Picures at Last!

Dear Friends and Family,

I thought that you would enjoy seeing some pictures of life in the Mountains of Palawan. I hope that you can see a little bit more of how God is working here. These pictures were taken with Caleb's camera.

This whole area (Palawano Villages of Leplep) is largely unentered, but the Holy Spirit is working as we have been becoming friends with many of the people who live in this area.

This is the swimming hole at the Tamlang. The kids go swimming every Thursday.

These are two of the elders in the Church. They grew up together and are largely responsible for the leadership of the church and school. Seblitu on the left and Agus on the right. Please pray for wisdom for these men and that they will remain firm in their faith.

Passion fruit from the vine that grows next to our house. We get several every week.

This is the parking lot outside of the school house on Sabbath morning!

This is my bed in which I sleep diagonally to give me enough room. It is very comfortable. It's kind of hard to make a bed inside of a mosquito net.

Spiders can get quite large!

On our way to El Nido for break we stopped at the centuries old Spanish colonial fort in Taytay.

Caleb relishing the stunning scenery of El Nido.

These are the blowguns that the men and boys hunt birds with. It is basically like fishing is in the United States. Pretty much everyone does it in their spare time.

We seldom lack for bananas. When we do we usually have a few green ones hanging in our kitchen!

I hope that you can see a little of life in the mountians of Palawan. The interaction with people is still friendship evangelism. There is no other way. Jesus is the truest Friend of all and the greatest Soulwinner. Whether here or in the States or any other country, I have learned that it is chiefly my friendships that will bring people to Christ. It is only as I work out my friendship with Christ with the people with whom I associate that people and life itself gain significance.
To serve as Christ has served should be our highest goal until Christ comes and through the ages of eternity.

Philippians 2:5-8 "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."

Brief Reprieve from Sailing the Seven Seas

Well Folks,

You may wonder how I am doing. I am doing swell! Well, that is. I have been enjoying the ocean swells in El Nido Palawan. My Friend Caleb and I have rented a native fisherman's outrigger and have been sailing the seven seas since Thursday. We just came to town tonight to stock up on groceries and do some e-mailing. Our cell phone got a salt water bath also, so we will try to get that back up and running. We will be heading back into the mountains on Friday.

Keep following Him,

Brian

P.S. We haven't really visited all seven seas. We have stayed in the sheltered lagoon so that our small boat is not put at the mercy of the perilous seas. In all sincerity, though, we have simply been enjoying beautiful reefs and the stunning scenery of El Nido and sleeping on the beach at night (except for last night and that is a story all in itself to be saved until later).

Your Father Which is in Heaven

"Bravo Bravo, do you copy?" I heard my call sign on the radio. Answering I found out that I was needed to go and see a man that had been sick for almost a month on the other side of the mountain. Caleb and I treked over and looked at the poor man, Bubun was pretty much just skin and bones. He was lying in his hut surrounded by ankle deep mud and pig feces on the trail. He had typoid and, later we found out, malaria.The next morning Bubun's brother in law carried him over the hill to our clinic in an ingenous wicker basket slung over his forehead. He was admitted so that we could watch his vital signs and make sure that he in fact did take his medicine. (his family has a record of giving the medicine only when it tastes good). A few days later, we recieved word that several of Bubun's kids were sick. To make a long story short we ended up with all of his family except for his wife and one daughter coming to the clinic as inpatients to be treated for either typhoid or malaria.Through all of the late nights, language barriers, spit up medicine and prayers, my strength and determination would wane and I was forced to realize that with each patient I should always ask Christ for wisdom "If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God who gives to all men liberally. . . " James 1:5. As I did, I could see that with each encounter my service actually drew their hearts out and to the loving God that I served. Without asking for wisdom there were times that I felt my work actually begin to harden hearts toward me and not change them towards God at all. By God's grace I continued to persevere and trust God to work the final results which I could not see.Finally as a grand finale, the Bubun had a reaction to the Larium that we gave him for his malaria. He started throwing things off of the porch and ripping up his daughter's school notebook. The student missionary staff slept with him for 3 nights to safeguard him. As the sedation medicine that we gave him began to wear out I told him story after story of the power of Christ when He was here on earth. I told him the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand. I told them the five thousand were full , Jesus had filled them. In palawan, the word that is used when one is full means the same thing as "I am alive". So in telling him the story, I told him that Jesus could make him alive. What a blessing it was to see this work out. I didn't even mean to make that connection, but as I had been praying for wisdom God gave me the words that this man needed to hear.When it was all said and done and Bubun and his childern began to regain strength the smiles that this man had were reward enough. I could see that as I relied on God for wisdom and let Him serve through me, this man's heart was softened and the life of service to his maker was recommended in a powerful way.May we all continue to rely on the real power of Christ to give us a Christ-like character. Let us live lives that recommend the service of our Creator to those in whom we come in contact with.
Matthew 5:16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."