A review from Jim

Jim and Christopher working together on another column rebar to get it ready to form.

 
This was my 4th trip to Dibagat and it most likely will be my last.   We helped to replace the walls of the church that had been eaten by termites.  We worked with the Isnag people on this project and were confident that they had acquired the building skills necessary to construct any building that they might need in the future.  I look forward to seeing the pictures from the Easter celebration in the newly renovated church.

 It is so good to know that the people of Dibagat are sending out teachers and pastors to other villages because the people in these other villages need to hear the "Good News".  I appreciate the love and care that the "people" gave us by taking care of our needs.  Before I left the village, the Lord revealed to me the there were children in the village who needed medical attention.  I am now working with Nard to enable these children to get the medical care that they need.  I am hoping that we will both be returning to the Philippines in the very near future.

I enjoyed working with each and everyone of you and hope to hear from you in the sometime soon.

Jim

Jim and Karl putting rings around the rebar on column

Jim and Isnag friend working together on footers!

Nolan's review of Dibagat trip

Nolan working with the Isnags

This was a great experience for me. I felt from the planning of this mission trip that it was God’s will that I should become a part of it. I have been in South America three times but this experience was like a new frontier for me. So, thanks for allowing me to be a part of the team. This was God’s work and with working with the Isnag people this project was accomplished.  As a team, we all had different personalities but we soon learned to work together getting to know each other.

Learning to know the Isnag people was meaningful to me. I was glad that some knew enough English to make conversation.  Since I have been home I wished now that I would have had more conversations with the people there. I appreciated how they helped me in laying block.  This mission trip helped me to build a greater trust in our Lord as there were miracles that took place.

As this was my first trip to Dibagat this adventure was really special to me.   I really appreciated the cooks and the delicious meals they prepared.  The times we had sharing as a group were very meaningful to me.  The trip down the river was an experience I will never forget.  The boatmen sure knew how to handle the boat.  The scenery was beautiful, the bus trip was long but I got a glimpse of what life was like along the route we took.. On this trip to Dibagat I saw what God was doing there in a very remote area of the Philippines which is over 7000 miles away from Orrville, Ohio.   Praise the Lord. 

Nolan helping bend rebar with the Isnags

Thank you Nolan going to Dibagat and sharing what God has and is doing.

Dear Philippine Team and Dibagat Team,

Dear Philippine Team and Dibagat Team,

            “What you have done will be praised from one generation to the next…..and I will meditate on your wonderful deeds.” Psalm 145:4.5

The verse above expresses my heart of thanks to all of you who have been a part of the Dibagat Mission 2012.  Your part in helping us accomplish what we went to do in Dibagat will be rewarded by the Lord and remembered by the Isnags and even the next generation! Thanks to the guest house staff for giving us comfortable rooms, feeding us, doing our laundry and everything else that comes with scheduling our time there. The Manila office staff – you all coordinated our airport pick up, airline travels and finance needs, plus keeping our valuables in your safe! All the little things that we take for granted sometimes – thanks to you all! Thanks to Mike, Margaret, John, Jennifer and others who have taken us all over the city on tour and etc. Thanks to Brian and Katherine in Tuguegarao who scheduled our helicopter flights to Dibagat even on Sunday! Thanks for being a special part of our team, and taking the time to spend with us in Tuguegarao, getting our chartered bus for us and etc.  God used you all and  I praise the Lord for putting you all in a strategic way to make our time in Dibagat a wonderful and treasured experience. It is always amazing to see the hand of God picking His team each time we do mission trips! This was the 21st team I have (taken) sent to the Philippines the last 11 years and many of you have been a very special part! Some of the team members have been to Dibagat several times over like Reggie, James, Jim, Vernon, and Chris! It’s always a blessing for me to be able to call on these men each time I needed help! Of course you in the Philippines have been a special part the last 11 years of doing short-term trips to the Philippines and I am truly grateful to you all!

Of course having Rudy and all the Isnags coordinate our time in Dibagat is very much. The material all come from Tuguegarao brought to Kabugao by our special team partners – Rigos family! Our Isnag team take everything up river by canoes. They have hauled all the tons of sand and gravel, rebar, cement, plywood and all the building material we needed to do the project. You should have seen the tons of sand and gravel hauled up a steep incline almost a mile up the church carried on their back, or even a sack of cement and or ¾ plywood! They made all the 1200 hollow blocks from the river and carried them up the hill to the church! Yes, they said they wanted us to come and help them, and we worked together as one team! This was truly the work of God accomplished by His people!

Finally, I am thankful to the Lord for my wife Sandy and the rest of the team’s family as well! They stayed home and prayed faithfully and I know they missed us while away for 3 weeks! Then of course all those who have given towards our trip to Dibagat – faithful supporters, churches, friends and family who wanted to be a part! The Lord showed His working among His people once again, and words are not enough to express my own deep gratitude for all the He has done through His people!

“Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.”
Psalm 151:1

With thanksgiving to the Lord for all of you,

Nard and Sandy and the Dibagat Mission 2012 team

A little of Chris's "touring" a hospital in Manila

I had to take Chris to the emergency hospital in Manila because he had an infected leg! He was running a fever the night before departing Dibagat by canoe! But praise the Lord he was OK and made it home! This was one of the doctors at St Luke's hospital!



They drew some blood too!



I would have been screaming, but Chris was a brave guy and they said he was going to be OK!

almost 6 feet!! Don't worry it couldnt't swallow a person

Maybe some are following family on the trip, some following friends on the trip.  Some might have looked at it once because of a Google search.  But this is the parts of the world that your work in Dibagat has had ripple effects and will continue on for years to come.  United States, Canada, Philippines, Indonesia, United Kingdom, Jamaica, Germany, Thailand, Russia, Spain, Japan, India, Singapore, Brazil,South Korea, India, and Hong Kong.

I have been telling our friends that there are no cobras in Dibagat! However, when they went up to check on the water source way up the mountain, this cobra was on the trail! One of the Isnags killed it! Jeremy is showing the length of the snake - almost 6 feet!! Don't worry it couldn't swallow a person, but praise the Lord none of our team going up the water source got bit!

 Notice Jeremy is stand next to the church, look at the walls and how great they look.  I am looking for more pictures for the blog of the finished walls.  I am also looking for more story's from the people that went to Dibagat.  The ride in via helicopter, the ride out via river.  The friendships that were formed or renewed from past trips.  You can send them to me through Nard.

Some Pictures coming in from Manila.

The team from Dibagat finally arrived Manila safely!

Visiting the Tuguegarao tower with Reggie!

Jeremy was really tired in the bus on their way to Manila from Tuguegarao! Leaning over Lolo Nolan shoulder was a great way to get rested up!

 I had asked the ladies at the SIL guest house in Manila to have a birthday cake for Nolan on his first meal in Manila! HAPPY BIRTHDAY NOLAN! What a team!

 Psalm 78 -- "we will tell the next generation, and even the yet unborn about God!" some will be missionaries someday!

On Friday, March 30, as our remaining team of 8 were pushed off the bank of the Dibagat river, the Isnags said their last goodbye and thank you's to our team! We will see them again for sure - if not here on earth it will be a grand reunion someday!!

We had 3 canoes taking our team to Kabugao!

 Meet my cousin Sudac who has been shooting the rapids in canoes all his life, and has also been faithful to take us to Kabugao each time we come for a visit. Our canoes are powered by 25 and 15 horsepower outboards!

Some of the future generation of Isnag missionaries??

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