NTM - New Tribes Mission | Planting Tribal Churches

We just had a SUPER FANTASTIC visit with our 2 sons and their families.  We are soooooooooooooooo thankful for those two special weeks.  Most of our time was spent here on the flight center.  The days quickly slipped away as we had our advanced Birthday party; early Christmas celebration; hot dog roast, mountain climbing and visiting neighbours etc.  It was lots of fun seeing the cousins together.  Besides scouting out Grandma’s house, they had fun exploring the whole center – walking thru the grass with bare feet to swings, the slide and the trampoline.  As a family, spending time in prayer and studying the book of Colosians together was also very meaningful.

In Manila we had shopping, dental appointments, go carting, swimming , bowling and visiting their former school.  Lots of fun memories! 

The day to take them to the airport came all to soon.  Good byes are always very sad and hard for us, but we have the joy of knowing we will see them again soon – Craig’s family in March and Ryan’s in April.  By then our grandchildren will have doubled!

Now we have a 2 week period to finish up some work projects and begin packing.  Lots of families arrive on the center Dec. 22nd, which begins a week full of activities.  We are thankful to be surrounded by many friends for our last Christmas in the Philippines.

Our time here is quickly coming to an end.  We appreciate you praying for us that we will keep our focus on the Lord and His plans for us – and not the hardship it will be to say final farewells.

As we expected, the month of October flew by quickly.  During the first two weeks Rocky took a Faroese team down to the island of Palawan, where they spent a couple of days at the beach – having Bible Studies and learning about tribal missionary life.  They had discussions on topics such as Culture Study and Bible Translation.  Then they were able to fly into the Palawano tribe and spend a few days there seeing first hand how this all fits together in every day life.  One of the missionaries there is from the Faroe Islands, so it worked out good for them to be able to see her in her present surroundings.  From all reports that came back to us it was a very rewarding and encouraging experience. 

My sister, Luella, spent the last two weeks with us.  We were so happy that she could come visit us and that we had the opportunity to show her the various places where God has allowed us to be part of the ministry.  After spending a few days at our flight center, we were able to go into the Kankanaey tribe for a couple of days.  The believers there were excited to see her, and she was glad to be able to put a true picture to the stories she has heard for many years – life in our tribal village, our Band-Aid size airstrip, a bus trip over rough roads, and believers who are concerned for their village-mates.  One evening we had a meeting when she shared her testimony with the Kankanaey believers, and they all shared their testimonies with her.  It had been quite awhile since I have done that much interpreting in one evening, but as one of the believers told me they wanted to make sure my language didn’t get rusty!

We were so looking forward to spending a week with the Kankanaey believers, but we were NOT looking forward to saying good bye to them.  As we were bouncing around over the rough roads, traveling into our tribal village we knew that this would be our last time with them for a long, long time, so we were determined to make the best of every minute.

The believers made sure that our time there was SUPER WONDERFUL.  They had lots of things planned.  We were put on a ‘schedule’ and ate each meal with a different family.  Although they have so little they very generously shared what they had with us.  Lots of the believers followed us around from home to home, so everyone was feeding everyone.  It was like a week long celebration!

They wanted to sit around and get taught all day long, everyday.  Then in the evenings, they invited their unsaved friends to their homes for a time of studying the Word, by candlelight.  Using burning pieces of wood to light the path on the way home brought back good memories. 

Another prime event during our time there was a baptism on Saturday, in a little creek running between rice fields.  On Sunday we were joined by the believers in the next village over for a ‘Mini Conference."  As we expected, saying good bye to them was the only hard part of the week.  We would love to be ale to come back from time to time to visit, to encourage them in their walk with the Lord, and for us to be inspired as we were this week. 

We were recently blessed with a special two week visit from Rocky’s sister & her husband, along with his first cousin & her husband.  We loved having them with us and giving them a bird’s eye view of our past 28 years here.

As I was thinking about them coming, it struck me that this was the first time ever for them to be in our home.  We have always been the ones to visit them.  Besides introducing them to our friends here on the flight center, and showing them around our area, we were able to take them to see the Banaue Rice Terraces.  In Baguio City, we walked through Tam-awan Village, one afternoon.  It is like a Museum set up as a typical Igorot Village.  Eight traditional Igorot homes were taken apart piece by piece and then reassembled at Tam-awan.  It is almost a replica of where we lived in the Kankanaey.

Our first choice would have been to take them into our tribe for a visit, but going in there is kind of complicated without airplane service, so we opted to take them to Palawan, and were able to fly into two tribal areas there.  Both of these stations also have Faroese missionaries.  It was a huge eye opener for them and they said it is something that will always stay with them.  I don’t think we can really picture the poverty and the conditions of how people are living until we see if for ourselves.  Pictures just don’t do the trick!!  The heat and bugs also help make it come alive!!

We are so thankful for the hours that we had to visit and catch up.  God was very gracious in giving us lots of wonderful memories to pack away for a long, long time.

God blessed us this past month with a very encouraging week with friends from one of our supporting churches in Nova Scotia.  Jim and Daphne Cox came over for a two week "Exposure to Missions" trip and were able to extend their time here for one more week and spend some time with us. 

We were so excited when they first wrote to us about this excursion.  Not only were we anxious to see them again and get caught up with them and all our friends in Fall River, but we also had so many places we would love to show them.  We had to narrow it down to what we could fit into 6 days.

We ended up going to a couple of places in Manila, attending the church where we worshiped for many years, coming up to our home on the flight center, walking around our local market, flying into one of our tribal stations and visiting what is locally known as the 8th Wonder of the World – the Banaue Rice Terraces.

Our inspirational week with the Coxes brought blessing after blessing.  Whether we were spending hours in our car going from place to place, walking on a trail around the surrounding villages or enjoying a cup of coffee together in our home, their encouraging words and interest in our work will linger in our memories for a long time. 

