Maligayang Kaarawan - Happy Birthday!

All 3 of us have now spent a birthday in the Philippines. It's always a mixed emotion kind of day for me when holidays or birthdays roll around. I always miss my family and it's kind of tiresome to learn how another culture celebrates holidays and try to adapt well. This week was a double-wammy with my birthday being so close to Easter. This week I cried. I laughed. I got upset with my husband. I apologized to my husband. I cried out to the Lord for strength. I missed my family and things about America. Yet, I loved being here with my new friends and family. And I was so thankful for Josh and Monica. All in all, the Lord's grace was more than sufficient and I want to share with you a few pictures from my birthday celebrations (yes, I was blessed to have more than one :)

Haha the baker asked where I was from when we ordered the cake. I thought it was just a simple question. We get asked that all the time. But no, it was for the cake  :) 

Sis Shyriel and I had a joint party.

 This is pansit. It is served as most birthday parties here. Because the noodles are thin and long, it represents long life.  It's also very cheap.  Obviously, we don't eat it for long life :)

 GJane and me 

 All of us had birthdays in March! 

 

Singing Maligayang Kaarawan/Happy Birthday 

 

 

We had lunch on the beach on my actual birthday

 

 

 Everyone on the compound ate dinner together with some of my favorite Filipino dishes and fruits.

  

 Josh gave me another basket to add to my collection. I don't know how we'll ever get them all through customs :)

 I'm praising the Lord tonight for 23 years of life! 

Thanks to everyone who made me feel special and loved!

Hey Y'all

I want to share something we've found to be rather funny lately. This is particularly for our followers in the southern USA :)
We have to admit that we southerners use 'plays on words' rather often to express ourselves. And since most of the Filipnos we know have only met a few other Americans who are all from the south (mission teams from Georgia), they find that these plays on words are common English phrases. English is the official language of the Philippines so most of them desire to learn and understand more English. We often have long conversations with them trying to explain definitions of certain words and phrases. But the most enjoyable talks are usually the ones that pertain particularly to the south.
Here are some we've run into lately. Try to imagine how you would explain these phrases!

"You crack me up"......... What?? I crack you up? What does that even mean?

"Your father kills me!".........O gosh.. my father tried to kill you?

"It's pretty far".........Maybe I misunderstood the definition of pretty?

"These mosquitoes are eatin' me up."........Gross.

"I'm fixin a go to the market".........You're what? Is something broken??

"I'm so hungry I could eat a horse"........ Filipinos would never.  Dog, maybe. A horse? No way :) 

After reading back through this post for a spell check, I noticed that I said "Here are some we've run into lately." Now you can see how easily we confuse our friends. I don't even realize when I say these crazy phrases! The problem is, I confuse them even more when I try to speak Tagalog :)

Our personal favorite English definition we've been asked so far:
 "Bro. Josh, What is the meaning... sexy?"
-Just for clarification...Josh doesn't use the word sexy very frequently, but the American songs on the radio and shows on t.v. do   :)

Josh, Monica, and myself have gotten quite a few laughs out of these. I hope you've enjoyed them as well. 

The Faith of a Child

Can I just tell you how my heart is overjoyed when I think of all the people who are supporting Josh and I in this journey??

We wanted to post a blog about a few stories of some precious people who have prayed, cared, shared with others, and even raised support for us. Not for the sake of the Borens, but for the sake of their Father in Heaven.

The coolest part... all of these individuals are under the age of 10!

First is a sweet and very handsome little boy I babysat in Nashville. As I prayed with and for this little boy, his brother, and his parents (who are doing a phenomenal job at training him up in the ways of the Lord), I began to just fall in love with them. They're precious. As this little boy and I would talk about why I was moving away from Nashville, he was always very inquisitive. I even remember one day when we played with his toy soldiers- some of the characters were "moving to another country to tell people about Jesus." On one of my last days in Nashville, I went to tell these sweet brothers goodbye. The big brother, 4 years old, brought out something special he wanted to give me. Since his parents had been teaching him about good stewardship with the money he earned, he had been saving some money to GIVE. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this 4 year old collected money to spend, to save, and to give. He had decided that his 'give' jar would be used to show God's love to people in the Philippines. He had even printed a picture off the internet with his dad. He chose a picture of 2 Filipino kiddos, and because he noticed they were eating with their hands, he wanted Josh and I to buy them some spoons :) Josh and I have this picture pinned on the cork board in our home. I look at it often to remind me 1. to pray for this sweet family,  2. to find some cuties who need some spoons, and 3. to pray for the poor around the world and that more of us would have hearts like this little one's.

