Glad to be Home

Sit back and get comfy. This one could get long.

Since I last wrote, we've actually made TWO trips to Manila. This comes to a grand total of 24 hours of nothing but sitting. BUT, we made huge progress in getting our long term visas! I'll just give you a run-down of our two trips.

First Trip:
On Monday Lilia joined us and we took the tricycle out to the hi-way to catch the Joy bus at 4:30 a.m. The Joy bus is just as joyful as it sounds. It's a clean, high quality, air conditioned bus with reclining seats. They even provide blankets and snacks for the ride. It's like business class, people. It makes for a super relaxing 5 hour ride to Manila, with no stops. Upon our 10 a.m. arrival at the bus terminal in Manila we took a 30 minute taxi ride to the Bureau of Immigration (yes, it's as intimidating as it sounds). The taxi ride is much less pleasant than the Joy bus. The drivers bob and weave making their way through the traffic of the city. I can hardly watch as we zoom between cars. Finally we walk through security at Immigration and since we've been here before we know exactly where to go. We climb the 4 flights of stairs and make our way to Office 412. We haven't exactly befriended the secretary who works here. Quite honestly, I think all my questions drive her nuts. But she takes our documents, nonetheless. This time we have them in a nice folder and every page has a seal, ribbon, or notary. So she looks through them, tells us a few things we are lacking and how to get them done without making a trip back to Aurora. So we go downstairs, collect everything we need and are sent from window to window until finally ( 5 hours later) our papers are accepted! This is monumental. We then pay ridiculous fees and are given hearing dates to come back for interviews.
So we are done at immigration, for now. This day instead of rushing back to the bus terminal, we decide to wait for the Joy bus. It doesn't leave again until 1:30 a.m. so we go to hang out at a mall in the meantime. At the mall, we were like 3 kids in a candy shop! Our first stop was the food court since we had missed lunch. And they had American food! Taco Bell instantly became everything "home". For those of you who know me well, know that I DON'T eat Taco Bell. Or any fast food really. But after being on the other side of the world for a month, Taco Bell became comfort food. I can't even describe how good it was. Maybe it's a form of culture shock? (*Disclaimer- We've really been enjoying Filipino cuisine. Like a lot. So don't get me wrong. We have much better food than Taco Bell. But in that mall, after a day at immigration, all things healthy and all things Filipino became irrelevant.) So after dinner we spent the evening looking around, eating ice cream, getting some groceries to take back with us, and even watched a movie. Then we made the joyful trek back to Maria Aurora and arrived back around 6 a.m. Tuesday. What a day.

After spending only one full day in Maria which included sleeping in, one discipleship meeting, and packing again, we went back to Manila for our hearings.

Second Trip:
The Joy bus had no vacancy Wednesday so we walked out to the hi-way at 6 a.m. to catch the first bus that passed. This bus was far less joyful, but once again I was brought to a state of thankfulness that we weren't walking. Barry accompanied us this time, as he is our legal Petitioner and was needed for the hearing. This trip was a little longer as they stopped to pick up more passengers what seemed like every 300 meters and stopped a couple times for comfort room (restroom) and snack breaks. We stopped in another town named Cabanatuan (or as Josh would say 'Cabana ya mama') and hopped on our next leg which was one step toward the joy bus. Yay for cushioned seats and a.c. This got us to Manila around 2 p.m. Our appointments at Immigration were Thursday at 10 and 11 so we got a hotel. This made for a very pleasant stay including a hot shower and a full night of rest before the big day at Immigration. On Thursday, we arrived early for our appointments and met with the Attorney who conducted our interviews. First the Borens, then Monica. He asked a few financial questions and then if we had any professional training. We gladly answered "yes sir" as we had gone through two years of basic training through Trek-X in Nashville. Then...drum roll..he wanted to know where our certificate of completion was. We showed him our letter of commissioning and every thing else we could think up, but our creds just weren't enough. Apparently you have to be professional here in the Philippines. We finally told him we do not have any kind of certificate. His answer.."Could you make one up?" Now you see what we're dealing with. I wonder if Paul had a certificate of training?? Anyways, Mr. Vicente was kind enough to allow us to finish the process and mail our certificate in next week. Chris and Rob (who are awesome and on top of things) are generating a totally made-up yet official looking certificate and will have it delivered to Mr. Vicente. As a result, we were able to get our mugshots and all 10 fingers fingerprinted and now we only have to wait for the certificate to arrive. Once everything is finished in the office, our names will show up on the immigration website, meaning we are approved. We will then make our final trip to Manila to get the long awaited visas stamped in our passports!
To finish the story, we hopped on another bus back to Cabanatuan then caught the only thing going to Maria Aurora- a 12 passenger van carrying 14 of us. This was a stormy, bumpy, and slightly scary ride through muddy back roads. I quickly learned "accident prone area" signs really meant "speed up and get through here as fast as you can". But the Lord got us here safely. Josh and I looked at each other when we made it back to our little house and shared that for the first time it really felt like home when we walked in. It was really good to be back. And I couldn't have been happier to eat our hot Filipino meal- sopas and empanadas and a banana shake for dessert.

