate their own bowl with sauce, sprinkles and cookies. Yummy!
I had to include this one of Klint! He's thinking, "Where's Mom? Maybe I will have another cookie!"
In the afternoon we used a borrowed projector and the laptop to project a movie on the wall of our bedroom. Since there is air-con in there and a cozy bed with curtains to darken the room, it was a great place for a movie theater! It was so funny to me to see everyone piled into our bed and around the room.

Once everyone left we were both filled with joy and gratitude. We had such a fun day and really were blessed by God in so many ways, especially for this adopted family that we had filling our home. Thank you, Lord, for your Son Jesus and for this family of yours that extends all over the world!

Foundation Day

Here we are on foundation day at church posing with the roasted pig. I think they roasted four of them that day. These pigs are the specialty at parties and important events. They eat almost every part of the pig. The skin is like a special treat for Filipinos (for us it is very fatty and tough). I think the Filipino kids are influencing the way I posed for this picture.
Our whole church gathered on Sunday night to celebrate the many years God has been faithful to us. Members and visitors from both the English and Visayan services attended. The kids kept surrounding us, especially Nate. Nate is so good with kids and makes them laugh so much. He also interacts with them in their language, so the kids love to teach him new words.
There were several dance numbers and songs of praise to the Lord. How wonderful to celebrate God's goodness with the Filipino people. We love them and we love our Lord together!
Daghan--means many. There were many people there packed in. By the end of the night I was wishing I had more fluency in the language, but I'm still thankful that we are learning hinay-hinay (little-by-little).

Dedication

Here's Imi's family last Sunday at her church. Imi has worked for us over one year helping us clean and with laundry one day a week. We have really gotten to know and love her and her family! She is one year younger than I am, and she has four kids! She and her husband dedicated their two youngest to the Lord last Sunday. We were there the day her newest boy was born in September.
Here is Erica wearing the new dress we gave her. She looks like a princess! I think it is the prettiest dress she has ever worn. How fun to have chosen it and then to see her wearing it looking so cute! (She NEVER smiles for pictures and I have only seen her smile once since I have met her!)
Imi and her husband asked us if we would be the ninongs for Erica and Edgar Jr. Ninongs are really important in the Philippine culture. They are like godparents in the Catholic church, but we are still trying to figure out how to be good ninongs. Basically we think it is just to be a support to the kids and help the parents to show the kids the way of the Lord.
Here is us with all the other ninongs. "It takes a community to raise a child!" It was great to be so immersed in the language and culture that day. It was also great to hear the truth preached even in a little neighborhood church like this one. We pray that Imi's kids will come to know and love the Lord serving Him always.

New Shoes

These are Nate's old basketball shoes. As you can see, his feet broke through the ends of them so his socks are showing. Not good. He had to miss basketball last week because he had no shoes to play in =(
The reason for this crazy picture is that the local-made shoes only go up to size 10 normally. They are cheaper than the imported ones (as you can see) but we could not afford to buy the imported ones at the time, so Nate settled with this cheaper pair that was smaller than his size.
We praise the Lord for some wonderful gifts from our parents and grandparents, which allowed Nate to buy two pairs of new shoes for Christmas, just his size! What a difference! He feels like a new man! The imported shoes cost more, but they have lots of selections and even have half-sizes.

Now Nate doesn't have to miss playing basketball anymore. Instead, he will be the best player on his team!
Nate was thrilled to be able to also afford a pair of new soccer (futbol) kleets, shin guards and soccer socks. He had been playing with the guys in basketball shoes (see photo above!), and it gets slick out there sometimes. Plus, other guys with kleets would kick him in the shins and do cool running stunts.
Now Nate can play like a champ in his new gear! Praise the Lord again for such wonderful and useful gifts.
Nate is getting ready for his "big game" as I call it. I can't wait to watch him play!
What a star! (I thought my dad and grandpa would appreciate the fact that Nate is modeling his Nebraska shirt here!).

