Kementian News, 12-30-07 Edition

12-30-07 Kementian News

Howdy everyone!

I'm sure you are all wondering what my Christmas was like. To tell you that I need to fill in a few small details.

Wendy's parents came in for a visit last Friday (the 21^st) for their first visit to the project in ten years. Wendy's been quite adamant about them not coming in because she didn't feel comfortable with them hiking the trail. So now that the helicopter is here, they were able to fly in without having to mess with the trail. Watching them hike around the valley here, I totally agree with Wendy's assessment of their hiking ability. They could probably make the trail, but it would be an issue of unnecessary worry.

Normally we are not allowed to even think about entering Wendy's hut (she's a single female and thats wrong on both our social standards and even more wrong in the social standards of the Palawan people) though since her folks have been here and staying with her, we've been allowed to go and visit for meals and various other gatherings.

Leonda George came down with malaria on the 18^th and was in no condition to host a Christmas dinner from then till the 27^th. So our Christmas dinner was provided for us by Wendy's parents.

They really went the extra mile. (Kilometer since I'm in the RPI?) We had rolls, specially carried in from the lowlands, we had stuffing, we had cranberry sauce, we had mashed potatoes and gravy, we had FriChik just about everything thats supposed to be at a proper Adventist Christmas meal. In fact the only thing that I felt was missing from the meal was my grandmother's gluten.

Christmas day itself wasn't really anything spectacular save for the meal. Well, I guess we did get a day off which is an absolutely astounding deal up here. Even our Sabbath's are packed with things from sunrise to sunset. It was nice to have a chance to do whatever I wanted.

Chris, Michelle (A former SM), and Bubit (A Palawan thats off at Mountain View College) were able to hike in on the 24^th to join us for Christmas. We were starting to wonder if we were going to have to launch another Holiday Rescue Mission© when they didn't show up when we expect them. They did make it safely, even with the really slippery trail (The rainy season decided to come back for a visit the first of last week). We are already wondering what kind of Holiday Rescue Mission© we are going to have to mount for Valentines day...

I had a good Christmas, but the pervading fact that I wasn't going to be able to spend it with my family left a permanent shadow over the day. I'll be the first to admit that I was envious of Wendy's parents getting to come for a visit. It helps when they are already here in the RPI, its just too expensive to fly anyone here during the holidays.

As a result of Leonda being sick, we weren't able to get our Internet time in, so I apologize for not getting to everyone's emails in a reasonable time.

I am in need of your continued prayers regarding my relationship and interaction with my supervisor. To say that we clash would be akin to saying that the Empire State building is kinda tall: an incredible understatement. There's a differing of opinion on what the cause of the problem is as well.

I ask that you keep both of us in your prayers as we work to resolve this difference. I am working quite hard to be optimistic that this can be worked out though my gut is telling me that its only going to build and get worse as time goes on.

I pray that each and every one of you had a wonderful Christmas, hopefully surrounded by family and friends.

I also would like to wish you a slightly early HAPPY NEW YEAR! If you'd like to find out what next year's like, give me a call and I'll tell you as I'm about 14hrs ahead of most of you so I'll get there first.

Belated Merry Christmas, early Happy New Year, and I pray that everyone is doing well and enjoying this holiday season

Take care and God bless!

Nathan

Kementian New. 12-16-07 Edition

Kementian News. 12-16-07 Edition

Howdy to everyone!

Things are pretty much going the same as they have been for the last three months. This email marks nearly 13 weeks for me here in the Philippines. Just over 1/3 of the time I'll be here. My, how time does fly.

Rain's slacked off a bit, which has allowed the trails to dry out and be much less treacherous.

My language learning has progressed to some degree. Still not nearly as far as i would like, but thats to be expected. Wouldn't it be nice if we could just 'install' another language as easily as a program can be installed on a computer?

I managed to stick my foot with a saw Wednesday of last week. No, its not dangling by a piece of skin or anything like that, just a small gash between the last two toes on my right foot. I took some pictures of it, but as usual, the Internet doesn't allow me to upload them.

On the bright side, I do have a DVD of pictures en route to the folks, so hopefully a few of the good ones will make it to the Internet from there.

The clinic was dormant while Dwayne took of to Manila to get some stuff done with the Govt there and to pick up a fellow GMI pilot to come look at the project. When Dwayne got back, it was discovered that Jonathan (the other pilot) has a history of home construction so the plywood is down on the floor, the walls are framed and its time to start pulling wire for electrical. This is an amazing amount of progress considering all the delays that were thrown up due to discussions about how the clinic was to be laid out which should have taken place before the construction began.

The Kensuli and Kementian schools had their Christmas plays this past week. They came off quite well and the kids seemed to have fun.

After the programs there was various fun and games for which I served as a bit of a half-time show by doing a little tumbling. (no, I didn't have a wardrobe malfunction) I wish there'd been some grass to tumble on, as the dirt was quite hard and strewn with small rocks. So the folks didn't get a decent sampling of what tumbling is. I was very much wishing for a trampoline, but the thought of carrying it in on that trail quickly expelled that idea from my mind!

Thank you all for your continued prayers and emails, its very much appreciated!

Take care and God bless!

Nathan