January 2012 – Started off with
a bang as Filipinos celebrated New Year's by
massive fireworks throughout the City. Then
we had our annual field conference, and the
school started again for the kids.
|
|
 New Year's
fireworks in Manila
|
 Annual field
conference
|
 Seminars,
lectures, and fellowship
|
|
 School year
starts, Ginny teaching again
|
 We still have
to fight off dragons here from time to time
|
 Isaac's rugby
team came in 2nd in the regional championships
|
February 2012 – Ginny
continued to teach while I returned to the
Palawano village to pack up our house and
say good-bye to friends.
It was a sad departure, but we are held
constant by the firm belief that God has
called us elsewhere for the time being.
|
|
 Going back to Palawano
Land to pack up our house
and say good-bye
|
 Visiting with Palawano
friends on the airstrip. The older man on
the right is now a believer
in Christ!
|
 The
site where they buried our dog,
who died in the tribe 2 weeks before I was planning to retrieve her and bring her to Manila.
|
|
 Our house,
where thieves had broken in and trashed the
place
|
 We did some
medical work, stitching a guy's thumb while
we were there for a few days
|
 Back in Manila
we were sponsors in a Filipino
friend's wedding
|
March 2012 – Traveled to Palawan (again), this time
to another tribal area to do a final language assessment on the missionary
there studying the Agutaynen language. After reaching the required
level, he is now teaching
in the church in that village! After
that, I met with
another missionary in the main city
to do a final evaluation on his
language (Cuyonin), and he is also
now teaching in his village!
|
|
 Working
on a language assessment with
the missionary and his language
helpers
|
 Visiting people in the village
|
 Agutaynen kids
that are being taught about
Christ in their own language
|
|
 The missionary
family's kids
|
 Singing in the
church in the Agutaynen language
|
 Meeting with
another missionary in the main city to do a
final evaluation on the Cuyonin language
|
April 2012 – The big event
was Corregidor,
where we were invited to assist the
boys' dormitory in a trip to the former
island fortress. There is a lot of history
there! There were other events in April,
also, as you can read about below.
|
|
 Our
neighborhood asked us to join
with them in Earth Day celebrations by lighting a floating
lantern.
|
 Had an
opportunity to preach in a Tagalog church.
|
 On the way to
Corregidor, we saw a monument
to the Bataan Death
March.
|
|
 The boat (also called a bangka here)
to take us out to the island
|
 Viewing the
historical sites on Corregidor
|
 Battery Way - one of
the famous batteries
of Corregidor in World
War 2
|
|
 A Description of Battery Way - click to
enlarge and read about it
|
 The
area where the battery operators
slept
|
 General
Wainright, commanding General of Corregidor, taken
captive by the Japanese. I
grew up in his house (though he passed
away long before anyone
in my family knew
him).
|
|
 The Pacific War
Memorial - a very hallowed inscription
|
 The Eternal
Flame of Peace
|
 Exploring ruins
of the Pacific War
|
|
 Found unexploded ordnance buried in the
ruins
|
 This
cannon, weighing who knows
how much, blown 400 meters
away from its original
location by a bomb blast
|
 We even dug up
unexploded ordnance on the beach!
|
|
At a lunch
celebration for the office workers, our co-workers in Manila.
|
 We also had a field wide planning meeting.
|
 This
cobra showed up at our house
one morning - even though we are in the
city!
|
May 2012 – The
big event was Isaac's
graduation! Wow, high school graduate,
going off to see what is next for him!
Also this month were some
NCLA evaluations (sorry, no pictures!).
We also had a very welcome visit from
Isaac's grandmother, Martha Dodd!
|
|
 A Choir Concert
that Abby sang in
|
 Isaac's
graduation
|
 Being with family at graduation (there is
another picture up at the top
of the page).
|
June 2012 – After graduation, Isaac went to
Australia to work for the summer, and then
we moved (again), to a house closer to
Faith Academy!
|
|
 After
graduation, with Isaac's grandmother
|
 Sending
Isaac off to Australia
|
 Saying good-bye
to family
|
|
 Our new street
in a Filipino neighborhood
|
 The
living room of our new house
(the furniture is borrowed until next June)
|
 At a new
Filipino church we began attending - we are really enjoying getting to know
the people at this church!
|
July 2012 – School out for the summer, and it
was rainy season in Manila!
I (George) took Sarah
home to Texas for 2 weeks to help
attend to my mom (who was sick), and
Sarah really enjoyed spending time
with her cousins and grandparents! Too
bad it was so short! At the end of
July, Isaac left
Australia and flew to Wisconsin to
attend New Tribes Bible
Institute (NTBI).
|
|
 Visiting with
family for the 4th of July
|
 Sarah
and cousin Carl at the grocery
store
|
 Sarah enjoying
time with cousins Carl and Cleo (and also not pictured,
her other cousins)
|
|
 Sarah with Papa
(grandfather)
|
 Visiting
at a cousin's house
|
 Isaac moved to
NTBI to study, where we began
our missionary training in 2001.
|
August 2012 – August was very busy - school started up again for the girls, and we had a major Habagat
(monsoon) flood the city and shut
things down for a week and a half!
