Electricity

When we began moving into the village we live in nearly 5 years ago, we had talked candidly about the idea of electricity coming our way…way in the future.  When we returned to the village this past summer Chuck was out in the bush with a man from here and noticed some concrete markers.  He asked what they were and was told that they are for electric poles.  We thought wow it might just happen within the next 5 or 10 years.  Then early in January we heard of a meeting that happened regarding electricity coming.  Again we thought ok maybe within 2-3 years it will come.  Often times there is a lot of talk and not much action going on here.  But another week later there was another meeting in the village about electricity.  Some of the ladies actually came to get Valerie and I to attend it.  We went along didn’t understand much as it was in the local trade language.  We could follow some of it and were later able to ask questions to the officials from the electric company.  When we asked them when the poles would be coming in they couldn’t give an answer.  It was all very vague.  Again we thought that it would be a lot of talk and little action.  Then just 3 days later these were delivered to the village!  And there were piles left along the road to the village.  Amazing to see the poles here already.  That was about a month ago.  Just this week poles have been moved to the last village on the line.  And just today men were in here digging the holes of the poles!  Just maybe it will get done before the end of dry season!

 

 

 

This will be a huge blessing and savings for the Easton’s as they build and set up their home in here.  If it gets installed sooner rather than later then they will be able to use the electricity to help build their house in the Fall.  But even if that doesn’t happen, they will be able to plan to use town electricity to power their home.  What a blessing that will be.  Electricity in the Philippines is often inconsistent.  There are often “brown out’s” (no power for the day) and times where typhoons cause damage to the lines.  But with a back-up system of batteries it will be a wonderful thing to have.

But we do know that it is going to change the lives of the Ga’dang people.  They already have access to generators and use them to power movie players and charge cell phones and flash lights.  But we can see it bringing more of the outside world in too.  We are praying the karaoke machine doesn’t return! (There was one that was run off a generator a few years back!)

Please be praying that the progress will continue in this project.

On a funny note, Chuck asked 2 of the guys today what is the first thing they will buy when they get electricity.  The first guy said, "a washing machine!"  He's single and doesn't like washing his clothes by hand.  The other guy said, "a robot cook!"  He too is single.  I think he needs a wife.  They sure got a chuckle out of the conversation!

Medical Emergency

Ever since we had our first emergency medical flight in 2011 we have had it on our mind that we need to set money aside to help fund emergencies in the future.  We looked for donors who wanted to contribute regularly to this fund while we were home but no one came along.  Then shortly after our return to the Philippines a former missionary friend of ours contacted us about their VBS donating to a project that we might have on the go.  The only need we had was to have funds available for medical emergencies.  They decided to collect and donate to this fund.  We were very excited to have people getting behind this need.  The Lord went above and beyond our expectations with the money they donated for this need.  Since then we have worked with NTM to set up a special project to help donors meet the medical needs of the Ga’dang people.  We have seen people from all over the world contribute to this fund. 

What a blessing it was to know that we had money available for a medical emergency just last weekend.

This is Maricel.  She is not Ga’dang but her husband is.  She speaks the language very well though.  She has 2 sons that are 8 and 6 yrs old.  Her husband is a certified teacher but hasn’t worked as a teacher up until recently.  He is currently the preschool teacher (5 yr olds) in our village.  They are the owners of the lot that Christina’s house was built on, where the Easton’s are living now.  They also live next door to them.  Maricel is a hard worker and takes care of her family well.

In the middle of the week last week Maricel’s husband came to us because he was concerned about his wife as she had been sick in the night and was also having pain when urinating.  We were also told that she was 6 weeks pregnant.  After checking her urine and confirming she was pregnant we figured she had a urinary tract infection.  This is very common here as many people don’t drink enough and then wait long periods of time before going to the bathroom.  She started some antibiotics and was starting to feel better over the next couple of days.  Then Saturday morning her mother in law came to me as Maricel was having pain in her side.  I went to check on her and immediately was concerned about her.  She was having some spotting and pain in her right side to the point of tears .  I was very concerned about a miscarriage or an ectopic pregnancy.  When she was asked if she wanted to go out to the hospital for a check-up, she said yes.

