Chuck and Shannon Talbot Missionaries to the Ga'dang 
Just a few last things we need
We are so thankful to all of you that have been helping us to get things together for our time in Canada. We are just days away from flying and there are just a few things left that we are in need of. Maybe you can have something extra for us to borrow, or know someone else who does.
8 Passenger Van- We are in need of a reliable van that will fit 6 kids. We have 2 in car seats still and 2 teenagers as well. If we don’t have something lined up when we get there, maybe some one has an 8 passenger vehicle we can use for a couple weeks until we can get one.
Snowsuits/winter jackets, boots for the kids- We still need a winter jacket for Eli (men’s small or medium). Sophia needs a winter jacket (size 4/5). Jenna also needs a winter jacket (size 2).
Bicycles for the kids- The 4 older know how to ride and Jenna would love something she can be pushed around in/on.
Please send us an email if you would have any of these items for us to borrow or buy.
We are looking forward to seeing you all very soon.
I am going to miss…
We have done a lot of writing about the fun things we are going to be doing while we are on home assignment. And about the things we are not going to miss. But yesterday was a sad day leaving the village and saying goodbye to so many friends. We are so amazed at the people God has brought our way in this last year. We have made many friends and we will miss them. We look forward to getting back to them next year and learning more of their language and culture so we can share the amazing free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.
1. We, Jenna and I, will miss Febiolyn. She has been Jenna’s “yaya”, nanny, since June. Jenna waits at the door every morning for her Ate to come. And when she leaves she keeps asking “Where’d Ate go?”
2. For those of you who know me, Shannon, I love babies! It was an amazing experience to be at the birth of our neighbour’s baby last year. This year 5 ladies in the village are expecting. And all of but 1 of them work for me! I am so sad that I will miss the birth of these babies. I am sad that they will be scared of the “white lady” when they see me for the first time.
3. Kyle is going to miss his best bud, Ogie. These two boys have been friends since the first time Kyle stayed in the village, in 2009. Everyday Kyle waits until 4pm when Ogie is done school and off he goes to find him and do something with him. They often times spend a whole Saturday riding carabao (water buffalo) hauling lumber into the village. Many times they go to find and cut bamboo for Kyle’s latest fort project. They play Uno, Lego and build puzzles together too. But best of all they laugh together. If you ask Kyle how they communicate, he says, “a bit of Tagalog, a bit of English, a little Ga’dang and a lot of hand gestures!”
4. Chuck is going to miss his right hand man. Gaton has been working for Chuck since June. Chuck has trained him to use the tools and work on many projects around the house. Gaton has also been Chuck’s main language helper. He has learned a lot and has been a huge help to our family. Chuck is going to miss the times they get to laugh together. It is a wonderful thing to hear!
5. We are going to miss our dog Jojo. She is a wonderful fun dog. We are so thankful that we have friends that will look after her while we are gone.
6. One of the best parts of living in the jungle, is the coffee that grows around us. The people harvest this coffee every year and dry, pound, roast and pound it again so they can drink it. It is a Barako coffee that is mild and not bitter. I, Shannon, can even drink it!
7. Sweet Potato on a stick! This is so delicious!
8. We are defiantly going to miss all the birthday parties in the village. We are able to attend most birthday parties. The best part is the food. There is always pancit and nansilot. It is so good!
9. Every Friday morning we have coffee on our porch with those who are working at our house that day, and anyone else who happens to be around. It is a great time to ask language questions to see what different people think of words or phrases. They can then discuss it with each other. We had a great laugh one morning talking about how to say tomorrow morning. If you were to say tomorrow or morning with another time word, they are both the same word. So we asked do you just say it twice to mean tomorrow morning??? Oh the laughs and smiles that came from that! It is a running joke still!
10. Chuck is going to miss his hammock. He is going to miss a little siesta in his hammock every afternoon or swinging with Jenna in the hammock on the porch.
OH WAIT! It’s packed to go with us. He won’t miss it after all!
We are so thankful to the Lord for the relationships that we have built with so many people over the last 3 years but especially this last year. I remember wondering after our first year here in the Philippines, if I would ever be sad to leave. I watched another family after they had left their village for their home assignment and they were so very sad to be saying goodbye. After a year of being in the Philippines, I was still so homesick for my family and friends that it didn’t seem possible to want to be here more than there. Today I can say with confidence that I am sad to be leaving. We look forward to our time with our family and friends this coming year but we much more look forward to being back with our friends here. We see with each passing day their need for a Saviour. We know how they can have Jesus as their Saviour, we just have to get to a point in their language to be able to share it with them. This means a lot of hard work ahead of us when we return. But we are excited to do it. Thank you Lord for allowing us to be a part of the work you are doing here in the Philippines and especially with the Ga’dang people.
