Pops At Work

Sharing Christ still means hiking on dirt paths and getting your feet wet.

One of Pop's weekly activities has been tutoring children in English

This is the Lamane church building where Pops frequently meets with some of the men to dig into the word

Still no electricity? No problem, lanterns work too!

The Way It Is

Lice picking--A favourite past time for any kid! : )

Beautiful!

Beautiful!! The sea has been a bit rough lately--makes it tough to fish

New and inescapable evidence that alcohol use is significantly higher than it ever has been.

The Important Things

Being a relatively new father (soon to be of two) I couldn't help but share this string of pics.

Ty & Mike Report A Good Trip

Ty and Mike are both back from their trip out to the tribe and had an encouraging report concerning spiritual things there.

Pops had arranged a pretty rigorous speaking schedule for Mike and the report is that he was received well. Ty met numerous times with the group of guys (now men with families) that he grew up with and they had many encouraging talks! Many of their generation (24-30 year-olds) are actively pursuing Christ and are taking steps to lead their families accordingly. There have been some difficulties with their increasing involvement in the church because the elderly leaders have maintained relatively tight reigns on their positions. Further, the younger guys unanimously acknowledged the difficulty of balancing the survival of their family's with making time for spiritual/church things. Which brings me to a significant prayer request...

As I have mentioned before, the collapse of the price of nickel has caused the mine to cease operations. They have kept a skeleton crew on site to maintain security, but pretty much all of the local workers have been laid off. The significance of this is very big for Lamane and the surrounding sitios. The creation of real paying jobs and the influx of cash that they and the traffic to/from the mine has produced over the past couple of years has significantly inflated the local economy. Further, the global recession and the droughts of last year have nearly tripled the price of rice. Finally, the fact that many people had begun to work and were relying on paychecks to provide for their needs has meant that they have not maintained their own private rice fields. These factors combined with a significant decline in the local fish population are adding up to a very serious and difficult situation. The prospect of not having enough food to feed their families is a very real threat.

That being said, this problem should not be met by simply going in and handing out bags of free rice. Among the locals there is already the frequent expectation for handouts from foreigners. Many see foreigners as a bottomless source of wealth and do not understand that the handouts they receive are only available because someone else has worked or sacrificed to make them so. Foreign generosity has frequently enabled irresponsible behavior and encouraged laziness amongst the locals. Hence, if we are to help we need to find a way to do so that encourages them to be proactive to combat their situation as well. Please pray for wisdom in this situation and that God would continue to provide for them.

Going back to the spiritual work that we are doing there, Ty said that he was struck by how much Pops is out. He said that Pops is rarely at the house and that he is maintaining a weekly schedule that has him in each of the 6 villages multiple times a week. Pops is loving the work. His goal for this trip was to concentrate on Ephesians and he has spent the whole past month on Chapter One. He says he's been "going from the spiritual blessings to man to the God-ward glory that is to flow from the church." Several of the groups in the outlying sitios have been very responsive and passionate in his discussions/studies with them. However, some of the others have been the opposite. Pops says that he feels like some of what he's sharing may be going over some people's heads, but that's okay as long as the leaders are following and being encouraged and he believes that they are.

There are a number of other encouraging things as well, a group of the elders collectively sought reconciliation with a member of the community over a situation that had alienated this individual for the past couple of years. This reconciliation was successful. There is also a young man (mid-twenties) who has returned to the tribe after getting a theological education from outside and Pops has been working with him quite a bit. Pops says that he is very "dedicated and capable" and is motivated to be involved with the church. All in all, a good report.

Please continue to pray that the local church leadership would be motivated and inspired to include and disciple the younger generation. Please pray for the physical sustenance of the people--having enough food is a real concern for them. Finally, please continue to pray for Pops' physical health and well-being. He got a relatively minor burn on his shin from a motorbike muffler (while Ty and Mike were still in the tribe) but it has now become infected and could be serious (infection is serious a serious concern there in the jungle). Thank you all for you ongoing prayer and support! It is truly a blessing to be able to experience this instance of the unification and physical outworking of the church as Christ's body. God bless,

Tim Mewmaw

2009 News & First Impressions

Pops has been in the tribe for about a week now. Texting with him last night he sais that he's finally feeling rested and settled in. The personal situation I mentioned in my last post has been at least temporarily resolved and so it should not have much effect throughout this visit.

