Joy mixed with grief

DonDon,

(Jubab’s brother)

and his bride,

Nayumi here

with Paul.

It was a 7 hour

journey to reach

Nayumi’s  village.

But what began as a joyous family bridal journey became a journey of joy mixed with grief because two hours into the journey, we received news of death in the family. Jubab’s birth grandfather had gone to be with the Lord at the age of 70, which was great joy for him but grief for us. Some of the family turned back to go and prepare for the funeral while the rest of us continued on. The wedding guests were already gathered, the bride and her family were waiting expectantly, the wedding feast was being prepared and the wedding could not be postponed.  

This is minutes before

the wedding ceremony

began.

Jubab was a very 

proud brother

of the nervous

groom.

Just 24 hours later,

joy turns to

raw grief as

Jubab holds

his distraught

birth Mum in

his arms at

Grandpa’s

grave-site, 

while we said

our goodbyes

to Grandpa’s

earthly body.  

Paul’s message at the gravesite was this:  “Brothers and sisters, do not grieve for Amay like people grieve who have no hope.....for we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus, all those who have died, who believe in Jesus. This is our hope! We weep now as we say goodbye to Amay’s earthly body but one day soon, we’ll hear the shout of the archangel and the trumpet of God and we’ll be swept up together in the clouds, and Amay will be there.......so encourage one another with these words!” 

Praise God for this wonderful hope!!!

Please pray for Bubuy and Wila (Jubab’s birth Dad and Mum) and our whole family during the days of grieving for Wila’s Dad who lived with them and is very missed.

Pray for DonDon and Nayumi, our family newlyweds, who are here with us right now in Lapoc. Nayumi’s first day of married life was at Grandpa’s funeral with a house full of strangers and in a place many hour’s travel away from her childhood home and her family. She is a bright, beautiful girl with a strong faith in Jesus and we are looking forward to many years of serving Him together with these children of ours.

P.S. If you would like to read more about DonDon and Nayumi's wedding or of Grandpa's funeral, please click on the link to Ben and Leonie's blog as you will find much more detail!

Celebrating Birthdays!!

Birthday time!!!!!

Jubab is the bridge that has joined all the families in this picture together and every year we

get together to celebrate our beautiful boy!

This year’s celebration was wonderful – with Jubab’s birth Mum and Dad, his four brothers,

his sister, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, two nephews, two nieces........

and this year we had Ben and Leonie with us as well which was a

BIG PLUS!!  Later on this month one of Jubab’s brothers is getting

married so Jubab will have a new sister-in-law!!!!

Our family keeps growing!!

Our eternal family keeps growing too – last week in San Aquino

thirty people heard the Gospel message for the first time

and many in this group have professed their faith

in our Lord Jesus!!

This coming Sunday a group of about 15 will hear the Gospel message

for the first time here in Lapoc

and there 12 new believers in Tinongtongan!!

We keep celebrating new birth-days!!

Also breaking news – as we write this - two new missionary families
from the church in Tumpagon

are travelling to their new mission field of Kalamalamahan!!!

Please pray for them: Ruel and Irene Daging and their baby girl

along with Richard and Diding Tamomoc and their three children.

(Diding is Jubab’s birth Aunty so this family are closely related to us!)

Praise God with us for these two new missionary families

being co-sent out by the church in Tumpagon and in Cauyunan.

And praise God with us for all the ‘birth’ days – many have been born again!!

Giving Thanks For Our Son!

It is high time to get Dad and Mum’s brag book out and give you a look at some of the highlights of our son’s last year. We have less than two weeks left before we enter Jubab’s teenage years – can you believe it? Our son is turning 13!  Where did all those years fly by and how come our baby son is now suddenly a man-child as his Mum likes to call him?

This past year has been sort of a quiet year for Jubab. It has been his first year of high school and in his mid-year report card he got 8 A’s and 1 B and just this month he received a certificate from his Year Advisor for ‘Great Work In ALL Subjects’.  Needless to say we are VERY, VERY proud of his achievements and very thankful for his great teachers – Ben and Leonie!!!!!!

