A FLU AND A FUNERAL

CFM, Bambang, Nueva Vizcaya - I am home now, at last!  We arrived from Manila early Saturday morning.  We left for Sta. Clara (a village south of Bambang) after a few hours of sleep to go to my uncle's funeral.  It was raining that day and the road going up the mountains was so muddy and slippery that at one point, the men had to pull the double-tired jeep when it got stuck in the mud but the strength of  four men was no match to the heavy iron and steel and rubber weight of the jeep.  We could have left it there but it was carrying 3 sacks of rice and a huge pig that's going to be butchered at the funeral.  Anyway, some men came down from the village and they helped us free the jeep from the mud and so off we went until we reached the part of road where going on with the vehicle is no longer an option. 

We abandoned the jeep there and started hiking.  It was good I listened to my husband when he told me to wear his rubber shoes or I would have gone with my 3-inch heeled sandals (hey, it's a 'hiking' sandal, if there is one)  and I would have been a sight....slipping in the mud every half a minute.  I could have bought rubber boots but there was just no time that morning as I was still dizzy and feverish from the flu I caught in Manila that I did not feel like navigating my way thru the mob of noisy vendors and buyers in the marketplace. So anyway, the men strapped the pig on a pole and carried it on their shoulders.  They divided the cavans of rice, 1 cavan for 2 people and off we climbed.  We arrived after an hour of brisk walking under the rain.  A few minutes after our arrival, we started the memorial service and then the burial rites after that. 

Flashback to Manila:  My last week in Manila was terribly difficult. A 40-degree temperature, a headache that felt like someone is drilling a hole into my head using a jackhammer, and made me feel like my eyeballs might pop out any minute, assailed me on Tuesday night and did not let up until last Saturday.  In spite of feeling under the weather, I still had to force myself to wake up every morning and go to school.  I did not want to finish the phase with a record of 4-days of absence even if it kills me.  Hehe! 

PTL, I'm ok now.  I was telling a friend in Manila that a change of air from the Manila smog to the Nueva Viscaya breeze, and a change of scenery, from the Manila drab grey to the sprawling CFM greens would surely do me a lot of good.  Indeed, it was true.  My symptoms improved the moment I opened my eyes that Saturday morning and smelled the freshly mowed grass outside my window.  I actually just went out barefoot and walked the lawns back and forth.  It was pure delight!  How I've waited to do just that.

Being home and all, it's starting to feel like I've never left.  I guessed that is good. 

Praise and Prayers

Praise and thanks be to YHWH for:

1.  A successful teaching stint in Alliance Graduate School.  It was a productive learning experience for me. 

2.  The new people I met and the impact that their lives have made on mine.

3.  Protection, endurance, commitment and love for the task.  The Lord has sustained me as I struggled through the length of time that I needed to stay in Manila.

4.  Ten units of brand new Dell Laptops for the NPMTTA.

5. Strength, comfort and love He has given and shown my uncle's family as they let go of their husband and father into God's hand after his two-month long battle with cancer.

Please continue to pray for:

6.  Sarah as she goes into the next phase of her linguistic training.  Pray also for healing of the viral infection on her skin. (Praise God also because she will be graduating comes April 6th with a Diploma in Applied Linguistics.)

7. Me as I decide on what courses to take in AGS distance learning program and to be able to manage my time wisely so I can maximize my learning and do my translation tasks and other related functions at the same time.

8. CFM Staff and Students.  That the staff shall continue to live authentic Christ-like lives and that the Gospel shall reach the hearts of the students who are still unbelievers.

9.  NPMTTA teams as we continue in our respective translations and dream to widen our visions beyond our own language projects.

10.  Lamentation Exegesis Workshop on Nov. 5-16, 2007.  Please pray for the facilitator and the prospective participants, that they shall be able to prepare all the necessary teaching modules (facilitators) and draft translations and write-ups (participants) to bring to the workshops.

Thank you all for your support and prayers.