We then began the process of checking if the pilot was available to come get her.  He was flying to another place at the time and could come in that afternoon.  We also contacted Dennis and Valerie as they were already out in town on a break.  We were so thankful that they would be there to take her to the hospital.  If they hadn’t been there then one of us would have needed to go out with her to take her to the hospital.  Around 2pm the helicopter arrived and Maricel and her 60+ year old mother in law got on the helicopter.  What a scary experience for both of them but something they were grateful for as travel by land would have been very painful and challenging. 

It wasn’t long before Dennis and Valerie were at the hospital with Maricel and she was having an ultrasound to see what the problem was.  It was confirmed that she had an ectopic pregnancy and that surgery was needed ASAP.  By 6pm she was in emergency surgery.  It was after 10pm before she was out of recovery and in her room.  The doctor said that the fallopian tube had already ruptured when they started the surgery and that she lost a lot of blood.  She needed 2 units of blood. Without the surgery she would have died.  And had she waited much longer to go to the hospital, she may have still died.

Her husband wasn’t able to come to her until Monday morning as he was at a seminar a long distance away.  Her mother-in-law sure was out of her element in town.  Especially in a big city and at a hospital.  Dennis and Valerie spent many hours helping them with all the things that needed to be done, from getting blood from the blood bank to paying bills to getting medicine and filling out forms.

After just 3 days in the hospital she was released and went to a nearby town to recuperate until her check-up next week.

 

We are still working on the final total of the medical bills but it will be about $2000 USD!  Plus the cost of the helicopter to town.  If it wasn’t for the medical fund we just couldn’t pay the bill for them.  When her husband saw the medical bill he started to panic.  What would he do?  How would he pay for it?  It was a relief for him to know that we could help.  They will be going to the municipal center to apply for some assistance to help pay us back.  And they will be paying us back some of the money from wages and the selling of their corn crop.  Without the money from the VBS last year and money from others, we wouldn’t have been able to help.  Thank you to all those who have given.

But what now?  Her bill alone was what was budgeted for the whole year to help with the medical needs of the people here.  Are you willing to help?  Would you like to make a 1 time donation? Or contribute on a regular basis? 

 

Here is a link to the where you can go to donate:

US Residents can donate here.

Canadian Residents can donate here.

All donations are tax deductible.

Your donation will help to save the life of a Ga’dang person like Maricel that still doesn’t know Christ as her Saviour.

Please pray for Maricel and her family.  Pray for her recovery and that she will be able to return home soon.  Pray that we can be a light to the people we are with every day.

School Teacher---Needed for 2014/15 school year

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A year ago we were in the early communication process with a young lady from North Carolina who was seeking the Lord about coming to the Philippines to teach our kids. We were very excited at the prospect of having a teacher but I didn’t want to get my hopes up as there had been other applicants that didn’t work out in the last couple of years. I figured that I would really believe it when she had her plane tickets booked!

The last 2 teachers we had were people that we knew, not real well but we had been able to get to know each other in person in the past. This was a huge step of faith trusting that Lord knew who was perfect for our family. Of course we had heard all the stories of teachers and families not working so well together, so I was a little scared.
Lindy was going through a process in her own heart about coming to teach our kids. This is how she remembers it,
“The moment I first heard about the Talbots and their need for a teacher, God made it pretty clear that He wanted me to go. I come from a loving family and close-knit community, so the idea of leaving home for so long was hard! In my heart I wanted to follow wherever God would lead, but it was a struggle to get there emotionally. As I prayed and wrestled with the idea over the next few weeks, God helped me see clearly that nothing is too great to give to the One who gave everything for me. He faithfully and patiently brought my desires into alignment with His. The thought of leaving home, going to the other side of the world, and teaching (something I had never done before), was still overwhelming, but He gave me great peace in it!”
As time went on the Lord worked out all the details and on July 31st 2013 we picked up a very tired North Carolinian at the airport in Manila. From the moment the kids met her they loved her. I’m guessing she fell in love with them pretty fast too! As the days went on we could see that the Lord really was the one who brought all these plans together.
After just a couple weeks together we finally moved home to the village, where Lindy was introduced to cockroaches first hand! She unpacked the school room and started to plan the school year for the kids. Then on September 2nd they began school together.
They have had so much fun doing all the things that Mom doesn’t have time for; art, music and read aloud time. They have played games outside of school time, learned to knit and how to draw. Endless hours have been spent colouring and singing. And they have done their school work.