Next is our niece. She's the cutest kindergartner you'll ever see. We've enjoyed skyping with her a few times since we've been here. Last year, we gave some of our family members ornaments with the Philippines painted on them so they could remember to pray for us while we're away. Our sister-in-law wrote us in December to let us know that our niece had hung our ornament on the Christmas tree and was praying for us each time she passed it. We couldn't be more thankful for the innocent prayers of a 5-year-old. She's also decided she'll be a missionary one day too (maybe Africa she says) :)

Then there's our niece's best friend who lives in Batesville. This young lady is a prayer warrior. We are blessed to be on her nightly prayer list, along with her dogs and the rest of her family. Her sweet mommy writes to encourage us often and reminds us that we're prayed for.

We can't forget a sweet group of girls in Georgia who wrote us letters after learning about missionaries in their Awana group at church. Their mom even sent us the pictures of them.

Lastly and most recently, is a red-headed first-grader in Starkville. We love this story. She wanted to raise money for missions all by herself. Her teacher informed her mother that she'd been making her own paper bracelets, trading them for her friends' silly bands at school, then selling the silly bands to raise money! This mama has an entrepreneur on her hands!  When we last heard, she was up to $2.00.

We've been so encouraged to hear these stories. It's obviously a blessing for the Lord to provide the finances we need to remain here. And we are beyond grateful for the many men and women, family, and friends who pray for us often. We could not do this alone. But, there is really something special when we receive a letter or email telling us about a little child who is going to the Lord on our behalf. Our heats just melt every time.

 "And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." -Matt. 18:2-4

Mga Bata...The Children

 Earlier this week we met the kids on the street again. They've learned about creation and learned we came from dirt. But this week we shared the story of man and woman's disobedience.  We summarized the story in Genesis 3 of how there was only one simple rule in the Garden. All they had to do was not eat the fruit of the tree in the middle. But the snake (o, the snake); he tricked Eve. And she fell for it. Then she shared the fruit with her husband, Adam. And that was it. Their memory verse was Genesis 3:13. To help them learn, we had them put the pieces of the verse back together and they loved it! They asked to do it again and again. By the end, they could say it without looking..and were mighty proud of themselves for it :) 

Yesterday, we continued the story. There is punishment for disobedience. We introduced God's judgement and shared that everyone from the previous story received their own curse or punishment. The snake was put on his belly (and of course they wanted to know if snakes used to have legs and arms!), Eve was given pain in childbirth and man had to work hard and sweat for his food.  We reviewed and reviewed to make sure they understood. The three most attentive children were locked in. We asked what they thought and they answered 'malungkot.' The story is sad.

Yes, it is sad. Adam and Eve messed up. And the rest of humanity followed in their footsteps. We are fallen. And broken. O, but doesn't this make the story of redemption that much more beautiful for those of us who believe?? We're a wreck and we can't do anything about it. But for this, Jesus died. And we believe. We believe in His life and His salvation. We rejoice and give glory to the Father through Him.

We have several more weeks sharing about some of the Old Testament stories that build up to the beauty of the Gospel of Grace. Please pray for these children to grasp the weight of their sinfulness.
Pray He will be exalted.

Tatay Joe always comes by when we're out with the kids :)

Divas. And superstars at memorizing the Word.

We also discovered they love bubbles!

"Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." Genesis 3:13

"Bakit mo ginawa ang bagay na iyon?" tanong ng Panginoon Yahweh sa babae. "Mangyari po'y nilinlang ako ng ahas, kaya ako natuksong kumain," sagot naman nito." Genesis 3:13

           ***

"Therefore just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all mean because all sinned"  Romans 5:12

"Ang kasalanan ay pumasok sa sanlibutan sa pamamagitan ng isang tao, at ang kamatayan ay pumasok sa pamamagitan ng kasalanan. Dahil dito, lumaganap ang kamatayan sa lahat ng tao dahil ang lahat ay nagkasala." Roma 5:12 
 

Do you ever wonder what it would be like to live in rural Philippines?? (Probably not..but maybe some of you :)

Well..let's take a closer glimpse at just one area of life. Play along with me...

