FROM BOHOL

January 28, 2013

Today is Monday and we just have one more day here. We hope you received our video from the church service yesterday. It’s always wonderful to worship with our neighbors here in the barrio. After church we visited with Christian Acain, one of the barrio students studying in a vocational college. Christian is studying auto mechanics, first year, and really loving it. He’s a shy boy but we encouraged him to press on and strive for good grades and be the best mechanic he can possibly be. We really like Christian.

Saturday night we had a meeting here at the house with the high school scholarship students. One of the boys refused to attend, but his mother came. We tried to impress on her the need for her son to really strive to do his best. It was important for her to understand that the money given for her son’s scholarship be well spent. The other three boys, whose parents attended with them, are a delight. We impressed on them the need to diligently apply themselves to their studies, watch that they don’t have absenteeism, and that they stay out of the internet cafe! They all agreed to strive harder – each understanding that they are really priveledged to have a scholarship. The meeting ended on a happy note and we really believe the boys understand that their future depends on them doing well in school.

Friday night we had a dinner here with the church board of Family Christian Fellowship Loboc. We are so blessed to have Pastor Felix Bernaldez as an interim pastor. Please remember to pray for a permanent pastor for this tiny fellowship.

Tomorrow Denny, Along and Laarni have business down in Tagbilarin so they will be gone much of the day. I will stay here and pack our bags since we are leaving Wednesday morning for Manila and on to Singapore. Tomorrow afternoon the teachers have invited us back to the school for a good-bye get together. They are always feeding us! We love them – they are so dear to us.

Wednesday after we leave Along will will be taking a specialist from the Federation for the Handicapped here in Bohol to our three dear angels in the barrio of Balilihan to measure them for wheelchairs. We hope this is the beginning of many things we can do to improve their lives. We also are hoping that the parents of these children will agree that we can build them a new house (small, simple) in the “One for One” Project that our son Joshua sponsors. To briefly explain, he is a developer in Seattle, and when he builds and sells a house he offers the lender and the buyer an opportunity to “build a small house for the poor in the Philippines”. So far 4 have been built!

That’s it from here. Blessings to all. Denny and Ellen

Dear Friends and family,

Ellen and I have just returned from a visit to a barrio to determine the needs for some wheelchairs. Little did we know who God would introduce us to. Our world stood still as we witnessed the tragic life of three girls. While they appear young one is 21 years old and her sister is 19. Neither can sit, stand, talk or comprehend. They are severly retarded. They have lived on this floor locked in the house when their parents leave. They would hold our hands but only one gave evidence of understanding we were there. There are simply no words, no words, no words to describe our sorrow for the horrific lives these girls have lived so far and will continue to unless we find a way to change their world. Just when we lost patience in giving and expecting people to change, we found ourselves in the little barrio of Banilihan.

Just down the road was a second visit and God piled on to our experience. This little 14 year old again is severly retarded, cannot talk, walk or respond to others. But she does have a loving, caring mother and father unlike the first two angels God introduced us.

What do we do now? Please pray for us. These children cannot be walked away from and ignored. We cannot say it is to difficult or costly to help. We need direction.Why were we brought here to a scene we never imagined we would see in live. We have seen dead and dying. We have seen severly ill but never without care or hope and, for the first two girls, living like inmates.

All our other project pale to the challenge and opportunity to love these children. More after we sleep.

God Bless you each one and these children of God’s creation!

Love,
Denny and Ellen

JANAURY 23, 2013

Yesterday, January 22, was a busy day for all of us. We took Denny to the ferry to spend the night in Cebu buying all types of needed supplies. Laarni and I then took “the list” and proceeded to go all around Tagbilarin to accomplish our tasks. We started out by visiting an office that assists the disabled. Our goal is to locate four wheelchairs as requested last Feb. by a neighboring barrio. We intended to revisit that barrio but circumstances prevented us – which I will explain later. We really need to know the situation and condition of each of those possible recipients so we can bring them the right kind of wheelchair to meet their needs. Apparently these chairs will need to be shipped from Mindanau so there will be a cost for that. Laarni and I then proceeded to Bohol Deaf Academy to give one of the deaf teachers, who teaches computers to the deaf, a “new” computer that Tom Lutke received as a donation. That teacher was so thrilled, as were the students! The students are always so sweet and greeted us so warmly. Sadly I don’t recognize their faces anymore because they have all grown up from the time that I was working with the deaf. Bohol Deaf Academy is such an incredible place of learning! The deaf are receiving a wonderful education – probably better than most in the Philippines. Wish you all could see it!

