Bumps on the road

Karl and Nard in Tokyo (Narita Airport)

We had a great flight from Charlotte all the way to Detroit and on to Narita, Japan! We even sat business class from Detroit to Narita! That was a special blessing! However, when we got to Narita, Japan it seems like everyone were going to Manila for the weekend. I thought people never stopped coming – but they took every seat on that 747 which holds close to over 400 people. So, Karl and I are stuck in Tokyo for the night! A friend reminded me that sometimes we don't understand these bumps in the road, but the Lord knows the whole picture and His timing is best and He is in control.

I called our team in Manila under the leadership of James, and they will be departing tomorrow for Tuguegarao and on to Dibagat. The New Tribes pilot also said that Rudy called and the helipad we were going to use in Dibagat is no longer available, so the pilot is going in with a light load first to find a place to land. So there are some other bumps along the way orchestrated by His hand.

Finally, I was able to send an email to my travel agent and she booked us on Korean Airlines tomorrow departing at 1:55pm arriving Manila at 1015pm. We will fly up to Tuguegarao on Sunday morning if we can get a ticket, otherwise we might just go by bus north when we get there. However, not sleeping for 24 hours is probably not a smart thing to do. So we keep praying and trusting in Him.

From Rudy and Mark

Dear Partners in the Isnag ministry,

My semester of teaching linguistics at Payap University in Chiangmai, Thailand officially ended on March 2. I had seven students and one teacher trainee. Of the seven students, two are Americans, one is a Canadian, two from Burma, one from China and one from Thailand. My American and Canadian students are already members of Wycliffe and SIL. I just learned that they are all assigned to some language groups around the Thailand area. Except for the student from Thailand, all the others have had some involvement in the translation of the Scriptures.

One highlight of my teaching was mentoring a former student of mine in Dallas who is now assigned in a country near Thailand. He will be teaching the course next year.

I now am back in the Philippines. I go to the village on March 12 to get things ready for a work team coming from the US to help the Isnag believers replace the wood post and wood walls of their church on March 16-April 1. Termites are destroying all the wood part of the church.

After the work team leaves on April 1, I will stay on in the village until after the Holy Week. We will have our Holy Week retreat from April 5-8, and then we will have our Youth Camp on April 17-22.

Please pray for:

·         The safety of all the workers who will be working on the Church building. The rafters will need support while we replace the posts.

·         The health, strength and physical stamina for both the expatriates and the Isnag workers. Two expats have special physical needs. Some men from our outreach Church in Tubongan village are planning to come help their brothers in Dibagat. So we are expecting a good number of local workers.

·         Good working cooperation between the expats and the local believers.

·         Our Holy Week celebration, which starts April 5 and concludes on the 8^th. Please pray for the preparations: for our Church workers as they organize the activities, and for me as I prepare the messages.

·         All the people who are coming to the Holy Week celebration; that the Lord will call those who haven’t yet given their lives to Him, and those who are not in close fellowship with Him will return to Him.

·         The group Bible studies during Holy Week; for the Church leaders as they lead the Bible studies. Pray that the Spirit will give them extra sensitivity to the needs of the people.

·         The people attending the Bible studies; that the Lord will soften their hearts and open their minds to the Word so that the Spirit can do His work of conviction.

·         Our Youth Camp which is scheduled on April 17-22. Pray for the young people who will be coming. Pray that the Lord calls some of them to a full time Christian service.

·         Pray for the safety of all young people attending the youth camp. We are planning to limit the number to 50 participants. We will give priority to the first time attendees.

·         Pray for the Bible study leaders; that the Spirit will give them the sensitivity to the spiritual needs of the participants.

·         My preparation for the Bible study lessons and my messages during the camp.

·         Good interpersonal relationship among all campers.

These are all the specific items of prayer I can think of right now. I trust that as you pray for these items the Lord will lead you to other things He wants you to pray for.

Thank you so much for upholding us in your prayers. As always, let us expect great things from our Great God who is able to give more than we ask.

Joyfully serving the Lord Jesus Christ in partnership with you,

Rudy

It's Time to Go!!

