Yes or No? (June17th Update-Leah's version)

The Landers' Family
Sunday was Father's day and it was also a nice day of rest after the busy week at conference and the long day of travel on Saturday. We went to the first of 5 morning services (they have more on Sunday evening) at CCF which is the Bugbee's church. A little bit of research this evening taught me that CCF is a congregation in Metro Manila of 25,000. It is the fastest growing church in S.E. Asia. I personally had never been to such a large church in my life. It seemed very close to what a church of that size in the states would be like. Upbeat, is the word that comes to mind. Not just because of the music, the sermon, the people, the atmosphere was all upbeat. Their pastor spoke on learning to be a good father from the example of our heavenly Father. I think his main points were that father's should protect, discipline, and love their children.

After making our way down the 8 or 10 flights of stairs involved to get to church we stopped by Starbucks for a nice much cheaper version of our favorite drinks. Starbucks drinks cost between 20 and 100 pesos, only 50 cents $2.50. After Starbucks we went to the Mega Mall where we watched Prince Caspian (again for less than $3) and finally we finished off the afternoon with lunch at the Outback. One of the Bugbee's supporters gave us money specifically designated to take the Bugbee's out to a nice dinner. Matt said they only go to the Outback once every three or four years and that was confirmed when Nathan, who wanted steak, had to ask us all how to order his steak.

We had also been invited by the Nelson family over to dinner at their home. They were having breakfast for dinner. After our big lunch a light dinner was perfect so we went to the Nelson's for a nice visit and dinner together.



Here Aubrey is checking out the worms in Scott's worm bins.

Some of the baby bunnies Scott raises who were born only a week ago.

Scott Nelson is a Doctor missionary who has a little clinic where he treats squatters. He says much of the time he doesn't even know how to diagnose the problems he sees because there are so many different strange ways they are manifested. There is one patient he has who was diagnosed by another Doctor with leprosy but is not responding to the appropriate medications. It is a difficult job for Dr. Nelson but it is obvious he loves the people to whom he is ministering and enjoys the challenge. It is clear, also, that Dr Nelson is brilliant. He picked up Tagalog without going to any type of language school and dabbles in many different types of sustainable agriculture experiments which is one of the things that endears him to Matt Bugbee.

I don't think it is the sustainable agriculture that endears Matt's son Nathan to the family. Bethany, the Nelson's youngest daughter is a very kind, sweet girl and I enjoyed getting to know her a little bit. She goes to Faith Academy and will be a Senior in high school this next school year. She plans to become a nurse and is working in her father's clinic in a capacity sort of like a nurses aid.

Cindy, the mother, was a wonderfully hospitable lady. She works very happily alongside her husband in his ministry thinking of sweet little details like a children's library in their clinic as well as little bracelets and things to give to the children. She left for Colorado on Monday to be with her sister who is suffering with severe breast cancer.

We really enjoyed the Nelson family and they eagerly shared their food, family and faith with us. Dr Nelson gave us a wonderful tour of their backyard which he has terraced as an example to the Filipino people of how much more efficient plant growth is when you terrace. He also eagerly showed us his rabbits which he raises and sells to pet stores for only 10 pesos a piece (only about 25 cents). I think his hope is that Filipinos may someday see that rabbits could be a very good meat source. They take very little space, multiply quickly, and taste a great deal like chicken, which Filipinos love. Finally, he showed us his verma composting bins. He uses worms to compost the rabbit droppings and food scraps from his family. The compost then helps fertilize the plants he grows to help feed the rabbits, and the plants keep the soil on the hillside behind his house from eroding. I admire Dr. Nelson's willingness to work really hard as an example to the Filipino people of how their lives could be better with a little organization.