After BDA we went to a new hospital called Medical Missions Group Hospital. WOW! It’s so pretty and clean and inspiring. It’s a small place that has been around for many years but recently remodeled and beautiful. We met with one of the directors to offer her a blood counter that John Campbell had obtained from a hospital in Glasgow. We left the manual with her and she plans to talk with her lab techs and see if they are interested. It’s their’s for free if they so desire.

Our next stop was Dao Diamond where IDEA has it’s main office and the deaf run a fabulous hotel. We delivered a very expensive hearing aide donation from my brother. The nurse will have them refurbished and then one of the deaf will benefit from them!

Our 16 year old Strada is still rolling along but now the driver and passenger windows do not roll down, nor does the AC work! Needless to say Laarni and I were melting and getting desperate. Our friend, Dennis Drake, who runs IDEA (for the deaf) recommended a good place to have the AC fixed. The man needed the truck all day so Laarni and I caught a tricycle (you should all ride in one), and went to the mall to shop for the two dinners we are giving this week. We picked up the Strada around 4:45pm and headed for home (after returning to the mall to fetch all our groceries that woudn’t fit in a tricycle) because it was getting dark. Sadly there was no time to visit the disabled because by the time we would have gotten there it would have been too dark. We will visit them before the weekend is out. Here’s our next adventure. The Strada became more and more difficult to shift until finally it wouldn’t shift at all! There we were in going home traffice with giant overloaded busses screaming by and “dead in the water”. A neighbor whose house we were stranded in front of referred us to a mechanic 500 meters down the road and off Laarni went with the man’s son on his motorcycle only to return 20 minutes later with two mechanics. Within one minute we had our diagnosis. No clutch fluid. The container was cracked and all the fluid had drained out. Five minutes later some fluid appeared from a nearby store and off we went! Praise God! We got home about 7pm, hauled our groceries into the house and we were done with the day. God really took care of us all day and we’re so grateful.

Today, January 23rd, Wed., we are cooking a meal for about 12 people – the church council. So much to talk about concerning this little Fellowship. Pastor Felix will be with us – he’s taking a sabbatical from his church in town for 6 months to rest, but saw the need and decided to help Family Christian Fellowship here in this barrio. Please pray that God will send just the right pastor who will stay here in this barrio, pastor the people, and really love them. This is a great need.

Well, I’m off to see what I can do to help Laarni make this Philippine food. I have no idea what I’m doing but I can sure dice and chop. I’m sending Along to get Denny from the ferry – I refuse to drive that Strada today.

Blessings to all, Ellen

January 21, 2013

Calunasan Sur Elementary School

This morning we spent several hours with Sr. Pedrito – the new principal – to discuss what he thought it would take to meet his dream of a school “in the lime light” (his terms). The teachers are strong supporters of Pedrito and he shows a strong embrace of honesty and the desire to really make the school best the best in Bohol (his stated goal). When asked what it takes to meet his goals he shared the following:

1. Facilities:
a. Repair or replacement of ceiling material outside each classroom (porches)
b. Completion of the canteen
c. Transfer of libary to old office of former head teacher (requires some screening, painting, fabrication of metal shelving, additional of one or two lights)

2. Learning tools:

a. Secure computer driven software to supplement teaching of all subjects in the first grade (pilot program and the foundation grade – software that can be run on a parent computer driving date to 20 flatscreen units plus keyboard and transit box enabling individual levels of achievement.
b. Sets of science learning equipment and teaching aides
c. Purchase of consumable workbooks for each subject – supplemented by computer programs

Pedrito will provide proposals for each with costs and commitment toward cost sharing and labor provided by the Parent Teacher Group. Once the first grade inaugural program is put in place for 2013-14, they would propose similar supports be provided for grades 2,3,4,5 and 6. We are meeting with the PTSA this Thursday to speak with parents and assess their commitment to improving the school and their child’s educational experience.