What a huge blessing Lindy has been to our family. Each teacher has blessed our family in so many different ways. The Lord knows just what we need and when. This last school year we needed Lindy Meeker. We thank the Lord for His choice and providing such a wonderful young lady to our home.
On April 1st we will be saying a very hard goodbye to Lindy. I know there will be tears from everyone, ok maybe just us girls but tears for sure. We will all return home and be looking to set that extra place at the table and wonder who is going to sing while the dishes get done. It will be a sad home.

We know that the Lord has awesome plans for Lindy in the future. We look forward to hearing all that He does for her.
So what does that mean for school for the kids when she is gone??? Mom becomes teacher for the last 2 months of this school year. I am sure there will be complaining! Then in August we will begin the 2014/15 school year. Eli and Kyle will be working with the Independent Learning Center out of Ontario. Hala will continue to work in the areas she still needs help. Charlotte will start grade 7 and Sophia will be in grade 2. Hopefully Jenna will attend the village daycare for 2 hrs a day starting in June. And then Bea will keep us busy getting into all sorts of trouble.
It will be tiring for Mom as she balances the school work, the home, medical work in the village and trying to squeeze in some language time too. We will get through but it won’t be as much fun as last year. UNLESS…
Would you be interested in coming to spend 6 months to 1 year teaching the Talbot kids? Do you know someone who would love to see tribal missions first hand? Do you know someone with a heart to serve?
You don’t have to be a teacher. You just have to love kids and the Lord. You don’t need much money to come. We have seen how faithful He is to provide for the needs of our teachers. You don’t even have to think that you can do it. You just have to trust that HE is the one who makes you able.
Please be praying for us as we seek the Lord for the next school year. Please be praying that if the Lord wills, that someone else would come teach our kids. Pray also for Lindy as she goes home and moves on in what the Lord has for her there. Pray for the sad hearts the kids will have when they say goodbye.

Jenna Lee and Jenna Lee

After Christmas we were able to visit our good friends in their new mountain home.  It was a long drive but beautiful, if you didn’t look down!  You may remember our friend Elias from years past.  He has been a faithful friend that has helped us time and again arranging vehicles to take us and our stuff to and from our village.
In December 2010 Elias missed the birth of his daughter because he was picking us up from the end of the trail.  We were sad to hear that the doctor decided to do the C-section while he wasn’t with his wife.  We later were asked if they could name their little girl after our little girl.  So now we have 2 Jenna Lee’s in the Philippines.
Here are some pictures of them just after #2 was born:

And now here they are just this December:

Such cute little girls!

Little Patients

A couple of weeks ago as I was visiting with a friend on the porch I heard a commotion of kids.  I looked up to see a group of boys walking down the trail talking and laughing.  After a second look I noticed that these boys were carrying another boy.  They would walk a bit, stop and put him down, then pick him back up again and keep walking.  I thought they were playing some sort of game.  But moments later these boys were walking up my porch stairs still carrying their friend.  As they walked up the stairs his head was towards the ground as they struggled to get him up!

They soon explained that this young boy, almost 6 years old had cut his toe with a machete!  His mom wasn't home and they thought they should bring him to me to get a bandaid!

My friend and I couldn't stop laughing!  It was so funny and so cute.  The injured boy couldn't stop laughing. He thought it was so funny that his friends would carry him to our house.  And there was some embarrassment going on too!

Of course I got out my "wound cleaning kit" and cleaned up his toe and put a bandaid on it.  He didn't want a Dora bandaid, I wonder why???

Here is a picture of all these boys together as I fixed up his toe!

Expectations

I don't usually write personal stuff on how the Lord is working in my life but it has been on my heart to share some of what the Lord has been teaching me lately. 

Growing in our relationship with the Lord is often a painful thing.  I don't like pain, especially when it is pain related to feelings and thinking.  I can handle the pain of childbirth but I start to crumble under growing pains.

My wrong thinking in some areas has been growing over the last 18 months or more.  It all started with finding out that I was pregnant with Bea.  I have written about this before and how it took time for the Lord to work on my heart and accept this precious gift He has given me.  But an area that I struggled with from that point on was that having her "ruined" my plans. 

