July 28, 2009 - Comfort Foods..a MUST today

Well, Ive been down for 2 days with my health probs...feeling really bad and wanting to self medicate through food. Ferd has been out all day, and Im stuck here in the house. He is out trying to figure out what to do with the van we need..still bargaining, and trying to get the guy to lower the price. I havent been able to see the van in person, only pictures, since Im stuck here in the house, unable to leave.
Ferd came in for lunch and brought me some comfort foods, some of my favorites. The Lord really gave me a heart for the food here and I LOVE IT!!! Today, he brought me some of my favorite fruits ...like, langka...pictured below

...............and lychees

and my favorite dessert ...halo-halo, where they put fruits, vegetables and beans over ice with condensed milk..Man, I love that stuff

July 27,2009 - Praying for Vehicle

Well, the progress in the new village is going so well, that we have a problem. We need a vehicle specifically for Lanas and Maasim. The 2 villages are so close together that one vehicle could minister to both villages. We already have a big Jeep, but it runs full time for the church at LBC in the 3 villages of Bolosan, Salisay and Mamalingling. Our family car is very small and can only hold about 5 people, including driver. So, we began praying and looking into a utility van. Ferd found one today, but it is a little too high. He is still negotiating and trying to talk them down a bit. This van can hold up to 20 people. ... We REALLY need this, and hope the Lord will work this out..or reveal to us another option.

July 26, 2009 - New Nursery

Well, as many of you know..I can not have any more kids, unless God performs another miracle , which He has the power to do. But, I have accepted the fact that His will is probably not to work that way in my life. I'm blessed with Sean, and praise the LORD for him! However, with or without another baby..I still got to work and prepare a new nursery! Our church needed to make a cleaner, brighter environment for our babies and toddlers, and we finally were able to. We worked so hard, cleaning it up, building new shelves and painting a giant creation mural on the wall. After all our work this week, the babies were able to enjoy their new classroom today for the first time. They loved it! We have about 10-15 babies/preschoolers in our church and they really needed the new room!!

July 25, 2009 - Village Outreach

This is our Soul Winning Team

Ever since our first church plant, LBC, has been standing independently, we have been reaching out to the neighboring villages of Maasim and Lanas. These are hard core people. I mean, they are cold and very supersitious. Almost as bad as Bolosan ( they still rank #1). Ferd finally led an old man to the Lord a few months ago, after weeks of soul winning. The old man was out working in the field and Ferd started to talk to him and build a relationship with him and soon, he accepted the Lord. We have been working there in those 2 villages weekly, holding Bible Clubs for the kids and a Bible Study in the old man's house. As of now, we have arounf 7 adult converts.We went out again today, witnessing , inviting people to attend the Bible Studies, etc. We talked to so many people, but no one accepted the Lord today. One lady asked Ferd and I questions for about an hour, and I hope we planted some seeds...

I love this picture of the 12 year old girl reading the Gospel tract I gave her while Ferd witnesses to her grandma. I love to see them really read the stuff we hand out...

July 24, 2009 - Geckos

When I lived in the states, the only thing I knew about Gecko lizards were that they made funny commercials for Car insurance on TV. Having lived here now for nearly 7 years, I consider them part of the family. No, not like a child that you love and nurture, but like the drunk uncle that you tolerate at Christmas. (-:

They are everywhere, so they become part of your life. They range in size from 5 inches all the way to a foot and a half. We have 2 or 3 large ones that hang out on our porch..they scare me at first becuase I think they are rats. But the ones inside are smaller, but seriously..they are EVERYWHERE. In my cabinets, in my drawers, hanging on every wall, in our jeep.. millions of them. They eat mosquitos, so I dont consider them enemies like roaches ( i need to write a blog about cochroaches...coming soon) but they are still annoying. They poop everywhere and it is wet and slimy and they pee everywhere too. All in my cups, on our counters, all down the walls. It is very annoying. And, DO NOT get me started about their yelping at night. They make a sound that no human voice could mimic. It is like a deep, dark jungle monkey-mating noise.

Just another part of living in the Philippines.....

