Robert and Cirena Smith Making Disciples in the Philippines An Unexpected Mother’s Day!
We praise God for His provision for the Agta VBS team. One portion of the team went in by boat (three hours by land and then nine hours on the open ocean) while the rest of the team were able to fly in (a much shorter trip by air). The original plan was for our family to join the team but God however had other plans.
Shay with a visit from some of her MK friends.
This past Mother’s Day we found ourselves unexpectedly in the hospital. Sheila had been complaining since the Thursday previous of stomach problems and so on Friday she was taken to a local pediatrician. After initial examination and lab work she was treated for UTI. The pediatrician did say however if problems persisted we should take her to the hospital. The next morning she showed no signs of improvement while in fact she seemed to be getting worse and so off to the local hospital we went. Within the hour she was diagnosed with appendicitis and she was operated on later that same day.
Mother's Day Card Sheila made for Cirena.
We praise God despite the unexpected Mother’s Day. Had we waited one more day (Mother’s Day) the appendix likely would have ruptured. In fact, this will be one Mother’s Day we can always be grateful for knowing that things could have turned out far worse. Furthermore, had we been located in this remote village when she began showing signs of her illness, it would have made for a much more difficult situation.
Inside view of Mother's Day card
We praise God for providing such great doctors and medical facilities in northern Luzon. Not too many years ago a case like this would have meant a trip to Manila. So while we are disappointed about not making the trip with the team, we are grateful for God’s sovereignty and perfect timing.
Sheila Marie is home now and continues her recovery. Please pray that she will stave off infection as her body continues to heal. Please continue to be in prayer also for the work of the Agta VBS team. What a tremendous opportunity to water the seeds that others have planted. We are confident that this is just one more process in one day seeing an abundant harvest among the Agta people and their Illocano neighbors.
Team Ready for Agta VBS
FCBC Agta VBS Team
Within our Global Partners Purpose Statement it says that we as a mission “exist to assist the ministry of the local church… coordinating of believers to evangelize unreached people groups.” With that said, as we have had opportunity to connect with the local church in the Philippines, we were excited when Family Christian Bible agreed to put a team together to run a DVBS for the Agta people, one of the least reached people groups in their area. With this event our purpose remains to build firm foundations within the hearts and minds of those being reached. That being said, what God is doing through a ministry like this may not be seen for years to come but for sure this is just another stepping stone towards seeing God glorified among the Agta and what a great opportunity to partner with the local church in the Philippines in this process. We as a team are extremely excited about what God is doing.
This is a huge sacrifice for each one on the team as it will cost them a week of work, travel to a very isolated area, all of which adds up to a very costly venture. We are excited by their willingness to trust God in this and to step forward by faith. Please be praying for each member of the team as we work throught the logistics, for safety as we travel, for good weather during the week this event is planned, and for each of us to be looking to God for what He might want to teach us through this event. Should the Lord give you a desire to be a part of sponsoring this event, you can do so by clicking our give page to find out how. Please state specifically that your gift is for Robert & Cirena Smith – Agta VBS.
Coming Alongside the Agta
Gene, Brian, Pastor JR, & Smitty just before our flight to visit the Agta
A couple of blogs back (To Much Death in the Village) I introduced you to our friends the Epps who are working with the Agta. By God’s grace and His perfect timing, just this past February I had the privilege of flying in for a first time visit with the Agta. Also visiting for the first time were local pastor J.R. Santias, and NTM missionary, Gene Park from Korea.
Visiting with the Agta
Despite being just a day trip, what an exciting time this was to spend with the missionaries ministering to the Agta. Together we praised God for the work He has already done among these people and then we challenged one another to considered how we could be a part of moving the work forward. Please pray with us in this.
FAMILY TIME!
Smitty, Cirena, Char, Don, & John
As much as I enjoyed my first visit with the Agta, the second trip was so much better. This time we were able to visit as a family and together we had the privilege of spending two nights in the village. The Epps were excellent hosts and our time with them made it that much more of a privilege to serve alongside them in reaching the Agta.
Sheila with a couple of her fellow MK's
Besides spending time with the Agta, together we enjoyed swimming in the both the river and the ocean, a bond-fire on the beach, and for Sheila just your general run and play through the jungle, building jungle forts, collecting hermit crabs, and other little girl stuff. She had a really great time with her fellow MK’s in the jungle. Trips like that can be such a great time of encouragement. Please pray for God’s perfect timing & provision for similiar trips in the future.
HELPING TO MEET NEEDS!
Cirena with an Agta woman and her child.
