Pumpkin doesn't come in a can in the Philippines

Many ladies may decide whether to try a meal or not to try it based upon the “preparation time”. For you non-cookers, “preparation time” is the time it takes to prepare the dinner prior to throwing it into the oven. So, this would be cutting the vegetables and adding the spices and so on. In the States, many recipes indicate that the “preparation time” is just a few minutes as you just need to open this can and open that can and mix them together. Most women wouldn’t even consider cooking a meal that said the “preparation time” was 2 days. For Ginger, hardly any of her recipes would qualify as “quick meals”: i.e. Pumpkin Scones, Pumpkin Soup, Chicken Enchiladas, Feta Salad, and many more. This past week Ginger decided to make our family Chicken Enchiladas.

Ginger with her home-made feta cheese, a three day process

Actually, she had to plan for this weeks ago so the right ingredients were on our supply order. Ginger had a recipe that went as follows: – 1 can refried beans – 10 flour tortillas – 1 can of condensed cream of chicken – 1 cup of sour cream – 3 cups of cheese – 1 can enchilada sauce – And so on. – PREPARATION TIME: 15 MINUTES

Ginger's world famous chicken enchiladas

Now this is what actually took place for Ginger to make this dinner: – Make sure the following items are on the supply order: dried beans, cream of chicken soup – Soak beans overnight, simmer them all morning, then blend the beans in a blender – Make tortilla shells from scratch – Make sour cream by adding 1 tablespoon of vinegar to 1 cup of cream – Make enchilada sauce from scratch – PREPARATION TIME: 15 MINUTES & 2 DAYS

Was all that “preparation time” worth it? Everyone in her family says, “YES.” For Ginger, she just laughs when a recipe says: “Preparation time: 15 minutes.” She knows better than that. Next time you open a can of soup or a can of anything, please pray for Ginger and all it takes to put dinner on the table.

Rebekah up against the wall

Abigail on the slide

This past week, Rebekah found herself literally up against the wall and several inches off the ground.  As seen in this picture, her friends duct-taped her to the wall.  Rebekah wasn’t the only one having a little bit of fun.  Abigail enjoyed the slide and the very cool (meaning cold) pool.  Luke just liked seeing his friends again.  And Jonathan was excited about being with his big siblings in their class.  All the kids enjoyed staying up late and playing Duck Pin Bowling.  Where in the world were we?  Well, we were still in the Philippines attending our NTM conference.  As you already know, this was a great time for our kids.  It was a good time for us, too.  We were able to fellowship with our co-workers and to get some encouragement from God’s Word.  We are thankful for this time each year when a church team comes from the States (or other sending country) and ministers to us and to our children.  God is so good!

Jonathan in the pool

Luke Duck Pin Bowling

Dash

We have recently entered the world of pet ownership. We have had multiple reasons in the past for not owning pets, many of which still apply. However, when we returned to our house in the village after our year in the States, our house now had resident dogs – a mother and her two puppies. So, rather unwillingly, we parents agreed to partial ownership of these dogs. The dogs are truly owned by our Agutaynen neighbor, so it is a shared partnership. Really, the best way to own dogs here in this village – our kids get to love them, we get to give them table scraps, and we don’t need to worry about the dogs when we are away from the village.

Rebekah holding Dash

Somehow, over the course of the past few months, these dogs have managed to work their way into our hearts – even into the hearts of us parents. We went so far in this world of pet ownership that we also purchased two turtles and four fish!

Abigail with Survivor

This last month has brought us to the difficult part of pet ownership. In these last few weeks, three fish, one turtle, and one of the puppies, Dash, have died. Of course, the most difficult loss has been that of the puppy.

This has been a good reminder to us of the incredible capacity God has given each of us to love. How thankful we are for His love for us! In this season of Christmas, when we remember the birth of His Son, we are reminded that God sent His only Son to die for us! Truly, amazing love and an amazing gift! Thank you for praying with us as we endeavor to point our Agutaynen friends and neighbors to the Savior of the world!