Band Caroling Outreach

Tuesday night we took the whole middle school band in two jeepneys and one flat-bed truck out caroling in 4 of the poorer neighborhoods. We were really praying it wouldn't rain--and it didn't! Here are the students excited to go out on this unique field trip. They all stuffed their pockets full of candy and a scripture verse so they had something to give to the people.
The percussionists had a blast playing from the back of a truck. Joseph, the drummer, played the whole way there and back as we drove down the street--a middle school boy's dream!
It was great to get our students into the local culture and to give them a unique way to share their music with others.
The first village we went to was waiting for us, because that was where we picked up our Filipino guide. Our students stood in a line and the whole village faced them listening and clapping. There must have been 200 people or more out there! It was packed! (Those dots you see show you how dusty it was!)
Here they are in the second village playing for the locals. The people's favorite tune was "Joy to the World" because that is the one we hear every night as kids go caroling for food or candy.

Here are the people that live behind our house. It was fun to bring all of our students out to our own neighborhood so they could all meet and make memories.
Don't you love the old-fashioned holding of the music? Classic. It was fun to watch our students handing out candy and a verse to the people. By the third village we were practically out! Next year we will have to buy 2000 more!
Nate is such a great teacher and director! What a fun idea he had--his vision came to pass!
The last village was situated in between two cemeteries. It was really dark and the graves were right next to our trucks. Our students had a bit of a shock, but they still had giving hearts as they played Christmas songs for the people.
The people enjoyed clapping along to the songs and watching the students play a variety of instruments, some of which they have never heard before. Most exciting for me was to see people walking around the villages reading the scripture verse we had typed in their language. May the Lord use the fruit of this outreach for His glory and to spread His love to the people!

Men's Retreat

A couple of weekends ago, Nate was able to go on the first men's retreat since he's been in the Philippines. It was fun for the guys to get together for some fellowship and encouragement. Here is the lodge where they stayed in the mountain for two nights.
Saturday morning the guys hiked to some caves and a beautiful waterfall. The people said it had rained there for several days straight, but on this day it was sunny and beautiful. Praise the Lord!
Here's the men going into the caves. Don't you like how they all have staffs like Moses?
There were cool things dripping down (all you scientists would know the proper term). They also had to walk through water that went up to their knee practically.
I'm glad I was not there to see this icky creature! Yikes! I'm sure Nate was not afraid of this beetle thing.

The men did lots more like sing, pray, listen to a speaker talk about "leadership" (according to Nate), and play games. This is all the info I have for you now, but I thought you'd like to get a few snapshots that I got from one of the other men. Thank you, Lord, for this retreat!

Children's Outreach

Saturday we helped out with the children's outreach in our neighborhood. The kids were so happy to greet us! I'm so glad they had name-tags because there were so many new faces!
This is the Pastor's house, where the kids had their "Birthday for Jesus." It was really hot out, so kids were fanning themselves with cardboard pieces.
Here is one of the teachers telling about how Jesus is the King! Next year I'm hoping to become more skilled in the local language so I can express more deep truth than just info about where I am from and what I do.
The church was conducting "Operation Slippers" to give the kids new shoes and shirts. I think we had 45 pairs of shoes, but there were about 100 kids who came! Wow! We hope that these kids come back throughout the year to the regular kids' club.
It started to rain, so the pastor told the kids to go take shelter somewhere and then come back. This girl is SO CUTE! She just sat down and put a towel on her head while she held tightly to her new present of slippers and a shirt.

Some other kids found creative ways to make umbrellas. "Rain, Rain, Go Away!" The rain did help to cool us down, but it slowed the action and also made the front yard muddy.
The rain stopped and the kids returned for the Bible story. However, in just a few more minutes it started raining again! This is the tropics in the rainy season!
It was fun to smile at the moms who watched from the other side of the gate. I hope many of the kids' mothers can also hear the truth.
The kids were excited to answer questions about the lesson because if they answered correctly, they would get a free towel as a gift.
A very special treat--ice cream!! Once the word spread that we were handing out ice cream, people came over from the whole area to get a taste! By then it was dark and the rain stopped us from playing the game. We do pray that the Lord used the outreach in many ways to bring kids (and their moms) closer to knowing Him personally. Continue to pray for this ministry!