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.
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