Blessings

Over the last bit I have been thinking of all the blessings in my life.  There are many, too many to share but I wanted to share of the blessings of kids.
Actually, first of all, I need to share of the blessing that my husband is.  Next month we will celebrate 17 years of marriage.  I don’t know where the years have gone.  It hasn’t always been easy but I couldn’t ask for a better partner in life.  Many of you know that I was just 18 yrs old when we were married.  I know now for certain that besides love, I married Chuck for security.  He has been that security for me all these years.  I am truly blessed by a man that loves me with all he is, despite who I am.  But more than that I am so thankful that Chuck came into my life to show me my need for a Saviour.  Without God as the center of our marriage we wouldn’t have the wonderful marriage we have.

I also have 7 other blessings—my children.
Coming from a small family, then meeting Chuck’s large family, I knew that a large family was what I wanted.  As we began our married life together we felt that the Lord would have us have 6 children.  Less than a year later we were expecting our first blessing.  I was very excited to be having a baby but still very young.  Just 6 weeks after Elijah Matthew Francis was born, we headed to Bible school.  What an incredible challenge that was for me as a young first time mom.  I was so very overwhelmed with all that I had to do as a wife and mother.  Those first 6 months were very difficult.  Eli was a good baby and eventually we all found a routine.  I was also blessed with many experienced mothers around me to give me guidance and direction.

July 1997                                         July 2012

Just 18 months after Eli was born, we welcomed our second blessing, Hala Anne-Marie.  Many have asked about her name.  Before I became pregnant with her I started looking at baby names, for whenever we had another one!  I came across this name.  It means “unexpected gift.”  Having anther baby was not unexpected but having a girl as # 2 was totally unexpected.  Chuck’s parents have 6 kids.  They had to wait until baby #6 to get a baby girl.  I figured that I would be just like them.  So I figured that if God so blessed us with a little girl before #6, then she would be unexpected.  And God gave her to us second!  I remember how tiny she was and how much hair she had at birth.  Chuck was often teased about how much more hair his daughter had than he did.  Hala has had many challenges in her life so far.  At 3 1/2 years old, we learned that she has VCFS, a genetic deletion on chromosome 22.  For more information about VCFS, you can check out www.vcfsef.org   It has been a long journey for her over the last 10 years but what a blessing she has been to our family.

January 1999                                August 2012

Another 20 months after Hala was born, came Kyle Andrew Paul.  For most of my pregnancy with Kyle I didn’t feel blessed.  I felt very overwhelmed with all that was going on in our lives.  Being pregnant seemed to just make it worse.  I was very excited to be able to have a home birth with Kyle at my parents house though.  I thought about how easy Hala’s birth was and thought that it would be just as easy.  Well it wasn’t!  It was not how I thought it would go.  Finally after labouring all day, he was born 1 minute to midnight.  Then I began to bleed.  It didn’t want to stop.  My midwives were doing all they could to get it stopped.  They were minutes away from calling an ambulance.  In the midst of all this, Chuck called his dad to tell him of Kyle’s birth and also asked him to pray that the bleeding would stop.  Moments later the bleeding stopped and we did not have to go to the hospital.  The challenges didn’t stop with the birth of Kyle.  I found him to be a very unhappy baby.  He didn’t sleep well and fussed a lot.  Plus I had 2 other kids 3 years old and under.  I was exhausted.  The next 2 years didn’t seem to get better either.  Then just days before the birth of our #4 blessing, I noticed a change in Kyle.  He had become a mellow, sweet little boy.  Kyle became the most loving, gentle and humorous little boy I knew.  He is still that same person but just not so little anymore.

September 2000                              August 2012

Blessing #4 came 2 years after #3, Charlotte May.  She entered our family at a very busy time.  We had just learned of Hala having VCFS and we were trying to go to the Philippines in a year’s time.  I think for the first few years of Charlotte’s life she was the spoiled baby in the family.  She was easy going and quick to learn.  She always just went with the flow of the busyness of our lives.  As the years have gone on, her easy going nature has caused her to be forgotten.  She is so quiet and easy to please that we often don’t hear her in the midst of our noisy family.  She is so very smart and has recently been showing her sensitive side.

