Sunday, September 29, 2013

Growing Up

Time is going by so very fast these days. Last week the moment that made me feel like I needed a time machine to go back in time was when Sophia lost her first tooth!!!  In just 18 days she will be turning 6 years old!
Actually I was the one who pulled it out for her. It was very very loose. She showed me and then I grabbed a cloth and pulled! There were many tears.
After Sophia settled down and we carried on with our afternoon, Jenna was behind me and started sobbing. She said, “I don’t want to lose a tooth!” Oh the poor girl. She gets to watch her older sister do everything dramatically and instill fear in her mind! I then went on to tell her that she would be much older before she would have to lose a tooth. Then the tears continued as she told me “I don’t want to get bigger!”
These 2 girls are joined at the hip. There is almost 4 years between Hala and Charlotte and they don’t seem to have the same connection that Jenna and Sophia do. Jenna has been a little out of sorts lately as Sophia does school all morning. She plays a lot on her own and with Bea but she sure misses having her sister to play with all day.
Here is sad Sophia after the traumatic event.
This is her 2 days later.
And here are my 3 girls having a great time together!
Now we wait for tooth #2 to come out!  I expect it to be ready by the end of the week!

Friday, September 20, 2013

Treating the sick

I have been asked recently how things have been going with any medical work in the village.  If you remember this time last year I was in North Carolina at Equip International's Missionary Medical Intensive course.  So was it worth the time and money?

Most definitely!  The first day we arrived in the village the medical questions/concerns started.  It was actually the need for a sterile blade to cut an umbilical cord!  Thankfully I had one and I was able to help tie off the umbilical cord of a baby just minutes old and watch the father cut the cord.  The best part was being able to hold this little guy when he was less than an hour old.  Even before we arrived in the village I was getting texts from people with medical questions.  Chuck had asked me what to do for a man’s foot that was cut when he was in the village before I arrived too.  Almost every time someone comes to me I pull out my trusty “Village Medical Manual”.  It certainly has come in handy in finding a diagnosis and deciding on treatment.  I still don’t claim to be a doctor or a nurse.  There are many times that I still don’t have an answer or just can’t treat a person.  I still recommend that people go to town to see a doctor when it is something I don’t know how to deal with.  Then I also have my doctor friend in Manila who is just an email away.  I am so thankful for the training I had and help that I can get.  It has given me a new confidence to be able to help people with their needs.  But I still depend on the Lord for wisdom.

So what else has come my way in just 5 weeks???  I have seen 4 feet with “something” in them.  I have been able to treat 2 of them and recommended that 2 of them go to town.  I have seen a 1 yr old with pneumonia.  Treated 2 UTI’s.  I have seen an older man that has many problems far beyond my ability.  And given out a lot of antibiotic ointment for impetigo.  I have listened to many chests of babies that have had coughs.  I have given out medicine for many fevers and achy bodies too.

In all of this I was able to build new and better relationships.  I have been able to trust the Lord to heal those who are sick.  I have been stretched in my language ability.  I have learned some new words.  My favourite being the word for pus, “nana”!  Sorry Nana but your name means pus here!

Thank you for all who have prayed for me while we have adjusted to life back here with the Ga’dang people.  Some days are very stressful.  Please continue to pray for me and the Ga'dang people.

Here are pictures of a couple of my patients: (I'll keep the nasty looking toe to myself!)







Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Solar Installation Complete!

