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!!!