Last Post

It has been a crazy couple of days.  Adam worked with a large crew on Saturday really trying to a house finished and it is looking really good right now. The family is moving in tonight and spending their first night in it. It is so nice to see how excited they are when they walk around each room and it really sinks in that this is their new home. Even though it is such a simple home, it is more than they have ever lived in and will make their lives just a little easier.

Here is the after of the house we have been working on. Windows are in now and doors, it just needs the electrical and CR room finished.

We spent most of this last weekend saying good bye to many dear friends. We had 4 going away parties and dinners with friends from the DRC office, almost everyone came about 40 of us, (beachfront cookout/restaurant), congregation (2 group dinners and a gathering with some families we worked for. Got caught up in everything and forgot to take photos:(  We gave some speeches this morning after morning worship because that is when everyone is together and it got very emotional for all 3 of us, Ron is leaving the day after us. After Watchtower study we had a special treat for dessert Mango Float, which was great and they gave us our special T-shirts they made for us, love them and never thought I would see Adam wearing gold hehehe



Adam gave a talk on Sunday (below), will have his last part Tuesday night at our congregation meeting and has morning worship Wednesday, the morning we leave the island. Tomorrow we are spending finishing up a house and Adam is making a gift for team B that we will give them tomorrow afternoon.

Adam wearing his barong for his public talk

So this is probably going to be our last post for the trip…

Thank you for following us along on this special assignment. It is among the most interesting and profound assignments we have had. All of our assignments remind us that we are part of a truly amazing brotherhood and part of a beautiful organization. The demonstration of Jehovah’s love for his people and mankind is so encouraging and motivates us to do all we can for him.

Thanks for your messages, we are getting them everyday: Frank’s, Rumpler’s, Nicholson’s, Murray’s, Jones’s, Martin’s, Skrivanich’s, Stimpson’s, Hedstrom’s, Canady’s & Carter’s.

Farewell Friday....

Today was such a busy day….everything came together as hoped and and we began fixing the home of the little sick boy Isa that we visited early in the month. This is a before shot of the home when we began…this home will be a custom framed home because of the existing concrete walls etc. So all framing took place on site.

We did not have any ladders and we needed a scaffold badly. Our bamboo shipment arrived via our DRC truck below and our expert carpenter Aaron put this beautiful scaffold together for us!

We got a lot accomplished in the morning but we needed to sneak away for a going away party in the San Jose area at 12 noon. These are the 6 families we built homes for and we got very close to each of them as we worked side by side with each of the them and ate together. All of them were so, so happy for their beautiful new homes, one sister (a mother of 3 children in their teens) said this was the first time in her entire life that she was going to have her own room! Br. Eugene arranged it because he wanted to say thank you, so everyone came together for an amazing lunch and ice cream, it was such a treat! When it was time to say our final farewells, there were many tears….

eating the favorite local flavor of ice cream:)

Team B, just missing Mandy and Jesron

We were given some precious thank you gifts and this is one below from a pioneer brother who built a home for! We were really touched.

We came back to the site we were working at 2pm to find a huge group of local volunteers that joined us. It was such a great spirit and a lot was done!

our version of a compactor made on site today:)

This is our adopted son WenJon, we just love this boy. Everyone calls him our son at the office. He calls us ate denise and kowan adam, it was explained to us that these are expressions that are for very close family connection like and older brother or sister:)

Br. Denmark one of the KHCG brothers went to get drinks and a snack for us at the local shop. The shop workers were asking how they could join our religion, they have been just amazed how this house was going up so fast and it is so nice in comparison to most homes in the area. Even though their intentions may not be correct, the public witness that is being given and glory to Jehovah’s name is tremendous in the entire city here.

We ended the night at our place, I arranged a spa night for the 3 office girls, mani’s, pedi’s and a massage. 4 local sisters came and offered to do it for us. Joy, Eden and Jalynn were completely surprised. These girls work long hours, with cooking assignments, working all day and cleaning up at the end of the day assignments. They are truly devoted and live a simple life dedicated to serving Jehovah. Sorry forgot to take pictures of it.

Adam worked on his talk for the weekend and then joined the husbands and other brothers after in the room next door where Ron has been staying.

It was a great long day!

Last Days and Counting....