July 23, 2009 - Day at the Beach

After Sean got out of class and Ferd got off work, we all needed to cool off. The sun was back full force today so I did a Truck-load of laundry and I was sweating so bad. We needed to take a quick dip in the ocean. So, we spontaneously jumped in the car and drove down to the South China Sea and had a nice swim. It's just sad how badly the Filipino people destroy their environment. What beautiful beaches, but they are filthy with trash and sewers. I almost dont like to get in anymore. Today was particularly bad. But, the water feels so good on my back and pelvis which hurt ALL THE TIME!

Another highlight for me was stopping to get bibinka, one of my favorite treats here. They sell them on the side of the road and I LOVE em! They are little sticky rice cakes wrapped and cooked in banana leaves.

July 21, 2009 - Titey Whiteys

Here in the Philippines, you learn that all the things that would normally embarass someone in the States, do NOT even faze people here. For example, men urinate right out in public...Yes, I know almost all the men here in our village VERY well (-: It is just normal here and I dont even blush any more. Also, the women nurse in public,,and Im not talking about under a blanket. They whip out their breast right there in the middle of conversations..in the middle of church, in the middle of the line at the market.

Another thing is that since dryers are not a way of life here, laundry must be hung outside...ALL laundry. Its no big deal here to hang all your undies and other personal items out for all to see. So, yeah...I know what color my neighbor's undies are and they know mine. It's part of life here.

Since it's been raining everyday, I have to hang my laundry on our porch.. it takes forever to dry...can't wait for the sun to come back!!!

July 18,2009 - Rain, rain..go away!!!

Yes, it is monsoon season, which means it is wet. I'm talking rain, rain, rain...every day for 6 months. Unfortunately, the roof on the church has not been fixed since the Super Typhoon last year so everytime it rains hard, the whole church auditorium gets flooded leaves a horrible mess. This weekend we had a bad monsoon pass through here on it's way up to Hong Kong. It flooded everything, including the church AGAIN. Unfortunately this time, it destroyed all my song books..Yes, I had a good cry as they are completely destroyed. Im talking about all my personal song books that have all my guitar chords marked..all perfectly orgainzed. I have worked on these for 6 years...and now I have to start back at square one. I am trying to air them outside, but they are drenched and just falling apart. )-:

July 14, 2009 - At last! fixin it up!

Ever since the storm that nearly took our lives last year...our house and church has been left a total disaster. Ferd has worked for 8 months now, replacing our roof, ceilings, floors, windows, and much our furnishings. All this while still running a full time ministry. He is such a hard worker.

However, many of the repairs are just too much for him to do..and they need to be fixed so badly. We can't expect our men to take off from their work and come repair our home..so Ferd has been doing it viturally alone.

I'm thankful becuase he is so talented. This week, however, the men from the church are helping with the church repairs. Our gate and wall around the church was badly damaged and truly is an eye sore..it needed re-paved and painted. Slowly, but surely...it's looking better. They smoothed the walls and after a few days will be able to paint them. It is extra work for us having them here all day, but it needs to be done and we are thankful that they are doing it!

July 13 , 2009- Another shooting

Since I have lived here, I can not even begin to count how many violent murders have taken place. Ferd has witnessed one in person ( a shooting). I thank the Lord I have never saw it happen in action and only have seen the after math. We had a young boy get beat to death with a lead pipe while walking down the road not too long ago..the ones who did it were never caught...countless bodies wash up in the river behind our home, and many stabbings and shootings take place nearly weekly. The people here are just vile. I try not to go out at night if I can help it.
Ferd came home today and told me another shooting that happened.It seems she was the target of robbery as many others have been . They gunmen pull up on motorcycles and beat the women or shoot them so that they can grab their purse or cell phone. He didn't want me to drive Sean to class or go out till it all settled down .. I have been here long enough that it doesnt scare me too much, but I'm staying in..
The victim was a young nurse who was walking to the village hospital here, less than a mile from our house. She has treated us many times at the hospital. ( me when I had to get my Tetinus shot, also when I had a bad UTI, also, Sean when he was stung by a giant Centipede and had a reaction..and countless times when I have been there with various members...we are there in that hospital almost on a weekly basis)..
She was just walking on the road and a guy on a motorcyle drove by and shot her dead right there ... I just can't understand it... the whole story can be read here http://www.sunstar.com.ph/pangasinan/police-point-robbery-cause-yadao-slay

