Christmas Mission Team

Meet the team--Matt, Becca, Rachel, and Shannon.

Bicolanos love to celebrate, so this year we celebrated Christmas with them.

As soon as the team got off the plane,

we headed for the beach...

And took a boat to go snorkling.

Rachel was so happy to be back home and

to introduce Matt, her fiance, to the Philippines.

We all enjoyed getting to know him better.

"Hey, Matt, want to taste balut?"

"Balut? What's that?"

"A fertilized duck egg."

"Yuck! No way!"

On December 24,

we invited the neighborhood children

to our house for a Christmas party.

The team helped prepare the snacks

by putting hotdogs and marshmallows on sticks.

More than 50 children came for the party

some with older siblings or parents.

To help with crowd control,

we gave each one a blue, green, or yellow name tag.

While folks were still arriving,

Becca played "Pin the Star on the Tree" with them.

When everyone was there,

Terry told those with blue name tags

the Christmas story of the wisemen.

Most heard this story for the first time.

Rachel, Shannon, and Matt played games

with those wearing yellow name tags.

A snack was served to those with green name tags.

When Terry finished his story,

each group rotated until everyone

heard the story, played games, and ate a snack.

Then everyone took turns fishing for a gift.

The children especially enjoyed the puppet play

called "Christina and the Bells".

The party ended with the children tossing water balloons.

They enjoyed the party and so did we!

On Christmas Day, we celebrated

with a church in Dapdap, Sorsogon.

To get there, we drove for 2 hours.

Then we took a 30 minute boat ride

followed by an hour and a half hike

through the mud.

When we arrived, Ptr Mike welcomed Matt and the whole team.

While Michaelle and Shannon made preparations for the games,

The children joined Becca for a picture.

Matt and Rachel organized some games.

Ptr Mike proudly passed his new baby girl to Shannon to hold.

After the celebration, we hiked back to the boat.
To our surprise,

about 15 church members joined us for the hike

to be able to fellowship with us a little longer.

Just when we thought we couldn't make another step, we saw the boat.
What a day this Christmas had been!

Flooding in Camarines Norte

Nonstop rains in Camarines Norte caused rivers to over flow their banks. Peoples' houses were flooded. Water was everywhere, but there is no water to drink.A truck comes with a day's supply of water, but when? No one knows. So they wait all day in the rain. When water arrives but isn't enough, fighting breaks out among those who still have no water.A call came from Pastor Pabs, "Terry, can you help us? We need drinking water!" Terry gathered up water containers and bought purified water to fill them.

Ptr Pabs helped load up the car.

Terry counted the containers--more than 350 liters of water. That should last a while. They picked up Ptr Tito and drove to Basud, Camarines Norte.

When the water arrived, faces beamed, "Oh, thank you, Lord!"

They were so grateful. "We won't have to wait in line today." Many helpful hands helped unload the car with the precious water.

Water was transferred from the large containers into smaller ones

to be distributed to family, fellow believers, and neighbors.

Everyone bowed in prayer as Ptr Tito thanked God for His life-giving water.

Folks smiled as they went home with containers of water.

Ptr Pabs' 93 year old mother repeated when her supply of water was delivered,

"God bless you! God bless you!"

Simply the Story Training

Simply the Story (STS) is a training to learn to lead inductive Bible studies oral style.
Dorothy, the STS directress, Tony, and Sally came from California and Australia.

Ann, Steve, and Terry translated the English lectures into Tagalog.

52 Bicolanos, Cebuanos, and Americans trained in our home.

After the Bible story was told, trainees retold the story to a partner.

The Bible stories were discussed intently in small groups.
Each small group acted out a Bible story.

Steve joined his group of Agta folks as they acted out their story.
Dorothy gave a megavoice to the Agta Cheiftain so he could listen to the New Testament.
Josephine read the Bible story to help oral learners learn their story.
At Pili Baptist Church, Dorothy told the story of how Jesus healed the woman

who was bent over (Luke 13:10-17).

The people listened with keen attention.
Everyone experienced what it would be like to not be able to stand up.
Folks told us STS was the most helpful training they have ever attended.
As trainees left our home, we trust they will use their newly learned skills

to reach Bicol for Christ.