rock climber in the making...he just does it

children in Pakak...

the little drummer boy...

coffee, coconuts, and coughing

(arturo and his wife marina)


(i started writing this about 7 months ago...i know i once had a different point, but it was lost in time...so i'll post it anyway, just for a glimpse at daily life and thoughts)....today started with the regular order of waking up and scampering to get formula made for samuel before he fully wakes up and lets us know about it. even though he's only 7 months, he already has his routines: wake up; have his bottle; play with "da-da"; eat his breakfast; soil his diaper; get washed off; go to "ma-ma"; take a nap...and all before 9am.

this morning i have to prepare for my "village run". this is where i (and sometimes another) go to the village to give a fresh stock of Tuberculosis medicines, vitamins and whatever else is needed. there are 8 children we are sponsoring (plus one adult) in the village of Ipil.

this morning, i am taking Arturo with me. Arturo has been my right hand man in the implementation of the TB sponsorship program. He's in his 50's, and has helped cure numerous people infected with TB in the preceding decades. Arturo has volunteered his time, effort, and resources to help anyone who asks. i have a lot to learn from him as far as having a generous heart.

Arturo and his wife are in the private clinic right across the street where two of his grandchildren are confined for typhoid fever and malaria. he has been there for 3 days and had little sleep or comfort. he's concerned at how he will pay for the bill of the two patients. his harvest was a failure and he spent about twice as much on fertilizers, gasoline, labor and seeds for his rice, than he was able to sell after harvesting. he borrowed money for that and now he must borrow money again...he wonders if God is testing him somehow...

I get the medicines ready, put names on the bottles, put them in plastic bags and in one large heavy box. the box is tied on my motorcycle as i go to pick up Arturo. it's a really tight fit as the box is taking up a third of the motorcycle seat and suddenly my seat becomes the steep-angled gas tank...at least Ipil's not too far away.

upon arriving in the village. we pass through golden fields that were a brilliant green only a week ago. it is harvesting time throughout tabuk. this village is small. there are only about 35 houses (small nipa huts) here. in the recent times, more people have taken to building cement and hollow block houses. these concrete houses hold up to the weather but are seldom completely finished. the majority lack paint or any finishing on the exterior or interior walls.

one of the families we are working with has 12 children. both of the parents died of TB and the older ones (in their early 20's) are watching after the younger ones. we are sponsoring 2 of the younger children and helping the older one with vitamins (since he gets his meds free from the government).

another young man in this village had 2 places on his face that. for the past few years have been draining pus. he's ashamed to be around people much because they openly ridicule him about the smell. he's tried antibiotics many times, but the problem keeps returning. after talking with some doctors in the area, we decided to treat him with 6 months of TB meds. after a couple of months, the ulcers were shrinking in size and the drainage was decreasing.

the reason we first came to the village of Ipil was because some of the the relatives of the little girl that almost died of TB meningitis, lived here. (see later post of Marilee Abaggoy)...

we love to see God at work and how he brings certain children, families, or villages into our scopes. we are just a few people working through the resources sent by family, friends, and church family to help people here and show them they are worth being helped and loved. i've heard comments before that people with certain diseases "deserve what they got" or "should die" because the treatment for their illness is too much or they are "old, and just eating up too much rice".

my prayer is that God helps us see each other as He sees them, but more than that, that God helps us see our selves as He see us. As His worshipers, his children, and his bride. once we (just) begin to grasp how God sees us and loves us, we can then...and only then, love others that way.

7.5 months

swimming...

samuel at 7 months taking a bath

samuel's tricks

a MONTH in the YEAR of a missionary FAMILY!!!

hello friends and family! it's been a while since we've given an update, but it's about time we let you know what's going on with us here in the philippines. first, i want thank all of you who pray for us. we really appreciate it.

in our lives, we have several upcoming celebrations next month...it will be samuel's 1/2 year birthday October 4th, it will be my 30th birthday October 6th, our 2nd year wedding anniversary October 7th and Cathee's birthday on October 17th! whoo, lots of reasons to celebrate.

SAMUEL

samuel's now 5months. he's growing and starting to do strange, yet wonderful, stuff like babbling on and on as if we can understand him and sucking his toes. he's a blessing and we thank God for him. everyone here's starting to say he's looking more and more like cathee...and then they say he has my head shape and hair...as they smirk...

we just found out that we have an appointment at the US Embassy for his citizenship. i'm not sure how long this will take, but it's one step closer to being able to bring him to meet his family and friends in the U.S.

(samuel meets his great-grandfather who is also
a well known tribal elder in kalinga)















KALINGA VINEYARD CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP (STUDENT MINISTRY)

our youth (18 indigenous students from the mountain and resettlement villages of But But and Dananao) are doing well. we have been teaching for the past month on the sermon on the mount. imagine explaining "turning the other cheek" to someone that has grown up with the idea of tribal war (revenge killing) as a normal part of their village life. we pray that God will raise up leaders, pastors, missionaries, teachers and activists of justice in our group. we are preparing to host the interchurch fellowship the last sunday of this month. we will be landscaping our front yard, preparing a worship team, and making benches for the 100 or more youth that usually come to the interfellowships. we want to see the surrounding churches to work together in unity, building the kingdom of God.


