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

Newsletter Now Available!

Our latest edition of our newsletter is now available for viewing. Check it out here.

Back from the Bukid

Let me start by saying, THANK-YOU to all those who have kept up on reading our blog and updates and emails. We are so blessed by a community of caring people.

Ever hear the term: boondocks?

Wikipedia defines it as: a remote, usually brushy rural area

I learned that this term is actually from the Visayan word: bukid.

This past week I and 3 other missionary volunteers here in Davao went to the bukid (pronounced BOO-kid), Visayan word for mountains.

We had the opportunity to serve alongside 2 Filipina midwives from the Manobo tribe, who serve people in the rural mountain villages here.

I will post way more details later, but here's a few pictures to peak your interest!

Just a glimpse of God's beautiful handiwork in these lush, thriving mountains.

Me in front of the swelling river (full from the recent rains).

View from Ate Mary Jean's home (in Tagpopoot)

Thanks for reading...

A coming deadline...

Thank you family, friends and caring people (I've yet to meet in person), our hearts are overflowing with gratefulness at the generous gifts of time, money and prayers on our behalf.

This post is a recap of where Josh and I have come in this journey in the Philippines, what our current needs are and more so what's pressing on our hearts right now.

Pull up a chair, grab a glass of meadow tea and sit a spell with me...oh and maybe grab some tissues.

My inspiration today...

A missed lunch.

My time spent labor watching and supporting an active first-time mom.

Momma tired from a long night of no sleep the day before and vomiting.

Simple words and gestures given...

Rubbing her back during a contraction, giving her water, telling her "you are strong...you are amazing".

From 4 cm dilated to 8 cm in seven hours.

Amazing strength and pain tolerance despite her exhaustion.

But wait, it gets better.

Side note: I love my 'job'...yes being 'with a woman' throughout her pregnancy, labor and delivery pulls & tugs at me on all levels (physically, emotionally, spiritually)...I feel so privileged to be attaining this knowledge. And more times than not, my pregnant momma is the teacher. :)

So, how could the strength of a momma in labor get better?

And now, introducing...

new blog content!

That's right. Long ago we started preparing a new section to our blog. You may have noticed the links above that say "Recipes Home" and "Recipes Search". If you checked them out before, you saw that it would be coming soon. Well, the time has arrived!

Clicking on the recipes links above will now take you to the recipe section of our blog. There you will find local recipes we have learned (Tinolang Manok), breads we have learned to make (Honey & Oats Bread) as well as old favorites (Vietnam Fried Rice).

Almost all of the recipes have pictures! We hope to be adding more recipes as we learn more or find new favorites. So check it out now and check back often!