Catching up with Friends

We will always cherish the great times we had catching up with our friends when we were in the Philippines.

Most of our time was spent in the tribe, but we are thankful for the short visits we had here and there with friends in the city, both before going to Lenga, and after we came out of our village. 

We were so happy Char and Thea just happened to be in Manila when we arrived.  They were back up north the next day, so the timing was perfect.  Our little 'granddaughter' sure has grown up!

Our trip to the RP would not be complete without some time with Scott and Cindy. We caught them at an extremely busy time, but being the great hosts that they are, welcomed us with a cozy room, and some wonderful catch up times, when my jet leg cooperated.

On to Faith Academy and a few chats up with lots of friends there.

Good timing for a few minutes with Walt and Cheryl Spicer, along with their 3 daughters and Carrie Bamford.

Omma's arms can't stay empty too long!

A lovely evening with the Garcia family in their new home.

Cynthia has been our secretary in the NTM Office since before she was married, and now she is a Grandma!

Jun and Ami Fabra - coworkers in the Kankanaey tribe. 

Our time with them is always full of fun and laughter.

What a treat - not only yummy food, but the opportunity to spend the evening with Werner.  They were mopping the floors around us as it was getting close to midnight - should we have taken that as a hint that they wanted to close shop?

Baday brothers in Baguio - they invited lots of people in their home that evening - yummy Filipino food, followed by sharing.

The Banana Leaf was an ideal place to catch up with the Pazziuagans. It had been too long.

Peter and Kathy, our special friends that we worked with in the Philippines for many years, are now working at our Headquarters in Canada. Isn't it amazing that their time back in the Philippines coincided with ours!?!? We were so excited about that, and happy to have a couple days with them.

Many hours together over lots of coffee allowed us to share about our last couple of year's experiences.

How wonderful to be able to catch up with Sesil - an amazing friend who has taught me lots over the years.

Peggy has always called me her 'partner in crime' - I won't try to figure out if that is a compliment or an insult, but we sure have enjoyed lots of chuckles and merry times together over our many years together there.  Ragnar and Tim were roommates in Bible School back in 1975.  

Our last morning there, many of us gathered together for waffles, and ended up talking until after lunch time.  In some ways it felt like there were so many things to catch up on, and yet in other ways, it seemed like we had never left. 

 

We were so very blessed to be able to spend time with so many friends that we miss.  We didn't get a picture of all of them, but this is a good representation.  There were lots of others that we were not able to see because they work on different islands - we hope to catch them on another trip.

Fantastic Time in Lenga

We loved being back in Lenga. Our main goal in going to the Philippines was to spend time with the believers in our tribal village, while teaching them the book of Hebrews. We enjoyed every second of being there!!

Meal at the church our first Sunday back.

We were welcomed with tons of hugs, and reminded many, many times during our time there how glad they were that we do not forget them and come back to spend time with them when we can. I wonder if they know we enjoy it as much as they do!?!?

I think the believers in Lenga should write a booklet on how to be good hosts. They must be the best in the world!! From the second we arrived until the moment we left, they made sure we were well taken care of.

Beautiful spot at the edge of our village.

We continue to be amazed at the beauty of their rice fields. 

My walk thru rice fields, over the brook, among the pine trees and slippery slopes, leading me to our airstrip (which the water buffalos keep mowed), brought back many pleasant memories. I love that familiar path!

The airstrip.

Coffee, grown in their front yards was always brewing on their wooden fires, and on the few breaks from that aroma, we enjoyed smelling their freshly harvested rice cooking away. Various greens from their fields completed almost every meal, but of course what we enjoyed most was just being with them while hearing how their journey with God has been going the past couple of years.

Since they had arranged for us to have our meals with a different family each day, spending time with them, as individuals, in their homes was so encouraging.  It was wonderful to see there are several people who are anxious to be taught and others who are excited to teach them.How thrilling to see how they have been growing in their walk with the Lord and their desire to see others come to know Him too.

Sitting in circles with the ladies while some were pounding rice; climbing the hills to their gardens or walking to their rice fields, all gave me opportunities to catch up with their busy lives.

In some ways things haven't changed much since we moved in, in 1981. In other ways, we hardly recognize the village - cemented pathways, a road to the village, wooden framed houses with tin walls and roofs etc.

Even though there are many physical changes, that does not change the reason we went to live among them. We wanted them to have the opportunity to hear the best news in the world, and for them to have the desire to continue to pass it on - whether we are living in the village with them or not - or how quickly their physical living conditions develop.