July 13, 2009 - home grown

Sean and I have started our own little garden. We planted Botchoy cabbage ( a big staple here in the Peens) and Romain lettuce. I cant wait to see how it will do. The lettuce is already sprouting and I hope they do good. I wanted to to have more organic foods and if these do good, we will then move on to a bigger variety of veggies... We will transfer them when they get bigger. Hope they don't die..Holding breath...fingers crossed

July 11, 2009 - Deep sea diving for teeth

Today, in between visitation and Choir practices, Sean and I broke away from the church and the two of us went swimming. He needs the excercise and so do I! I have put on 8 pounds since we went to the states last year and in this heat, I feel it..ugh, very uncomfortable.

Anyway, while swimming, Sean had a a floaty that had handles on it and he was bouncing around on it when one of the handles knocked his front tooth ( that was already lose) and down it sank..to the bottom of the water. Gone forever, surely.

He was so stressed, believing that the tooth fairy would never compensate him if he didnt have the tooth when she came later that night. We dove and dove..and nothing. Finally, we got a bunch of kids and even their Dad involved and there were about 15 of us... it was nothing short of a miracle when the man felt it and brought it back up!. I still cant believe it. So, we have the tooth, Sean is happy and officially looks like a Jack-o-lantern!

July 9- My little friend

My dear sweet little friend, Abelina is not doing well again. I went by her house to see her this morning and she is in bad shape again. The cancer is literally coming out of her now..it's horrible and they are so poor that any kind of treatment is out of the question. Our church helps with pain meds and other needs, but we can't afford any sort of surgery expense either. It's hard to watch her suffer with this..

July 8 - Patch Kids

Every Wednesday night we have Patch the Pirate Club. Our home church in KY does it and Sean loved it so much that he wanted to start one here. We've been doing it for about 7 months now and it is going well. We couldn't afford all the fancy hats and sachets and all the official uniform stuff, so we improvised. We found some felt Pirate craft hats and they work fine. Everytime the kids do something in service for the Lord, they are awarded charms that are sewn on to their hats. The more charms, the higher rank they are...kinda like Awana. They earn charms for Scripture memorization, leading others to Christ, assisting the elderly in the church, and many more..

July 8, 2009 - Sick hubby

Ferd's been sick for 2 whole days...I'm writing about it becuase he NEVER gets sick and so I am keeping an eye on him and hoping it's not anything serious. The AH1N1 virus is really spreading fast over here and so since it's one of the few viruses that we HAVENT had yet, I am pretty much counting down the minutes till we do. He hasnt gotten up in 2 days which worries me, but he is eating some. So that proves it's not Dengue Fever. Hmmmm... anyway, hope it's just a bad case of the flu..

July 4, 2009 - 4th of July

Well, there is no big hooplah here in the Philippines on the 4th of July. But my mind does go back to last year when we were there at my parents house, eating corn on the cob and lighting fireworks and sparklers. I miss my family today. I really miss them.

However, I did make a cheese cake that was red, white and blue to celebrate a little here in the house. It was so hard to have a cook out since it is Saturday and that is our busiest day of the week. I also took over the choir since our past Director cant do it anymore. It is A BIG job for me, but hopefully the Lord will provide a full time music leader as we do not have anyone able to do it. So, for now, it's on my shoulders..

July 3, 2009 - Family Time

We spent the day in Baguio Mountains jsut walking, breathing the fresher air and enjoying the yummy restaraunts there. When the pressures get sooo bad here in Pangasinan, we know it's time to break away, if even for a few hours. It cleans our minds and renews our spirits. Even Sean can sense when it is time. He will say, " We need to get away from Ministry today"..and we all know it's time to just take a break from reality and spend some alone time together. That's what we did today...awww...I feel better already

July 2, 2009 - Visitation

As I said yesterday, things have been hard here this week. I am physically drained..but soul winning and visitation always gives me a lift that I need. The Lord allows the same people that wear me down to also lift me back up. Ferd and I went out on foot today and to do some weekly visitation together and also check on some of the folks that have had problems this week. As we made our rounds, I just can't believe all the suffering that occurs here each and every day. I mean, I have been here more than 6 years and the sights and sounds still really get to me each and every day that we go out.