We hop on our bikes (or maybe get a tricycle ride with a friend) and go about 3km into 'town'. On the way at least one kid yells out "hey man" to Josh and then giggles until we're out of sight. All the elderly people quietly stare at the white people wondering when we're going back to America. And some people that we know will wave and say hello. 
We park in our usual spot at Lisa's. Actually, Lisa hasn't worked there since October, but we don't know the name of the owner now. She's too busy trying to convince us how good are fruits are to tell us her name :) So we park at Lisa's.

This is the local palengke. AKA market.
I could use many words to describe it. But really, it is ever-changing. The smells are always different. The variety of foods can vary from time to time. Mornings are loud. Afternoons are dead silent. Sunday's are crazy busy. There are always a few fish flopping. You might see crabs, stingray, or squid. Sometimes the vendors sleep next to their stands. Sometimes their crying children are there with them. A beggar child may or may not approach you. You can always count on it being dirty. And most of all, you can always count on a fun time.

 The palengke is actually one of my favorite things about our new life here. The food is so so fresh. And it is where we get the most practice speaking Tagalog. We've began to build some relationships with people who work there. Meaning we know their names, maybe how many children they have, and everything they sell at their little store/booth. They laugh with us when we can't think of words, because they know that we're trying really hard to speak like them. I long to be to the point where we can really carry on conversations and eventually spiritual conversations. But I am thankful to the Lord for the progress He's given us in the language thus far.

Nonetheless, the palengke is right in the center of Maria Aurora. If you need a taxi ride, there's always one available. The bus terminal is there. The pharmacy. The gas station. Our favorite bakery and the post office are nearby.  If you come visit, we'll be sure to take you here :) But until then, I hope you've enjoyed your little tour to the Maria Aurora Palengke.

A few things we're thankful for:

• Our new discipleship group at MBC. Sharing with them about the concepts of "Go vs. Come" and "Multiplication vs. Addition" in the church has been such an encouragement to us. We're excited about our next meeting with them tomorrow.
• Our health. We've been in the Philippines almost 6 months now and have only experienced slight sickness that would have happened even if we were in the States. This is such a testament to our Father's grace. 
• No more trips to Immigration until November!
• Josh got his Filipino driver's license. Look out Aurora..here he comes! 
• YOU. We are so thankful for the prayers and support all of you give to us. It's such an encouragement to know you're behind us. Thank you for your facebook messages, your letters, your emails, your prayers, etc.

A few things we ask you to pray for:

• The same MBC group mentioned above. Pray that they would really believe that God wants to birth a movement through them. May they be confident in His power. 
• The group in Calabuanan. Pray for wisdom for us on how to continue training them. Pray for desire in their hearts to want to meet more consistently and for them not to see us as 'professionals' or 'experts'. We certainly aren't. 
• The kids who play on our street. Look at previous posts for pictures. We just taught them about the fall of man this week. The put on an adorable skit depicting what Eve and Adam did in Genesis 3. Pray they would see the same pattern through all of humanity so that they can really understand the weight of the Gospel when we get there. 
• Our language learning. Pray for more discipline in this area and for it to be unto God's glory. 
• Josh is preaching in another outreach church tomorrow (San Leonardo). He is speaking about Christ being our goal. Pray that we would display Christ not as the means to reach our own goals, but as the End Goal Himself. 

Random things that might interest you:

• We made our own virgin coconut oil this week. Check out the internet for some health benefits of this superfood! 
• Yesterday morning the local high school parade came right by our front door. It's crazy which things make you feel like your back in small-town America. 
• We found a honey bee hive the size of my head in our backyard. 
• My birthday is at the end of this month. So is our friend, Sis. Cheryl's birthday. And she has been reminding me of this since we arrived in September :) A joint birthday bash is in the making! 
• I recently got brave enough to practice my Tagalog with someone I didn't know...and I asked if I could taste some shoes! Really..pray for us.  
• My home church is coming here in November and I already can't wait! If any of you are ever interested in visiting, please know you're always welcome! Just send us a message and let us know!

Some of you may have already read most of this post in the newsletter Josh sent out a couple of days ago. Sorry for the repeats. I just liked his letter and thought it was worth posting :) Enjoy! 

Genesis 1:27

The time with our neighborhood kids/ street kids/ friends is going really well. We are thankful for the Lord to use us to bring Him into their lives. We pray we will remain humble vessels and that the Father will enable us to effectively and creatively communicate His love with these kiddos.