A lot of training has been going on this week. We came to the time when door knobs and electrical work needed to be installed along with many more windows. Adam saw the only way to make things go quicker was to purchase a circular saw so that the guys can stop cutting the plywood with handsaws and be able to finish these homes at a faster pace.  The boys were very excited and Adam gave them a training lesson on using it, installing door knobs and more.

We received a shipment of materials recently, the driver was supposed to arrive at 9pm but instead ended up arriving at 12:30am, so the boys at the hub unloaded the materials and were definitely tired the next morning and rightly so. So the overseer said they could sleep in a little in the am.

It is a busy week of spiritual assignments again, comments for morning worship for me, Adam highlights and a public talk this weekend. It will be a nice way to wrap up.

Do you remember the little sick boy that we visited? Adam really wanted to do something to fix their house a little. The problem we faced is that the mom rents and does not own the home. The homeowner said he did not want metal framing to be used to fix the house only wood. Well, after some conversations with the owner he finally just agreed. Now the rush to get the materials and a team ready to do it this weekend as well. Let’s pray it all comes together!

We can’t believe we have just under a week left here, the emotions are starting to build that we will have to say goodbye. But we will cherish our memories here forever.

New Teams, Windows and Doors and Lots of Love...

A thank you gift a sister had made for us, she said maybe one day in the new world we will both have children:( Notice the two little baby bears on the lap? She cannot have children which is huge disappointment in the Philippine culture, she has cysts on her ovaries and doens't have the means to help that right now...she is so precious and we love them!

New numbers have been coming in and now the need for complete new homes needed is at 195. Things are being adjusted daily to speed up the installation of the new pre-fab homes. We started with 3 teams and now we have teams A-E. The latest team left Monday to travel about 6 hours to erect 3 homes and put foundations in there. We don't expect to see them before we leave next week and we are a little sad.  2 of the brothers Adam trained on the first house to go up, we have become really close but they are ready to run a crew on their own now from start to finish. This must kind of the same feeling for parents when you train your kids and they leave the nest to go out on their own doing something special for Jehovah,  we are so very proud and happy for them!

Installing the windows and doors have been tricky, the original plans had the framing at a certain size but when the doors came, they did not match the framed openings, so a little adjustments had to be made on site but it is going. Now the changes on all the pre fab walls will be made at the pre fabrication site.

Some of the neighborhoods we are working near....

Thanks Kim & Jen for the little toys, this little boy James was so sick lying here with the flu but loved his little toy:) 

Adam and little Jared became fast friends, the reason we included this picture is to show that this is the shelter Jared, his 2 younger brothers and parents have been living since the typhoon. A simple tarped area with their family bed and few belongings......They are so, so excited to have their new home going up!

This little boy Jared begged his parents to stay home this day so he could meet us and work with us, he became my little painting helper:)

Another Week Wrapping Up!

It has been an eventful week for many reasons...We took the day to head to Ilio Ilio, a big city about 3 hours drive to extend our visas and Ron's. What a different city from where we are staying...it was not affected by the typhoon at all and it gave us a real sense of what this island was really like before the storm. When we arrived at the immigration office we were met by two other KHCG brothers and with their help typing up a letter and also showing our official invitation for disaster relief work from world headquarters in an email, our fees were waived (3000 pesos each = approx. $75) and we were thanked for all of our help here. It was a really good witness and a nice precedent has been set for any other international volunteers that may come and replace us.
We had some really, really, really good pizza and it was such a treat from the normal diet we have had since we arrived!

The rains seemed to break this week and for the first time since we arrived in Panay on 2/4, we saw this...

3 sisters from 3 families that we are rebuilding for, they prepare all of our lunches and mariendas for the day. It is different than going back to the office for lunch and even though it can be strange delicacies at times,  it is so heartwarming to see their hard work making a fire, chopping, cleaning and even plucking feathers at times:)

Fried fish heads for lunch!

