Report from Nard - Manila

Sometimes we make special plans along the way, but the Lord is ultimately the one that leads the way! That’s how it has been with our mission to Dibagat! I am thankful we were able to all fly into Dibagat by helicopter on March 16, 17 and 18 and got the job done. I talked with James this morning and all was completed on the church as planned – columns, beams and blocks all installed and sealed – the Isnags will stucco the whole wall themselves. They ran out of sand so they had to haul some more before they could stucco the block walls. The village of Anagdong had started hauling more sand today and hopefully by this next week they will finish plastering the walls in time to have a beautiful church to celebrate Easter! The Lord provided safety for everyone and we are so thankful and grateful for your prayers for us! You have been a special part of the team in Dibagat through your prayers!

Early this morning they all hiked down the hill from Rudy’s house one step at a time on those275 cement steps down to the river. This made it easier to get to the river especially when it is raining which it had been the last few days up there. I was going to fly the older ones by helicopter, but since there was a tropical storm causing all kinds of rain, they all had to fly by canoe. They had 3 canoes taking them down river arriving in Kabugao by 8 a.m. when my nephew texted me a message saying they were in Kabugao safely! I can’t wait to hear all their stories when they arrive Manila tomorrow.

They will be departing Tuguegarao by chartered bus tomorrow morning around 6 a.m. and arriving Manila by 7pm. I appreciate your prayers again as they travel by bus! Then we will have a little bit of touring to do plus shopping and then we will all head home by Tuesday April 3^rd!

Finally, every member of the team had a special part in getting the job done and working side by side with the Isnags. It was truly team work and the progress each day showed it! Reggie made it home to Elmer, NJ yesterday so that is a praise item for us! Reggie did a great job making sure all was done safely and strongly as well. So I praise God for using his skills to help the Isnags once again. This was his 8^th time to be in Dibagat!! What a great investment! Of course we would not have been able to complete the project without the help of the Isnags who had come every day to help our team. It was truly a team work! I am thankful for Rudy being there as well along with my nephew Mark. They did all the shopping, and Aida and her kitchen crew cooked delicious meals for us each day, did the cleaning and etc! we were blessed to have them all there as part of the team, and we give God all the glory for what has been done in Dibagat this time around!! God picked His team and the work He assigned was completed!!

            “I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.” Psalm 57:5

Nolan and Miller plastering wall!

275 to 280 cement steps from the river up to the church! All materials including sand, gravel, cement bags, rice, rebar, lumber, plywood had to be carried up on this incline - Isnags have done all the heavy work for us!! Team member Jeremy though carried a few bags of cement from the river up one day! Everyone has to go try it one day!

Our Isnag video canoe! Ride to Kabugao! All our teams rode on this canoe and two others!

 Reggie with 3 of my nieces

Reggie’s Dibagat Report 2012 - his last two days

March 24

Saturday the form for the beam on the left side of the church was complete. The roof was jacked to the proper level that was indicated by the rotary laser beam that was installed at the front of the church early in the week to provide a reference point. Once the roof was lowered approximately three quarters of an inch the anchor plates were welded to the trusses and the top beam on the left side was poured and the rebar cage and stirrups for the beam across the end of the church was also created.

On Saturday afternoon Mark was standing with me and reflecting on the work that had been accomplished.  We shifted our conversation to the work that he was doing bringing the Gospel to the surrounding villages. He told me of the church that was constructed, an eight hour hike from Dibagat with the help of the men from the church at Dibagat. Because American teams had come and set the example they went and also reached out to their neighbors. Mark’s plan is to travel to this village and stay for an extended time to disciple believers there and reaching out to more surrounding villages. Mark has a team of men that have been trained and stand by his side in ministry. Rudy is a great help and his goal is to see all the Isnag people reached with the gospel before he dies. His other goal is to see the Old Testament translated into Isnag. Mark is helping with the OT translation with Rudy doing all the  checking  for accuracy.  This is what our trips to the Philippines is all about, encouraging the believers, helping `with difficult projects, allowing the pastors and translators to do what they have been called to do, preach and prepare the Word of God.  As Rudy told me it is not that the Isnag men could not do the work of changing the church from wood to concrete but our team removes the arguments and makes the project go smoothly.