Agutaynen girl drying rice on the basketball court

One of the national sports of the Philippines is basketball.  For this reason, just about every village in the Philippines has a basketball court.  However, the main purpose of a basketball court is not to play basketball, but to dry rice.  The village we live in is no exception.

Rebekah playing basketball

This year, one of Rebekah’s school classes is PE (Physical Education).  So far, Rebekah has chosen to play basketball for her PE, rain or shine.  Stephen gets the privilege of being the PE teacher.  So, every morning at 6am, Rebekah and Stephen hit the court.  By having this class so early, we (1) hopefully don’t sweat too much in the mid 70/80 temperature and (2) Agutaynens don’t usually put their rice out until about 9am.

This week, Rebekah and Stephen went out to the court.  This particular morning was a little unusual as other Agutaynen kids were out playing, too.  Well, they were playing on one side of the court, so Rebekah and Stephen took the other side.  Before we started to play, Stephen removed a cracked-open coconut from the court.  A minute later, one of the Agutaynen teens walked over and told Stephen: “agbantayan mo” which translated means “you be on the guard”.

The coconut tree that hangs over the basketball hoop

After saying this, he pointed up to the coconut tree which hung over the basket we were using.  Stephen noticed that there were at least 20 ripe coconuts just waiting to fall down.  Where in the States would you need to guard yourself from falling coconuts while playing basketball?  Well,  Rebekah and Stephen had a good morning and made it home without injury.

We hope the Agutaynen believers will heed to the same warning: “be on guard”.  Please pray for these believers as they are not watching out for falling coconuts, but attacks from the devil.  May they stand firm and testify of God’s wonderful work in their own lives.

Preparing lunch with very small shells

About two weeks ago, we experienced a very wet day as a typhoon was making itself known here in the Philippines.  This type of day makes you want to grab a book and hide under a blanket, even here near the equator.  However, Stephen thought this might be a good day to find one of his Agutaynen friends at home.  So, he grabbed an umbrella and headed up the hill.  As Stephen approached the house, he heard activity.  His friend was at home and preparing lunch.  Stephen was invited into their home.  His friend was taking small, really small shells and cutting off the tips of them.  This actually took over an hour to accomplish.  At that time, Stephen headed home.  However, before that Stephen did get a good idea of what their lunch was for that day.  His friend was then to cook these shells in coconut milk.  When cooked there really was little eating but a lot of sucking.  The Agutaynens will suck the “meat” out of the shells.  Stephen is one to try anything, but maybe this one he will save for another day.  Perhaps we’ll put that on the menu for a day when we have visitors from the States.

Agutaynen girls waiting for the Bible lesson to begin

As we continue to live among the Agutaynens, we desire more and more for them to hunger for God’s Word.  Please pray that they will come to the Bible teaching, hungry to know the truths found in the Bible.

Stephen with an Agutaynen man

As many of you know, Stephen is now back to full-time language study with the desire to see it completed.  Progress is not seen in leaps or bounds but by words, phrases, and so on.  Some days are hard, very hard.  But other days, days when Stephen is able to be out with people, doing what they are doing, language study can actually be enjoyed through communication of desires, needs, struggles, and so on.  Just a few days ago, Stephen noticed a large group of Agutaynens working along the road.  So, he went to see what they were doing.  In short, they were “beautifying” the village by planting trees and flowers.  While there, one Agutaynen lady told Stephen, “Pag beket-beket tang mga taw madili tang obra piro mga wasag-wasag maliwag.”  She said, “When people are tied together, work is fast; but when people scatter, work is hard.”  So how can fifty Agutaynens all tied together accomplish a task?  They can’t.  But this is the way the Agutaynens say “united”.  So, she was saying, “When people are united, work is fast.”  Times like this, we see that we are learning a beautiful language.

