Sagada , Feb 16, 2008

We arrived back from Sagada on Thursday, a bit tired from the trip, but thankful to the Lord for His watch care over us. We left Tuesday morning and were quite surprised to find that much, of what was once rough dirt roads, had now been beautifully paved! The first three hours of the trip across the mountains was a relatively easy drive. Once we past Mt Data things went a bit down hill, as far as the roads are concerned, but the car ran well and handled the rough roads quite easily. There were a couple of areas where landslides were being cleared away and others where new road work was being done, but all in all it was an easy trip. It only took about 6 hours, whereas in the past it was an 8 hour excursion. The views we enjoyed were absolutely spectacular, it is hard to explain unless you travel it yourself, pictures just cannot tell the story.
We made some good initial contacts in Sagada over the three days. Most of the contacts were a result of the time that Mike and Beverly Smits spent there over 13 years ago. Many still remembered them and spoke very highly of them. We pray that we may be able to make further contacts on our next trip up planned for April, Lord willing. We are taking it slow and praying that if it is the Lord’s will for something to develop here that He will open the doors. Please pray with us.

Sagada has changed quite a bit since the last time I was there. It is no longer the isolated village it once was. There are internet cafes, cell phones, satellite TV and much more available than in the past. That is a good thing, I suppose, but also bad thing. There is construction going on in the center of town. Bigger buildings, three and four stories, which block out the beauty of the views from the small town yet meet the every growing tourist travel. It is sad to see, but I suppose it is helping the economy of this small village.

Overall, it was an encouraging trip. We thank the Lord for your prayers for us. Continue to pray that the Lord will give direction for the future. We plan to make a few more trips before deciding whether to seek a place to rent.

I have been a bit under the weather since arriving back in Baguio. I am a bit run down and I have a heavy cold. So please keep us in your prayers. I will be speaking at Navy Base tomorrow (Sunday Feb 17) and will also be joining the saints down in Fatima in the afternoon.

Sagada Pics Feb 2008 - Click on Picture to Enlarge

The morning clouds over the mountains, in Benguet Province

Moving out of Benguet Province into Mountain Province.

The road across Mountain Province

Rice Terraces along the way.

Sagada

A shop keeper in Sagada, who remembered Mike and Bev well.

An elderly woman who lived with and helped Mike and Bev Smits

The Sagada Rice Terraces

Update, Feb 8, 2008

Greetings. This coming Sunday I will be speaking once again down at Baguio Gold and would covet your prayers. I have been asked to speak twice on Sunday morning. First in Chapter 4 of Genesis, and then I will be sharing from a wonderful trilogy of Psalms; Psalms 22,23 and 24. Then we will be joining the saints from Navy Base in our weekly visit with the assembly in Fatima.

Pray for the new outreaches from the Navy Base assembly. There is door to door evangelism going on in the neighborhood surrounding the chapel building and it is already bearing fruit as one lady has committed her life to Christ and attended the assembly meeting last Lord’s day. The young people are out sharing the gospel, and the ladies group goes out once a month into the homes of neighbors to share. This along with the various home bible studies are the avenues being used to get the gospel out. Those of the assembly are doing a wonderful job. The word is being sown, it is being watered and we are trusting in the Lord to bring the increase.

This coming Tuesday Joyce and I will be making our first trip up the Mountain Trail to Sagada. Our desire this trip is just to scout things out, as it were. The contact that I thought we had there is no longer living in Sagada so we are going in not really knowing anyone, so it will take a few visits before people become familiar with us. Mike and Bev Smits have given us good counsel, and we will be taking things slowly and asking the Lord to open doors for us. We would appreciate your prayers for safety and His direction.

We spent a couple of days this past week down in Manila. It was good to visit with the saints at San Juan on this past Lord’s Day. It was quite an enjoyable time to see them all again. One of the brothers has asked me to consider taking a trip with him to Palawan to visit with the saints there, so please pray with me for direction.