Things I am looking forward to “not” doing
We love our life here in the tribe. We wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. But sometimes we just wish we didn’t have to do things the way we do. So here are some things we are looking forward to “not” doing over the next 11 months!
1. “NOT” using a flashlight to get to the bathroom in the night.
2. “NOT” having to turn the generator on or off everyday.
3. “NOT” not flushing the toilet! If it’s yellow let it mellow…
4. “NOT” saying “please repeat” a million times a day.
5. “NOT” saying “I don’t understand” many more times a day.
6. “NOT” having to sign out/borrow a vehicle when we want to go shopping.
7. “NOT” having to start my grocery list 2 weeks before someone else goes shopping for me!
8. “NOT” having to carry a sweat rag with me everywhere I go.
9. “NOT” carrying tissue for every bathroom break we make at the mall.
10. “NOT” having to sleep under a mosquito net.
11. “NOT” having to tuck in the mosquito net every time I get in and out of bed!
12. “NOT” checking for spiders hiding on the shower curtain—make that BIG spiders!
13. “NOT” watching the ants swim in my cheerios while I eat the cheerios.
14. “NOT” wearing rubber boots majority of the year.
15. “NOT” waking up to the sound of roosters crowing, not at dawn but all hours of the night.
I am sure there are other things we are looking forward to not doing but we won’t dwell on them. We are looking forward to all the things we are going to do throughout the rest of this year.
The funeral
As we wrap up our time here in the tribe and get ready for home assignment we have recently been reminded vividly of the reason why we are here and the urgency in getting back so we can continue with studying the language and culture of the Ga’dang people. This past term we were able to experience many cultural events, from all the aspects of planting and harvesting corn and rice to the daily grind of just living and surviving in this environment. We’ve also had the privilege of participating in some major events, including two ‘uli’ (engagement parties), a wedding and multiple births. These are all happy events, and one gets to see the lighter side of life here in the tribe.
With just a couple of weeks left before we head home for a year the Lord put one more cultural event before us. It’s not just a cultural event though, but also a spiritual one as well, and perfectly timed to be fresh in our minds as we share with churches and individuals back in Canada about why we are here. Someone in the village died.
Analyn, or Kiwara as she was known in the village was going to turn 40 years old this year. She hadn’t been really healthy since we first met her, and we suspected she was having trouble with her lungs. Despite her breathing problems and lack of energy she never hesitated to do her part as one of the community, going out to the fields during planting and harvesting time and playing an active role wherever she could. When she wasn’t out she could be found at home running her little sari-sari (convenience store).
Then it happened. Kiwara’s health took a turn for the worse so her husband, Danny (one of my language helpers) took her out to town for a check up. Kiwara was hospitalized for a week but her health quickly deteriorated, and then they were told there was nothing more the doctors could do for her. All they could do is come back to the village and wait for the inevitable to happen. As some men left here that morning to go and carry her back in, the word in the village was that she had a 50/50 chance of survival.
That afternoon my language helper, Gaton and I were watching Perfecto and Victor, two older men as they were making some ‘dongadong’ and ‘barambang’ (musical instruments) out of bamboo for me to take back to Canada. Suddenly one of the young ladies who works in the house came out, shook up and crying, and told us that she had received a text saying that Kiwara had died on the trail while being carried home. She then ran to tell the others in the village about it. Soon after, our neighbour ran home and brought out his rifle, which he shot into the air several times to inform the surrounding villages of the death.
When the men arrived in the village with the body, the village people quickly got to work preparing for the days ahead. They opened up the side of the house so visitors could see the body and erected a large tarp to provide shelter for all who be arriving. Firewood was gathered, a pig killed, and many other preparations made. Over the next 5 days, siblings and relatives came from many parts of the surrounding provinces to visit and pay their respects. 