Many of you may know how much of a planner I am.  I like to know what is coming our way.  I like to plan ahead as much as possible.  This doesn't mean that I can't change my plans.  I do like to fly by the seat of my pants too!  The thing is, I tend to think that I am flexible and can go with the flow and change my plans as needed.  But I have realized though that it really isn't true.  As I plan for the future I will think of many different possibilities for the future.  I may have plans A through Z planned out and all are ok.  So if I need to pick another plan, great, I know what to expect. But what happens when His plan isn't any of my plans?  What happens to those expectations I have for the future?

What are those unmet expectations?
Specifically it is language study.  When we went on home assignment I was looking forward to our return to the village with our youngest baby being almost 3 yrs old.  The 5 older kids would all be doing school during the day and Jenna plays really good on her own.  Then with the arrival of Bea those thoughts of being able to be in language study started to crumble.  My only hope was to have a young lady come and teach the kids.  I had also been able to hire a nanny in the past to watch Jenna when she was a baby, so I could do that with Bea too.  God answered my prayers for a teacher and provided Lindy to come a teach our kids.  The kids have loved her and she is doing a wonderful job teaching them. 
Next I needed to find someone to look after Bea.  It would just need to be in the mornings.  At first it seemed we were told that many young ladies would love the job.  Soon though, the list of available girls dwindled.  Then finally a young lady was willing and able...but not till mid October.  I figured I could make it work.  I would hire my language helper to come in and help with the house work while my house helper looked after Bea.  (those 2 ladies are sisters, so it worked for them)  The plan was set. 
Day 1-my language helper couldn't come because she didn't have anyone to watch her kids.  Day 2-4 worked perfectly.  I had a great time getting back into language study.  Bea was happy.  All was well.  The following week it all came crashing down.  The daughter of my language helper was ill.  I figured I could work with it for a day or so.  Then the days just kept going by.  Now a week and a half later, my language helper still hasn't come back to work. 
Monday just kind of topped it all off for me.  I had hoped for a new beginning this week.  Then my house helper didn't show up.  She didn't text.  She didn't send a family member down to say where she was.  Nothing.  It took some inquiring to find out that she had gone to an engagement party the night before and the motorcycle had broken down and she couldn't return.  By the time I found this out I was super frustrated.  Why were my plans not working out???  I want to learn the language!  I want to be able to talk to people here and understand them!  Lindy is not here so I can be just a mother and wife!  By Tuesday morning I learned that my frustration was noticed by others.  But they didn't know why I was so frustrated.  It was then interpreted as anger towards my house helper for not coming to work.  That hit hard.  Still does.  I pains me to know that not only my family was feeling my frustration but the people in the village were seeing this as well.

His plans for me were not any of those A through Z plans I had made.  They were His plans.  My thinking was wrong.  I was thinking that I was letting Him have control of my days and future but when His plan wasn't one of my plans I became frustrated and disappointed.  As many know "when Mom ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!"  Some days Mom was happy.  As things happened as I planned it made for a good day.  But when a day would work out different than any of my plans it makes for a crabby Mom.  I have often said lately that I feel like I am on an emotional roller coaster.  Some days are thrilling and some days are scary.  It's easy to blame hormones and circumstances for how I feel and put the blame on others.  There is wrong thinking.  If I am trusting the Lord in all that I do and trust that He knows what is best for me each and every day then I can be at peace and ride that road that He has for me.  It may be bumpy and it may be twisty but He has me going to the place that He wants me.

 Through prayer and reading His word and listening to Him I have been able to put some of the pieces together.  I have not been trusting Him.  I have been trusting in myself.  That's not easy to accept.

As I started to think through what God was giving me to do, I realized that He was giving me the desires of my heart.  I love being a mom.  I love having babies.  He gave me Bea.  I love being able to play with my kids.  I love being able to cook for them and bake for them.  I love being able to have a house in order when Chuck comes home at the end of the day of working hard at getting this language.  God was giving me the chance to do all these things.  I wasn't weighed down with teaching the kids.  I wasn't weighed down with language study.  I was just available to do what needed to be done.  Instead of finding joy in the tasks He had for me I just became frustrated.