September 2002                         September 2012

Blessing #5 arrived 5 years later, Sophia Irene.  Sophia was born while we were in the midst of Tagalog language study.  From there we returned to Canada for 9 months and then spent 18 months transitioning into the tribe.  Sophia is a creature of habit.  All those changes that happened in the first 3 years of her life did not help her or us one bit.  Sophia is a feisty, strong willed little girl.  I never thought that after 4 kids that we could have one that is so….challenging.  She knows what she wants and lets everyone know it!  As time has gone on, she is beginning to mellow, or maybe we are just getting soft in our old age!  She is learning to settle faster and learning how to show her love to us so much more.  She loves being a big sister to #6.  I love watching them play together and become close sisters.

October 2007                             October 2012

Blessing #6 arrived 2 1/2 years later, Jenna Lee.  Jenna has been such an easy going little girl from the start.  She was happy and content even with all the changes going on in her little world.  I remember being surprised at how tiny she was when she was born.  With each little girl we had, I had been hoping for a little girl with red hair.  Once she was born it appeared that she was going to be blonde like her daddy and the rest of her sisters.  She had the least amount of hair of all the girls at birth.  And it was/is very slow growing.  As time went on, sure enough, Jenna had/has red hair!  Sometimes it is more red than other times and it is not as red as my hair was as a little girl but no doubt about it, she is a red head!

April 2010                                           September 2012

At this point we had OUR number!  There was a slight sadness saying goodbye to babies in my house and a pregnant belly but I was able to look to the future and think about how many grandbabies I would have on day.  I also looked forward to watching my kids grow.
Just as I was about to start potty training our last child, God showed us He had other plans for our family.  As time went on after Jenna was born, I would find myself dreaming about the “what if’s” of having another child but even with those dreams I found peace and contentment with the 6 blessings I had.  I never prayed that God would allow us to have another child.  I never talked to anyone about those dreams.  How come I was so surprised that God would see those thoughts of mine and chose to BLESS our family again?!  First there was shock and then there was sadness.  Why was I so sad?!  Children are a blessing.  For those of you know me, I am a planner.  And well this little person didn’t fit MY plan!  It appeared to mess up MY plans, our co-workers plans, Chuck’s parents plans, Chuck’s sister’s plans and many others.

As the days went on, and we shared our news.  And we heard the excitement in the voices of family and friends (yes there was some shock there too!)  I started to think and pray about this little one.  I was reminded of the blessings that my children are to me and how this little one will be a blessing to ME, to us, to others and to God.  We don’t know God’s plans for this little girl but we do know that she was in HIS plan all along.  I feel truly blessed that God has given ME this special gift, a desire of my heart, that only He knew about.  How awesome is our God!
God also makes us laugh with the number of little girls we have.  After thinking that I would end up with 5 boys, we are going to have 5 girls and 2 boys!  Yes, we are going to have another little girl.
These days I dream of what she is going to look like, what colour hair she will have, what her personality will be like.  Each of our children are different and yet they have similarities.  What traits will she have from each of her siblings???

“But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord, I say, “You are my God.” My times are in Your hand.” (Psalm 31:15, 16a NASB)

“May He grant you your heart’s desire, And fulfill all your counsel!” (Psalm 20:4 NASB)

