Our First Week

We have had a fun week of seeing lots of new things and meeting new people.

On Monday and Tuesday we spent the days unpacking, wrapping Christmas presents (since we had brought all of the Germains Christmas presents with us from family and friends back home), organizing closets and shelves, and then opening gifts for Christmas. Wednesday we started school and went swimming for PE!! In the afternoon Grace and I went to a class with Jenn…it was everyone’s interviews with other midwives. Wednesday afternoon we geared up for our day out on Thursday.

Thursday morning we drove 1 ½ hours outside of Davao to visit a couple Filipino missionary ladies, Beth and Murly, who live on the edge of Bukidnon mountains in a small village. It was actually a chilly drive in the cool morning! When we arrived we hoped to be able to take a short-cut trail straight down over the edge of the road that would only take about 15 minutes, but it was too muddy and slippery so we took the 1 hour long way. What an adventure we had slopping through knee deep mud and carabao poop while we climbed over hills and rocks, and enjoyed the beautiful greenery around us! Everyone had a back pack on their back full of medical supplies and food as a gift to Beth and Murly. We also carried in two live chickens strung by their feet to have for lunch! The kids were such great troopers as they plunged ahead through the mud and enjoyed the warm mud squishing between their toes. Beth and Murly were so pleased that we had come despite the nasty trail. We all arrived at their farm covered in mud, but we all washed up the best we could and sat down in their house to visit.

Beth and Murly have several acres of property and run a small farm that provides them with what they need. Beth was with YWAM many years ago and has received some training in primary medical care. They used to live closer to Davao, but chose to live out among the people to be there for the people and help them anyway they could. They have set up many medical outreaches to other villages, but their main supplier of medicine has moved out of the Philippines. Beth and Murly had been praying and fasting that the Lord would supply them with the medicine they need for the next outreach and to be able to help the people around them. Even though their main supplier has left the people still expect them to care for their medical needs. Our gift of medical supplies was a huge answer to prayer!! What an amazing way to use what God has given us!!

While we were visiting, Murly fixed a wonderful lunch for us of pancit, adobo, and rice over her hot wood stove. Several of the kids stood back and watched and got an amazing lesson in cooking Filipino food, from the butchering and plucking of the chicken to cooking noodles! There was also a sick little piglet wrapped up in the kitchen that was getting warmed by the fire and getting hand fed. When lunch was ready we all sat on the bamboo slat floor in the living room and enjoyed a wonderful meal! It was such a treat for all of us. Fresh coconut from the tree that Beth climbed to chop down was on the menu for dessert! Before we left to begin our climb back up the mountain side, we prayed for Beth and Murly and the medical supplies that we had brought for them and they prayed for us.

Instead of going back the long way we decided to brave the mountain…figured going up was easier than sliding all the ay down with nothing to stop us. It was a crawl on all fours climb up the slippery slope, but once again everyone did a great job and easily made it to the top! Once again muddy from head to toe, but having fun all the way. Most of the kids slept on the drive back to Davao, curled up against each other in the back of the jeepney. What a fun day for everyone and a great learning experience!

Friday and Saturday have been rather uneventful by comparison…just more school, a little shopping, kids running and playing, Jenn and Grace working at the clinic, and just having lots of fun!

Kind of a side note, but note worthy…when we left our home in Alaska I(Stacey) had a very painful corn on the bottom of my foot. By the time we arrived in Davao after lots of walking my foot was throbbing and extremely painful! The hard floors and flip flops certainly were not helping! I wasn’t sure how I was going to do it on the hike to Beth and Murly’s, but put aside the pain and decided to go for it. We prayed for my foot before we left on the hike, but it continued to hurt as we slopped through the mud. Yesterday morning when I got up though the pain was all gone and my foot has not been hurting at all since then!! The Lord healed my foot either through prayer or in the mud…we figure either way the Lord was in it!!

Thanks for praying for us…we really appreciate it!