For us, all we could do was observe and ask simple questions such as, “What is that?” and “What are they doing?” The body was laid on a bed and covered with a blanket, except the head, so that any who came by could view it. Danny, Kiwara’s husband sat beside the body with a shawl over him and didn’t move away from it until it was buried. Many came by and wailed and cried over the body. Several groups of men gathered around to play cards, and drink liquor and gamble. We were told that until the body was buried, people needed to stay awake through the night, and this was how they passed the time. (A portion of the winnings went towards the expenses of the funeral.) A small generator was borrowed and lights were set up to provide lighting through the night.
Over the next few days, a casket was made and then the body was put into it. The lid was fitted with a piece of glass so visitors could still view the face as they came to pay their respects. The men rotated turns as they stayed awake each night, playing cards, drinking and watching over the body. A burial plot was discussed, and due to the rain we were having everyday, it was decided to bury her near by the house. 
By the fifth day, there was a break in the rain, so the hole was dug, and the final proceedings took place. Kiwara’s family are members of the local Espirista group so a spiritual leader from a major town near by was called in to perform the service. The family gathered around the casket while they took turns talking about life with Kiwara, and people sang. Each member of the family then placed red flower petal on the glass part of the casket lid.
Once the hole was ready with a rough wood lining to protect the casket, several men carried it out and placed it over the hole where it was lowered down into. As the casket was being carried people either clapped their hands or banged sticks together, and one of the men fired several shots in the air with his rifle. We noticed that as soon as the casket was lowered into the hole all the family immediately left the site and went back to the house. Several planks were set over the wood box and then suddenly people started throwing dirt into the hole, even before the men could climb out. They were able to climb out ok and the hole was quickly filled in by everyone standing there.
At that point things wound down quickly. Clean up began, and those from other villages left to go home. The generator no longer ran that night, and by the next morning clean up was done and the house put back together. Life as we could see it had gone back to normal, except without Kiwara.
That’s it, right? Or is it? Where is she now? Sadly, she hadn’t had the opportunity to hear the Gospel message. She hadn’t been able to choose for herself where she would spend eternity, with or without Christ. This is the reality of why we are here, to tell these people this Good News of salvation through Him. But in order to do so, we must be able to communicate this to them in a way that they will understand. This means we need to understand who they are, and why they think the way they do so that we can answer the questions they will have and not be confused about why God would send his Son to die for them and pay the price for their sins. They need to understand clearly how that is the ONLY way to spend eternity in heaven.
I look forward with great anticipation to the day when a funeral here is a time of rejoicing for the one who finally gets to see their Creator and Saviour. I look forward to that day when we will see Ga’dang people in heaven and stand along side them before God Almighty. Oh what a glorious day that will be!
Sophia
How can we not love this sweet girl?!
You would think that after the first 4 kids that we would be well practiced for #5. Since the day Sophia was born she has kept us hoppin’! She has a lot of energy and spice in that little body of hers. Some times that spice is cayenne pepper. I remember Sophia having her first temper tantrum at just 7 months because she couldn’t have something. I didn’t know what to do with her. The others never did that. At 4 yrs old, that fire still comes out. Not as often as before but we still see it. Sometimes we still don’t know what to use to put out that fire either. But we look to the Lord to help us know what to do with her.
Sophia also came with a whole lot of sugar too! Several times each day Sophia and I go through our ritual. First a kiss, then a hug, then a squeeze (just a tight hug with noises) and we end with a tickle. If we don’t get them in the right order, we have to start all over again. She tells me every night that she will wake me up in the morning with all 4 of those things. It sure makes morning a much sweeter thing for me.
God also gave Sophia a great sense of humor. She loves to laugh especially at Bugs Bunny! She also laughs at the scary parts of a movie that her siblings are watching! The best part though is that she makes us laugh. We laugh so many times a day with this little girl in our house.
Today we began packing up our stuff in our house so we can go on home assignment in just 3 weeks time. I spent a lot of time going through the girls’ clothes and toys today. The last thing we needed to do before lunch was decide on which bed time dolls/stuffies, would go to Canada with us. I lined up Sophia’s 4 dolls and asked her,
“Who’s going to Canada with us?”
Sophia quickly replied while raising her hands, “ME!”
We all started to laugh! I couldn’t stop. She just sat there and looked blankly at us wondering what was so funny! I tried to explain that I wanted her to pick her dolls. She still didn’t understand what made us laugh so much.
I think this is one story I will remember for a very long time. I think we can tell that she is very excited to go to Canada!
Please be praying for Sophia and Chuck and I as we raise her.