Sorry this was so long. Like I mentioned in the last blog, sometimes I think I write just so I can look back on it later. But I hope y'all got a little taste of our trips. They really were rides to remember. 

Please continue to pray for us as there is still a chance that we won't get approved before our temporary visas expire. Also pray for our friends who are at a leadership conference this week. It will be a bit lonely without them, but we're excited for what they'll learn.


I hope you are all well. Please let us know how we can pray for you. We'd love to hear your stories and be a part of the journey God is taking you through. 

I'm starting to enjoy this blog thing a little more than I ever did in Nashville. Maybe because life is much slower here and I have more time to think and write. Or maybe it's good for me to just get everything out on 'paper' and really see what's going on here. I also imagine myself looking back on these in the future and just laughing at what all the Lord brings us through.  

Anyways, we are headed to Manilla again tomorrow morning at 4:30. But I wanted to share a little about what we've been up to lately...

• Lived in Maria Aurora for 1 month! 
• Collecting what added up to 40 signatures and 11 notaries.
• Learn to PRAY about EVERYTHING. Who are we to think we can do anything in our own strength? (I've learned this more and more lately from my husband- who has no idea he's teaching it to me)
• Drank lots of buko (young coconut) shakes 
• Tried to catch tilapia, but they were too small  

• Became Sunday School teachers at the local church. Monica is with singles, Josh with youth guys, and me with youth girls. We're excited about training someone among them to become the leader/facilitator and simply allow the Holy Spirit to be the teacher. Pray for us as this is where we experience our greatest language barrier.
• Started a Discovery Bible Study/English practice with the local college students
• Josh has had the opportunity to meet with a couple of pastors who are seeking discipleship
• We've all had the opportunity to meet with some young people to study the Word together! 
• My brave husband killed this FLYING, BITING cockroach in our home. We could probably win some money if we had my reaction on video :) It flew onto our bed!

 

• Became more thankful for technology than we ever were in the States as we've gotten to Skype with our families a couple of times, as well as Chris White- our Trek-X mentor in Nashville.
• Watched our plants spring up out of the ground. We're pretty sure the okra I planted, however, is not okra. It's looking a little like our friend Brother Lito's watercress. O well, it's growing.
• Josh and I have gotten to have a couple of declared 'family days' and spend some much enjoyed quality time together (bike riding, reading, just hanging out) that didn't include studying or preparing for anything. 

• The three of us have prayed for the persecuted church (this week we prayed specifically for Yemen), along with our new friend Kletz. Find a list of these countries at persecution.com
• Watched a couple of the Presidential debates at Barry's house. It feels good to still be connected with important things going on in the States. Don't forget to pray for our own nation. 
• Killed a snake! Or watched Barry kill it would be the more truthful statement :)

Bureaucracy in the light of Grace

The world is made up of so many different cultures. Different ways of life fascinate me. The different ways children and family are viewed, the cuisine, the pace in which life is lived, the smells and sounds, the process of decision making, the homes and marketplaces, and the bureaucracy.  O the bureaucracy. This week we have learned much about the bureaucracy of the Philippines. Some things about culture are so fun to learn; some are a bit more challenging. And this has been one of those challenging times. Last week we spent our days gathering documents, signatures, and notaries to obtain our visas (something we had already done in the States, but we learned in Baguio we were lacking a few things). We needed a petition from someone here inviting us and promising that we will not be a burden to the community. Understandable. We needed an official form from the Barangay Captain (similar to a mayor) stating that he knows we are here. Understandable. So we gathered all these things along with birth certificates, marriage license, high school and college diplomas, etc. and we made a trip to Manilla. After the 5 hour bus ride that left at 4:30 a.m. we got to immigration and were there about 30 minutes when we were told that our documents weren't in an official folder, the forms that had all three of our names (Josh, Autumn, and Monica) needed to be separate, and the forms on which we were separate, we needed to be combined. And a few more things needed to be notarized. This could have all been taken care of in Manilla if it weren't for that one simple form from the Barangay Captain- the very one that took us 3 days to obtain. So we headed straight back to the bus station and made our way back to Maria Aurora via three different forms of transportation arriving at 8:30 p.m. All in all, we spent 16 hours in transit, 14 of which were sitting on a bus. It made for a long day, but we couldn't help but laugh at our situation. Things are just different here. Paperwork is a slow process and the government craves bribes and money. BUT GOD is faithful and He has a sovereign plan, even for our visas. I mean after all, He brought us here.