 View of Dibagat

Sunday March 25

We were hoping to fly out by helicopter to Tuguegarao, but the weather did not cooperate this time with rain and clouds covering the surrounding mountains of Dibagat. So after sharing at church and saying our goodbyes on Sunday morning, we departed Dibagat by canoe at 10 a.m. and arriving in Kabugao by noon. The canoe trip down river to Kabugao took one and one half hours. The river had many rapids and the canoe shuddered as the turbulent water slammed into the sides and sometimes into the canoe. The trip was rough and wet. The van ride from Kabugao to Tuguegarao took four hours and was very rough with the van often slowing almost to a stop. The rain had created ponds of water in the road which had one lane open most of the way. At one point in the trip, construction had caused rocks to tumble into the road and two men were trying to roll the rocks to clear a path for our vehicle.  When they realized they could not move some of the rocks, a large front end loader was started to clear the path, and Brian, our van driver from the town of Kabugao, had us rolling again.

Again, God gave me the privileged to be a part of what He is doing in Dibagat through His people, and I am completely satisfied leaving before the project was completed because the rest of our team are all picked by the Lord, and will complete everything by Thursday.  Matter of fact we heard report yesterday, that the four forms needed to be stripped from the front of the church, had all the blocks up, with a new door frame installed and a top beam installed tying the two sides together. The report yesterday was that this was well under way and I have all the confidence that this team will achieve all the goals by Thursday or Friday of this week.

Finally, as I depart for the USA tonight March 27, I would like to close with Heb. 10:23-24

“Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering (for he is faithful that promised). And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works.” 

Main village of Dibagat with church being the largest building on center! Termites loved the wood, but now everything was just changed with concrete!

 Rudy's house with solar power on top and church

 The rest of the team is on the way home from Dibagat.  As I get updates and pictures I will post them.

Dibagat Team 2012 at work finally in front of Dibagat Bible church!

Front - Nard, James, Chris, Reggie, Ben and Jeremy
Behind - Vernon, Karl, Jim and Nolan

Reggie’s Dibagat Report 2012 - a whole weeks worth

 

March 18

Sunday morning breakfast was at 7am and by 8:30am the Isnag believers   were arriving at the church and a time of singing began. After the song time there was a time of testimony and sharing by the Isnag people. After the time of sharing there was a challenge from God’s Word by Rudy and Mark. Nard and Karl from SIL in Waxhaw arrived at noon in the R44. The afternoon was a time of rest and visiting with the Isnag people. Sunday evening was a time of sharing with our team members. Two members gave their testimonies and told how the Lord had worked in their lives to make a way to be on the team in Dibagat.

March 19

Monday morning began as other mornings with the team members and the village people working together on the column forms for the right side of the church and jacking the trusses on the left side of the church and supporting the roof on that side with triangular braces made from solid beams taken from the right side of the church.  The floor on the left side was cut with a diamond blade and the existing footings were chiseled to a level for the new footings. The forms were installed for the footing and rebar was installed including the rebar that would extend into the columns on the left side. Later in the afternoon the forms for the columns on the right side were completed and concrete was mixed and poured mainly by the Isnag men. The footing on the left side was also poured. The Isnag men and the team men worked well together helping each other with the assigned projects.

Cementing the left side footers

Jeremy on the metal trusses making sure it's plumbed!

 Ben, Nolan and Jim working on the next column!

March 20

Tuesday morning the forms were removed from the right columns and the forms were reused on the left side with modifications as the structure was slightly different.  The cement blocks were laid on the right side by team members Vernon and Nolan who are brick layers from the USA. The right wall was complete to within a course of the top by the evening. Vernon and Nolan worked on the outside of the wall while Karl and Chris took on the task of making the top beam forms on the inside of the right wall. James and Ben worked on replacing the water heater in Rudy’s house so there would be hot showers once again.

Cement bucket brigade pouring the footers on the left side of the church

Pouring cement on the columns

Blocks walls going up next to columns

Vernon and Nolan put up the blocks in no time!