Missionary Medicine Intensive

Last month I had the privilege of going to North Carolina to attend a missionary medical course.  In the 18 months that we have lived with the Ga’dang people we have seen the need to help them with some of their medical needs.  They can get to town and back in a day if they need medical care but often times they won’t go to see a doctor because they don’t have the money.  So sometimes they wait until they or their child is really sick before seeking medical help.  Something that could be cured quickly can become very serious if not dealt with sooner rather than later.  Another reason we have felt the need to help with some of their medical needs is that it is a wonderful way to show the love of Christ to them.  It shows them that we care for them.
Much of what we see is minor illnesses.  Children often get fevers and colds.  Adults have body aches from working long hard days in the fields.  We also see diarrhea, cuts and other illnesses.
I have no medical training, just some books and a mothers experience.  For the first 9 months we lived with the Ga’dang, Christina had dealt with most of the medical issues that came our way.  She had done some training for a few months with a doctor in Manila.  When she left for home assignment, taking care of the medical needs fell on me.  I felt like some things I knew what to do with them and others I had no clue.  I felt very inadequate to meet the needs  of our friends.  Then I learned of a nurse that went on a course to help her as she did some short term mission trips.  I inquired to her about the course and learned that it is for missionaries with or without previous medical training.  I knew for sure that this was what I needed to help our family and the Ga’dang people.
I was also blessed to have our new co-worker to join me on this medical course.  So September 15th we left for North Carolina for 12 days.  We had 12 days without husbands or kids!  What a treat that would be.  We were actually a little nervous as we usually fly with our husbands and kids.  But it was just us two ladies!  Praise the Lord our flights went smoothly, just a little delay but we made our connections with no trouble.  We even rented a van for the first time!  And drove in a state the we were not familiar with.  We praise the Lord that we had no problems with all our travels.
So what did we do for 12 days?  The course ran from Monday till a week Thursday.  Each day we started breakfast at 7:15am.  Then we had chapel from 8-8:30 am.  From there we started classes until noon.  From noon till 1 pm was lunch and then the afternoons were either homework or more classes.  We then went into town for dinner at a local restaurant.  From 6:30 pm till, well late, we spent working on homework.
I haven’t sat in a classroom all day for quite a few years, so it was exhausting.  They told us at the beginning that the course is “intensive” as is in the name of the course.  And it was true.  My brain was worked every minute of the day.  I also slept better than I had in weeks too!
So what did we learn???  We learned the basics first.  We learned about the different systems of the body and how they work.  We learned how to take a medical history and do a physical exam.  We learned how to figure out correct dosage on medications and ORS.  We learned how to insert feeding tubes, and how to give injections.  We learned about dislocations and broken bones, and what to do for them.
One of the main parts of the course was to learn how to use a set of books.  Village Medical Manual was written by a doctor who has been working overseas for many years.  She uses her knowledge of medicine and her experience in these books to help missionaries, whether trained or not, to know how to treat the many medical issues that might come your way.  These books show how to do many procedures but most importantly they help guide you to a diagnosis.  We spent many hours working on case studies.  These case studies included a medical history, and information from a medical exam, plus other details like pictures.  From there we had to use these books to see if we could diagnosis the problem.  Sometimes it wasn’t too hard, other times it was very challenging to figure out what was wrong with the person.  We had 2 attempts at a diagnosis.  If we were wrong on the second attempt we had killed the patient!  As much as it was not a real person, it showed us that if we are not careful, we could seriously harm someone.  The books also show you the correct treatment, with alternate options if possible.  It also says when you need to seek more specialized medical treatment.  Thankfully I did not kill any of my patients!
I left the course with so much more knowledge than when I started.  I think it also showed that I can trust the books and the knowledge that I had and now have.  I look forward to putting into practice all I have learned when we return to the Philippines next year.
One very important thing we learned or where reminded of on this course was the importance of no matter what we do as we serve God, the first thing we need to remember is, “God’s Glory!”  If what we are doing, even if it seems good, doesn’t give God glory, then it is not worth doing.
If you are interested in attending this course, here is the link to their website.  https://www.equipinternational.com/
Here are some pictures from our time.

Chapel

Our class of 18 students

One of our instructors- Anna

Learning about dental care

The room Valerie and I shared

Putting a splint/cast on an ankle.

Valerie showing off her “broken” wrist!

Valerie and I…we survived!

Another instructor- Larry.


We finished our trip with a wonderful blessing.  When we travel, we always travel with children.  The benefit of traveling without kids, is we got moved up to 1st Class for our last flight!  We enjoyed the extra snacks and drinks in glass cups instead of plastic.  Plus it was much more quiet.  There were a lot of kids in the seats around where we were supposed to sit!
Thank you to all who gave to help pay for this trip and course.  Thank you for all prayed for Chuck and kids as we were away.  They all survived too! 

If you can take 6, you can take 7

 

Several years ago we were introduced to the game Wizard by Bobbi Easton and her dad, Jim.  In this game you have to guess to see how many sets of cards you will win.  Jim would always say that you can take 1 more than you know you plan on. 