These inputs will benefit children of three barrio’s: Ugpong, Canlasid and Calunasan Sur.

Ellen is securing the purchase of several wheel chairs this week for Balilihan. They also need a new pump to provide water to a large community garden they hope to develop. Water is the required component missing as the ground for the garden has been secured.

We are meeting with the Barrio Captains and Councils of Ugpong and Canlasid about the water project and tilapia agri program respectively. The water project lacks a transformer of sufficient size to operate the well. Boheco (Bohol electric) is responsible for doing this but the captain does not pursue it. We hope to change that with an open meeting with the council present.

We have a FCFL Elder meeting and dinner at our house Wednesday to discuss their future plans for a pastor AND to discuss policies to direct their priorities in helping their communities served. We are providing dinner for the fellowship on Sunday next. Should be fun.

It is time to evaluate scholars to determine if we continue support. There are some good stories of success.

Our thinking has been transformed by our experience with the Tilapia Group recently met and funded. Jonathan Mitchell will be proud!

We have a full plate while here. I have to meet with Argeo the first of next week and meet with all scholarship parents to challenge them to make strides in their performance between now and April when school is out.

God Bless till next time.

Denny

It has been a while since we updated you on things going on in the Philippines! We have a great new project that is exciting for all you fisherman out there. Montana on a Mission has partnered with 2 barrios in Loboc, Bohol near Calunasan Sur to create a commercial tilapia operation. The barrios of Agape and Camayaan formed a People’s Organization complete with officers and staff. Some 39 members of the organization built these ponds:

Each member contributed materials and labor which was converted into a share of the business. As an example, if someone spent a full day of labor working on building the net pens, that converted to one share of the operation. Just this week, the first crop of fish was harvested and Denny & Ellen were treated to a Tilapia lunch as they were given a tour of the facility.

The people are committed to being a private business only. They have a well-written business plan. It’s amazing! They hope to re-invest funds to expand the cages to accommodate another cycle with the dream of as many as 20 cycles! Our investment with them is to provide some of the funds for fish food with the intent that they follow the business plan to expand and expand. Another side benefit for Montana on a Mission is that they have agreed to help us help other barrios in the future by sharing their experiences and expertise. We have already identified two other barrios that could benefit from a business initiative such as this. There are some costs involved and each round of fish food for new projects costs approximately $2,500. If you believe this is an important project, won’t you consider helping? You can help by praying for the success of this project and that God would be glorified as these barrios attempt to lift themselves out of poverty. You can also help with a donation for fish food purchases.

As we get more pictures and information, we will be sharing with you all. God Bless!

DAY 3

January 18, 2013

It was Christmas in the barrio today! Groups of carolers appeared at our door at various times throughout the day. They would sing a song or two and wish us Merry Christmas. The custom is for us to give pesos and then they go to the next house – and so on. We had the privilege of having the “original” members of the famous Loboc Ambassador Band (that means they are our age) stop by and play several songs for us – 14 members strong! 1000 pesos ($20) later they bid us Merry Christmas and were on their way. We’ve taken some videos and hope we can put something together to show everyone when we get back.

Along and Inday invited us for a Christmas celebration at their house since Along is the barrio captain. In the morning they served 100 plus people and in the afternoon there were about another 50 people. Inday told me that she and Along’s sister and two neighbors cooked until 0300 this morning. Philippine food is delicious and we really enjoyed our time at their house.

Tomorrow we will go with Along to a meeting about tilapia and then watch them harvest the fish.

Blessings to all and to all a good night.

Denny and Ellen

January 16 and 17, 2013

Greetings from Bohol, Philippines.  We have been here for two days now, spending most of the days with Along (our manager) and Laarni his assistant.  So many discussions about so many things, ie:  future projects here in the barrio and neighboring barrios and of course management and maintenance of  Silangan Balay.  The jungle and the weather do a real number on things so upkeep is constant.

