Teacups in the Jungle

      Well, we had a pretty-big-deal-kind-of-thing occur in our home this past week….we had a home makeover! I love watching those shows, were a team of skilled men come in and revamp a place in just a few days and leave a family teary eyed and full of joy to see their home transformed. I always thought that must be such a great thing to happen. Well it is! We had three men from N.Ireland come all the way to build on on an extra room to our house, and it far surpassed my expectations.

      Our house was built for a couple, actually for a Norwegian couple, they lived in it for a few years. Then they moved out and we (a Californian-N.Irish) couple moved in! We lived there for quite a few years just the two of us. Then much to our joy little Miss Izzy came along and we did some rearranging in the house. The “office” became Izzy’s room along with the fridge and freezer and our solar equipment. We then put a table at the bottom of our bedroom so Danny and I could take turns studying in there. Then, again much to our joy, little Judah man came along and we moved the desk at the bottom of our room back out and baby Judah moved in. (Great swap by the way). Danny and his books then moved to the table in the middle of living room. Let’s just say it was hard for him to concentrate, hard for a two year old to understand leaving “Papa-Daddy” alone for a while. Hard for a mama to keep the baby quiet and very annoying to have to move all the books and papers every time we needed to eat. We really needed more space but we needed help to get it done. Our time is limited, our resources are limited our skills are limited….we needed a team of guys to come and help us and the Lord sent along the three men that we needed and He provided all the finances we needed to get the materials necessary for building. 

      Well last Monday the hammering started….and I had could not believe that after just 6 days the room was totally built. Walls up, roof on, all wired for electric, painted (4 coats) floor down, the whole lot done and completed. They even made Danny and I a desk each.…his and her desks!! It really is a dream come true. To say thank you to these guys just doesn’t seem enough, we are so grateful for all their hard work.

      Here are some photos of our little home and the changes so you can appreciate all the work as much as  we do….and to prove this all did not just happen in my imagination!

Before the team arrived Danny and some men in the village got the foundations ready

After just one day of working the walls were going up! Amazing.

Working in the heat of the day. Some scary moments (for me) when they were up on that roof.

All of a sudden we had the shell of a room!

Then the work on the inside started. Replacing a wall that was full of termites…..felt good!

Painting started! Izzy calls it “The Special Room” and little J loves the space to roam!

4 coats of paint, floor down in an hour, plugs fitted, windows put in, and we have a beautiful room!!

The door to the “special room” is where the dining room window used to be.

Last day they still wanted to “finish it off”. 🙂

Now I just feel spoiled! “His and Her Desks!” Love this!!

Here are the three men with a job well done and the extension behind them….literally. THANK YOU TO (L-R) NIGEL, NORMAN and GEOFFRY.

      So there you have it. We have a practical and yet beautiful room added to our house. It will make such a difference to us to have some more space and we are so grateful to all who have been involved, and let me tell you there were a lot of people involved. Many times people at home will say to me, “I could never do what you do living way out in the middle of nowhere’. I hope you know that I can’t do it either…..by myself.  It is only because of the grace of God, His call on my life and all the wonderful people who are “behind the scenes” that I can be here living where I am. We are a team. We are brothers and sisters in Christ living out lives of obedience to our Heavenly Father. We are from all sorts of different backgrounds and cultures being co-laborers together with God for His great purpose and glory. We are a group of people that are committed to seeing the gospel go forth to the uttermost parts of the world. We can’t all be the missionaries in the tribe, we need missionaries to be support workers to run guesthouses. We need missionaries willing and gifted to run language schools and missionary kids schools. We need people to do maintenance and buy supplies for those living in remote villages. We need missionaries to serve in offices in Manila  looking after finances and working on all our visas and paperwork. We need missionary pilots to bring families and supplies to the remote places where we live and be “on call” in cases of emergencies. We need people to be involved in missions from the other side of the world, to pray for missionaries and pray for the salvation of precious souls. This is all team work for the sake of the gospel. No one is more important than the other, we need each other, we support one another and ultimately as each of us follows after God and uses the gifts that God has given to us, His Word goes forth to the unreached people of this world. One village at a time, for His great Name’s sake. 

      So thank you to all who support us, encourage us, pray for us and work along side us as we seek to take the wonderful news of salvation to the unreached people in the North of Palawan. 

We are thanking God for each of you.
Love Philippa.

Judah.

      These final pictures have nothing to do with our room being built. However I know my mother thinks a blog post isn’t worth reading unless there is a photo or two of her grand babies! Happy Mother’s Day Mum. Love you. xx

Izzy turned 2 1/2 last week and yes we had a little party. 🙂