We hadn’t thought about how often Jim would say this until he said it after hearing our news.

We are excited to announce that the Lord is blessing our family with another baby!  I guess Jim is right, if we can take 6, then we can take 7!

This new little baby is expected to arrive towards the end of February 2013.  At this point the kids are excited to find out if they are getting a little brother or sister.  I am just excited that I am getting to the end of my morning sickness!

What does this mean for our future???  Our plan had been to return to the Philippines in February 2013.  We have decided to have the baby here in Canada.  This will delay our return until sometime in May 2013.  We will need to get a birth certificate and passport for the baby.  Plus we think we will have to do some paperwork with the Philippine Embassy before we return.

We are reminded often of this verse, “A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9, KJV)

We look forward to our return to the Philippines very much.  But we are going to enjoy spending a few extra months with our family and friends.  This winter will be the first FULL winter we will have spent in Canada since winter of 2004.  The kids are looking forward to all the snow but I am not looking forward to being cold all the time.  It is just late August now and the weather is turning cooler and I am already pulling out my socks, pants and sweaters!

Please pray for our family as we await the arrival of this little one.

Pray also for a good pregnancy for me, Shannon.  I am not as young as I once was having a baby!

Pray for us as we have lots of traveling to do this Fall.  Including me, Shannon, being gone for almost 2 weeks to North Carolina for a medical course.  (Pray for Chuck with 6 kids at home, doing school with them.)

New Co-workers

For the last 2 1/2 years we have been praying that the Lord would bring along another family to join us in the work He is doing among the Ga’dang in the Philippines.

We are excited to announce that our prayers have been answered!

Dennis and Valerie Easton are going to be joining us in bringing the Gospel message to the Ga’dang.

They have 4 beautiful little girls that have already become great friends with our kids.  Another great thing about them is that they are from Bancroft, Ontario.  It is great that we know of some of the same areas and even some of the same people.

Some of you may be wondering if they are related to our former home school teacher, Bobbi Easton.  They are related.  Bobbi’s dad and Dennis are first cousins.

Please pray for the Easton family as Dennis finishes up Tagalog language study and has a final language evaluation in July.  Pray for them also as they pack up their home in Manila.  They will be taking a 6 month furlough starting in August.  They need to pack and sort for their time in Canada, what goes to the village at first and what will come later, and what they don’t need at all!  That is a lot of work to do.

We look forward to spending some time with them while they are in Canada.  Lord willing some of you will get to meet them too!

Valerie writes a great blog too.  Check it out!  Musings of a Foreigner

Things I like about Canada-#2

I love being able to open a bag of chips, cookies, crackers or anything like that and NOT have to feel the need to put them in a container or ziplock within 30 minutes of opening them!  I have left cookies on the counter for several days opened and they are still CRISP!  Within a matter of minutes chips, cookies, etc are soft and stale in the Philippines.  The humidity is so high, even in dry season, that anything dry sucks up the moisture.

The other GREAT thing…is no ants!

Things I like about Canada-#1

A friend of mine has been writing about the things she likes about the Philippines.  That got me to thinking about writing about the things that I like about Canada.

One of the things that is hard while in the Philippines, is the lack of grass and playgrounds.  Even while in the village, surrounded by trees, we don’t have much grass to play in, just mud!  While we are in town we wish we could just go to a playground and let the kids play.  But the number of playgrounds is rather limited.

We are very thankful for a yard for the kids to play in everyday we are in Canada.  We have also had the privilege of being close to playgrounds while visiting my mom and most recently while staying at Hope Valley Day Camp.

Gardening

For those of you who know me, I don’t have a green thumb!  So I haven’t done any gardening over the years.  But I thought that maybe it would be nice to do some gardening with the kids while we are in Canada this time.  Thankfully I have a father-in-law that has green thumbs and fingers, so I can get plenty of guidance and direction.

About 10 days ago we planted our seeds together.

It was great to have lots of help to get it all planted.  Hopefully I will have the same amount of help as we need to weed!