We started out checking on one of our poorest members of our church, Bro. J. His beloved wife and dear member of our church passed away the week we were returning to the Philippines last October. He is well in his sixties, possibly 70..and still works every day carrying cement blocks and gets paid about 1 dollar and 50cents a day. He supports his daughter and her 2 kids who live with him and it is just pitiful, to say the least. The kids are covered with sores from head to toe, malnurished and filthy. Here is a picture of the little boy's head... eat up with sores.

We also stopped in checked on a lady that I am spiritually "courting". That is how I look at it. You meet someone, build a relationship with them and slowly let them trust you and then you lead them to the Lord. This certain lady, Mrs. M , is hard core superstitious. As soon as I walk in her house I feel a creepy feeling taking me over. All her idols everywhere and each one of them have a plate of food at their feet. When she cooks her breakfast, she brings the idols a plate of food. "M" has been attending church for a few weeks now and always gives me a big hug and kiss on the cheek when I go there to her house. I feel it will be soon when she accepts the Lord.

We later stopped in on the young man that was stabbed. He is doing some better, though his guts are all shredded and stitched up. Notice how small he is compared to me. Now, I am a 125 pound , size 6 American..not a larger person...but look how small he is next to me! This is why I continually feel like a giant over here (-:

Some of the problems that we are having are slowly calming down. I am starting to see the sunlight peeking through the dark clouds a little.

July 1, 2009 - What a Week!!!

Since we landed here 6 years ago, I am telling you, our life stays like this. We live amongst the people here in a Ghetto area that is hard to explain. I grew up in a quiet little mountain town totally the opposite of where I am now in life. I can not explain this place to outsiders. You have to live here to know the intensity of the sin, the level of filth and the mentality of the people, all their superstitions and demonic ideas. I have seen things that people wouldnt believe. Serously! People would think I have a really big imagination. Well, this week is one of those really miserable weeks where the people's problems are unbearably on my shoulder. Just this week, we are dealing with 2 deaths ( the nephew of our member pictured with me below)..he was only 27 and he and his friend were killed instantly on a motorcycle crash. Both were unsaved. I spent the whole night talking with the lady and they are tore up, naturally. Then, we had a stabbing of another young man. His aunt is also our member. thankfully, he survived but is in rough shape. The other boy that stabbed him is also a young man that we reached out to many times. He is a troubled boy who stole alot from us, even while we were trying to help him. He even stole Sean's Game Boy ( that about tore Sean's heart in two as it was a gift from his uncle)..
Ferd gets involved with these things to minister to the family and I get so worried. Last night he didnt come home till late and I always worry about how dangerous it is out there in this place.Then tonight, I also had to counsel with a woman who's husband is a drunk and their marriage is falling apart. And another close friend in our church just found out her husband is unfaithful. It is alot for someone like me who hasnt had "alot" of experience with these sort of things to offer the best advice, yet the Lord is there with me and sometimes I just can't believe the wisdom He gives me to share with them.
There is so many other little things going on..our house seems to be having some major problems that we cant even stop to fix becuase of the crazy week.

June 30, 2009 - I finally get it

I have had a very low week with my health and Im trying to drag myself around. We had another member in the hospital this week and honestly, I had to pick myself up and drag myself there. I felt so bad and was bleeding so badly. I just really need the Lord to reach down and heal me. I was reading in my devotions in Mark 5 : 25 about the lady who touched the hem of Jesus' garment. It said that she had an "issue of blood" that flowed for years. It hit me in that moment, I firmly believe that she had Endometrosis. I could feel her desperation. For the first time I could understand her feelings so personally , even though I have read that story a million times. She too had spent all her money on relief, doctors couldnt help. My surgery was useless, so I felt her frustration.I began to cry to the Lord wishing that I too could touch His garment and this would pass from me. Then as I read on...I realized that it wasnt His hem that saved her. Becuase the verse said that he was being preessed and thronged by the crowds. Tons of people were "touching" Him. yet, nothing significant happened to them. Later, Jesus told her in verse 34 that it was her faith. I have hope. I just need more faith. I know the Lord can take this from me!