Pops said that he's worked out a pretty full schedule of studies and visits with church leaders in both Lamane and the five daughter churches in the surrounding area. Figuring out his schedule was particularly difficult because he does not have the use of a motorbike for this visit (several of the daughter churches are miles away from Lamane).

So far, Pops' observations of how the church has done since last year has been pretty disheartening. In his words:

I'll have to say that I am disappointed with what I'm finding with the
Tagbanwa church. While enroute, I reviewed the things we talked about
last April. I had addressed things way below the surface...and hoped
that it made a difference. At first survey, I'm not so convinced.
The elders are telling me that the world continues to encroach on the
church...that alcohol use is on the rise, and that daughter church leaders are
still feeling adrift.

I come (annually now) and pick up in a
discipleship role. I find it so easy to encourage those non-elder leaders,
just spending time with them in the Word. It is disappointing that the
elders can't figure out a way to do the same. I'm really attempting to do
what I had intended for them to do.

Basically, last April Pops challenged the Lamane church leadership to follow the example that he had set during the two months he was there. Namely, to meet regularly with the leaders in the outlying communities in order to both encourage and disciple them as well as be encouraged and sharpened by them. ...this has not happened.

In other news, the Berong nickel mine has been shut down due to a total collapse in the nickel market over the past year. Global nickel prices have dropped well over 80% from what they were one and a half years ago. The effect of the mine closure is of course both good and bad. Though the local economy has been dramatically inflated by the influx of capital from the mine, this influx has also created new avenues for meeting basic needs (food, shelter, medicine, etc.). Now with the mine closed these needs will have to be met through other means; further, the newly inflated prices will make it even harder to find these "other means." However, on the positive side, the reduction of traffic to and from the mine will likewise slacken the speed of modernization that is taking place in the tribe. Along with this we are hopeful that there will also be some reduction in the "encroachment of the world" on the local churches that Pops alluded to in his above quote.

Finally, we're really looking forward to hearing what effect Mike and Ty's visit will have on the youth. Most of the logistics have been worked out for their trip and they will be leaving in about a week. The plan is for them to motorbike into the tribe which will give them maximum mobility during the week they are there.

Please continue to pray for Pops health, the spiritual health of the church (as we know from our own lives, complacency is one of the most difficult challenges to overcome), safe travels for Mike and Ty, and encouragement by means of fruit for the labor that all of them are giving. Thanks for your support,

Tim M

Farewell to the Family

As many of you already know Pops is leaving for his 2009 trip to Lamane this coming Monday. Also, his son Ty and Mike McMahon from Bay Area will be joining him for 10 days in February. We're very excited to see how God will use them during this trip and are praying in particular that He will give Ty a unique opportunity to challenge the younger generation that he grew up with!

As the clock ticks down there are a few specific things that we could use prayer for. First of all for healthy and safe travel over for all parties. Second, there have been some new and difficult developments in a relationship with one of the Tagbanwas who sees us primarily as a source of financial gain; please pray that God would give Pops wisdom and grace in his interactions with this individual. Third, that the remainder of the financial support needed for this trip would come in. Finally, please pray that God would use Pops, Ty and Mike in significant ways on this trip!

Regarding financial support, God has blessed us tremendously with continued giving throughout the past year and we've been able to finance the travel and the first half of Pop's income loss compensation already. On top of this there is still about $1000 in the Philippine account. However, we do still need to raise about $3500 by mid to late February in order to cover all of the expenses for this trip. Your help in this is very much appreciated and is a real blessing to the Tagbanwas.

In closing, Pops wrote the following letter to those who have financially supported this ministry and I thought that you all might enjoy reading it as well:

I have a list from my church which says that you've contributed to the Tagbanwa
church minsitry that we've been part of. It feels very impersonal, but I would like to say that you are not part of a list, you are a child of God who has
warmly respnded to His prompting. You've invested, ...you've chosen to
invest in the expansion of His kingdom."

