Cathee's latest update (while chris was away)

Dear Friends,

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year celebration. For this new year, we pray that God will continue to bless you and your family in every area of your lives....May He embrace you with His love and peace, and continue to direct your ways....

Personally, we have a lot to thank God for in the year 2007....He has been so faithful to Chris and I, and to the ministry He has entrusted to us....allow us to share with you some of these things....

We are now 28 weeks pregnant! After a miscarriage, God has blessed us with another precious gift....we're expecting by the end of March or early April. I'm getting big and heavy and feel hungry all the time now! Please continue to help us pray for a healthy pregnancy and a normal labor and delivery to a healthy and normal baby.

Tribal Youth/Students:

- three of our tribal students graduated from college last year...2 of them were the first in their family to have even had the privilege to go to college. The guy, Ramon, went on to university in the city to take up Law. He works as a househelper to be able to do so. The two girls, Bylen and Marivic, went back to school to take up units in Midwifery. Marivic helps us at the mission house/church and in our outreaches. Bylen helps at a charity maternity center run by another missionary friend.

- At the start of the school year in June 2007, we had 27 tribal students living with us. Most of them came from the mountain tribe 6 hours away from town, and some are from tribal resettlement villages in Tabuk but still a bit far from the main town where the schools are. At present though, we only have 20 of them left. Some stopped for financial reasons and /or academic reasons, and others moved to another boarding house closer to their school. We continue to disciple these students and have regular schedule for prayer meeting, Bible study, and Sunday fellowship which we hold in the same building where we live. Whenever possible, we involve them in our outreaches.

CR/Latrine Project in Pakak:

- in May 2007, students of SCCD or School of Christian Character Devlopment from Boise Vineyard came to help dig CRs or latrines in the resettlement village of Pakak. We had high hopes when we started this project 2 years ago. We know that if the people in Pakak have them and use them, it would help with their health, especially the kids.... but it's really taking a long time for this to be completed....it really is not a priority of the villagers....we are encouraged though that some really understand its importance.....so we persist and persevere in helping the people see the importance of having and using them....

TB Testing and Treatment:

- we had graduated 30 kids from their six months and/or nine months of treatment. They all gained weight, have better appetite and more energy after their treatment. Most of them have already had their follow-up and cleared from TB by a doctor we are working with. Others will have their follow-up in the coming week.

- we have done sputum testing on the parents and grandparents of these children and sponsored some for chest x-ray in the hope to find the adults who may have been the sources of TB.

- at present, we are helping 3 kids and 3 adults who are currently having their treatment.

Weighing and Nutrition Assessment of Kids:

- together with the barangay midwife and health worker, we have started weighing and assessing the health and nutrition of kids especially those 5 years old and under, in two other resettlement villages in our town of Tabuk. In the village of Lacnog Butbut, we weighed 98 kids, and out of these, 25 are either low weight or very low weight, three of whom have had TB sometime back. In the village of Lanlana, we weighed 31 kids, and 6 of them are low weight and 1 very low weight. In our work in the other villages, the ones we graduated from tuberculosis treatment were the ones who were low and very low weight kids. This is why we wanted to assess the weight and nutrition of these kids in the two new villages first and prioritize these low and very low weight kids for further assessment with the doctor we work with and be tested for TB. We will also be doing sputum testing for the adults in these villages.

We would like to thank you all so much for making our work in Kalinga possible...Thank you for your prayers and generous donations. May God in His faithfulness, love, grace and mercy, continue to bless you and your family abundantly in every area of your lives!!!

Love and Blessings,

Chris and Cathee Mapes:)

RICHIE

RICHIE

"My gosh, he's just skin and bones," was the first thought that came to mind as this young boy got off the neighbor's bicycle. He had the posture of an old man with a "barrel chest." His name is Richie Anchay, he's 13 years old and only weighs 22 kg (48.5 lbs). That day, their neighbor went to get him out of school early so we can meet and weigh him. He was first mentioned to us by the midwife who works around the area. She knew about our work with kids with TB or tuberculosis in the other villages and asked us to meet Richie. He was diagnosed of TB of the lungs a year ago and was prescribed TB medications for 6 months. His mother told us that he was only able to take the medicines for 1 month because that is all they can afford to buy. He continues to lose weight, and coughs almost all the time....

But oh, he had such a sweet smile....after we weighed him, he busied himself in the kitchen making coffee for us....and he served us with that big sweet smile....

Tuberculosis is the fifth leading cause of death and illness in the Philippines....Approximately 1,500,000 children ages 0-9 years are infected and 40,000 of them develop the disease each year. (From the National Prevalence Survey by Tupasi et al, 1997)

We will take Richie this week for further check-up and another chest x-ray and go from there...He is such a precious kid and we want to see him get well and continue smiling....Please pray for Richie as you think of him.

Curing TB in children is made possible by people like you, who can sponsor the 6-9 month treatment for $100 dollars. just email us at chris.mapes@gmail.com and we'll let you know how.

Thank you and blessings,

Chris and Cathee Mapes:)

To know more about our work in Kalinga, please visit our website at www.mapesmission.com

His Mercies Are New Every Morning...

Hey everyone,

Happy New Year! it's hard to believe it's 2008. over New Year's holiday, i spent 4 days in Kansas City, MO attending the ONETHING conference and THECALL. (www.thecall.com) there were many seminars during the day and lots of worship and teachings during the main sessions. one of the common issues mentioned among many of the teachers, preachers and speakers was the issue of immorality in our nation, and not only our nation, but also rampant in the church today. sadly, this is not a surprise to most. we have already seen the downfall of many religious personalities through the media. but before we're so quick to condemn the televangelist, have we taken a look at our own life? recently, i read a study that said between 20 to 37 percent of pastors are currently struggling with pornography addiction. These were the pastors that admitted it...

if the shepherd struggles, how much more the sheep? pornography has infiltrated the eyes and mind of young and old alike. in church counseling, around 25% of the issues are pornography addictions. the WORD of God says (Matt. 6:22-23) 22"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"

God wants our eyes...

God is not an angry, old school teacher with a wooden ruler and large crooked nose waiting for the opportunity to whack us when we fidget. Sometimes i forget and think God's like that. I'm scared to mess up cause i think He's gonna send a lightning bolt my way and laugh as i get fried.

This is not the God i serve. He is a Father, a Lover and a King. God wants our gaze. Even when we are weak. "dark, yet lovely" (taken from Solomon's Song of Songs), is believed to be a description of God's love for us in our weakness. When He has our gaze, he reveals more about Himself to us

Psalm 27:4
One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.

What We Embrace is What We Become...
So how do we flee sin? keep our eyes focused on the One who desires our gaze. When be behold true beauty, the lesser things become more despised...in other words, when we focus on Jesus, our desire for Him is greater and our desire for sin lessens...

So, we must "watch" our eyes...the human heart is "desperately wicked above all things"...when we see immorality, violence and ungodliness, our heart is strangely drawn toward these things...unless our eyes are already fixed on something greater...The beauty of God.