Last week we moved from the creation of the world and animals to the creation of men and women, boys and girls. Their memory verse was Genesis 1:27 and much to our surprise a few of them know every word and can also still quote Genesis 1:1! After our lesson we gave them chalk to draw what they learned from the story of Adam and Eve's creation. Here are a few of our favorites:

Genesis 1:27 (written by Lorreine)

Genesis 1:1 (written by Lorreine's sister--gotta learn her name)

God created Americans and He loves them :)

Utom Loves Josh..my best guess is Utom is me 

Another rendition of my name..it's not very universal :)

Kathlea says God created mermaids too

God created the girls

and God created the boys

God created everyone!

"Nilalang nga ng Diyos ang tao ayon sa kanyang larawan. Sila'y kanyang nilalang na isang lalaki at isang babae." Genesis 1:27

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." Genesis 1:27 

Well, I had planned to write a separate blog for each of the following things, but it's all kind of piled up on me, so I'll attempt to share everything we've been up to lately in one blog. I hope you can follow. If not, enjoy the photos  :)

Earlier this week Josh and I made our FINAL trip to Manila for immigration (until November when we have to renew haha)! Monica and I were already finished, but Josh had to pick up his I-Card, which basically acts as our exit and re-entry visa. I decided to tag along for some husband and wifey time.  We ate yummy Cajun food and also got to grocery shop in the supermarket for things to bring back with us. It was really fun to go on a date together. (Alone time in the Philippines is hard to come by.) Also, the Lord opened a really neat door for us to share the Gospel with a devout Catholic taxi driver who took us to the mall. His name was William and he was very inquisitive about what we believe. We've prayed that he will come to know Jesus as his Lord and share the good news with all his passengers. So..praise God for that incident.  All in all, it was fun to celebrate that we ALL THREE HAVE VISAS! And after we got back to the province, we had a cereal-for-dinner night with Monica from the cereal and soy milk we bought. These weren't as yummy as they looked, but it was fun to have cereal.

Thank you to everyone who has prayed for us in this process with immigration. It's just a part of living in another country, but we are very glad to have it behind us and are excited about long-term time in the province.

In a previous post, I asked you all to pray for us as we shared our 'love story' with a singles group at a Love Banquet. Well, the banquet was last weekend and we had loads of fun. The pictures tell it all.

There was food. Watermelon, bread, lumpia, turnips, etc.

There was lots of singing

We encouraged them to be content in Christ

Monica and Dylan won "Faces of the Night"

Group Photo...including our dog Joke-Joke

Let's see.. we have successfully eaten from our own garden. Such a labor of love. Only, when you live in the tropics, there's not that much labor since everything grows year-round :) Filipinos actually learn how to garden in elementary school. They can all name every plant just by looking at its seedling. It's been really fun for us to learn from them.

Ours don't look like this yet, but next year they will!

Cucumber, Squash, Tomatoes, Peppers, and more!

Harvesting a yummy herb, kang kong

Fruits of our Labor :)

There was a fiesta for our province a few weeks ago. While visiting some of the booths at the fair, we also went to a museum in Baler, the capital of our province.  We learned a lot about the history of the Philippines, especially our region and province. Yay for educational trips with friends.

Props to Kletz for his creative photography

Lastly, we joined some of the girls in one of our DBS groups yesterday to serve their community. Part of the Discovery Bible Study method teaches the group to help meet the needs of their community. This group would always mention praying for food and finances for their community, but never really seemed to have much desire to act. We began praying for them to move and act on this need. With only the prompting of the Holy Spirit, these girls came up with a plan to invite some of the children in their community to hear a Bible story and eat a hot meal. They invited Josh and me to share the story before the meal. We were thankful to be a part of it, but even more proud of these teenagers for obeying the Word of God.

Serving champorado, a chocolatey rice porridge

Masarap! (Delicious!)

Feeding her little brother

Calabuanan DBS group

We are very excited as the Lord has opened the opportunities for several new ministries lately. Today, we met with a group of young Christians whom we will be training to become trainers. Josh shared with them today about the difference in 'addition' and 'multiplication' when making disciples. It was so exciting to see their eyes light up at the possibility that God really could use them to reach their province and beyond! Please pray for us as we encourage and challenge them. Pray for them to place full confidence in the Holy Spirit as they begin to go and make disciples.

Blessings,
The Borens