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to not have electricity? What if you had electricity but it was only “on” a few hours a day? How would you feel if you always had to take a flash light with you the bathroom in the night? Or to find your pj’s to get ready for bed?
Up until 3 weeks ago that is how we lived. The village we live in does not have electricity. When we first moved into the village we were the only ones with a generator. As time went on people started buy generators to use. The problem with using a generator is you need to have gasoline to run it, or diesel if that’s the type of generator you have. You would think that gasoline would be cheaper in the Philippines than Canada but that’s not so. It costs about $1.30 a litre. Plus we pay another 30 cents a liter to get it to us. We would use about 120 liters of gas a month. We needed to use our generator to charge a couple large batteries, to charge our computers, to run the modem for our satellite internet, to run our twin tub washing machine, to charge our cell phones and flashlights. Those are just a few things we would use the generator for. We also had some lights in our kitchen, living room, bathroom and office. We only used our generator for a couple hours in the morning to run the washing machine and charge up a few things. Then we would use it for about 4 hrs in the evening to continuing charging things and have lights for showers and eating dinner. The kids never had lights in their bedrooms, so they would use a flashlight when they needed to go in there…if their flashlight was charged, something they would often forget to do!
Throughout the 18 months that we lived in the village prior to our home assignment we would dream of the day that we would have solar electricity. So it became one of our projects for fund raising while we were home. It actually fell at the bottom of the priority list because the cost was so great. We estimated needing about $8,500 for the complete set up. As we were able to raise enough money for our other projects we started seeing money come in for the solar equipment. It was very exciting! We then contacted the Tech Center, a part of NTM, that designs and purchases solar equipment for missionaries. As we worked through the planning of what we needed we soon realized that it was going to cost more than what we had thought to get what we wanted. We worked on reducing the consumption of electricity so we could reduce the number of solar panels and batteries. Finally the best we would do was going to cost over $10,000 plus shipping. We continued to trust the Lord to provide the money.
While we were waiting to see if we would have enough money, we started talking about who would be able to install the solar equipment. The Tech Center sends detailed instructions for installation but it still takes time that Chuck didn’t have. One night we commented on the idea of how great it would be if a guy we knew from before that works at the Tech Center would be able to come and install it for us, it is one of his ministries. Within a couple days we received an email from this very guy offering to come install our solar system as he was planning a trip to the Philippines to do this kind of work. The trip was at his expense, we just needed to buy the solar equipment and have it here ready for him! We praised the Lord for his provision.
Then the Lord provided the money to order the solar equipment! What an exciting day that was for us. Then we just had to wait for it to arrive. We had heard that shipments from the US were taking unusually long to get to the Philippines. So we prayed that the stuff would arrive before Jason arrived to install it! And it did! About 6 weeks after the equipment was shipped it arrived at the flight center, all but the solar panels. But thankfully they arrived 2 weeks later.
Just days after we arrived in the village as a family, Jason, Jonie and Jordan arrived to install the solar system. This involved wiring our house for DC power and some AC power, and installing 8 panels and all the equipment that makes it all work. The batteries needed to be connected and grounding plates installed. Plus many other things. Jason planned for 12 days in here with us and finished in 10 days. He worked 12 hr days in the heat with a house that was still being unpacked and 8 kids under foot along with 5 adults.
The day we switched over to battery power was so nice! Then the next day the AC power was hooked up. How nice it was to be able to turn on a light during the day if it was too dark from a rain storm. But the best part of me…was the ceiling fan over the kitchen table! Chuck’s favourite part is having a light in his bodega (shed!)
The silence we have in the evenings now by not running the generator is so nice. Being able to turn on the fan when it is too hot to eat a meal without turning on the generator is even nicer. Sending the kids to their room to clean up after dark means a tidier house! All these things and so many more are such a joy to us. And it’s all because of the generosity of our supporters. Thank you to each one of you who contributed to this project. The money we can save now by not buying gasoline and paying to ship it in to us is a huge blessing.
We especially want to thank the guys at the Tech Center for their help in getting all this equipment together for us. And a very special thank you to Jason for his hard work and long days.
We are so blessed!

2013 School Year has begun

It's hard to believe that the school year has already begun for the kids. It's crazy to think about what grades the kids are in this year!


Elijah is in grade 11. He is working from home with the Independent Learning Center in Ontario. It has been a slow start for him as he is waiting on more books to arrive but once they come he should be able to move along without waiting on anything else.



Hala is in "grade 8". Many people ask her what grade she is in and grade 8 is what she tells people but she works at many different levels to be able to meet her special learning needs. It's one of the best things about homeschooling, we can use what best helps her to learn.



Kyle is also in grade 8. He just became a teenager! This is a more challenging year for him as the work load is greater. We are hoping that this year will help to prepare him for high school next year.



Charlotte is in grade 6! She just turned 11 yrs old and is growing like a weed. Straight up that is! I'm certain her legs account for more than 50% of her height!



Sophia has started grade 1! I can't believe she is old enough for grade 1 but she is. She is loving learning to read and is doing very well in math. She amazes me everyday with what she knows.



 Jenna is just 3 1/2 yrs old and wishes she could go to school. We are planning to try her out at the village "daycare" like Sophia did. It really is like preschool would be but maybe even more learning involved!




Bea is learning all she can from the environment around her. She doesn't miss anything. She loves to sit with a pile of toys around her to play with.  She also knows how to make a fuss so that someone will come and pick her up!



Chuck is back at language study full time. It was a process to get us all settled back in to life here but now the real work begins of language and culture study.  He is thankful to have a couple men able to help him in this process.



Shannon, that's me, has had plans to get started in language study again but with needing to organize the house and then having my house helper sick for over a week, well it has yet to happen. Now that she has returned to work I am seeing the beginning in the near future.



Now the most exciting thing about this school year is that I am not teaching the kids!!! We are so blessed to have Lindy Meeker here with us to teach the kids. She has taught them so much already and much of it isn't in the classroom! The girls are learning to knit, cross stitch, draw and sing! They are loving it. Kyle has been enjoying having someone work through his science curriculum and now they are working on some more writing skills.



What a privilege it is to have our kids at home with us all the time. And to have an amazing young lady here to teach them.