KIDS TB SPONSORSHIPS

we just finished overseeing the completion of 6 months of TB meds in 10 of our 12 sponsored children. one child still has another month till completion and one child's family came to us this past week asking medicines for their daughter who is 7 years old and currently in the hospital with TB meningitis. This is a life-threatening condition that usually leads to stupor, coma, and many times, death. the little girl's name is marillyn. she has been in the hospital for around 25 days now. she's in need of surgery to release the pressure in her head from the meningitis, but her family cannot afford the cost of taking her to the hospital in Baguio or Manila where she needs to get the surgery. if there's anyone who wants to help marillyn get this needed surgury, let me know.

two weeks ago, i attended the PhilCAT (philippine coalition against tuberculosis) convention. there were many seminars and information on the fight against TB here. the philippines has the 9th highest incidence of TB in the world! but progress is being made each year. one of the more recent focuses has been on the multi-drug resistant TB (MDR TB). this is a strain of TB that is not responsive to one or more of the TB meds currently given. there was a record attendance of more than 1,600 doctors, department of health workers, and other non-profit organization workers.

after seeing marillyn in the hospital, i realized how important it is that we continue to assess and treat children who are positive with tuberculosis. we currently need more sponsors for the kids TB sponsorship program. the assessment of a child and their family, 6 months of meds and vitamins, and monthly follow-ups costs us about 100 dollars. consider giving a child a greater chance at a healthy life...and help take away the death sentence of TB.














recent graduates of the TB sponsorships.
(the first girl has one more month)

thank you for helping them



DEEP WELL












we are helping provide fresh water to a village without adequate access. in one resettlement village with 1,400 people, there was only enough water for about 350 people per pump. imagine having only one faucet in your house. now imagine having to pump this every time you wanted to wash, bathe, cook and drink...now imagine having to share that one faucet with 350 people!!! lack of fresh water directly affects the health of a whole community. if you'd like to help provide fresh water to a community by sponsoring a well, let us know.

thank you for your time in reading this update for august. again, we appreciate those who are praying for us and giving toward missions. we pray God would meet all your needs as you're faithful in giving.

PRAYER REQUESTS

*Healing of arthritis in cathee's wrists. this has suddenly started in the last 3 months and causes much pain, even after taking medicines
*The youth interfellowship september 28th
*Planning for the upcoming year
*Direction, wisdom, and boldness to accomplish all that God is leading us to do
*Samuel and I have colds

NEEDS

*PRAYER
*TB Sponsorships
*monthly supporters (for personal expenses for our family)
*video projector for video Bible classes for next year!!!

blessings and peace to you in the Name of our LORD, Jesus Christ
chris, cathee, and samuel mapes

family picture...

(samuel is 4 months here)

the early bird...

this fisherman was one of the first on the lagoon at sunrise last week.
during some timeoff of a hectic schedule, i took a break to rest and reflect

well restoration, turned to a new well project

you are staring down a 50 foot hole. as noted in the earlier blog entry, we started pulling the pipe to a 120 foot deep well. after breaking chains, bending A-frames, and malfunctioning chain blocks, we decided we needed to hire professional well diggers to make a new hole. the cost of the well has continues to increase. when i found our deep well cost estimate sheet from the deep well we made in pakak 3 years ago, the costs of the materials have nearly doubled since then!!! it's pretty upsetting that the construction supply has taken such horrid advantage of the present economical problems...(didn't mean to go there)...but we continue to build the well.

the work is dangerous as the workers use only shovels and a bucket as they dig. each worker takes 2 hour shifts as they are lowered 50 feet down and dig until they reach the water table. each day they can only dig (depending on the soil conditions) about 3-6feet. the most dangerous part of the work is the pockets of gas they encounter as they reach the "black streaked soil" that signifies there will be gases present. so pray for the workers as they still have over 50 feet MORE to dig. thank you for the family that has helped us sponsor this project. may you be so aware of God's abundant blessings toward you.

need i say more...

Well Repair project started

we started repairing a well that's been out broken for about 10 years now. our first task was to pull the old pipes...which might be the hardest part of the project...considering they go down more than 120 feet!!!

after bending a chain block, we decided to dig for about 15 feet first to help get the pipes looser. this project was a needed contribution to this community. currently there are an average of 350 people that share 1 well in the community of Dananao, Lacnog.

The Monster Lives...

You Have to Hear This...

this other voice is Cathee...

promise of mercy

after a rainy day in tabuk

our house spiders...

we find many of these spiders around the house...thankfully our cat likes to eat them...

the many faces of Samuel Mapes at 2 months