Welcome Friends and Family!

Our hopes for this blog is to keep you updated as to how God is working in and through us as we serve Him by reaching out to children in crisis here in the Philippines. Please continue to pray for us regularly! Thank you!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Just Returned From Field Conference

Dear Family and Friends,
It has been a couple of weeks since we have written, so I apologize for the delay in updating you.  On Wednesday we just returned from our annual field conference, which was in Rizal, a couple of hours south of Manila.  It is much cooler there, so it was a nice break from the warmer weather here.  It was on a great piece of land that was full of green grass and dozens of coconut trees.  There was also a pool there and other recreational activities.  Some of the time was spent worshiping together and listening to various missionaries speak about God's calling in our lives.  We really gleaned a lot from what was said, and the Lord really used it to help us make some changes in our hearts and lives.  We also had many opportunities to meet and get to know our colleagues from around the Philippines.  We had some wonderful conversations with so many different missionaries and heard many stories of their coming to the Philippines and the adjustments they had to make at that time.  We are so thankful for the ACTION Philippines team and look forward to working with them in the future.  We also had a great time as a family swimming together and being together and in general just having fun together.  We left field conference encouraged and ready to continue language school and life back here in Manila.
     There are still some important things that we are needing to take care of here.  We both have to get our Filipino driver's licenses, which is a different process here and can take a couple of hours.  We have learned that in general that everything takes longer to do here, and that we are constantly needing to be flexible and patient.  Pray for us as we need to get this done, that we will have patience and wisdom in the process.  Fortunately, the Lord has already provided some missionaries who will be assisting us in this process.
     Continue to pray for us as we parent our children in this new culture and as Isaiah continues to adjust to life here.  Pray that we can provide consistency in the schedule and discipline, compassion, understanding, and gentleness toward Isaiah and Elijah.
     Continue to pray for us as we learn the language.  I (Matt) have very high expectations for myself, and I need have grace for myself and not expect my language skills to be perfect.  My language teacher today basically said that I need to not put so much pressure on myself.  He said that right now they want us to focus on listening, and that if we can say some things, that it is a bonus.  Thanks so much for your prayers, we would love to hear from you!

Love,
Matt, Becki, Isaiah, and Elijah

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Slowly Adjusting

Dear Friends and Family,
It has been a little over a week since I last posted something.  We have been trying to get internet set up at our house but there have been many barriers to that happening.  I am learning that life here in the Philippines is very different than life in the U.S., and that we continue to have to be flexible and patient in the process of adjusting to life here.  We do love it here and love the people and know this is where God wants us, which makes the adjustments easier at times.  We moved into our house last week and have been slowly obtaining different items for our house.  We got a bed frame a couple of days ago, so it was nice to start sleeping above the ground.  We did have mattresses, so we were just sleeping on the ground.  In terms of adjustment for the kids, Elijah has been doing quite well and is just rolling with the punches.  Isaiah, while enjoying the different parts of the Philippines, is having a difficult time as he has had a difficult time obeying us.  We have been constantly disciplining him, and we think that it is just part of his adjustment.  We are spending more time with him now, which is really helping.  We recently were invited by a missionary family to go swimming at the pool at Faith Academy, an MK school here in Manila.  He had a great time with the kids, and it was just good to get out of the house.  In terms of Isaiah's schooling, there is a local school that he will be going to a couple hours a day.  Because of the Filipino educational system being different, he will still be considered preschool.  We have heard good things about this school (called The Golden Pot) and are thankful for God's provision for Isaiah.  We continue to anticipate going to language school, beginning next week.  Please pray for us in this endeavor as it is a big undertaking.  Pray that we will persevere when it gets difficult in school, and that we will continue to go out into our neighborhood and marketplace and practice the language.  Thank you so much for those of you that have been faithfully praying for us and for those who have been giving faithfully.  We love you and would love to hear from you!  Thanks!

With gratitude,
Matt and Becki and the boys

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

We've moved into our house!

Dear Friends and Family,
It has been several days since we have written to you.  We wanted to let you know that we moved into our house just yesterday!  It was a smooth transition with all of our appliances such as our refrigerator and stove coming in a timely manner.  Our colleagues here have been extremely helpful in getting us everything we need and showing us how to use the local transportation systems (motorized tricycle/motorbike and jeepneys) to get around.  It is all still pretty new to us, but slowly we are adjusting to life here.  We were also able to meet our language school teachers, so that was helpful.  We begin language  on March 15, my (Matt) birthday, so that is fast approaching.  I have definitely had some anxiety about learning the language, as I think Becki has as well.  We have heard some stories of encouragement from missionaries who have shared their difficult experiences learning a language but how God was faithful to them in the process.  Pray that we will depend on God during this process.  We've already been able to meet some of our neighbors and hope to get to know them more and practice our Tagalog with them.
     I (Matt) am going to be able to return to the U.S. in April for about a week to be a part of my brother's wedding.  I am looking forward to that very much, but it will be strange leaving my family over here for a week.
     Well, that is about it for now.  Thank you everyone for your prayers and support.  Keep them coming as we adjust to this culture and learning a new language!  Bye!

Love,
Matt, Becki, and the boys