Happy Birthday!

Here's a photo dedicated to my mother, whose birthday is today.

(Taken yesterday at a beach-side party for the daughter of missionary friends)

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Typhoon and Flooding

So it's been a while since we have said anything on here. Well, not much is happening (at least that feels worthy of a blog entry). We are back into the daily grind. Christina is busy with the clinic. She had a few busy days with a catch in two or three consecutive days. But it is going really well.

And now begins "Year 2"

Our return trip to the Philippines began with a hurricane named Irene. What's the relation? Well, let me tell you.

It began with the simple fact that our initial flight was to depart from the Newark airport in New Jersey around noon on Sunday, August 28. A few days prior to the flight, someone told me that there might be a hurricane off the New Jersey coast mid-day Sunday. I'll admit my first thoughts were, "Oh that's nice. Now we'll get wet going in and out of the vehicle." But after three or four people said something about it, we decided to check into it.

Thursday night we heard that some airlines were waiving the fees associated with changing flights for anyone going through airports in the potentially affected area. So on Friday we looked at what other options we would have. Long story short, we decided that a 6:00 am flight on Sunday from Harrisburg, PA would be a better choice. That meant getting up by 2:00 and an 8-hour layover in Detroit, but it seemed to be the best option available.

First impressions...Back in the US on break!

Waiting in Davao airport

I'd like to think that I was one of those people who successfully documents their life in a journal. But the truth is, I only sparingly journal in a lined paper notebook sometimes. And I have an odd tendency to skip pages, so it's not even in chronological order. My one effort to be disorganized. ;)

So, since I'm back in the land of my birth I thought I would post some thoughts and reflections I've had recently. The flights...from Davao to Manila (philippine's capital) we then flew to Nagoya, Japan & then to Detroit (our longest one at about 13 hours). Our last flight was from Detroit, Michigan to Philadelphia, PA. We were greeted by Josh's parents who drove us home. Josh was quite the talkative one at that point. I had only cat-napped in our 30+ flight hours home, so I was crashing. I mostly slept the car ride home from Philly to our cozy home in Stevens, PA. It was beyond delightful to slip between the covers of our bed (yeah, I'm odd I suppose, I've been dreaming of this mattress here for awhile...but it's SO cozy). You know, it's the 'little things in life' I am starting to appreciate most. :)

Countdown

Well, it's been a while now. We've been quite busy lately with various activities, not the least of which includes planning for our return visit to our homeland. That's right. And it's approaching rather quickly now. In 36 hours we'll be in the airport in Davao. Our flight leaves around 10:00 pm Sunday evening (which will be 10:00 am Sunday morning back home) for the 1 hour 45 minute flight to Manila. We stay there for about 6 hours, then leave on our 18 hour flight to Detroit (with one stop in Nagoya, Japan). After about 2 hours, we fly to Philadelphia, arriving a little after 3:30 in the afternoon (local time). In all, our travel time is about 30 hours. We're not really looking forward to all of that. But we are looking forward to being home for a visit.

For anyone who is interested, we have scheduled two times for sharing our stories from the past year. On August 7 we will be sharing at our home church, Blainsport Mennonite Church, during the 10:00 am service. Also, on August 24 we will be sharing at my parents' church, Ephrata United Zion Church, during their Prayer & Praise service at 6:30 pm. We are interested in sharing more, so please let us know if you have a group interested in hearing our stories.

Well, I'll try to find some time in an airport to update about our travels, but I can't promise that I'll remember, have the time or find a free wireless connection. But we'll try to keep you posted on our whereabouts.

Now, it's time to start packing! See you soon!

Bukid outreach June 20, 2011

This long overdue series of posts is about my time in the Bukid.

June 20^th Bukid outreach

Team members:

Ate Mary Jean (midwife for many years, appointed in overseeing prenatals & child immunizations in about 5 villages scattered in the mountains)

Genivive & her baby (wife to Ronie, village midwife; responsible for the 2 villages we visited; Patel & Langan)

Christina -me :)

Ronie (wife to Genivive; one of our drivers & cook during the trip)

Mary (midwife & volunteer at Mercy, also a very close friend)

Jordan & Sarah (2 summer interns; wonderful ladies)

Kuya Jennie (motorbike driver & cook for the trip)

Goals:
-Travel to the village of Langan and other village Patel.
-Conduct prenatal exams
-Provide tetanus immunizations to the pregnant moms
-Provide a health teaching (topics this time: Sanitation/Hand washing & Danger signs of Pregnancy
-Infant/Child immunizations (for example MMR)

Random facts:

*Genivive is from the same village as some of the other Filipina Mercy midwives; she also worked there for about 2 years.

*Kuya Jennie is an older brother of Willa (one of Mercy's midwives)

*Midwives Ate Mary Jean & Genivive are from the Manobo tribe reaching out to their own tribe located in more rural areas in the mountains thru midwifery.

*The villages we visited spoke Manobo as their primary language & then Visayan.

The further you travel into the mountains, the less the different tribal people groups understand Visayan, the 'national' language of Tagalog is also not understood.

You can click on the word Manobo to read about this people group profile, quite a fascinating read!

Trip begins with us leaving on a non-aircon bus around 10:30 on June 20^th.

Sarah, Jordan, Mary and I traveled 1.5 hours to Tagum. First stop of the trip, at this bus terminal we stopped to get some lunch. Then went on a crowded jeepney headed to Kapalong (ka-POL-ong). At Kapalong we were to meet Ate Mary Jean, but it just so happened she was riding in the same jeepney there as we were! Quite random.
Once reaching Kapalong, our motorobike drivers (Kuya Ronie & Jennie) took us to Ate Mary Jean's village of Tagpopo-ot.
We arrived there around 2:30pm.
Mary really wanted to reconnect with her Filipina friend Ate Maribel (she had met her during her previous visits to this village & on another outreach). We got to check out Ate Maribel's house and eat some merienda (snack...homemade fried plantain chips...so yummy). While Mary and Ate Maribel caught up, Jordan, Sarah and I watched a evangelistic movie in Manobo. Produced by Vernacular Media Network, the film company's ministry is to “proclaim the Gospel to under-evangelized indigenous people groups in Asia beginning with the Manobo tribes in Central Mindanao.” Also to “evangelize, edify, equip & exalt God through media ministry.” How exciting!!

We had a simple, but delicious supper of rice, fish/vegetable stew/soup and sweet/tangy cucumbers. Us girls did some planning for our prenatal health teachings that we would present the next day. Then we settled in for a comfy sleep under our blue mosquito netting. :)

Bukid outreach June 2011

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