Just so you know, some of the things Jubab enjoys are:

                Foot spas in a bucket

                Playing basketball

                Sketching and drawing

                Conquering huge pythons with Dad

                Doing homework with his dog, Sparky

                Work-outs (cool ‘tough’ look) 

Amongst some of Jubab’s achievements this year is the development of quite a few cooking skills – he has made cheesecake and teriyaki chicken amongst other things, and one day last week while his Dad was out preaching and his Mum was sick, Jubab even cooked a whole meal for his Dad’s lunch meeting with the elders and they said it was delicious!

He has read numerous books as he has a real eagerness for reading, he is one of the best care givers you can imagine if you are sick and need caring for (he stayed by his Dad’s side day and night when his Mum was away at a Ladies’ camp and his Dad got sick and had very high fevers), and he frequently gives us the treat of listening to his fine voice, which is developing in depth and in volume and which we are trying to encourage him to share with others - which he is thinking about maybe doing.

Jubab is quiet, loves ‘alone’ time, avoids too much conversation if he can, and his friends here in Lapoc describe him as a gentle and calm friend. Wrestling matches though can bring out the tough side of Jubab so watch out if you ever challenge him to a wrestling match! This toughness was really evidenced when he gritted his teeth earlier this year and had surgery on his ear drum without anaesthetic. Ouch!!!

He is very tenacious when trying to solve a problem and this has helped him work through things in school and solve technical problems with his different devices. It also helps him with his sketching – until he gets his sketch just the way he wants it, he will re-do it over and over and over again.

If you want to know about Jubab’s idiosyncrasies, well, he does have a few. One of them is his huge love of sleeping in front of a whirling fan, even when its cold. Another is his love for tea – green tea, oolong tea, white tea, jasmine tea – just about any sort of tea. He loves to take his pot of tea and his Japanese tea-cup down to his room at night. Another is his favourite question, “How long do you think it will take.......?” He loves to know time schedules!

So dear ones.......for those of you who haven’t seen Jubab for awhile......this 13^th birthday tribute will re-introduce you to our delightful son who is the apple of our eye.

How did these baby days slip away so fast?

Teenage years........here we come!!

What FUN!!

Cancer and funerals........

Ronnie and Aling.......
they really need our prayers at the moment
as they battle Aling’s bowel cancer.

Today is the third day of Aling’s chemo treatment,
they are away from their family,
out in the city,
facing the pain and the strangeness of the hospital
amongst mostly strangers.

Life feels so foreign and so uncertain to them at the moment.
They are sorely missed here in Lapoc. They play a huge role in the church in
pastoral care and leadership.

Paul went out to the city today, to visit them and to make sure they are doing okay.

And funerals.......

This is the scene we visited 12 evenings ago, as we went to grieve

with a family from the church here whose young adult son had just been brutally murdered

along with his friend.

Sadly, this scene has been repeated just yesterday - another two men were murdered

early yesterday morning during a gathering to bury a family member who had died

of old age. They had been drinking, old hostilities were stirred up, knives

and guns were brought out and now there are two more to bury.

These deaths directly affect families here in the church who are relatives and family

of those who have been killed, so there is much grieving here  

and there are funerals and loss and grim finality to deal with,

which is especially hard considering the violence of these deaths.

So please pray for our church family here.

Pray that these tragedies will spur us on in even more fervour in

the spreading of the Gospel.

Baptisms.......new brothers and sisters!!!

This is Jesus’ little flock at Pawagaon.......a small group of believers,

very familiar to being in need,

isolated in many ways,

newly freed from a life full of many fears......

.......and here we are gathered with them on the banks of a small river,

as they prepare to testify to their salvation through the Lord Jesus

through the waters of baptism. 

There were nine baptized that day at Pawagaon,

and last month there were fifteen baptized at Kapisahan

which is an outreach over in the Dulangan Higaunon where we

first were. For years we wanted to teach over in Kapisahan but the people’s

hearts there were closed. Only recently were the people there open to being taught.

God keeps opening doors where doors were not open before!!!!!!