NTM

Maybe it’s age, or maybe it’s just the fact that we are enjoying the laid back lifestyle, but photos and long stories just aren’t our things these days!

We’re having a wonderful time with our children and grand-kids and thankfully, John’s leg has healed nicely and he’s off the crutches and getting around fine.

Our week consisted of the guys building the canoe, Sandi doing some mending for Jen, Discipleship class, and John building a tree house for the kiddies.

Since we aren’t into photos, and the ones we do take aren’t that great, thought we’d pass on some sites where you can great photos of the kids as well as of the area where we are!

www.pricefamilyupdates.blogspot.com   is a documentary of the Bible Studies and areas that we are visiting weekly.  Matt and Erin were here just before us and she took thousands of excellent photos!

www.sjhagen.blogspot.com  is done by Jen and she captures the fun side of our excursions and adventures, as well as postings about the Agta and the areas they are working in.

So, the only thing you are missing is photos of US!   Trust me when I say, at our age, it isn’t that great to see us anymore! 

Thanks for your prayers!

One of the Agta villages has been dependent for years on canoes as their main means of transportation.  As Steve met with the Chieftain, he found out that the trees used for the canoes are almost all gone. 

With his dad in tow, they decided to try out a Ferro Cement canoe!

(remember, to click on any picture for a larger version!)

This isn’t a few hour job, but over the course of 3 days, the guys taught the villagers

• how to prepare the sand
• how to cover an existing canoe with plastic and wire to use as the framework for the new canoe
• how to mix the cement
• how to fill in the framework
• how to apply a second coat
• how to wait!

There’s a lot involved, but I don’t want to bore you with all the details, but be in prayer as the men go back in a week to take the canoe off the shell and then "sink" it in the water for a few weeks to cure.

The village men were so excited about the whole project and pitched in to help wherever they could.  The whole idea is to give them a means to do this project themselves and both Steve and John learned some things along the way.

Check out the Canoe Project photo album for more pictures!

After a 24 hour transition of planes, trains and customs, we made it to the Philippines.  What a welcome sight it was to see our children and grandkids.  Our hearts were full to overflowing to see them and to realize that  a lot of prayers and financial giving went into making this happen-THANK YOU!

Our trip started out simply enough by loading up the luggage and heading to St. Louis International Airport where we thankfully met the 70# limit on teach of he 3 bags.   We actually had a pound and a half to spare.  Our 4th checked-in bag was actually a wakeboard-a surprise for the grandkids!

 The bad news was that John, as he lifted one of the bags, turned and pulled a major leg muscle in his lower calf.  He knew right away that it wasn’t good!  So, after icing it and hailing a wheelchair, we headed off.  It was pretty obvious he wasn’t going anywhere on his own, so from that point on, we were given extra special care as he was escorted from termnal to terminal and airport to airport.  I did find it ironic that I was left to carry my 2 carry ons and usually just walked behind the wheelchairs and John’s escort.

Getting through customs, gate and plane changes was no problem at all-and did I mention the extra leg room on the plane as we were given bulk head seats so he could stretch and elevate his leg!

We had to overnight in Manila, so on the kids recommendation, they found us a wheelchair and got us into a Dr. that same afternoon.  He was great and diagnosed the pulled muscle that attaches to the Achilles tendon-hah!  No wonder John couldn’t move his toes without pain!   He suggested crutches and laying low for a few days and said he thought within a couple of weeks John would be back to normal.  It’s now been 5 days and he’s doing much, much better and actually is only using one crutch as a cane. 

Thanks for all the prayers for him-we’re sure they have made a big difference in the healing time.

For now, check out the following blog to get some updated pictures of us and our grandkids!   My dauther-in-law is so gifted in writing and photography so I’m going to take advantage of her publishing skills.  I’ll post some first insights soon!

www.sjhagen.blogspot.com

Sandi for the family

Pray as John and Sandi turn over their ministries to others for the next 9 weeks.   Both of them have put in additonial time training and preparing others. 

Pray for Bob and Jeannette as they carry the bulk of the responsibilities.

 Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand-here we come!    There’s been a lot of instant messaging over the last few days as we continue to plan, buy and pack for our trip to see our children and grandkids.  Who would have imagined that we’d be taking a Wake-board for the grandkids, or that we’d pack a portable grill or over a 100 batteries?  The stuff is rolling in and we’re finding the largest suitcases we can to be able to take everything that has either been bought or given to them.

It’s been almost 2 years since we’ve seen our kids and in that span of time they’ve learned the language and are working with a indigenous group of people.  One of the highlights of our trip, besides seeing them, is getting to visit the Agta people of the Bikol region.  In recent months, they have started a number of different bible studies with this people group.  The Agta are a nomadic, hunter-gatherer group.  They are scattered all over the Bikol region-primarily in the mountains and somewhat along the river ways.  As a result, we’ll get to boat, hike and drive to the various areas!  

For Sandi’s sake, we’re hoping very little strenuous hiking as her knees and feet aren’t in the best shape these days!

John is hoping to help build a playground for the grandkids out of bamboo and local products and Steve is thinking of trying a ferro cement project involving canoes-as only a Hagen can imagine!

During our side trips we’ll get to visit one of the largest MK (Missionary Kids) Boarding schools in the world in Chiang Mai, Thailand as well as travel interior in Malaysia.

Thanks to each of you for your prayers as we embark on this adventure!  

In a recent post, I mentioned the DAO people who were hearing the gospel for the first time.  Since then, they have not only heard about Christ’s sacrifice for their sin, but many have responded.

Thank the Lord with us for the salvation of these dear souls and for the discipleship that Jenny and Scott will be doing.

It didn’t take long to realize that Scott and Jennie were the "real thing"!   They both had a passion and desire for the Lord and His Word that spoke volumes to us. 

I asked Scott one time about his long hair.  How would he ever raise financial support going into churches with long hair?   He response went something like this, and I’ll never forget it.  He said, I will do whatever I have to in order to preach the gospel.  For a while that meant using the tattoos on my legs to generate interest among other skaters.  I’ll cut my hair if it’s an offense to church people.  I’ll live a spartan lifestyle if it brings one person to Christ. 

Wow!  Pretty dynamic words from some pretty dynamic folks.  It seems like just yesterday that they headed to Indonesia and there are now two Dao people who have heard the gospel and responded. 

The amazing story is too long to share here, but please, go to the following link.  We praise the Lord for faithful folks like Scott and Jennie and for the opportunity that John and I had to get to know them.

http://www.ntm.org/news/5153

Sandi’s step-dad recently went home to be with the Lord.  Pray for Sandi’s mom as she adjusts to life without her mate.  Orland brought joy into my mom’s life these past 15 years and was a great second dad.  We’ll all miss him but glad that his days of suffering are over.

 Let’s face it – English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren’t invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren’t sweet, are meat. We take English for granted But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don’t fing, grocers don’t groce and hammers don’t ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn’t the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn’t it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

PS. – Why doesn’t "Buick" rhyme with "quick"

You lovers of the English language might enjoy this

There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is "UP."

It’s easy to understand UP , meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP ? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP ? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report ?

We call UP our friends. And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car . At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special .

And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP . We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.

We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP ! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP , look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don’t give UP , you may wind UP with a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP . When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP

When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP .

When it doesn’t rain for awhile, things dry UP .

One could go on and on, but I’ll wrap it UP , for now my time is UP , so……….. it is time to shut UP…..!
________________________________________

It’s happening!   

John and I booked our tickets for the Philippines this past week.  We decided that as the funds came in we would move ahead by faith and start the process of making this trip happen.  We are so excited and can’t wait till September!

We were so thankful to use a travel agency that helped us find a great deal on flying in and out of Manila.  Our children are about 12 hours south of there so we will be flying a smaller airline down to their neck of the woods.

So, what’s next?    Passports, visas and  shots!   Pray as we submit our passports this week and start the process of shots (anyone want to take our place for this?).

We’re still looking into visiting some other Southeast Asia countries as finances permit.  Pray for wisdom on these decisions!

Remember these dates!  Sept. 5 thru Nov. 11th!