Our time with the Agta though certainly wasn’t all play. In fact, not long after our arrival, Don and I flew to a small grassy area on the other side of the ridge so as to evaluate it as a possible alternative landing site for emergencies. We also used it as an opportunity to drop off a requested catheter to one of the families that lived there. We then dug our heels in for a two-hour hike (verses two to three minutes by helicopter) back to the village. The next day we were there to see a community well started which was followed by another hike to get a signature from one of the local leaders.
Smitty with our Agta friends who flew out of the village seeking medical attention.
Then there is the tons of medical work done each day. Just days after our visit, an Agta couple flew out of the village headed to the local hospital in town seeking medical attention and so I had the privilege of helping out a couple of days along with our co-worker John. I used Tagalog to communicate with the hospital staff while John used Agta to communicate with the patients. It was somewhat commical watching two westerners act as translators between Filipinos. One encouraging email we received from Char read as follows, “I told one of the ladies, Marites sister-in-law that you guys went with them to the hospital and she was SO thankful, even releaved with joy on her face.” We live in a very needy world and there is much work to be done. What a privilege it is to be part of team reaching the Agta for Christ.
Living in a remote location is not without it’s difficulties. On multiple occasions now the missionaries have had to leave the village due to health issues. Due to bad weather, this last time one of the family members became ill, it took three days to get them out of the village. Please be in prayer for Don and Char Epp and family, for their partner John Burbidge, and for their new partners Jared and Bana Major and family who are in the process of moving into the village at this very moment.
“In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippianans 1:4-6 NIV
Finding Refreshment from Afar
Members of the Jerome Prairie Bible Church missions team
Our year kicked off with a trip south to connect with co-workers from around the field for a time of refreshment and fellowship. We were blessed as team from Jerome Prairie Bible Church in Grants Pass, Oregon came over to the Philippines to help facilitate this time. The majority of the team focused on teaching our kids (a huge blessing) while the rest of us were refreshed in the word with teaching from Pastor James Downing & his wife Suzie. Joining their team from Bend, Oregon was Freddie Gateley who blessed our time together as he led us in worship each day. Thank-you so much to all our new friends from Jerome Prairie Bible; we are blessed.
Smith family with Joe and Sharon Goodman, Smitty & Joe wearing their new barong.
Also visiting were Oli & Judy Jacobsen. Oli is one of our former Field Chairman’s here in the Philippines. We were also blessed with a visit by NTM, USA Executive Board member Marv Ketchum, who is also the Director of Student Life at the Missions Training Center in Camdenton, MO. Joining Marv from the NTM, USA Personnel Departmentwere Joe and Sharon Goodman. Joe and Sharon gave our first official welcome to NTM when we graduated from the MTC in 2008 and so we were excited to be among the first to welcome them to the Philippines when they arrived. Joe was needing a new barong (Filipino style dress shirt) and so we went out shopping in search of one. In the process I found one for myself also.
Smith family with Chris & Lynn Strange
Before heading back to northern Luzon we made one more trip further south to spend time with co-workers there, some of whom were not able to attend our bigger meeting. It was even a greater opportunity to get to know some of them on a more personal level. Especially special was the opportunity to spend time with our co-workders Chris & Lyn Stange who announced they would be leaving the field in the near future. Chris & Lyn were among the first to greet us in the Philippines when we arrived as associates in 2003. This couple will be sorely missed by their co-workers and Filipino’s alike.
As we work to fulfill the task that God has for us it is always exciting to have others to come from so far away and at great personal expense to be a part of what God is doing here and to remind us that we are not alone in this work. I would highly recommend for anyone that might ever have an inclination to visit the mission field if even for a short-term period of time to do so. You might find it not only a blessing for those you are there to visit but also for yourself. We live in a very need world and there is much work to be done. Thanks for your part in that.
Tags: Barong, New Tribes Mission, NTM
Too Much Death in the Village
Donavan Epp comforts an Agta man whose child recently passed away.
Char Epp with healthy Agta baby.
What a privilege it is to come alongside of our co-workers, Don & Char Epp, working to reach the Agta here in the Philippines. Whether it’s tracking down the necessary supplies, providing a meal here or there or preparing a room, there is a much bigger picture behind what we do. And with Christmas once again upon us and the reminder of God’s unsearchable love for us by sending His son to come & live among us, we are also challenged to remember the countless number of lives that have yet to hear of this incredible grace. What a glorious day it will be when the Agta, and many other unreached people groups around the world, are delivered from darkness to light, recognizing that Christ and Christ alone is the source of life and death. More importantly that He is the source of life eternal. We live in a very needy world and there is much work to be done.