After being away for this last weekend, we came home to many sprouts of plants coming up!  How very exciting!  We can’t wait to eat the fruit of our labour!

We hope to have peas, beans, carrots, cucumber, tomatoes, squash, pumpkins and corn!

Many of you have asked if we have a garden in our village, so we can have fresh veggies.  The answer is no.  First we don’t have any space near our house.  The people from our village have their gardens out in the areas surrounding the village.  We would have to rent land from someone to do it.  The second reason we don’t do it is, we don’t have time!!!  Our days are so full with language and culture study, plus home schooling and raising 6 kids, that we just don’t have enough hours in our day to tend to a garden.

Vegetables are very cheap to buy in town.  About every 3 weeks we have fresh fruit and veggies come in to us.  They last about 10 days.  After that we eat canned veggies.  Sometimes we are able to buy a little bit of string beans and eggplant from the villagers but that isn’t very often.  We hope to be able to supply the people with some seeds for some other vegetables that maybe they can grow for us and keep some for themselves.  We shall see how it all works out though!

God’s creation

What a beautiful weekend this last weekend was!  The sun was shining and the air was warmer than it had been in weeks.

We started our Saturday with a visit at the house of our former pastor and a mentor of Chuck’s.  We enjoyed our time of fellowship with John and Barb Stanley very much.  The kids were able to ride a 4 wheeler and take a ride in a bush car!  What fun they had!  I am afraid of what Kyle will be asking for on his next birthday!

The drive along Georgian Bay was beautiful.  Every time the kids would see the water, they would yell, “water!”  We loved looking at the old farm houses and the beautiful new homes along the bay.

From there we continued up the Bruce Peninsula to a cabin on Lake Huron.  What a beautiful place to be!  The view was fantastic.  The beach magnificent.  And the cabin gorgeous!  We spent the evening visiting with friends from Bethel Evangelical Missionary Church in Lion’s Head.  The kids had a great time running around outside and making new friends.  Us, adults, enjoyed visiting together, catching up on the past 3 years.

Waking up Sunday morning to the view out the big windows of the cabin was breath-taking.  I couldn’t resist having the kids pose for a picture before we left that beautiful spot that God created.

This is Sophia as she tried to smile for me!  What a character she is!

We were blessed with a wonderful Sunday morning of sharing the ministry we have been involved in in the Philippines with the folks at Bethel EMC.  We also enjoyed a time of fellowship over food after the service.

We feel so blessed for the things the Lord allows us to experience and enjoy.  He didn’t have to allow us to stay in such a beautiful place but He did because He cares for us.  What a privilege it is to serve our Creator.

“You alone are the Lord.

You have made the heavens,

The heaven of heavens with all their host,

The earth and all that is on it,

The seas and all that is in them.

You give life to all of them

And the heavenly host bows down before You.”

Nehemiah 9:6

We would love to visit with so many of you also.  We look forward to seeing many of you at the churches we will be visiting but we would love to visit with you one on one.  Send us an email if you would like to visit with us in your home or ours.  We would love to share with you more about what the Lord is doing in the Philippines with the Ga’dang people.

Jelly Bean-aka JENNA

Our baby girl turned 2 yrs old on Good Friday!  I don’t know where the last 2 yrs have gone to.  Our sweet little girl is now a none-stop-movin’- machine!  (Daddy nicknamed her Jelly Bean after she was born.)

She loves to run around the house and chase her siblings.  Or run away from them if she has stolen something that belongs to them!  She has mastered the stairs, moving the step stool all over the house to get what she wants and how to sulk when she gets in trouble!  After being told to not play in her cup at the dinner table this week, she decided she would cover her head with her blankie and hide!

One of her other antics is to take off her clothes.  It is common to see her with 1 and sometimes 2 arms out of her shirt sleeves, putting the neck around her belly.  Or she will take of her pants and run around the house.  Sometimes she decides she wants different clothes on and proceeds to empty her lower 2 dresser drawers in search of the perfect replacement!

With Chuck working 3 days a week, she sure misses her daddy.  When Chuck calls at lunch time, she yells “Daddy, talk Daddy?”  Then she will smile and say hi to daddy on the phone.  She will come running to see him as soon as she hears his voice when he gets home.

