Journal Entry: January 11th, 2012
I haven’t been able to put up pictures of the trip because the internet is too slow here and my computer keeps crashing. So, I guess the best way to update you with all that has been happening is with words! Don’t worry, pictures to come!
So what has God been doing in my heart during this trip? To make it simple: He has been getting rid of self and pride. There has been a lot of “letting go” of my plans and surrendering to God. One example is the possibility of teaching here in Valley Cove with the Epps and Majors. God showed me that He needs to own it, not me. I don’t have to be grasping or striving, which brings worry, but just surrender and go with His plans! And if He does show me that He wants me to come, then I need to go, and not hold back with fear. The missionaries here are rubbing off on me: they are so relaxed about changes and not worried about things, because they have been stretched and challenged beyond what they are able to handle so many times (and the kids too!). Psalm 139 has also been a huge encouragement to me. This was the theme chapter for the kids’ program (and I read over it a lot because I was the Bible teacher). This chapter spoke right to my heart and has been a theme for this trip. God wants us to know that He loves us and desires to know us personally in every…EVERY way. Nothing is a secret to Him and nothing should be kept from Him. It is a simple truth but still baffles my mind to think that God wants to know me so deeply and personally! Wow.
Thank you for praying for future direction with the possibility of coming back here to teach. This trip has been so eye-opening, and, even though I am not going into Valley Cove this time, I have experienced so many other things that have given me clarity of mind and direction. So many questions have been answered while being here, although I still am very new to this culture and have lots more questions! I praise God for the chance to get to know the Epp family, who lives in Valley Cove, where Jared and Bana plan to build their house, and who are looking for a teacher as well (Please pray with me about teaching singly-handedly or that God would bring in another teacher as well.). I admire the Epp family, and have enjoyed getting to know my new sweet friend, Charla Epp!
While chatting with so many missionary families over here, I have seen the need for a teacher in the tribe. These people do so MUCH in the tribe: medical, language, culture, as well as teamwork and time for family. Usually, when a mom has to home school her own children, she has to give up language study (which take 6+ hours per day). Mothers want to be a part of the work in the tribe. Having teachers in the tribe has been more of a trend in the Philippines with NTM than any other country, but seems to be able to work out really well. I was talking with one mom who asked me to find a friend back home to come teach her kids…even for 6 months, would make a big difference. Anyone interested? The missionaries almost have Allie, my new side-kick, about coming back for at least a year. This particular family looking for a teacher lives in Palawan, which I’ve heard is the most beautiful Island in the Philppines (except for Valley Cove, right?). My friend Rebekka (from Germany) have been teaching for 1 year in Palawan with a German family, and has been a huge help to their family and ministry. Another girl, Rosa, just got here the same time we did from the Ferro-Islands off of Norway. She is 18 and right out of high school, never met the family before this trip, but will live with them and teach their 3 beautiful daughter also in Palawan (the southernmost, long island). What’s also cool is that by living in a tribe, you cannot help but be a part of the ministry (unless you really don’t want to).
So what has my team been up to the past few days?
On Monday: My team visited a local market (along the roadside) and bought ALL of the items needed for our lunch meal. With the help of Beth (a missionary’s house helper – which is very common in the Philippines), we all made chicken adobo, a bean/squash/shrimp dish in coconut milk, a rice noodle dish, and lots of fruit for dessert: mango, papayas, melon, fried bananas, and pineapples. It took us from 8am-1:00pm to buy, prepare, and cook this meal as a team. What a great experience! Now we hope we can remember the recipe when we get home.
At 2pm we all drove to the Shangra La Mall for a Ladies Tea. It was a sweet time of fellowship getting to know other missionary ladies. Two of the ladies I sat with were younger than me (23 and 24), young moms who were just beginning their language study, who were both expecting their babies in May. Naomi was also at our table: she has become a good friend already! She reminds me so much of my college Bible study leader’s wife in Dallas, Dena Jones. Her husband has been working on convincing Allie and I to come back and teach MKs somewhere in the Philippines. After the Tea, we walked through the Mall, which was the first time I’ve felt a sense of home here in the Philippines (most malls are stinky and swarming with people, but this one was clean and had lots of stores like back in the States (Another thing is, you have to say “back in the States” here because everyone is from another country. Speaking English clearly is also a challenge, and I’m asked to repeat things a lot – this is just with the missionaries! Haha).
This evening I had a good time laughing and chatting with new friends.
Tuesday:
We left for Bataan (Ba-ta-An) after breakfast. It took us 2 hours by taxi to get there. It was so good to get out of smoggy Manila! We enjoyed meeting the NTM staff and students at the NTM training center in Bataan, and had a real Philippino lunch with them. Then, we drove up the road a little ways to a small tribe/village. There was a school in the center of the village that was in session. All of the men left to go gather food in the mountains before we got there. It’s a little sad because they left because they heard we were coming. The poor kids who were not in school, young ones, and mothers followed us around from house to house as we took pictures. I learned that if you take pictures of a kid, you have to show them right away! They love it. I taught some kids to do high fives and fist fives, and they walked around copying me as I sang a little tune☺. Others from my team were able to go in the missionaries house there and were offered treats (which they don’t have much of). Some were able to talk with men and women, but most of us were taking pictures with the little kids. I met a mother of 9 kids who goes to the local church a couple times a week for Bible studies. 4 of her 9 kids have passed away. I asked the kids their names and ages and they could tell me in English. They looked way younger than their actual ages! A 13 year old girl looked like she was 9, etc. It was sad to say bye so quick. We prayed with them as a group and were on our way: the people were waving as we left.
Last night we watched a movie in the cafeteria with our new friends and team.
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