We have to tell you about sweet brother Bong below.....one of Adam's favorite brothers...he has been helping us with the rebuilding of homes in his area of San Jose. He is so hard working and sweet! He recently came into the truth, 1 1/2 years ago and when you ask him how he came into the truth, he says "I wasn't searching for the truth, the truth found me in Manila when I was working there" The witnesses came to his door and he accepted a study. He was only 1 month away from getting his black belt and was heavily involved with martial arts. That is why he said his hands are so strong. When he learned about how Jehovah feels about martial arts, he discontinued but he had to tell his master about his decision and it was not an easy one. His master literally was so angry he wanted to physically fight him. He received a ton of persecution from his very catholic family as well. He met Jerry another older brother who was in Manila also at the time and they became friends. Jerry lived in Panay and travels a lot so he asked Bong to come to Panay and watch his house when he travels but he just ended up staying and lives with Jerry now. Br. Bong immediately became a regular pioneer as soon as he could after being baptized and now he really hopes to be invited into the KHCG group and has recently applied. Jerry told Adam, Bong's desire to help building KH's is so great that every night he asks Jerry if he could put the phone by his bed every night just in case bethel calls so he doesn't miss the call. Adam contacted the branch directly about this brother and hopefully his invitation is coming soon! Br. Bong said what he has learned from Jehovah is to be self sacrificing and now he said he can't even kill a chicken, which is typical behavior for getting food here. The truth truly has transformed a martial arts expert in a gentle, shy lamb.....

Btw the shed/shelter behind Bong is where he and Br.Jerry have been living since the typhoon. Their house was completely destroyed but they were only able to save a few things, the most precious to each of the families we have seen, their watchtower library. Do you see wrapped with a rope, so sweet. Adam wanted to get a picture of it but we did not want to be too obvious so we thought this picture of Bong painting their new house, pretty sums it all up! :)

Adam and Br. Jerry

We had one really crazy day here, on our drive from the office to the sites, we ran out gas, had to walk 1/2 kilometer to the gas station pushing the motorbike. Adam on his way to checking another site ran over and killed a chicken, so another local brother went with him to the owner to make a peace offering only to find the chicken plucked and in the boiling pot of water already, so all was ok. It was so funny Adam came back with his bike and 3 feathers adorning the handle bars hehehe!
On our way home the same day we had a flat tire, so I find myself sitting roadside at a cafe talking with strangers while Adam gets it fixed for 25 cents! The next morning on the way to work we hit a dog!! Yeah, animals just walking right out in front of you.....now we need a goat and cow and we will make it complete hahaha

That about wraps up our week, miss you all and see you soon!! xo

A Busy Couple of Days:)

So we were back to San Jose this week putting up houses. In 6 work days we put up 6 homes, so our team B is averaging one a day. The crew is going to be divided soon to send more out for site work preparation now that we are finishing in this particular area. We have gotten very close to the 6 families we have been building for. All with a varying circumstances....

We will have some more pictures to share and stories tomorrow, gotta run! xo

the boys waving to us as we arrived to the site of two houses, this group of boys stay with the local families in the area while we are rebuilding and come back to the hub on the weekends, we love these guys!

The is our sister who was recently baptized on my left and her daughter who is not a witness joined us in painting her moms new house. It has been a really great witness to non-believing family members and we hope one day she will want a bible study:)

Adam talking to our brother about his well....

Our team looking all official with our new shirts:)

one of the local brothers brought his guitar out for a few tunes during lunch, they wanted to hear Adam sing with the true american accent to american songs, it was funny!

Weekend Number 3....

All of our area had their assigned circuit assembly. We thought about attending but we would not understand any of it, so the brothers decided to work on Saturday and planned to attend the assembly on Sunday. The guys framed 2 more houses which they were happy about. We had many new brothers join our group for the rebuilding this weekend, so now our group is about 50 persons. It was such a nice experience attending the assembly with the brothers here. All of the families we have visited and rebuilt their homes were all there. Our hub was recently visited by the district overseer and when he saw us all there on Sunday, he said all the scriptures in English for us and highlighted the main points in English so we could understand during his talks. He made one reference when talking about the value of hard work and used the foreigners who are here working as an example in his talk. We were just a little embarrassed to say the least! Something that I don't think we mentioned is how much Philippino's love taking pictures!!! We were mobbed and it was a little overwhelming, at one point we strategically planned a way to get out of the assembly hall, it was tricky but we made it. The assembly hall is a rented center that was used as a shelter during the typhoon and then it was also used as a makeshift shelter after for many families. We learned that many of the brothers that came from isolated islands to attend the assembly stayed there overnight, slept on the floors and brought all of there personal belongings to make that happen. Truly an example of those that appreciate spiritual things....

during lunch

This is our entire DRC group that had this special banner made to say thank you to you our brothers in the US for their gifts that you sent and for your prayers of love and support!!

With our office staff/overseers and their wives, we have become really close!

with the district overseer and his wife