But my most favourite thing about Jenna is her cuddles in the morning.  For those of you who know me, I am not an early or easy riser in the morning!  Chuck is always up before me.  Ever since Jenna moved out of room, Chuck would get her up in the morning and bring her to me because she was nursing.  After she stopped nursing she became my alarm clock.  After she is done breakfast she comes in to wake me up and give me cuddles in bed.  Now that she is talking, she comes in saying, “wakie, wakie!”  But she still climbs up and gets under the blankets and cuddles in with me.  I am starting to wonder if this is why I can’t get out of bed in the morning!

Jenna brings such joy to our lives every day.  We are so blessed to have her as part of our family.

2012 Projects

While we are on home assignment this year we have several projects that we are raising funds for.

Medical Fund:

We would like to be able to help the Ga’dang more with their medical needs.  There are many times that people won’t go out to town to seek medical treatment because they don’t have enough money.  It is hard to not be able to help people that we are there to help when we ourselves don’t have the extra money to give them.  There have already been a couple times that we have needed to use the helicopter to get someone out to town for medical treatment.  This costs us $189 US to fly a patient out.  This comes our of our regular support right now.  We don’t want to have to stop and think about whether or not we can afford to fly someone out that needs medical help.

Our desire is to see $200 a month designated for this medical fund.  This is just a beginning.  We don’t really know what the needs will be in the future.  This could be 2 people at $100 each, 4 people at $50 or 8 people at $25 a month.  Or any number of ways.

New digital Camera:

We are constantly taking pictures of the people and things in our village.  We use these pictures for language learning, to share with you all and make copies to give to the Ga’dang people.  We have been getting by with just a cheap camera for a couple years now.  We would like to get something that is good quality so it can last a long time and be able to bless those we come in contact with. Cost: ???

Skeetervac/Mosquito magnet:

We don’t think of ourselves as being in a malaria area but Hala and Jenna have both had malaria in this last term in the Philippines.  We are wanting to reduce the risk of malaria by killing the mosquitos that are around our house.  Hala is also very sensitive to other insect bits and this will help her in that area. Cost: $400-800 depending on the machine.

New laptop computer:

As many of you know the tropics are not good for computers.  When we returned to the Philippines in 2009 we had 2 laptops, one for each of us to use.  While there those 2 computers met there end.  We were able to purchase a new one in August but are still in need of a second computer for Shannon to use.  Cost $1,000

New Generator:

After building 2 houses and powering our electrical needs for a year, our Honda generator died on us in September.  We were thankful to be able to use our co-worker’s generator to meet our needs for the last 6 months we were in the village.

We desire to have solar power but we also need a back up.  When it rains for days on end and we don’t see the sun for weeks, having a generator that can give power to charge our batteries will be a necessity for us.

We would like to purchase a Honda EU2000i, from the US (they have linking capabilities that the Canadian model doesn’t.)  Cost $1,200

Mission Medicine Intensive Training Course:

ways.  One of ways we show Christ’s love to the Ga’dang people is by helping them with their medical needs.  This is sometimes cleaning a cut on a child’s foot and putting a band aid on it but many times we have people coming with different illnesses.  Our desire is to help them however we can.  Shannon would like to attend a 2 week medical course run by Equip International in North Carolina this September.  This course is geared towards missionaries and how they can help their families and the people they minister among.  For more information check out the link: Mission Medicine Intensive. 

Cost $2000 including course fee and airfare.

Return plane tickets:

When we booked our plane tickets to return to Canada we had enough money to purchase just one-way tickets.  We will need to purchase return tickets towards the end of the year. 

Cost $6,000

Solar Power Equipment:

Our desire is to be able to set up a solar power system to meet our electrical needs in the village.  Up until now we have been using our generator to power our needs.  In the long run using solar is much more cost effective.  Cost $8,000

Monthly Support:

Our current monthly support is at about 50% of the mission recommended amount.  We really need to see our support increase before we return to the Philippines.  It has been hard to meet the needs of our family and it has kept us from being able to do more to help the Ga’dang people.  We are also looking at sending Eli, our oldest child, to Faith Academy.  It’s a boarding school in Manila.  We are trusting in the Lord to see our monthly support increase to 75% by the time we return.