Dear Praying team,

                “Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name;

make known among the nations what He has done.” 1 Ch. 16:8

            Our team will be departing starting tomorrow morning and evening – with Chris departing out of Tampa, FL via Hawaii, Guam and then Manila. Then Reggie from Philadelphia, Jeremy from Jackson, MS, Jim driving to Atlanta from Jacksons Gap, AL, and James, Ben, Vernon and Nolan out of Akron, OH and all meeting together in Atlanta to fly to Seoul, Korea midnight March 14 and on to Manila.

            Meanwhile, Karl Crossman and I are departing out of Charlotte early Wednesday morning on a buddy pass from a faithful supporter I call uncle G! His passes are very high up on Delta and usually we have no problems, but please pray we will have seats on these flights and arrive on time in Manila to meet up with our team, and would it be too selfish to ask Him for First Class or Business class seats? Pray for great weather while we are up in Dibagat from March 15 on to March 31, so we can have a shuttle flight with the New Tribes helicopter beginning March 16 from Tuguegarao north of Manila. We will all fly PAL (Philippine Airlines) from Manila to Tuguegarao on March 16 early morning then have 4 of 5 shuttles to Dibagat with our cargo. Of course on the way back everyone will experience traveling by canoe to Kabugao (end of the road), then by vans to Tuguegarao and then flying back to Manila from there. Please remember to pray for each of our families left behind as well – Marilyn Miller, Carol Bates, Darlene Lunt, Angela Dees, Carla Davis, Carolyn Shoup, Nolan’s daughter – Marla Yoder, Deborah Crossman, Ben’s parents Don and Brenda Troyer and Sandy Pugyao.

            Rudy and my nephew Mark just got to Dibagat yesterday after doing all the shopping  for us in Manila and Bagabag for our food in Dibagat. I talked to him while they were en-route to Dibagat by van and then by canoe upriver. There are others from the Tubongan Bible Church (8 hrs hike away from Dibagat) coming to Dibagat to help us with the church, so I am excited to meet with them while in Dibagat. I am hoping I will be able to fly up to their church on Sunday March 25^th to see firsthand what God is doing among them. This is another evidence of God’s wonderful provision through His people! I remember getting a call from faithful supporter Dwight while I was flying helicopter in Maine asking if I could use some funds in the Philippines. I told him I could use the funds to buy more lobsta in ME, but instead the Tubongan Bible church was built so that the folks there would not have to hike 8 hours to come to church in Dibagat. God is working among them as well.

One of the exciting parts of being in Dibagat is not only to see my siblings and their children, but to see young people now taking an active part in evangelism among the Isnags! When I was growing up, it was the adults that were very active and the young were not interested – but now the change has come! God is using the young to do all the hiking, distributing Isnag Bibles, showing the Jesus  film and Luke video village to village, and doing Bible studies plus conducting VBS whenever possible. Now I can sit on my rocking chair (should I smoke a cigar??) giving praise to the Lord for what He is doing like the verse above expresses! I wish each of you could experience a trip to Dibagat and see what God is doing among His people there! God has placed Rudy in Dibagat to help make the church grow plus  doing the Old Testament in Isnag. My nephew Mark, the pastor of the Dibagat Bible church has been helping Rudy with translation of the Old Testament. He is on chapter 75 of the book of Psalms now. Pray for both Rudy and Mark as they continue  the translation. I told them they need to finish it in 10 years so I can still hike up to Dibagat for the dedication – will you join us in praying?

            Finally – thanks again for your prayers for us the next 3 weeks in Dibagat. Be sure to check out our blog at www.dibagat.blogspot.com as we update it when we can!

Since I am a result of what God has done in Bible translation work and the Isnag believers as well, the verse below is so appropriate for me to send  out to you, because you all have been so faithful in every way - praying, giving, sending and loving us to His glory!  May each of you be a special letter from Christ among the people you meet to show Christ is Lord of all!

