Antipolo Bible Dedication

On Saturday June 13, about 100 of us (most of whom were visitors) left Bagabag for the two-hour drive to the Antipolo Ifugao Bible dedication in Ifugao (eef-oo-gow) province. It was a one-day event with singing, prayer, testimonies, dancing and, of course, eating! The Lord was honored this day.

This is Dick and Lou Hohulin's second translation AND complete Bible; that's right, two translations/two complete Bibles. They are the first in the Philippine branch to complete an entire Bible. The people of Antipolo are very excited to have the WHOLE Word of God in their language.

The kids surrounded Maren ALL day, never growing tired of taking her picture. She did not mind and found things to occupy her time like chasing chickens and filling her shoes with rice.

Rodney's trip to a Bible Dedication

On the 5th of May I (Rodney) attended my first Bible dedication on the island of Coron here in the Philippines. Translators Ed and Jakie Ruch came in the early 60's, and although Jakie passed away about 7 years ago Ed is now seeing the fruit of their labor in the completion of the Tagbanwa New Testament.

In the Philippines Directors words- "God held off the rain for travel and during the celebration. The day was a testimony to God’s goodness in His transformation of this community over many years, and through the faithful service of Ed & Jackie Ruch and their team."

Training has paid off

It sure makes a poppa proud to see his child finally learn to ride a bike without training wheels. We credit this partly to Austin riding a scooter which is easier to balance because of it's low center of gravity. He can even start the bike all by himself. He turned 4 three days ago!

In the village

Rodney just returned from visiting Bible translator Bill Crest in his village allocation. It took about 1.5 days to get there via bus, truck and hiking. The return trip by SIL plane by the way was 1/2 hour. It was a great experience to get close to the people that we are there to serve.

I met Bill's fellow translators, ate in their houses, watched a man collect ant eggs for food, hiked in rice paddies, ate a ton of mountain red rice, drank a lot of coffee, added a 12V truck battery to Bill's solar power electrical system, spoke at a local church and played with Filipino children.

It has been a long time since I have been in the village, and it reminded me of just why we are here. I spent several days with the folks who are waiting for the Scriptures in their language. By our western standards these people have nothing, materially speaking. But they warmly welcomed me and freely shared of what they did have. They were glad to butcher a chicken and share heaps of rice and coffee as they honored me as their special guest. I traded gifts with two of the men: my knife, flashlight and a hat for a hand-made broom and rice paddy hat. I treasure these items as they are a reminder of time spent with these men in their homes.

The trip was energizing, so much so that I put Joy on the plane to go and visit the same village two days later.

I (Joy) was grateful for the chance to make an afternoon visit to the village, Bill and his translation team. I flew in with our good friends Steve & Kelli (Steve is the SIL pilot and did an awesome job landing us safely on the tiny airstrip). It made me appreciate what many of our translators deal with on a daily basis as they live among and work with Filipinos to translate the Bible (only enough electricity for 20 watts*, no indoor plumbing, no stores). It was a great opportunity for these two stay-at-home moms to get a fresh vision for the work our families do here.

*One of the photos shows Bill looking at the new micro hydro-dam which will allow him to have 80 watts of electricity.

Humble Beginnings

Yesterday I went to the airport to visit a newborn baby girl. Wait…the airport? Construction has been going on at the government airport next to our center for a while, with the workers living on the property. In order for the families not to be separated, temporary shanty-type housing has been set up, where they can live together. The little baby, as yet unnamed, was tiny, but ruddy, perfectly formed and nursing contentedly. Her surroundings made me think that she and baby Jesus had a lot in common – a cardboard floor and walls, dogs and chickens just feet away, flies, and an adoring mother. I was able to give the family some baby clothes, a few blankets and some interlocking foam pieces to make a floor and a soft place for the baby to lie.

My life on the center here as a stay-at-home mom can be very sheltered. I thank God for reminding me how blessed I am and how very little some people have. And yet, He loves each of us equally and lavishly. How best to show that love to this family? That’s what I’m praying.

Bagabag Pond

We have fun here in Bagabag Philippines. Austin sure seems older than three, jumping from block to block with confidence as Maren looks on with envy. It is hot these days. We had about four hours of spring and then full blown summer.

We're back in the Philippines

Having flown out late in the evening of Dec. 31, we arrived Manila on January 2, totally missing New Year's day. But we were trying to sleep so no New Year's Day was fine with us.

Our bodies are adjusting to the time difference and we are spending this week going to the doctor and renewing our Philippines driver's licenses which expired during our fulough.

There is a Nestle ice cream factory close to the center that has a restaurant with good food and Austin always likes to go there and play. He actually chooses to play over eating ice cream. As you can see, he is also back to wearing no shoes. And of course he is always fascinated with the airplanes when we travel.

In the Carolinas now

We are now in North Carolina and living in the parsonage of Joy's father's church (he is the senior pastor). Rodney is currently making a desk for his study. The church/house is in the country and our closest neighbor is about 1/4 mile away. There is a lot of room on the property for the kids to play.

We have really enjoyed being here for the turning of the leaves. One night after a church cookout we got a nice shot of Jupiter, the moon, and Venus with the church steeple in foreground. During the cookout I 'launched' two of my hot air balloons, but for some reason both of them crashed and burned. I was disappointed they didn't fly, but the kids loved seeing them burn, so it was still a good show.

We recently returned from a trip to Alabama to see Rodney's grandmother who just turned 91. She is the last of 8 siblings. This was her first time meeting Maren, so it was a special time for us.

During the Taylorsville Apple Festival we found this old fire truck and took some photos. As I was sitting in the driver's seat I realized the key was in the ignition and I thought, 'I bet this thing really runs'. And sure enough it is a running (but not working) 'engine', and Austin found the horn too.

We return to Calif. on Dec. 16 and fly to the Philippines on the 31st.

We are "home"

We made it safely to the US and our body clocks are adjusting. Before we left we were able to get Austin a hair cut where he sits in a car and watches "Cars", the movie. I got a hair cut too but the car chair was too small for me.

Austin loves airplanes and was over-the-top fascinated with the jets at the airport. The kids did great on the plane and got more sleep than we did.

Austin loves feeding my mom's tortoise, the biggest 'turtle' he has seen.

We are especially grateful to have been able to celebrate Maren's birthday here with grandparents, on the actual day even.

We are living in a small three bedroom house in the wood-streets in Riverside. It's a nice little house built in 1933-34, with new air conditioning. Thank you for your prayers for our travels and settling in. Folks here have been very generous and provided a care package with food and grocery store gift certificates; what a blessing. We look forward to seeing you on our furlough.

GO!!!

We are on our way to the airport, leaving Manila 12:45 PM, from there to Taipei and then on to LAX. We have an estimated travel time of 18 hours.

We arrived Taipei safely after a short 2 hour flight. Now comes the marathon flight. I am having quite a time with the Internet service here in the airport since everything is in Mandarin.

Joy and I were not able to get seats together, but perhaps the kids will sleep better if they are apart and Maren can use the bassinet at the bulkhead.

It is nice to be back in the land of clean toilets, paper provided, soap for your hands even. We are not sure what the flip down device is for, but it seems when we left the States they were calling them toilet seats. Yes, that is it, my memory is coming back to me now:-)

The computer itself cannot be accessed so I cannot upload any pics of our trip so far...tomorrow I guess.