Some of you were probably thinking that I must have had my hands stitched as well as my foot, since it has been so long since our last blog. Actually, we have just begun the year with a bang along with internet trouble. This trouble stems beyond the borders of the Philippines though. In late December, there was a massive earthquake off the coast of Taiwan. This earthquake damaged two undersea cables. These lines route calls and process Internet traffic for several Asian countries, including the Philippines. Our connections to the rest of the world have had to be re-routed and has led to very slow connections. One of the problems I have had is connecting with this blogger site. So the silence from here is not all my fault.
Besides the slow internet, life has been busy with travel, friends, visitors, school programs, Will's talent night debut, and teaching. We spent the first week of 2007 at a conference for another mission agency. This is our second year to attend. Last year, I was in charge of the elementary kids program and Allan did some medical consulting on the side. This year we returned in strictly a medical capacity. Allan was available for answering medical questions, looking at medical problems and even stitching up a leg torn open in a tough volleyball match. He also taught some medical classes. This group of missionaries lives on the edge of missions. They serve in remote unreached tribal areas of the Philippines, many only accessible by hiking in. Because of this, they often become the medical expert in the tribe as people show up with all manner of problems. Allan taught some classes to help them to be better able to handle some of the things they see, and they see it all. We have gotten many texts, calls, and emails in the last year asking things like... a man showed up today with an arm that was severed 7 days ago, what should I do? Unfortuately some of those are things Allan didn't really learn in med school. What American waits 7 days with an arm half off before going to the doctor? Allan gives great advice though and we enjoy our contact with those living on the missions frontier. We hope to go and visit and work with some of them in the tribe during the next year.
We returned home to welcome back our ministry partners- the Nelsens. It has been good to have them back! Shortly after their arrival, we had 2 other visitors- Steven, who is the son of the doctor we replaced along with a girl from a small town near Greenwood. She is here to help out in the clinic and at a nearby birthing home until March. Steven graduated early so he could spend the final semester of high school with his graduating class.
I have also spent the last few weeks teaching 7th grade English. I filled in until their new teacher arrived from the states and got settled in. While I loved getting back in the classroom, teaching, and "my" students, I decided I really don't like teaching English. I loved the literature part of it, but not reading and grading all the short stories I had them write.
Monday, life will return somewhat back to normal again, but just for a week. Then I am off to Thailand to work in the children's program at a homeschool conference. Hopefully I will get a few pictures of what we have been up to and some more info on the blog before I leave.