Monday our plan was to plan our week, hopefully making contact with Pastor Noel, and get ourselves slightly more organized. Caleb texted Pastor Noel in the morning. Texting, if I have not mentioned this previously, is the preferred method of communication here even for business matters and such. So, Pastor Noel immediately called Caleb back and arranged for the two of them to meet at the Mega Mall later that day. Caleb figured out public transportation down there, which was very impressive to me and soon texted saying Pastor Noel had invited him to speak at chapel on Wednesday morning and on Sunday morning at his church. Eventually, it was worked out that Caleb would go spend one night down in Laguna with Pastor Noel and family while the girls and I stayed here at the Bugbee's and then we will all go down for the weekend. I was amazed at how quickly the plan materialized and I'm pretty sure the Lord was doing some work beforehand for everything to fall so quickly into place.

Caleb returned safely last night from the Mega Mall in time for us to go to the second of our dinner engagements with missionary friends of the Bugbee's. The Landers were the second family we met and we felt a real connection with them right off. Toby is a chemistry teacher at Faith Academy as well as the head of the Science department and the Basketball coach. Crystal is now a stay-at-home mom but she met Toby because they both taught at Faith Academy. She was a geometry teacher there and it was obvious that she not only had a mathematical mind but also a very creative and organized mind. I was thoroughly impressed with her home and how organized and nicely she cared for it; especially because she has two young sons 4 year old Micah and 2 year old Benjamin and she is pregnant as well.


First, it was wonderful to see a young family, like us, on the mission field and making it work! I really enjoyed some of the common points of interest that Crystal and I had and I could tell Caleb and Toby had a very similar experience. Crystal enjoys cooking and she does a little preschool homeschool time with their older son. She also just seemed like someone who was really genuine. She shared that she was looking forward to a little family getaway they were leaving for the next day because her husband is a hard worker and they have not had much time alone as a family. I could really understand her desire and was thankful that she would share her feelings about the issue so soon after meeting me.

Sophie and Aubrey also really enjoyed the time at the Landers because there were toys, bikes, and kids. Another interesting connection we had with the Landers was the issue of peanut allergies (my niece Mckenna is also highly allergic to peanuts). After a great deal of prayer the Landers are planning to leave the field after this next year because their older son Micah is highly allergic to peanuts. He will be school-aged after this next year and after a lot of prayer, they do not feel it would be appropriate to send him to any school in the Philippines, even Faith Academy because the people here are so laid back it would not be possible to stress the issue of peanut butter enough to keep him safe. I have to admit that I did drop quite a few hints about continuing to home school but Crystal shared that they feel Micah needs to learn from people other than themselves because of his personality. We had a great evening with the Landers and hope that maybe someday we can see them again.

Today, Tuesday, Caleb was able to get down to Laguna (it is equivalent to traveling down to Anaheim from the AV in a bus) on an FX for only 65 pesos, which is about $1.50. He thought if he got lost he may need to take a taxi which would be much more expensive but he was able to take the FX and the Lord had obviously made the way for Caleb. He texted me to tell me he made it safely and tell me about what a great deal he got and later again told me he and Pastor Noel were out preaching on the street. Please pray for his opportunity tomorrow to preach in Chapel at the high school. Pastor Noel said that 80% of the students are unsaved. Caleb rarely preaches to unsaved youth, and even more seldom does he speak to students who do not speak English as their first language so please pray for him. Especially, that his fervor for the Lord and his word would show through in spite of communication challenges.

Another communication challenge we are having here is that Filipinos, even Christians, will answer yes or no questions, most of the time, in the affirmative. It isn't that they want to lie but I guess they think that if they answer "no" they will betray friendship somehow and they do not want to do that. So, even in simple daily interaction Caleb and I are having to remember not to ask yes or no questions. As Americans, especially when we're out in public trying to find places and take care of business, it is very easy to ask direct questions but they are less productive in Filipino culture so please pray that we will have wisdom to know how to ask questions.

Well, here is my update for the week so far and I hope Caleb can get online tomorrow night to post his version. Please continue to pray for us and we thank you for your faithful prayers up until now.