We enjoyed our fellowship with them, singing lots, sharing with each other and studying the book of Hebrews together. 

It was exciting to see them growing - our trip well worth it. 

Slowly Catching Up

We have been back from our fantastic visit to the Philippines for a month now. Those 3 weeks were fantastic!! We so enjoyed our time with the believers in our tribal village, seeing many of our former coworkers, and just in general feeling at home in Asia.

I had so many exciting things that I had planned to share soon after returning. What I didn't plan on, however, was to spend the 1st 2 weeks back in bed, causing my already piled up work in my office to pile up even higher.

Our first week back, the flu bug, which had been going around campus, found its way into our home. My body might also have been looking for an excuse for some downtime with our trip home from Manila having an unexpected 21 hr. layover at the airport in Abu Dhabi, causing a 60 hr. stretch without sleep. My aching bones, fever and chills gave me an excuse for some catch up on sleep.

Just when I was starting to feel better from that another 'guest' came to visit. Looking back, since recently having an Ultrasound on my liver, we think it was probably related to that result - "I have the best news possible for you (considering my high liver blood count) - your gallbladder is full of large gall stones.' I can only guess what they were excepting to find!

Ragnar too was pleased with the results. He was on his way for a 2 week Workshop in Germany the following day and had been toying back and forth whether he should go or not.

For now, being very careful what I eat and drink, I am doing fine and my energy is slowly returning.

All that to say why I am way behind with my blog (again). Hopefully I will soon be able to share some of our Filipino trip.  



Great start to 2012

As I was on my way to spend 3 weeks with Ryan and Kara, I knew that my time with them would fly by quickly, but I didn't expect those weeks to seemingly just disappear. I had barely unpacked my suitcase when it was time to pack it up again. Yet I sure did enjoy each moment I was there and wouldn't want to trade them for anything. 

It was wonderful having Noah and Selah join their daddy in meeting me in Toronto. Soon we were back in the Niagara area and I was also getting hugs from Kara and Andrew and meeting my little angel - Kandace Isabel who was 12 days old. Although I had seen pictures of Kandace and heard her little noises via Skype and phone, it was so wonderful to be able to cuddle her in my arms and see her sweet facial expressions. I was on cloud 9!!

6 year old Noah is always active and inviting me to play hide and go seek, or 'chase me' in the back yard, or at the nearby playground. I just loved doing Home School with him too. It was so fun doing math problems together and seeing him sounding out the words in his reader. Reminded me of doing that with his dad many years ago.

A great big brother!

4 year old Selah has quite an imagination. Going from doing crafts, to playing with dolls to dancing around the living room floor to outside activities, she kept us moving. Her sweet smile is charming.

2 year old Andrew had grown so much since our last visit. He kept me entertained with his version of lots of words like 'yes please' and 'I don't know'. He was always bringing me books to read to him and I loved it when he wanted to be held for a looooong time after his afternoon nap.

Thanks for the help bud!

Kandace (who was 1 month old when I was there) is a super little doll. I just loved the way she interacted with my conversations with her. Her smiles were so precious. It was amazing to watch her begin to fill out even during my short time there.

Each time I am in the Niagara Falls area, I am also blessed to have time with my sister, Luella, and her family. This time, I saw her 3 grown kids as well. The timing was good for a short visit with our niece before she was on her way to Bangladesh with 'Doctors without Borders' for a year. Our nephew and family also popped in for a few hours one day. Their new little son is just 3 weeks older than Kandace.

The weather was very pleasant while I was there - not what I had been expecting for January. Most of my time there all I saw was green grass and clear roads. There was only one day there was enough snow for sledding, so we took advantage of that while we could. After bundling them all up in snow suits we made our way to the back yard, where there was a small hill perfect for that.

Ryan, Kara and I always enjoy playing Settlers when we are together. Over the past few years there has only been one drawback though - Kara and I basically didn't expect to win. This time changed that record though. Ryan 'let' us both win a game. Well maybe he wouldn't use that word, but both of us finished a game with a smile on our faces.

What wonderful days with the only sad part being the good byes at the end of that special time. Tears were rolling down my eyes as I stood outside the Toronto airport watching them drive away. However as I looked back over those weeks I sure have lots of wonderful memories. Then I coached myself into focusing on the other end of the trip across the ocean - I would soon be back in the arms of my charming prince.

Can't get much better than that!!

Lots of help making cinnamon rolls!

They took very good care of me - even making sure my hair was ready for the day.

3 handsome men!