Tags: Agta
Transitioning North
Local transportation in our new place of service.
After two years of Culture & Language Study in Manila the Lord is giving us some direction as to our next ministry assignment. With the departure of our northern Luzon support center personal for a short home assignment we have been asked to fill in for them during their absence. At this point we are preparing for a temporary move until the end of the year at which time in cooperation with our field leadership, we will re-evaluate the needs around the field to determine where we might continue to serve on a longer term basis. For now we are grateful for the privilege of continued service to the King of kings and Lord of lords! We live in a very needy world and there is much work to be done. Thanks for your part in allowing that to happen; whether by prayers, giving financially or your words of encouragement.
Providing Support in Palawan
Taking time out for a trip to the beach during our 16 days in Palawan Supply Buying
As we draw closer to completing our time in National Culture and Language Acquisition in Manila, we find ourselves praying more and more about what the Lord has in store for us next. While we have worked towards the possibility of moving into a tribal church planting team we have also said that we would be willing to go back into tribal church planting support, which is where our first two years of missions service began. And so when we were recently requested to fill in for a few weeks in September doing supply buying back in Palawan we thought what a great opportunity to get another taste of that might be like.
During the 16 days we were back on the island we did supply buying for six different families working to reach four distinct people groups. We purchased everything from hardware and office supplies to food and medicine. It may not sound like much but between all the running around town to track down the various needs, packing it up for safe shipping over land, air, and sea, this is a job that is absolutely essential to the work of delivering the gospel to those that have yet to hear and planting viable God-sustaining churches. So while there is still the possibility that we could join an existing tribal church planting team in the near future, there is also the possibility that we could join multiple church planting teams in providing vital front-line support. Your prayers are much coveted.
A Helping Hand for the Ga’dang
UK Summit Team - Ga'dang Water Project
Recently I had the privilege of participating in a two-week water project for the Ga’dang people, a remote people group in the Philippines. Along with 12 members of a short-term missionary team from the UK, one other missionary from Manila, Erik Peterson, and the missionaries who live in this village, Chuck & Shannon Talbot (their partner Christina Canapp was out of the village due to illness), we laid water pipe from a mountain spring to the village below that had never before had running water (about 20 homes). They now have six different water stations strategically located around the village to provide a fresh source of water where in the past they had struggled, especially during dry season.
Ga'dang preparing to plant rice.
Of course water alone is not the primary goal of this project. As our missionaries in this village continue to study the local language and prepare to teach, our prayer is that one day these people will see what was done for them as not just another ‘good deed’ but more importantly as a ‘Gift of God!’ We look forward to the day when this unreached people group will one day stand and give glory to God for all He has done for them, not just just providing water to get them thru the dry season, but more importantly, providing living water to get them thru all seasons of life.
The total cost estimation for this project was set at $3500 (not including individual missionary expences for travel, supplies, etc…). Should the spirit of God compel either yourself personally or that of your church to partner with us, please send your gift directly to and made payable to:
New Tribes Mission, 1000 East First Street, Sanford, Florida 32771-1487
Please send a note also stating what the gift is for: Ga’dang Water Project, Philippines. You can also visit our GIVE page for other ways to give.
As Christ has said, “… anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name… will certainly not lose his reward.” (Mark 9:41)
Tags: Ga'dang, UK Summit Team
Building a Vision for the Ga-dang
What are they looking at???
Reaching the Ethnos?
NTMPI SYMC 2011 - Staff
What a privilege it was recently to join our NTMPI co-workers at the New Tribes School of Missions (NTSM) for their Summer Youth Missions Camp. Along with just one other NCLA student, we travelled to the NTSM training center in Bataan about 3 hours NW of Manila where we joined our Filipino ka misyenero (co-missionaries) as counsellors for the four day camp. With anticipation that we would somehow be a blessing and an encouragement to sa mga kabataan (Filipino Youth), it was quickly made evident that we would be equally blessed and encouraged by the passion and ferver they bring to Christendom.
Despite a late summer typhoon that brought more than two straight days of hard rain, our spirits were not dampened as we joined together to consider what the Lord has for each of us in regards to building His kingdom. The theme of this years camp in just it’s third year of existence was “ETHNOS: Isang Hamon sa Kabataan” (a challenge to the youth). As it were though, this was just as much of a challenge for those of us already in missions to consider where and how the Lord would continue to use us.
Family time at the SYMC
NTM Philippines Summer Youth Missions Camp - Staff & Students