March 21

Wednesday construction of the forms on the left side of the church continued as did the top beam on the right side. The rebar cage was placed on the top of the columns on the right side and the columns on the left side had the forms completed. That afternoon the columns were poured with the Isnag men doing most of the work but Jeremy helped with the shovel mixing the cement and Nolan watched the materials put into the concrete mixes to make sure the mixture and consistency was proper.

They are fast at making cement!

March 22

Thursday the forms were stripped from the columns on the left side of the building and blocks were laid by Vernon, Nolan and assistance from the Isnag men. Karl, Chris, Jim and me worked on the form for the top beam on the left side of the building. The rebar cage was welded by Ben, Mark, James and Nard. This welding created a square cage of rebar that the stirrups were wired to for the left top beam.

 Top beam rebar

March 23

By Friday the end of the church was removed and rebar was epoxied to the concrete footing and welded to the existing straps that extended out of the footing. The forms were put in place and that afternoon the concrete in the columns was poured. I noticed that the amount of concrete was running low because of the cement blocks being filled with cement so a call was placed to Kabugao for more bags of cement on Thursday and more arriving Friday.

Reggie brought his laser beam to level the trusses and make sure columns were set right!

The old Dibagat International airport! Now closed since SIL Aviation no longer operates in the Philippines! However, this airstrip served the Bible translation work since 1964 to 2010! PTL   The School is in the lower right side, and the church is off the picture to the upper left.

 A closer look at Dibagat!  Church is upper left.

Reggie’s Dibagat Report 2012

March 17

On Saturday morning the village men arrived at 7 am ready to work alongside the team members. Tasks were assigned to the Isnag men and the team members. By 9am the five footings had been excavated and the tops exposed and the right wall and support beams had been completely removed. The young members of the team, Jeremy and Ben were assigned the task of climbing up to the ceiling to jack the trusses free of the existing wall and other team members along with the village men cut supporting posts to the proper length to support the trusses. A steel pipe was cut and a screw jack brought in the luggage from the US was welded to the top of the pipe.  The concrete column tops had to be chiseled to expose the four imbedded rebar rods. The village men took to this task with energy and had all the rebar exposed by lunch. As the wall was dismantled the termite damage was noticed. One 2 x 2 in particular looked fine from the side but when you examined the end there was just a shell with nothing inside. It was mentioned that this is like some Christians that put on a good face but there heart lacks the vision they portray.

Lunch was served by our cooks and most always had rice and some type of vegetable. We often had fresh bread baked by the kitchen staff. One day for lunch I had the best hot dog buns made and baked by the cooks. We had spaghetti with tomato sauce, baked chicken, rice with chicken, pancit, and I must mention the sili, a very hot pepper (known by Nard as Isnag microwave). Hot peppers were available on request and there were no grubs, balut (fertilized duck egg) or bi-lingual goat served on this trip (a special delicacy).

After lunch James and Vernon arrived in the R44 with Brian. As before village people went to greet the newcomers.   The afternoon had additional tasks assigned such as Jeremy cutting rebar to length and bending the required stirrups with the rebar bender that was fabricated in the SIL shop for the water project in 2005. The footings were cleaned, drilled and rebar was epoxied in the pattern for the concrete columns on the right side of the church. Additional rebar was overlapped and welded to the exposed rebar in the chiseled columns.  This rebar extended upward out of the top of the column where it was tied to the rebar in the concrete beam that supports the roof trusses. The day finished with a concrete pour up to the level of the chiseled concrete surface.

Saturday evening was my wife Darlene’s birthday back in the USA. I climbed to the top of the world in Dibagat to attempt to call Dar and wish her a happy birthday. The phone did not connect with the local carrier but Jo-Jo and Chris who was with me was able to contact Nard on Face book and asked him to call Dar and wish her a happy birthday. Nard followed up and Dar received her happy birthday call. 

 Jim and an Isnag working together to knock cement to expose rebar!

Chris supervising cutting of plywood!

Isnags building column form

James and Nolan supervising forms on left side of church

 Rudy and Nard got in the action to sift sand!

Welcome to Dibagat - Nolan and Chris - our two most senior team members but still in great shape!

 

James holding termites handy work on church wood!

Termites for lunch? Has lots of great protein! - the pancit bihon for lunch looks like they are full of termites!! But then I would have had them eat the termites live because they taste better that way!

More tomorrow....