Hunter Street Mission Team

On Friday, March 11, Chuck's flight was circling over Japan,
waiting for the tsunami to pass after the earthquake.

This delay kept Chuck from arriving in Bicol

with Jack and Chris on Saturday afternoon.

Jack and Chris filled in the missing pieces in Chuck's absence

and led a discipleship seminar with some of the members

of Pili Southern Baptist Church.

After the seminar, we drove them to our house.

where they relaxed while supper was prepared.We knew God wanted Chuck in Bicol when his plane arrived

on Sunday afternoon in time for him to speak

at the Sunday afternoon worship service

at the home of Bro Jun.

Thank you, Lord!

Later, Chuck also shared a discipleship lesson

with Emily as his interpretter.
On Monday, Emily became Jack's interpretter

as he shared the Gospel with relatives of Bro Jun. Later that afternoon, Dr. Chuck gave medical advice

to several who suffered with painful health issues. Then a visit was made to the pharmacy

to select the best medications available in the Philippines.On Tuesday morning,

they shopped for gifts to take home to family.
And visited Mt Mayon, Bicol's active volcano.Tuesday afternoon, we hiked to Josue's house,

where Jack shared the Gospel with them.

On Wednesday morning,

we met the mayor of Camaligan,

who is also a Baptist pastor.

He listened intently as Chuck explained

the goats and sheep and our spirit-filled temperature.

The men prayed for the mayor before leaving his office.On Wednesday afternoon,

Ernest and Dario, house church leaders in Camaligan,

interpretted for the team as they witnessed house to house.Ernest and Chuck circled the block

near to the house church,

sharing with everyone who would stop to listen.That night, Chris shared the discipleship lesson

with the church members of Pastor Tito's church in Naga City. On Thursday morning, we visited an elementary school.

The students greeted us with

the Bicol traditional sign of respect

by taking our hands and touching their foreheads.Jack, Chris, and Terry talked with 6th Grade students

about Jesus and His love for them. On Thursday afternoon,

Pastor Tito took Jack and Chris

into the Naga City District Jail. That afternoon, the men flew back to Manila

to catch their flight home.

The Lord truly blessed as we shared

Jesus with the Bicolanos.

Our Family Visits the Philippines

Last August, Michaelle's sister Joce and 3 nephews,

Kader 16, Kiegen 14, and Reiner 12

came for a visit.

Our first stop was Corrigedor,

where American and Filipino soldiers
fought side by side

against the Japanese during World War II.

A few days later,

Becca arrived to show her cousins around

the country of her birth.

Then we headed for Villa Escadero,

where we enjoyed the music and cultural dances.

When Filipino food, like this dried fish,

was difficult for the guys to swallow,

Jiffy Peanut butter became a welcomed treat.

On Sunday at house church,

Becca was Aunt Joce and Kader's interpreter.

When Becca gave her testimony,

folks asked us,

"Why does she speak better Tagalog than you do?"

Riding the carabao was Reiner's favorite activity.

The guys wanted to take one home with them.

Kiegen and Becca enjoyed a cousin chat

at Cagsawa Ruins next to Mt. Mayon.

By the way,

Cagsawa is a great place to buy a hammock.
When we hiked to the village of Mampili,

the guys saw poverty up close,

but that didn't stop them from playing with the boys.

Becca and Aunt Joce joined the Bible study.

Afterwards, we rounded up the group for a picture.

Their visit ended with a few days on the beach,

where this little boy and Kiegen became fast friends.

At Christmas, Matt and Rachel came for a visit.Rachel remembered drinking soda out of plastic bags

and wanted Matt to try one too.Matt went with Terry to the market

where they bought vegetables, of course.

December 23rd was our annual Children's Christmas party

with more than 100 neighborhood children.

The color of the children's name tags

divided them into 3 groups.

The first group enjoyed traditional party food

of spaghetti, hot dogs and marshmellows on a stick,

a cheese spread sandwich, and juice.

Matt and Rachel played games with the second group.The third group listened

to Lolo Terry tell the Christmas story.

(Lolo means grandpa,

a term of respect that lets us know

we have grown older in the Philippines.)

The final event was a water balloon toss.

Great fun on a warm day!

On Christmas Day,

we hiked to a church in the middle of nowhere.

As you can see by Terry's pants,

the hike was a muddy one.

This is where Matt and Rachel

showered gifts on their godchild and her big sister.

At house church on Sunday,

Matt played the guitar

and sang "Mighty is our God".

Lola (grandma) Michaelle taught the children,

and Rachel played games with them.

Just before returning home,

Rachel wanted to visit Ate (big sister) Juls,

a former helper who is like family to us.