During our travel and mission to get our long term visas, I remembered how good God is. The Holy Spirit transferred my mind from complaints about a sedentary day of nothing but sitting, another bus trip, and the unhealthy food we were eating along the way and I began to praise the Lord that He sent us to a country that allows missionaries. We could be undercover, needing to come in as 'businessmen and women' or 'students'. But here we are welcomed as missionaries. Maybe not as Protestant Christ-followers, (if we were Roman Catholic this process would be a bit easier) but missionaries nonetheless. I praised God that our means of transportation could have been much worse. I was reminded of people like Adoniram Judson who trekked to Burma by boat. Praise the Lord for airplanes! And for buses. Even the ones without air conditioning (I'm for real about this- the wind against my face felt amazing). I praised God we were able to eat snacks along the way and didn't go the whole day without food, as many people around the world did. Praise God for His faithful provision. And praise Him for His GRACE. His grace that covers my selfishness. His grace that puts me back together when I realize how broken I really am (and even when I don't realize that I'm broken at all). Praise God.

So today as we gather more signatures and notaries and as ministry is put on hold once again, I praise God for His faithfulness and His good timing. Our long-term visas will come at just the right time.

Please do pray for us as we continue to advance through this process. Our temporary visitor visas expire November 17th. If we have not obtained our long-term visas by this point, we will either pay a lot of money to extend them or make a trip out of the country for a couple days which will give us another 21 days here. Thank you for praying alongside us.

"Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forevermore. Amen." Jude 24-25

Don't go chasing waterfalls..

This weekend we had the great pleasure of taking a trip to 'the falls'. Canauyan Falls is a beautiful area several degrees cooler than Maria Aurora with crystal clear, ice cold water. It was incredible. We spent the day fellowshiping with some of our brothers and sisters here in Maria. We ate, we swam, we hiked, we laughed, and we rested. It couldn't have been a much more enjoyable day. God's creation is breathtaking; mindblowing really. So...if any of you want to make a trip to Maria Aurora, Philippines, we'll be more than happy to take you on a trip to the falls :) Come on over.

Things have grown busier for us here in Maria Aurora. It's an exciting time. 

This week we've gotten a large taste of Filipino culture. One of our neighbors, 80 year old Nana Alice, passed away. Funerals and the grieving process are handled quite differently here than in the U.S. The embalmed body is brought back to the home where a wake is held for the mourning family. Nana Alice's wake lasted 5 days. Typically they last 9 or 10 days and it is not uncommon to be 14 days long! The funeral home sets up a nice display around the casket in the family's living room (yes, the casket is kept in the home through the entire wake). Each night there is a service where a local pastor ( or leader for non-believers) will give a message along with some singing. Afterwards a merienda (tagalog for snack) is provided and games such as chess, scrabble, and cards are played until wee hours of the morning. Everyday life is literally put on hold until the completion of the wake. So, since Saturday we have been participating in the wake of Nana Alice's sweet family. Today we attended the funeral and then walked 3 miles to the cemetery for the burial service. Obviously this was a sad time for our community, however we've seen the Lord really use it to allow us to grow stronger relationships with our neighbors and friends. Playing speed scrabble for hours on end inevitably strengthens friendships!

Just for a little more insight into Filipino culture: Nana Alice's family is a Christian family. However, the Catholics, Spiritists, cultists, etc. in the area also include much alcohol and gambling at their wakes. As you can imagine, by the 9th or 10th day many fights break out. Also, there is actually a Filipino law stating that public gambling can only take place in the presence of a corpse! This causes much corruption such as renting corpses for the sake of gambling. There are many strongholds here in the Philippines and we are very thankful our first wake was the wake of a Christ following family.

Although the wake has taken up much of our time lately, I'll share a few highlights of other things that have been going on:

• We met with some of the college students and young adults who are believers to find out who is interested in discipleship. We learned that many of them also want help with their conversational english. We came up with this graph of times and phone numbers so we can begin meeting with them.

