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

Bittersweet

My week with Pops was very encouraging for both he and I, as well as for the people there in the tribe. While his two month stay there began with some discouragement,—due to the peoples’ lack of initiative—by now it is apparent that the trip has had a significant affect. For the past 6 weeks Pops has been meeting weekly with both community leaders and members from five other local sitios as well as Lamane. He has been challenging the elders from the local churches to be proactive in both discipleship and evangelism. While admonishing them in weekly meetings, Pops has given his words credence by filling his own time with daily scheduled meetings and using his free moments to make unannounced visits.
Another major focus of his time there has been to convey the principle of “living” Christianity not just being religious. As has been the case since before Christ even walked this earth, there is a general tendency for us to let our worship become rote activity with no real meaning or life. Pops has been challenging them to think of how this happens and to take action to apply Christ and their Biblical knowledge to their everyday lives. From discontent regarding situations concerning the mine to the simple difficulties of surviving he has been encouraging them to try to think and live as Christ taught and did. While it took some time for these thoughts to become more than simple words, over the past couple of weeks we have seen consistent growth. The elders and leaders from all of the communities have been asking very tough questions about how to live out their Christianity. Leaders told me that Pops’ consistency and attention to reach out and encourage those even outside their own immediate spheres has challenged them to be more proactive in encouraging and supporting one another.
All in all Pops’ time there has been a significant success. He feels like the amount of time for this trip was vital to allow consistency and to engender real change and accountability. Further, due to my presence over this past week, we were able to have some very frank talks with the people concerning logistics and we all feel that it would be ideal for Pops to continue taking this type of trip annually for the next several years. In this initial stage we’re thinking that he would try to make a two month trip every year, with ten month intervals, for the next five years and that we would re-evaluate the situation at that time.
On the downside of things, both Pops and I could use some real prayer concerning our health. Pops came down with malaria on the day that I left and the fact that this is his last week there makes it particularly difficult for him. Many of his meetings this week will be very hard for him to cancel due to his upcoming ten month absence, and for those of you who know what malaria is like, you know that it’s nothing to play around with—especially when you’re hours away from any hospitals, where it is very hot and there is no electricity!
On my end of things, I took a fall on the motorbike on my way out of the tribe. I was going down a very steep hill on a very poor road with a lot of loose gravel and ended up on the ground before I really knew what happened. Aside from numerous minor scrapes and bruises I’ve got extensive lacerations on my left knee and upper shin and a large second degree burn on my right calf from the tailpipe. On top of these injuries my body has been fighting the drugs that I’ve been taking for it and I have been pretty ill and in a lot of pain throughout my travels home.
As always, thank you so much for your ongoing prayers and support, I’m very blessed to report that they’re bearing good fruit! We pray that you are all doing well and that this report will be as encouraging to you as the reality of it has been to us. If there are any other details or questions that you’d like answered please do not hesitate to contact one of us. Thank you again and God Bless,

Tim Mewmaw

Ps. My email is: timmewmaw@yahoo.com

The Trip In and the Results of the Trip Out

Learning to pack Pinoy style

Keeping Uncle Scott in Business
Mufflers are not made to be leg rests!
...And, steep, rocky roads do not make the best slides!

A Quick Look at Transportation--Videos

Crossing Bridges, Fording Rivers and Climbing Mountains

On the way to a Bible Study

Marnuk

Fording Rivers

The view from the mountain top between Marnuk and Lamane