Blessings

These are just some of the blessings we have received so far, they are not in any order and there are so many more:
1. Al Williams – He has been our helpful guide getting us around the city to different places helping us capture the stories and interviews. He has also shared with us the stories of his service to the Lord here in the Philippines for the past 22 years as a pilot and other positions the Lord has used him in.
2. Dr. Tony Evan’s morning devotional – He talked about how Bible translation is foundational and how the Bible is tool to use for life. He made it clear: you can’t use the tool if you don’t have it in a form you can understand.
3. The beauty of the countryside, the fields of rice, groves of jackfruit and more around the city of Puerto Princesa.
4. The pastor at Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm who is a prisoner himself. He serves patiently, trusting in the Sovereign God.
5. The buku juice – Buku is a green or young coconut. Sweet and fresh, served fresh off the tree.
6. The Kagayanen pastors at the medical mission. These pastors shared with us how the lives of their people have changed by having the Bible in their own language. Previously mocked by others, these people are now proud to be Kagayanen. A written language will preserve their culture, tell their stories. They are being empowered by the word of God is so many ways; it was amazing to listen to the stories.
7. Dave Herrman Is a wonderful member of the team here. He and his wife have welcomed us with open arms and, as an IT guru, connected me toll free with my daughters and husband. I was able to talk to them before they went to bed – it was great.
8. We had a great driver and van that took us where we needed to go. The van died at one location and they were trying to push start it – they even tried pushing with all of us in it – they are too kind. We jumped out and said a quick prayer – it started and we were off to the next location.
9. Leah Grace – the sweet daughter of Kagayanen translator and Pastor Jehu, who visited with us at the medical mission and at the dedication. She practiced her English with Erica (Jon’s wife) and told Erica that her “wife” Jon was cute. It was a joy to spend time with her and watch her with Erica. We have learned here that there is really no “I” in their languages or culture, everything is a “we” and so the pronouns of he and she are a bit tough for a 7 year old. It is amazing to me though that almost everyone knows English and it is probably one of the 3 to 5 languages they speak.
10. Beautiful Kagayanen Music – The dedication ceremony today was beautiful and the music the Kagayanen performed was especially sweet and moving. It was an honor for us to be able to be there and share the dedication moment with the people.
Kristie