We have been experiencing cold weather – rainy and windy.  I’ve never been this cold in the Philippines!  We did see blue skies today however.

Tonite is fiesta in a nearby barrio and Along has invited us to go with him.  Tomorrow night is fiesta in this barrio at Along and Inday’s house.  They are still celebrating Christmas here in the Philippines.  Apparently carolers will be making the rounds tomorrow and that means handing out lots of pesos.

We have a scheduled appointment on Monday at the school with the new school principal – Pedrito, a former teacher now promoted.  Evelyn Odel, the former principal, retired  in December.  We will be discussing the finishing of the canteen, the lunch program for the malnourished, the computer lab and ideas for learning software.  Other topics will of course come up, but these are just a few of the subjects we will be discussing with Pedrito.

Blessings on all – we miss the snow in Big Timber.

Denny and Ellen

It’s difficult to put into words what God did in and through our team during the two weeks we joined His mission in the Philippines.  We put together this video to summarize all we learned and what God taught our team.  The events on the video are from our final days which included VBS, basketball camp, church at FCF, youth fellowship, and a going away celebration.

Sunday Recap Video 

We are waiting in the Manila Airport to board our flight to Seoul, Korea.  The past several days went very fast and it is bittersweet to leave the Philippines.  Last night we celebrated with a Goodbye Party with the workers at Salagin Balay as well as many members of the Family Christian Fellowship.  Laughter, flashes from the cameras, and splashes from the pool filled our night as we spent the last hours fellowshipping with our friends.

God has definitely worked in and through our group.  We cannot wait to return to Montana to tell everyone about.  God has changed us and now we are returning to Big Timber to continue to live out his mission. We plan on giving an update in church on Sunday. Thanks for your prayers and support.  With your prayers and support our trip would not have been possible.

We will return on Thursday, June 14 at 11:49 in Billings.

This is a post from Saturday, June 9.

Toady was, agreed by the team, the best day so far.  It started off by waking up at 4 in the morning to hop in the jeep nee.  We drove to a dock about 10 miles away in the city and got on a boat.  We rode on the boat for around an hour until we came upon a group of about 50 dolphins that were feeding on some tuna.  It was incredible to get that close to them and see them in the clear ocean water.  At that point, it was about 8:30 in the morning so we came to an island that was maybe 5 miles off the main land.  It had a beach that would blow your mind at how beautiful it was.  We rented some snorkles and went scuba diving as we liked to call it.  The water was so warm it was like taking a bath.   We left the island and most of us fell asleep on the way back to the main land.  Gabe and I were on the front of the boat with no covering.  While asleep, I got a really bad sunburn all over the front of my body.  We all got some color.

After getting back to eat lunch, we left again to go to the Arms of Love children’s home.  We spent a good part of the afternoon there playing with the kids and teaching them songs and a bible story.  We came back home and eat a great dinner, as usual.  Then, Micheal told us we had been booked to go on the Loboc River on a river boat cruise.  It is a major tourist attraction here.  The boat took us down the Loboc River.  The whole way there was different colored lights that lit up the river and it was very pretty.  There was even a guy who played love songs on his guitar and sang to us.  At the end of the river was a dock that held a band of women and young ladies that played ukeleles and sang. There were a bunch of little kids that danced to there songs.  They involved us by dragging us into the women and giving us a ukelele to play.  We even got to try dancing with the kids.  When we got back to the tourist center and unloaded the boat, Michael had even another suprise in store.  There is a children’s ambassador program that gives kids instruments and scholarships to go to college to play them.  The band was in town so we went and listened to it.  It was very impressive to listen to because they played many american songs like jump and thriller and rocky balboa.  On one song, two boys chose two ladies in the audience to give flowers to and play them a solo.  Carly got this special treatment.  We came home and  everyone is super tired so were all going to bed.  I can’t wait to get back and watch the heat and thunder play in the NBA finals!