Dear Friends and family,
 
Our time in Bontoc, Philippines is winding down. We will be leaving for Baguio on Thursday, spend a few days there, then fly out of Manila on Nov 1.
 
This past weekend we went to a village Sagasawgan, I think, whicb was about 1 hour down river, then one hour up into the hills. We climbed to about 7,000 ft.  It is difficult to describe the raw beauty of the country side here. The river canyon was steep, and twisting. Huge rocks clung to the canyon walls. Trees and greenery covered the walls except where the soil was primarily rock. The river was flowing quick enough to be dangerous for swimming. However, there were many green pools which were lined with large rock walls that invited the diver in me!  The road was one lane mostly, about 500 feet above the river, with some two lane for short stretches. There has been some upgrading in areas that experience landslides. We traveled again by Jeepney, (think a longbed Jeep with benches in the rear, seating for 18, covered, with luggage rack on top.) Several of our team traveled on top with the luggage. The views from the top were spectacular!
 
In Sagasawcan, on Saturday evening, we showed the “Jesus” flim in the local dialect, Igorot. There were perhaps 50 of the locals who came to the improvised outdoor theatre, in the light rain, to watch the movie.
 
Sunday morning we divided into two teams to attend two different churches. The team I was with went to a neighboring village, Seganda. This village, an hour away, like many here has no interior roads. We walked down steep paths, mostly paved with concrete,  across the edge of the rice terraces, through neighborhoods, to the local church. Many of the homes which are usually one or two rooms with an outhouse,  have ajoining pig pens.
 
We were pleased to see that they had a childrens program in a neighboring home along with the service for adults. One of the local DTS* students led the worship, and our student Tom taught. I assisted by leading a song on the fruit of the Spirit. I was told that I didn’t need to carry my guitar to the church as there would be one there for me. Despite tuning for several minutes, I couldn’t get it in tune. I’m not sure that it is even possible. So, I sounded quite a bit like many of the guitarist that I have heard in the past several weeks. Awful by my trained ear…. normal to theirs.!!??  
 
The church was largly  women and children. There were about 40 total, with maybe 4 men. The music was enthusiastic, with many songs sung in English which we knew. I was glad to see that they also sung a song in their dialect that one of the DTS students wrote. I know that God knows their language, and while it is easy for Americans to worship in English, I’m convinced that the local dialect affords the native a more intimate worship experience.
 
Sunday was also Carol’s birthday. We realized that her past three birthdays have been away from home! Haiti, Alaska, and the Philippines! (I need to find her a cake!)
 
Today we spent time praying with the first of the CDTS* students. We will pray for one per day for the next week or so. Many of them don’t know what their future looks like. Most have quit jobs of long standing in order to come to our school. Carol and I can relate! In 2004 we quit our jobs, sold our homes, gave away our car etc… God has been faithful. We can share our story. We can share that our plans have changed along the way, but He remains the same. Our “outreach” is not just for 8 weeks, but has become a lifestyle. The principles we have been taught of hearing God’s voice, and walking by faith have been exciting and scary… but in hind sight, mostly exciting.
 
This is the first time that Carol and I have staffed an outreach team. We have our own stories, but most of the stories are theirs. Again, I would invite you to read the blogs of the team members. 
Thank you again for your prayers and support! This walk of faith has been quite an adventure! We have been transformed, The Kingdom Of God has been expanded in us, and we have been a vital part in the transformation of many others.
 
Grace and peace to you,
Fred and Carol
 
Again here are the links to our coworkers blogs. There are many pictures available there!
http://fullquiver8.blogspot.com/
 
http://garden-of-grace.blogspot.com/