For that, I am deeply grateful. It enables me to go, to continue long-term, and deep
relationships. ...To troubleshoot church leadership issues, to challenge,
to encourage, to disciple. I love it! And, I would love for you to
participate more personally...to smell, hear, feel, and see the church in that
culture. It has been very fulfilling to participate cross-culturally in
the expansion of God's kingdom as I have, and I'd love to share that fulfillment
with you who've contributed.

By God's grace, I am returning to the Tagbanwa church ministry departing next Monday. I plan to teach Ephesians, challenging the church to "...walk worthy of our
high calling..." in Christ. ...with particular and prayerful attention to
an ongoing rift in the church community which negates its effectiveness in
representing Christ.

Ty Grossman (son) and Mike McMahon will join me for ten days in February. Mike was there as an admittedly ungodly Marine about 20 years ago, and is so excited to go back as a testimony to God's transforming power. Ty desires to be a stimulus to the young men in the church who have been his childhood playmates...challenging them to step up spiritually. He has two unique gifts. First, the ability to speak
Tagbanwa...probably more fluently than I. Second, God has gifted him with
the ability to challenge guy friends without threatening them. He just
makes people around him better. I feel incredibly blessed to have him
(them) along.

I'm praying for God's Spirit to purify the church starting with the leadership. And through it to conquer spiritual darkness in the culture as it emerges from the 19th century into the 21st. (This is not a literary flourish. They've been behind the
times, and the times have moved in on and affect them. I could attempt to
explain, but will only do that upon your request.)

Due to the length of time I have away from my normal work and income, my budget includes make-up income for which my church, Bay Area Community Church (BACC) issues me a Misc-1099. That BACC account is still lacking sufficient funds for this year's budget. You may contribute, if so led, by making a notation on your gift, "Philippine ministry."

Bay Area Community Church
884 Chesterfield Road, Annapolis, MD 21401
410.544.2222 www.bayareacc.org

2009 Trip

I want to start by apologizing for the exceptionally long silence since my last update!

As most of you know Pops had a profitable last week in the tribe last April and God answered our prayers about keeping the malaria flare up in check. Resting a lot during the days, he managed to keep all of his meetings in the evenings and even a few lunch/afternoon appointments. The major focus of these last gatherings with the elders and leaders in the 6 villages was to challenge them to maintain the level of interaction with each other that he had modeled while there and to continue working on conflict resolution. He left them with a number of very specific goals to work on with the understanding that he would be following up on these during his next visit.

Pops has currently set the dates for his next trip loosely from the middle of January to the middle of March. The main goal for this trip is to continue modeling and teaching the people about living Christ and Christianity rather than simply going through the motions of religion. Last year the format and duration of Pops trip was very conducive to this message and we anticipate this year being more of the same.

Another objective of this trip will be to continue prodding the current leadership to choose and disciple members of the younger generations who can both take over the leadership of the current body of believers and take the message of Christ to new areas. In line with this objective Pops’ sons Ty and Ryan are both considering joining him in the tribe for a week or so in order to reconnect with and challenge some of their childhood friends.

The final objective that I’ll mention here stems from Pops’ recent acceptance of the role of an elder at their Maryland church. A number of leaders from Bay Area have expressed a desire for Pops to share his experience with missions with the local body. One of the ways that has been considered to do this is for some members/leaders of Bay Area to visit Pops in the tribe for a week or two during future trips. There are currently a couple potential takers for this coming trip and we’re excited about how God can use this opportunity to both encourage the Tagbanwas and to challenge the American believers that are able to go.

As always, thank you all for your continued prayers! We have been very blessed by the level of support that has been continually put forward and I know that it is very encouraging to the Tagbanwas too. I’ll try to make more frequent posts throughout the coming months while we’re gearing up for the coming trip. For now, please just be praying that God would give clarity for those considering a visit to Pops during this trip, and for provision once the clarity is there. Also, please continue to specifically pray for the Tagbanwas. The infighting and corruption that has resulted from the nickel mine has greatly enhanced the importance of local believers living their faith daily, and this at a time when there are more temptations than ever from the outside world. Finally, please pray for Pops, that God would give him wisdom and grace both in preparing for and in implementing this next trip.

Thanks again for your support,

In Christ,

Tim Mewmaw