Afterwards, I flew up to Northern
Luzon to do a language
assessment on a tribal
missionary there, who will begin
teaching the Bible in early 2013!
|
|
 The
Habagat flooded all the major highways in
Manila, with high casualties.
|
 People
would wait for hours to see if a boat or a
large truck would come by
and carry them across.
|
 The flooded areas took several days to
drain (this is near our house, but we are on
a hill and so were not affected).
|
|
 Travelling up
North, we stopped in Tuguegarao
before taking off from there.
|
 Here,
with Jun Fabra (also with NTM)
preparing to fly to the tribal
area.
|
 The beaches up
in the north have black sand
from magnetite and a
volcanic past.
|
|
 We visited
tribal people in their homes.
|
 We
tried not to get run over by the local
public transportation system!
|
 Visited with
another missionary who will
soon be starting language study after he
finishes his house.
|
|
 We ate some river shrimp (there are both river
and ocean shrimp in that area)
|
 Watched
a water buffalo (carabao) run away from the
helicopter.
|
 Visited with
tribal kids
|
|
 Talked
a lot about the culture of
the tribal people there
|
 Evaluated
communication tasks for
proficiency with native
speakers of the tribal
language
|
 Watched as the
missionary showed a young
father how to give medicine to
his baby.
|
|
 Fierce tribal
warriors :)
|
 The
precious missionary family serving the Lord
in this area
|
 Afterwards the
helicopter came to pick us up and take us
home.
|
September 2012 – September
was even busier, with a final
return to the
Palawanos for one morning, followed
by 2 tribal language
evaluations on the North end of
the island!
|
|
 A
view from the top of a tall
building in Manila, where Christian radio is broadcast
all over Asia
|
 Waiting
for our interview on the radio, to talk
about tribal missions in the
Philippines
|
 Flew back to
the Palawano to have one last walk through of
our house.
|
|
 Some of our
friends were waiting there at the medical clinic to visit with me. They
said that when I come back
next time, I have to bring Ginny and the
kids :)
|
 The
missionaries there are
teaching the tribal people to use a
computer so that they can eventually write their own lessons. It is
only in the last few years that they
even learned to read!
|
 The Palawanos found a baby native wildcat, who now
thinks the missionaries are its parents
|
|
 One last look at our
home before leaving - it was a
very emotional moment. We pray the Lord will
open up the doors to return one day, if it is His will.
But we are thankful, because
He is good.
|
 Flew
up to the northern end of the island - I had
never flown that direction, but it is as
beautiful as ever.
|
 You
can see the long, beautiful white sand
beaches in this part of the country. Here is
a clip of the landing
process: http://youtu.be/cuUpuEnhuEE
|
|
 Worked
on evaluation of the missionary's proficency in Tagalog (he is now one of the best
Tagalog speakers we have).
|
 Visited
with one of the young men in
the church that the missionary is
discipling through the Bible. Here is a
short clip of the wife and baby: http://youtu.be/6v3mSTdNMGI
|
 Watched as a typhoon came blowing
through
|
|
 The wind became
very strong
|
 No
chance for an airplane to land in this wind
|
 The top of the
volcano was shrouded in clouds
as the storm came through. Look at that
wind.
|
|
 Waves
were far too rough for trying to cross, but
we still had 2 days to work before leaving.
Here a local is trying to
take advantage of the waves to catch some
kind of shrimp or fish.
here is a video: http://youtu.be/YYdZNsqLKO8
|
 We
finished the evaluation and
went across the island. Here we waited at a store for a van to
pick us up and take us to the
embarkation point - the lady there is
making an ice treat to sell to kids.
Here is a video: http://youtu.be/8PKdIJjtVoA.
|
 This older fellow got up and started
singing (he wasn't drunk - it was just for
fun), and they folks there thought it was the greatest thing ever!