Please pray with us that the Agutaynens will “tie” themselves up with Stephen in his continued language study.  Pray as Stephen is looking for new, faithful Agutaynens to be language helpers.  And then, Lord willing, this task of language learning will be a “fast” one, as the Agutaynen lady expressed.

If you guessed a foot, you are on the right track.

Agutaynen climbing a coconut tree.

Actually, it is an Agutaynen climbing a coconut tree (picture is to the left).  At least once a year, Agutaynens will collect all the coconuts, crack them open and remove the “meat”.

Agutaynen kids drying coconut meat.

They will then dry the “meat”, usually in the sun, and sell it in town.

Hopefully this photo clip and explanation was a fun way to give you a little glimpse into the lives of the Agutaynens.  If you have enjoyed this, please check out our new blog page: “What is it?”.  On this page, you will find more photo clips and glimpses into the Agutaynen culture.  On the right side of our blog, you will find a list of pages: “About”, “Awana Kids”, and the last one is “What is it?”.  Click on “What is it?” and you will be taken to this new page.  Hopefully this page will be fun for you and your children.  Give it a try.  We will be adding new clips to this page on a monthly basis.

Christmas Decorations in the Philippines

“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.”  No, it’s not going to snow anytime soon here in the Philippines.  However, the stores in the Philippines are already stocking their shelves with Christmas decorations.  Some of you might ask, “Do the Filipinos celebrate Christmas on December 25?”  The answer is, “yes”.  However, here in the Philippines, Christmas is during the “ber” months.  Not “brr” as in being the cold months, but the months that end with the syllable “ber”:  Septem“ber”, Octo“ber”, Novem“ber” and Decem“ber”.  Many in the States are amazed as it seems like Christmas decorations are sold earlier and earlier each year.  Well, we are amazed to see decorations already for sale on August 15, not even a “ber” month yet!  According to Wikipedia, the Philippines, “has earned the distinction of celebrating the world’s longest Christmas season.”  Maybe we can learn something from the Filipinos.  Maybe our Christmas celebration is too short and limited to just a few weeks of the year.  We should daily thank God for His Son’s birth which ultimately led to His death for our sins.  The greatest gift we have received is eternal life through Jesus Christ.  This gift is still available even here in the Philippines and doesn’t have to be received in a “ber” month.

Jordan kids enjoying the children's conference

This week, we had the privilege of having a mini-conference with all of the missionaries on the Island of Palawan.  After a year of being away, this was a really great opportunity for us to catch up with everyone at once.  Fellow missionaries from another island came to do a children’s program, so our children had a wonderful time as well.  What a joy to hear about what God is doing in several different language groups on the Island of Palawan, and to be a part of His work all around the world!

Abigail with her new friend

We were reminded that it is God’s work and He gets all the Glory.  What a privilege it is to be His servants!  We are looking forward, with prepared hearts now, to return to our home in the village this week.  Your prayers for our family and for the work among the Agutaynens are precious to us.  Thank you.

Rebekah was very excited about painting the girl's room. She did a great job! As proof, she had paint on herself from her head to her toes.

On July 31, Rebekah and Stephen loaded up our vehicle and made the three-hour journey into our village.  For the next 6 days, Rebekah, Stephen, and eight men in our village attacked our home.  Our desire was to prepare our home for our family’s return and to especially clean it for Luke’s health.  We wanted to make sure the dust and mold were removed from the house.   Along with cleaning the house, we replaced most of the old window screens that were dirty and moldy.  And to top it all off, we needed to repaint the inside.  This was special for our kids because we let them choose colors for their rooms.  Many weeks ago, Stephen invited Rebekah to come with him and she accepted with eagerness with the hopes of painting the girl’s room.  Stephen enjoyed the time with the Agutaynens in the village, but even more so enjoyed the one-on-one time with Rebekah.  We want to thank many of you who helped with our “project fund” this last year as some of those funds were designated for this project and the cleaning of our home.  Thank you for loving the Agutaynens and our family through your gifts.