Our time with our friends in the Agta tribe was amazing.  I am so thankful that I was able to go in with Rocky this time.  He has made many trips in there: to help check out a place for an airstrip; to help work on the airstrip; to accompany one of the German Exposure Teams; to help the team work on their strategy statement etc.  It had been my dream for a long time that on one of these trips there would be room for one more passenger – and this time there was!

Seeing the area where our co-workers are working and meeting lots of the Agta people was incredible.  The missionary team working there has been studying the language and culture of these people and can now see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Rocky was able to return with two friends – a language consultant and a medical doctor.  It was a very profitable trip – language checks were given and the missionary ‘passed’ the check and has been given the ‘ok’ to go ahead and start teaching.  What an exciting phase of the work to be in!!  Our doctor friend was able to help a lot of the people with medical issues as well as spend time with the missionary in helping her gain wisdom in medical areas.

Located right by the ocean, they live in a beautiful spot.  They have built great relationships with these friendly people which will be a big help once the teaching begins.  We are grateful for our time in there, and are so thankful that the time to start teaching is just around the corner. 

We recently had the joy of spending time with a 13 member "Exposure Team" from Germany.  This is the 3rd German team that Rocky and I have hosted.  We have always enjoyed them, and are encouraged when we hear of members going on to the NTM training.  We had a FANTASTIC time with them as we took them into two tribal areas in Mindanao.  First we went into the Higanoan tribe by land.  The missionaries there made a big effort to make everyone feel at home.  They shared many intriguing stories of how God has been working in that area since the beginning.  We were also thankful that we could meet several of the tribal believers and see how they are involved in the work.

After a few days in that village we all flew over to the Banwaon tribe, needing 5 flights, since the aircraft can only take 3 people at a time.  We were so thankful that the weather held up for that.  The missionaries in this area had also done a lot of homework and had a full program lined up for us.  They had organized a special meeting with the believers the day we arrived.  The missionary taught all of us how to introduce ourselves in their language.  I learned how to say "I am Noah’s grandmother."  They took us to a rice garden, where we "helped" weed the garden, to a sweet potato patch where we each dug up some to eat; had tribal meals cooked for us, both down by the river and in one of the tribal homes; had meetings with us at night and lots more.  Many of the team memvbers were in shock at so many things they saw and experienced, but they also went home encouraged and with lots to think about.

This past week-end our flight center was flooded with our Kankanaey friends.  We have been making plans for this since our first time to experience it last year.  The Bible Study times together as well as lots of fun activities and the sweet fellowship caused all of us to want to repeat it this year.

We had prepared for 24 people.  However the morning that they should arrive we heard from a group in a different area, saying they also would like to join us.  So another ‘jeepney load’ arrived later that evening.  Having the group almost double in size at the last minute didn’t cause much stir.  One more person was added to each mattress, and more rice was cooked for each meal.  Quite often all they have to go with their rice is salt, so to get even a small amount of meat and eggs with each meal was a special treat for them.

We had Bible Studies in the mornings and evenings which they always love and can’t seem to get enough of.  They invited several unsaved friends along, wanting them to have every opportunity to hear God’s Word and enjoy the atmosphere of a group of believers.  We were encouraged to see the testimony of a teen-age boy who was recently saved, and so excited about his salvation.  We are trusting the Lord will use his life to see many other teenagers come to know Him too.

The ladies asked me to teach them how to make a cake and seemed fascinated by the process.  We also spent some time pasting pictures on paper, making wall hangings and gifts for friends.  What a fun way to spend the afternoons with the ladies, having lots of time to listen to them share of how God is working in their lives.  We continue to pray that they will follow after Him with every portion of their hearts. 

Our highlight of the month was attending the Annual Believer’s Conference in the Kankanaey tribe.  Rocky enjoyed preparing for that, as well as sharing with the believers from many different areas.  it is also encouraging to see the believers from our area, to hear their joys and struggles and listen to various tribal men expound on the Word. 

We came home with exciting news – a new church has been started about a 2 hr. drive from where the conference had been held.  We didn’t even know about it until we were there!!  A young lady had a burden for that area and began having Bible Studies there.  The group grew and grew until she felt she couldn’t handle it anymore.  She asked for help from the church where she was saved, and the man who responded was one who had polio as a child.  He has never lost his wonder of the cross and was anxious for this opportunity to share it with others.  I am sure he would appreciate you praying for him as he travels twice a week – 1/2 hr. horseback; 2 hour jeepney ride and then 20 min. hiking with his limp.

Rocky arrived home last night with oodles of home made brooms, lots of bananas, green beans, coffee and $24.00.  More importantly though he arrived home with a very encouraged heart.  "Just right" were the perfect words to describe the weekend he had just experienced with the Kankanaey believers.

Now, back in our living room he could share with me the joys of his last few days.  The believers (a day’s drive from where we worked with the Kankanaey) had written us and asked if Rocky could come over for the weekend and have a few meetings.  Fitting this into our schedule was an added joy.

The time there was so encouraging with great interest shown in listening to the Word being taught – several people hiked many hours just to be there for the meetings.  We are also thankful for Rocky’s exceptional ability to continue to be fluent in the language that he seldom uses.

Fantastic hospitality was also shown.  Lots of rice was cooked for each meal, and they very generously shared from what they had.  This area does not have an abundance in anything so it thrilled our hearts to see them giving from the little they have.  Then in the end they gave him an envelope with $24.00 to help pay for this trip.  It was very humbling!

We continue to enjoy our time here on the flight center, working with the missionaries on this island.  But the trill of being able to go back from time to time and spend time with the Kankanaey believers tops it all!!!