Picture of the week

Vacation. Relax. Unwind. Enjoy time with friends.

After the New Year my friends, the Petersons, invited me to join them for a long weekend getaway. We all packed into the car and headed about 3 hours northeast of Manila to enjoy the sun, beach and beautiful scenery of Subic Bay.

 Yes, there are real horses in the Philippines!

Gina (the Peterson's helper) was pretty intimidated by the dolphin but had a great time.  

 Dana, Kylie, Gina and myself getting up close and personal with a dolphin

 Kate got to ride on a dolphin! She was thrilled. :-)

 Kate and I were able to go horseback riding. She loved it and was really brave!

Kylie loving on the dolphin.

Teacher, student, baby and baby-sitter

Oh the joys of language learning!!!

Talk about mulit-tasking! Mildred asked her younger sister to care for her baby, but she just wanted mama. So, Ivy jumps in and gets to watch Shannon learn the words for sun, hill, mountain, etc. 

Please pray for Shannon and myself for sharp brains, great memory and tongues to cooperate.

Ansa Anggan na yaw?? (What is the name of this?)

The time has come and the time is now....

to plan for language session

to prepare....

and finally search far and wide....my front porch...for someone who speaks the language. :-)

Please be praying for Shannon and myself as we get into learning the language and culture of the Ga'Dang people so that we can one day tell that all that Christ has done for them.

What got done in 7 weeks?

Check out what we were able to get done during our last 2 months in the tribe. 

Check out my partner's blog to read all about it.

A visitor

It has been long since I last updated so here goes. My partners and I were able to move into the village last August. We've spent the last 7 weeks living, adjusting and....of course...house building! :-) The end is in sight and the to-do list is getting shorter.

Shortly before we left to go to Manila we had an unexpected visitor. Jonathan Bamford is our Regional leader and through a series of events was able to visit us for a bit. Check out his story.

We hit Manila expecting to return to the tribe in 10 days. As we all know our plans aren't the ones the usually happen. As it looks now, Typhoon Juan (international name, Megi) is hitting Northern Luzon and will postpone our plans for a bit. For the Talbots and I, it really only means staying with friends a little longer. For our friends in the tribe, it means getting their rice harvest in as fast as they can. Pray that there will be minimal damage and that they would be able to harvest all of their food.

Summit team

This is the Summit team from the UK that came to help work on the Talbot's house. 

We had a great team of people coming from Norway, Northern Ireland, England and Scotland. They took time off work, gave up their summer holidays and chose to live all cramped together in less than ritzy conditions....all so that they could help a missionary get one step closer to moving into the tribe...one step closer to bringing the Gospel to the Ga'Dang people.

Can you believe we all fit?!?

Anna putting up the walls for the kids room

Dag did an excellent job making the windows

Angela cooked WONDERFUL meals to keep everyone going strong

Kezia and Liz chilling out after a hard day's work

Susan made some great friends in the village

Sharon learning how the ladies in the village wash their laundry

Tom laying the flooring for the porch

Andy and Reuel mixing cement for posts

Bob and Norm putting up the roof for the porch

Sharon and Chris' first ride in a tricycle

The team is here!

We have been blessed to be playing host to a team from the UK. There were some hiccups with their tickets and were delayed for a day. The good news is that they are here now and are getting over jetlag and the heat of Manila. :-)

Summit is the short term missions trip arm of NTM. Summit teams are usually made up of young(er) people who are interested in getting a up close view of what missions is like. We are so thankful for each one as they are here to help work on the Talbot's house and to learn more about the work that God is doing here.

Please be praying for safety and health for everyone. Please pray also for the team as this is (for many) their very first exposure to life in a tribal setting.