To the Ends of the Earth

Good morning! It is early morning here in Baguio City--the roosters are crowing, people are walking the streets blowing their little horns (much like the kind on a bicycle) selling their special foods and I'm awake--thinking about my schedule for the day! Also, making plans for my trip to Palanan valley next week, taking in another woman who will be the speaker for the week as well as taking in special goodies (including homemade brownies and banana bread) that will add to the rice and fish that is their daily menu.

It will be a very long bus ride (not very comfortable seats, many stops along the way to pick up more passengers and letting others off, and no air con) next Monday, then spend the night at a mission house in Bagabag, and the next morning we will fly in 6-seater plane over the Sierra Madre mountains 45 minutes into the Palanan valley.

There are NO roads connecting this valley with the rest of the world. People living in palanan say "going out" when they talk about leaving the valley (by plane, foot, or boat). And if you are in Palanan, you are "inside". People from Palanan call anyone who's not born there a "foreigner" even if they're from just over the mountains. Very isolated.

God is building His kingdom there. These people have a vision to become international missionaries and are wanting to reach out to others "outside" because they want to tell people what He's done. They want the "foreigners" to have relationship with their Father.

Isaiah 62:10-12 is the scripture God gave our team for this training school--
"Go, through, go through the gates; prepare the way for the people;
build up, build up the highway; clear it of stones; lift up a signal over the peoples.
"Behold, the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth;
Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your salvation comes;
behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
"And they shall be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord;
and you shall be called Sought Out, a city Not Forsaken."

We see this scripture as His special word for these people. He has redeemed them. He has called them to Himself. And He will send them out--to regions beyond what they know now. We are only a part of what He is doing among these special people.

Please be praying for these Palanan and Agta people as well as for our staff team. This is God's anointed time -- we don't want anyone to miss anything He has. He has called us to "host in humility." That requires wisdom and sensitivity to Him and others. And please pray that when words don't translate that His spirit would translate to their hearts.

We've seen Him part the waters as we put our feet into the "river" and walk ahead on dry land.

It is going to be another "good day."
Lois