Birds

People are often asking us how we are adjusting to being back in Canada.  I feel like we are doing great.  But there are things the kids say that remind me that we live in a different part of the world while in the Philippines.

It’s Spring in Ontario and one of the best parts of springtime is seeing all the birds come back to Ontario.  We have watched flocks of geese in the air many days when the weather was really warm.  We are so blessed by having many bird feeders in the back yard that we can watch the blue jays, and robins come to eat.  We even have charts by the back window to help us identify some of the many birds that come our way.

We have also noticed the many seagulls here.  Just a couple days after we arrived, Jenna saw a bird flying in the sky and said, “chicken!”  It reminded me that we don’t see seagulls in the Philippines.  I then thought of how few birds we do see.

A normal day in the village starts and ends with the sounds of roosters crowing.  Actually those sounds only end when I finally fall asleep.  Many nights I will wake to hearing the roosters crowing even in the dark.  And the sun being up doesn’t stop them from crowing either.  We sure don’t miss the sounds of those roosters. 

Every day we see many hens and their chicks wandering around looking for something to eat.  It is fun to watch the chicks grow as the weeks go on.

The only other birds we see are the odd bird that someone had killed to eat.  We don’t see fancy parrots or birds flying from tree to tree.

So this spring we will take time to enjoy all the birds we can see.

Home- Our Canadian Home

It amazes me how fast time has gone by already.  We have been back in Ontario for 3 weeks now.  We have seen temperatures in the upper 20’s to as low as –6C.  What a contrast it is for us coming from temperatures in the 30’s.  We have gone from taking just a couple minutes to get out the door to taking 20 min just to get shoes laces tied and jackets on.  Praise the Lord we don’t have to put snow pants, hats and mittens on!

It has been great to see so many people.  We have missed our family and friends.  The kids have begun having sleepovers with their cousins and get togethers with their friends.  We have been to my sister’s hockey game.  We’ve had meals with friends.  Shared many meals with my mom.  And enjoyed many lunches with Grandpa.

We have been able to get bikes for almost everyone.  They even ride in the driveway with all this cold weather!  We are looking forward to family bike rides once the weather gets nicer.

We have been so blessed by the gifts from so many people.  The 2 biggest blessings have been a house to live in and a van.  Chuck’s parents have allowed us to stay in their house while we are home. 

We have also been blessed with an 8 passenger van to drive.  Thank you so much to everyone at Faith EMC and Lion’s Head Missionary Church for helping us to get this van.

As we begin April and look to what the Lord has for us, we see a busy month ahead with many appointments.  We are hoping to get all of Hala’s appointments done this month.  Plus we are going to be making a trip to NTBI Jackson for the last week of the month.  We look forward to being able to see so many of you soon.

We continue to make contacts with churches and individuals as we seek to share what the Lord has been doing through us with the Ga’dang people.  Our first speaking engagement is April 29th at our home church, Faith EMC in Wasaga Beach.  After that we will be kept busy speaking in different churches almost every Sunday through June.

We still have many dates available to share.  So if you would like us to come share with your church, small group, youth group or just you, please send us an email or call us.  chuck-shannon_talbot@ntm.org  or 705-429-3365

Please be praying for us as we travel throughout this month and the months ahead.

Just a few last things we need

We are so thankful to all of you that have been helping us to get things together for our time in Canada.  We are just days away from flying and there are just a few things left that we are in need of.  Maybe you can have something extra for us to borrow, or know someone else who does.

8 Passenger Van- We are in need of a reliable van that will fit 6 kids.  We have 2 in car seats still and 2 teenagers as well.  If we don’t have something lined up when we get there, maybe some one has an 8 passenger vehicle we can use for a couple weeks until we can get one.

Snowsuits/winter jackets, boots for the kids- We still need a winter jacket for Eli (men’s small or medium).  Sophia needs a winter jacket (size 4/5).  Jenna also needs a winter jacket (size 2).

Bicycles for the kids-  The 4 older know how to ride and Jenna would love something she can be pushed around in/on.