I just read this from a friend, "God is more interested in who He wants me to be than in what He wants me to do."  She was talking about how John 15 goes with this.  As I took time to read John 15:1-11, I was reminded of what I had been doing and not doing.  I have been trusting in my abilities and not trusting and resting in Him.  As I abide in Him, He will bring forth the fruit.  How comforting it is to know by abiding I can know that His will will be done in my life.  I like verse 11, "These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full."  He gives me joy in the things I do for Him as I abide in Him.

Yes growing still hurts.  But I would not be more like Christ if I didn't go through this pain.

So for today I will walk with Him and do as He has laid out for me.  I will trust Him to know what is best for me and my family.  As He allows I will work on language study.

Cloth Diapering

I know that this blog post might not be of any interest to many of you but I am thinking that some of you young moms out there might be interested!

First let me say that I am not the tree hugger type.  I have used disposable diapers for my first 6 kids, except for a year or so with Eli and Hala.  The only reason I used them then was that I got them cheap, laundry was free at Bible school and we were broke!

And I don’t feel that I have to buy everything made in Canada. (Actually that would be impossible for me living in the Philippines!)

So why have I started using cloth diapers now???

When we moved into our village we were on our last baby, or so we thought!  We figured that burying a couple years’ worth of disposable diapers wouldn’t be too bad and I didn’t have the time to wash cloth diapers.

Then the Lord blessed us with little Beatrice!  And at the same time He was blessing us with co-workers, with one in diapers and one on the way.  I started to think of all the diapers that we would be putting in a hole in the ground over the next couple of years.  Then I spoke with Valerie, our co-worker, about her experience with cloth diapers.  She had been using them for years, even in the Philippines where the humidity is high all the time and she didn’t have a dryer.  So I started looking into what was out there.  Was it really affordable?  Were they going to dry when it can rain for days on end?  How does a baby’s bottom cope with extra fabric when it is 30C plus every day?

The first thing I came upon was pocket diapers.  I had used all-in-one diapers before but couldn’t imagine that they would dry on those very rainy days.  My research said that might be the case.  It turned out that Valerie was using pocket diapers.  From what I read and what Valerie told me, pocket diapers would dry well even in the humidity.  Having extra liners would mean that if the liners weren’t dry, you could still use the extras because the “pocket” dries really fast.  I started getting excited about the idea of using cloth diapers again.  But I wondered if it was affordable.  I looked around and started thinking that I should look for a local shop that sells different brands so I could go check them out.  In that search, I came across Glow Bug Cloth Diapers.  These diapers are designed by 2 ladies that are from Barrie, ON.  That’s where my parents live and is just 30 min away from where we lived!  I went to their website and read all about their diapers.  They were similar to many pocket diapers out there but they had done some of their own twists to them.  But the best part was the price!  They are just $150 for 12 diapers with 18 liners!  What a great deal that is!  And they have the cutest prints for boys, girls and now unisex!

So I decided to pray about it and talk with Chuck to see what he thought.

I figured that it would be easiest to teach one of the village ladies to wash them in our twin tub washing machine instead of me spending the time washing them.  It seemed like a great way to give more work to those who desperately want to work.  We do have a dryer and with finally having our solar system on the way it meant that when the weather was really rainy, we could get them dry in the dryer.

After finding a great sale on their website I went ahead and bought my stock of cloth diapers.  I got a great deal and I had 24 diapers for less than $250!

So what do I think now that I am using them???

They have been great!  The only time I have leaks is when I forget to change Bea.  And they are sooo cute!!!

We are still using disposables at night.  I was suggested to do that as the smell can be pretty strong by morning.

Valerie suggested after we got back to the Philippines to get another 12 diapers just to be sure we had enough.  Turns out that Glow Bug Cloth Diapers was having another sale on their newly released unisex prints.  So I ordered them and have loved them also.  They came with 200 flushable liners free!

I am still not an expert on cloth diapers but I do know that I like what we are using.

Lindy asked me the other day if I would use cloth if we were back in Canada now.  That is a tough question to answer.  If I was just starting out having kids, then I think I would use them as it would be cost effective to use them with several kids.  But with just one kid using them with the cost of liners, water, and electricity, I wonder if it would really save any money.

So there you have it!  The new thing I have found!