•  We made flower arrangements for Nana Alice's family. How beautiful are these! They found some banana tree stalks, trimmed them down, and stuck the flowers in them. All these flowers came from the back yard!

•  A guy came over to harvest buko (young coonut). He climbed these super tall trees without being tied to anything! He would simply gather them and lower them down by a rope. The second photo is the harvested buko. It makes a delicious drink!

•  We got bicycles!! I can't even begin to tell you how funny it was buying these. We bought used bikes to save some pesos and once we picked out the ones we liked, they began fixing all the repairs that they needed haha. None of the bikes were in selling condition so we waited as they replaced chains, aired tires, etc. But we're excited to use these to get around town. And check out the awesome baskets to carry things home from the market! They have bells too :)

•  We celebrated Josh's birthday! He's 25! Lilia made him a yummy banana nut cake and I gave him his own bolo (machete). It was fun to celebrate here.  

• We went to a Chinese buffet where they actually charge you if you leave any food on your plate. Happy plates only! 

• Meet Gerlie below. Her english is improving all the time and we are excited to know her more.  Her desire to be discipled in the Lord is really exciting! We can't wait to see what the Lord does in her and where He calls her to make disciples as well. 

 

• We planted a small garden of okra, tomatoes, and bok choy. I've never gardened before and am quite certain that I don't have a green thumb. Hopefully the fertile ground here will help me! 

•  These cuties just discovered that we are neighbors. They are now visiting all the time, practicing their english phrases, giggling, picking fruit, and asking for "just 1 more picture".

• We experienced our first scheduled power outage where they turn the power off from 6am-6pm in order to shut down those who are stealing electricity. Makes for a hot day when the electric fans do not work! But it also creates a greater appreciation for the days when the fans do work.
• Our own Trek-X discipleship has begun. We are reading The Cost of Discipleship and skyping with Chris White (who discipled us in Nashville). We're also trying to allow time for the three of us to spend time in the Word together, pray together and memorize Scripture together on a regular basis. 

The Lord is teaching us how to rely on Him for direction and to wait on His good timing for things to fall into place. A pastor friend once taught us that the things of God are a slow process. Pray for us to wait on Him and seek His glorious face.

"So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us." 1 Thessalonians 2:8   

Baguio City

Hey everyone, We just returned from our first road trip in the Philippines. And boy was it a road trip! We took what is called the Lizardo bus on an 8 hour trip through the mountains. Josh rode beside a couple of chickens and the little girl across from us vomited twice. Without further description, it was a ride to remember!

 The reason for our trip to Baguio was to get our 2 year missionary visas processed. (Praise God we live in a country that accepts missionaries and will allow a visa specifically for us. It's highly unusual that another country would welcome Christian missionaries.) But the immigration office in Baguio informed us that they do not process missionary visas- only student visas and visa extensions. Plus, we were lacking a few documents from the officials in Maria Aurora. So getting our visas now requires a trip to Manilla. However, the trip to Baguio was not wasted. We got to see some of the beautiful mountains of the Philippines, take a couple hot showers, meet Barry & Lilia's son Dylan who is going to college there, and most of all, meet Sam.

Sam is a Korean native who moved from New York as a missionary to the Philippines. He lives at the seminary where we stayed and we randomly walked into him on the patio one night. But we soon learned it wasn't random at all. The Lord had prepared a divine encounter for us. Sam is passionate about the Lord and about making disciples. He was quick to share with us about a new method he has learned called Discovery Bible Study method. See, this was a big deal for us because we also learned DBS in our last couple months of training in Nashville. And we've been praying fervently about what our role is here in Aurora and whether or not it involves Discovery Bible Study. We know our main role here is to disciple some of the young leaders into reaching their own neighbors and we have been thinking that DBS would be a very effective way to train them as it obedience based and relies heavily on the Holy Spirit and not us. 

Please join us in praying for the Lord's guidance over our role here. Pray also for the process of getting our visas as we have less than two months before our short-term visas expire.

 I didn't take my camera to Baguio, but enjoy some pictures of the days prior to the trip..

The group of local pastors and leaders around the province

Jesus Died To Redeem The World

One of the largest trees in all of Asia

Burning the rice fields

Slink..Monica's neighbor

Toads in the Philippines are poisonous

Josh carving his snake stick

Slug..Not slugburger haha

Just a little insight into the Tagalog language.

As you can see from the photos, I am intrigued by the animal species here! And I'm not as close as these pictures may seem. Josh takes all the wildlife photos for me haha. Thanks to everyone who supports us and prays for us. We are so grateful for a community of believers to encourage us during our time here. Blessings!