Please send us an email if you would have any of these items for us to borrow or buy. 

chuck-shannon_talbot@ntm.org

We are looking forward to seeing you all very soon.

I am going to miss…

We have done a lot of writing about the fun things we are going to be doing while we are on home assignment.  And about the things we are not going to miss.  But yesterday was a sad day leaving the village and saying goodbye to so many friends.  We are so amazed at the people God has brought our way in this last year.  We have made many friends and we will miss them.  We look forward to getting back to them next year and learning more of their language and culture so we can share the amazing free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.

1.  We, Jenna and I, will miss Febiolyn.  She has been Jenna’s “yaya”, nanny, since June.  Jenna waits at the door every morning for her Ate to come.  And when she leaves she keeps asking “Where’d Ate go?”

     

2.  For those of you who know me, Shannon, I love babies!  It was an amazing experience to be at the birth of our neighbour’s baby last year.  This year 5 ladies in the village are expecting.  And all of but 1 of them work for me!  I am so sad that I will miss the birth of these babies.  I am sad that they will be scared of the “white lady” when they see me for the first time.

3.  Kyle is going to miss his best bud, Ogie.  These two boys have been friends since the first time Kyle stayed in the village, in 2009.  Everyday Kyle waits until 4pm when Ogie is done school and off he goes to find him and do something with him.  They often times spend a whole Saturday riding carabao (water buffalo) hauling lumber into the village.  Many times they go to find and cut bamboo for Kyle’s latest fort project.  They play Uno, Lego and build puzzles together too.  But best of all they laugh together.  If you ask Kyle how they communicate, he says, “a bit of Tagalog, a bit of English, a little Ga’dang and a lot of hand gestures!”

4.  Chuck is going to miss his right hand man.  Gaton has been working for Chuck since June.  Chuck has trained him to use the tools and work on many projects around the house.  Gaton has also been Chuck’s main language helper.  He has learned a lot and has been a huge help to our family.  Chuck is going to miss the times they get to laugh together.  It is a wonderful thing to hear!

5.  We are going to miss our dog Jojo.  She is a wonderful fun dog.  We are so thankful that we have friends that will look after her while we are gone.

6.  One of the best parts of living in the jungle, is the coffee that grows around us.  The people harvest this coffee every year and dry, pound, roast and pound it again so they can drink it.  It is a Barako coffee that is mild and not bitter.  I, Shannon, can even drink it!

7.  Sweet Potato on a stick!  This is so delicious!

8.  We are defiantly going to miss all the birthday parties in the village.  We are able to attend most birthday parties.  The best part is the food.  There is always pancit and nansilot.  It is so good!

9.  Every Friday morning we have coffee on our porch with those who are working at our house that day, and anyone else who happens to be around.  It is a great time to ask language questions to see what different people think of words or phrases.  They can then discuss it with each other.  We had a great laugh one morning talking about how to say tomorrow morning.  If you were to say tomorrow or morning with another time word, they are both the same word.  So we asked do you just say it twice to mean tomorrow morning???  Oh the laughs and smiles that came from that!  It is a running joke still!

10.  Chuck is going to miss his hammock.  He is going to miss a little siesta in his hammock every afternoon or swinging with Jenna in the hammock on the porch.

OH WAIT!  It’s packed to go with us.  He won’t miss it after all!

 

We are so thankful to the Lord for the relationships that we have built with so many people over the last 3 years but especially this last year.  I remember wondering after our first year here in the Philippines, if I would ever be sad to leave.  I watched another family after they had left their village for their home assignment and they were so very sad to be saying goodbye.  After a year of being in the Philippines, I was still so homesick for my family and friends that it didn’t seem possible to want to be here more than there.  Today I can say with confidence that I am sad to be leaving.  We look forward to our time with our family and friends this coming year but we much more look forward to being back with our friends here.  We see with each passing day their need for a Saviour.  We know how they can have Jesus as their Saviour, we just have to get to a point in their language to be able to share it with them.  This means a lot of hard work ahead of us when we return.  But we are excited to do it.  Thank you Lord for allowing us to be a part of the work you are doing here in the Philippines and especially with the Ga’dang people.