God's Word is Gold

   The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has a booklet written by Charlie Rigg titled Practicing His Presence.  On page 24 of the 2005 edition, Mr. Rigg compares the Bible to a gold mine:          "The Bible is a gold mine to be explored and claimed.   Put on your miner's cap, take up your pick and shovel and begin to dig.   As you find a nugget, file a claim -- claim the promise.   You will soon realize how rich you are in Jesus Christ." 

   I want to borrow from Mr. Rigg and compare the Bible to a gold mine.   Every few posts, I will insert a nugget/promise that God has given me during my travels and years in the Philippines.   

Talented Americana

   My first few days in the Philippines - Agoo, LaUnion to be exact- I lived with the Clevelands.   Then, I moved in and boarded with the pastor and his wife -- Pastor Andrew and Julie.   

Pastor Andrew and Julie with their children in 2007.   

   I was given my own room and my own mosquito net.   I became an expert at climbing into bed under the mosquito net and then tucking it carefully under the mattress so the mosquitoes wouldn't sneak inside.   Then, I had to be very careful to stay away from the edge of the mosquito net or they would eat me through the netting.   Such talents I acquired my first week in the country.   

   I also learned how to take a bath without a bathtub.   I had a water pump, a bucket, and a dipper.   No instructions.   I was simply shown to the bathroom -- or should I say, to the CR (comfort room) -- and given a bucket and a dipper.   I soon acquired the additional talent of taking a pour bath.   This means I simply scooped up the water with the dipper and poured it over my head.   That is after I filled the bucket by pumping it full from the water pump.   It was like this -- pump to fill the bucket, scoop water with the dipper until the water was gone from the bucket, pump to fill the bucket, scoop water with the dipper until the water was gone from the bucket, pump to fill the bucket, ..... until I was finished.   It was quite the workout.   (To this day I call getting clean with water taking a 'bath'.   I have been fussed at that a shower and a bath are two different things.   Well, to me getting clean with water is simply taking a 'bath'.)

   I also learned how to wash the dishes without running water.   I was becoming quite talented. It was like this -- Enter the CR and fill a bucket with water from the water pump.   Carry the bucket to the sink.  Wash all the dishes.   Return to the CR and fill the bucket again with water. Carry the bucket to the sink.   Rinse all the dishes.   Return to the CR and fill the bucket with water.   Carry the bucket to the sink.   Rinse all the dishes again.   Stack the dishes carefully so they will air dry.   I learned that rinsing the dishes twice made sure there was no soap left on them.   Ahhhh!!!   I bet you didn't know that.   

   I figure I was the most talented Americana living in the Philippines at that time.  

   I lived with Pastor Andrew and Julie for about six weeks.   Then, I discovered that the house next door to them was vacant.   So, I signed a contract with the owner of the house and moved in with my new friend, Olga.   Now, we had an upscale home compared to Pastor Andrew.  Our little house had running water and a shower.   Ahhhh!!!   I never did find the hot water heater.     Now, if I remember correctly, I was in the Philippines to be a teacher -- a talented teacher at that.   I guess I had better get started on my assignment now that I have a place to live.   

On Assignment with National Geographic

   I wish I had actual photos of my first few days in the Philippines.   I just remember seeing everything as if I were flipping through the pages of a National Geographic magazine.     I felt like I was on assignment.   Water buffalo wallowing in the mud, chickens scurrying to get across the street, motorcycles with 5 or more people on them, banana plants ripe for harvest, coconut palms silhouetted against the sunset, rice fields glistening in the afternoon sun, ....  It was all magical.  I remember thinking how glad I was that I had lived in Indiana for a few years.   The heat was amazing.   If I had gone from Colorado to the Philippines without the detour through Indiana, I think I would have actually melted.   

   Reality set in, this means that the magical National Geographic assignment abruptly ended, when I went to the bank and opened my bank account.  I was in the Philippines to stay.   I swallowed hard and faced my new assignment -- teacher to 5 missionary kids -- head on.   

   I discovered a small nipa hut (small house made of nipa grass) next to the Cleveland's home and started cleaning it out.   It became our schoolroom. We named ourselves the Nipa Hut Academy.   I had 5 students:  Julie in kindergarten, Jennifer in grade 4, Christine in grade 5, and Jobie and Johnny in grade 6.     I was working with two different missionary families.   Three students from one family and two from the other family.  I was excited to get started on this new assignment.   I was excited to see where this road would take me.   I was excited about the way that I was taking.  

   But first, I had to find a place to live.   

My Testimony

    Let me start at the beginning.   I am the eldest of three girls.   My dad was a wrestling coach; a man with the gift of helps.   My mom was a homemaker and had Good News Clubs in our home.   She instilled in me a love of teaching.   It was from her that I first learned how to be a teacher.   Dad and Mom taught the three of us to have faith in Jesus.   

     I came to know Jesus Christ as my Savior as a child in a Good News Club in Boulder, Colorado. It was good that I came to Jesus at an early age.   My personality was so strong that if I had come to Him later in life, it might have been too late.   I am so thankful that God got a hold of me when I was still young.   I will always be grateful for that.  

   When Mom started having Good News Clubs in our home, she slowly began helping me learn how to teach.   I first taught the songs.   Then the Bible verse.   Then the missionary story.  One step at a time.   I then began helping at our church with the summer Bible clubs and other outreaches into the neighborhoods. I even began teaching at Vacation Bible School.   I began to see that I loved teaching and being with kids.   

   When I was 15 years old, after saving my money for three years, I flew to Germany and spent 9 weeks with a missionary family.   It was a wonderful time for me.   I saw Europe, learned how to speak German, learned how to hang clothes on a clothesline, washed a lot of dishes, and saw missions first hand.   It was an important time for me.  I began wondering what God wanted me to do with my life.    

   After high school our family moved to Bloomington, Indiana.   I went to Taylor University in Upland, Indiana.   I majored in elementary education with a minor in early childhood.   I also participated in cross country and track.   I ran all of the long distance races: the 3000m, 5000m, and the 10,000m.   But, my love was cross country.   I loved running through the woods, jumping over ditches, getting muddy, smelling the dirt, and just being with the other gals on the team.   Being on those teams was important for me.   It taught me about working together to accomplish a common goal.   

   During college I was a summer missionary with Child Evangelism Fellowship.   One summer I taught 5-Day classes in Colorado and another summer I taught on the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea.   It was during the summer in Cyprus when I realized that God wanted me to work on the mission field. God wanted me to teach the children of the world about Him.   

   While I was in Cyprus a missionary family, the Clevelands, visited my parents at their home in Indiana.   The wife, Helen, asked my mother, "Do you think Valerie would be interested in coming to the Philippines to homeschool our children?"   Mom said she would mention it to me.   Well, to make a long story short, after one year of teaching kindergarten in Indiana, I flew to the Philippines in September of 1988 to homeschool missionary kids.  

   I have now been in the Philippines from 1988 to 2008.   It has been a twenty-year journey that has changed my life.   I am not the same Valerie that left Indianapolis in 1988.   I am a new Valerie; a woman who is no longer completely in control and in charge of her life.   I am a woman who has learned to let God have complete control.  I am a woman who understands that God knows the way that I take each day.   That one small bit of information has helped me through each minute of each day.   

   Now, I will try to take you through what I can remember of the past twenty years.  I will try to share with you as many amazing stories as I can.   I will try to share with you what God has done to mold me into the woman that I am today.   I hope you will enjoy walking with me -- the way that I take.   

Until we meet again .....