Especially when I shot a
video of it - take a
look: http://youtu.be/gfY3Z_EZlWM
|
|
 The boat we
embarked on to cross the ocean
|
 The
seas calmed down just before
we set across. It was a reminder of when
Christ calmed the wind and the waves.
|
 An
easy visit while crossing :). Thank you,
Lord! http://youtu.be/bVjHoNeGxaA
|
|
 Just
another look at the boat. Here is a video of
us coming up to shore: http://youtu.be/PA5NSemjnyg
|
 The
family here
that has been studying the Cuyonin
language - they are now teaching the
Bible on the island!
|
 Discussed language and culture,
some techniques on how to
study
|
|
 They roped me
into a basketball game - interesting
how the Filipinos always let me take a shot
without opposing me (probably
because they knew I would
miss :D ).
|
 A
quiet white sand beach on
the island
|
 The trail from
the beach to the missionaries' houses and the
village
|
|
 We
do more than language evaluations
- here I was able to help fix a problem with
the missionary's solar electric equipment.
|
 Jody
is an excellent cook, and he made pies for
all of us.
|
 Someone told me
to bite the shark for the picture. I don't
know if there is some kind of good luck for
that or if they were just
being silly. In any case, this
is a regular type
of catch for the islanders.
|
|
 The beginning
of some pre-school type activity for local kids.
|
 They
had a pet crow that was very friendly.
|
 Here
a lady tried to sell us a spiny
lobster she had caught, but
it was already dead.
|
|
 On finishing, we
hiked out.
|
 Stopped to see
a local man sharpen his saw.
|
 Village
house on the island
|
|
 Waded
across the flat to the boat
that was waiting for us.
|
 This
is our bangka to take us back to the
mainland.
|
 Had to hold the
computer up high so that it didn't get wet,
and tried not to fall.
|
|
 Had a nice ride
back
|
 Saw a group of
kids out playing - but more
than that - they are fishing. How much better this is for kids
than playing video games at home. Here is
a clip of these kids: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dGe7wNxyME
|
 At
the bus terminal we caught tricycles back to the guest house, and the next day
flew home.
|
October 2012 – October
gave us some nice down time, and we were
able to catch up on some administrative
work, as well as do soccer tournaments! The
kids had a great time. We ended the month
with All Soul's Day (technically November,
not October)
and visited a local cemetery,
as well as the American Cemetery. Also started another round
of Tagalog evaluations (not
pictured) for missionaries finishing their national language study.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Abby
was on a select soccer team for Junior
high, and they won a local tournament. :)
|
Sarah and Ginny went
to Taiwan for Sarah's soccer tournament.
Ginny is the assistant coach (another one of her ministries
to the missionary kids).
|
Yay, our team won in
Taiwan! :)
|
 |
|
|
|
Sarah and Ginny with
the trophy
|
All Soul's Day in the
Philippines - a major
cultural event!
|
Everyone goes to the
cemeteries to visit
their departed relatives.
|
|
|
|
|
|
People camp out at the
cemeteries overnight.
|
We also visited the
American Cemetery. These
pillars have the names of almost 40,000
soldiers and sailors who lost their lives and were never found.
|
There are almost 20,000 graves of
soldiers and sailors here who
gave their lives for freedom
in the Pacific in World War
2.
|
November
2012 – Mindanao!
A beautiful, wild, and
amazing land! The last
time I visited here was almost 7 years
ago. This time I was
going down to do a
language evaluation
on the missionaries that are
starting up anew
our Visayan language program.
Also, we spent some
time in meetings
working out the
details of that
program for new
missionaries, and we
are set and ready to
pursue more
discipleship with the
hill tribes in
Mindanao. Wow,
exciting times!
|
|
|
|
|
|
On the
way down I met some Muslims
returning from their Hajj
- a once in a lifetime event
that is very special for them.
|
The highway
up into the mountains to Malaybalay.
|
On our
way where there was a
ministry teaching event at a local
school.
|
 |
|
|
|
This is the local
school where the the
missionaries are giving
religious instruction.
|
The
school building for one of
the classes.
|
The kids were excited to see new
adults coming in to observe their class!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Here
they teach about the Garden of Eden and
the Fall of Man - all in Visayan.
|
Afterwards we had merienda
and the local Filipino
pastor who heads up the Religious Instruction program gave us a
history lesson on some of
the missionary activity in that area
in the past.
|
A meeting with Brian and Wendel to
go over language activities.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Josh
came to assist in the
evaluation - a great help!
|
This is our guest house where we
stayed.
|
We visited the market with the
family that is heading up the
Visayan language program.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The market is a great
place to learn language and
culture! Also a great place to get
fresh fruits and vegetables!
|
This is the new Korean family, the Parks, at their home.
They will soon be studying Visayan once they are all settled in
their home!
|
We had a prayer meeting with the
other missionaries that are assigned in this
area for support work.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Downtown!
|
A poor area of Bukidnon province.
|
Coming back over the hill to
Cagayan de Oro, we were able to see the whole town.
|
December
2012 – That's
it! We are at the beginning of December
now, and as you can see we set up our
Christmas tree! We are excited for Isaac
to come back and see us
over the break
|
|
|
|
|
|
Setting
up the Christmas tree
|
Nice to be back with
family
|
Christmas is a
nice time of year.
|