            “You show that you are letter from Christ, the result of our ministry,

written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on

tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” 2 Cor. 3:3

With our love,

Nard and Sandy

but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit

               “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and
                             bear fruit – fruit that will last…..” John 15:16



OUR TEAM IS COMPLETE – and YES, God has chosen His team to go to Dibagat March 14 to April 3rd to help the Isnags renovate their little church- Dibagat Bible Church! God has provided the funding for each team member even amidst a dwindling economy, yet God is still God and promises “to provide all our needs according to His riches in glory.” He has also allowed each team member’s family as faithful prayer partners for our team, their home churches as faithful prayer supporters and financial partners.



We just had our annual missions conference last week at our church in Charlotte, and our pastor’s message was based on Matthew 28:16-20 – OBEYING THE COMMAND. The command is --- TO GO

1.       The authority is ------ CHRIST

2.       The task is -----------TO MAKE DISCIPLES, DISPLAY CHRIST

3.       The extent is -------- ALL NATIONS—that includes Dibagat!

4.       The power is --------CHRIST’S PRESENCE


So our team are going not on our own strength, but in His strength. When I called these team members and told them about our  mission trip to Dibagat – they were all ready to go. The team He picked are taking our pastor’s message to heart!! Each with a God given talent and skills to contribute, with different ages ranging from 81 to 21. Some might say, what can they do?? I hope we can finish our goal of replacing all the wooden walls and posts with concrete columns and blocks!  Besides finishing the work, I am also praying that, – a life maybe impacted or changed forever, love for God’s mission encouraged, a life filled with God’s love and being drawn even closer to Him.  So, as you pray for us, ask God to help  us “go to display Christ” among the Isnags and all those we are going to meet along the way.  “To be ambassadors for Christ” and being a light for Him.

                “Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
                       Take delight in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.
                            Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this:
                                 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
                                      your vindication   like the noonday sun.” Psalm 37:3-6 (NIV)

Nard in Ohio and another team member

Nard spent some time this past week in Ohio.  No he was not looking for votes, he was not born in the United States so he cannot run for President.  He was in OH on Monday and met up with Nolan, James and Vernon, these are some of the men going to Dibagat next week.

Nolan, James, Nard and Vernon

Also another team member...  also updated pictures of Nolan and Vernon in past post.

Jeremy, his wife Angela, Oldest son Daemon, and youngest son Thomas

Jeremy – from MS and a missionary kid! He was just two years old when his parents arrived in the Philippines in 1979. Then they went to the  village of Namaltugan to work among the Isnags back in 1981-86. Jeremy was 16 when they returned to the US and his father started pastoring a church in MS. Jeremy is looking forward to returning back to the village he enjoyed living in, and in fact he knows a little bit of Isnag, and this return should get his language proficiency again. We also hope he can visit the village where his parents ministered to the Isnags back in the 80’s. We praise the Lord for Jeremy’s willingness to come help the Isnags in Dibagat and be a part of the team God has put together to work with the Isnags.

Another team member and New Tribes Helicopter

 Vernon – A WA chapter leader from OH as well, and a brick layer. This will be Vernon’s 2nd time to Dibagat as he and his brother along with one of his nephews went to Dibagat in 2007 to help expand the church then. I have known Vernon for a long time and has been a wonderful advocate for Bible translation work. He keeps their WA chapter going in their area and invites missionaries to come speak when they are home on furlough, or whenever they are available. Vernon will be a great asset to the project using his expertise as well.  He and his brother just got back from Haiti helping down in that part of the world. Nothing stops him from serving His Lord!



This is a picture of the New Tribes Helicopter that the team plans on using to fly into Dibagat.  Then on the way out they get to take the canoes.

The Team Leader

One person that was not on the last blog update is the team leader,
the big kahuna,
the native from the Jungle...
Nard.

The pictures are of him and his siblings.

From left to right, Francis, Benita, Nard, Conrado (Deceased in 2005) Emma

 

This is Merlina, also Nard sister.

 Plans are getting finalized, tickets are being bought, chickens and food are being bought, sand is being moved, bricks are being made, all with God watching over.  Thank God in your prayer time for what plans have come together already and for what has to be worked out yet.  Pray for the preparations that are going on now.  Pray for the protection of the people getting ready to go and the people in Dibagat that are getting ready for them.