Home Sweet Home

I've now been home approximately two weeks; things have gone really well so far. The Lord blessed me with a job practically immediately when i got home (I arrived on a Friday, I was working Tuesday). Even though I'd never really worked construction before things are going ok, I've only made a few mistakes and none were massive. Hopefully this job will allow me to take care of student loan expenses for the next year. Other than airfare, student loans are my largest expense. Of course being home means I get to see my family and I've managed to see most of my extended family already. There are still some important friends that I haven't managed to see yet, but hopefully I'll catch them soon. I do miss the Philippines; I miss the basketball everyday and all my friends and students. Soon we will be reunited though. I do have a partial schedule that I'll be adding to as dates are confirmed. This is a schedule of churches I'll be presenting at. Whitewater Crossing Christian Church - Cleves, OH: April 21-22. Brooksville Christian Church - Brooksville, KY: May 6. Highland Christian Church - Germantown, KY: May 27. Only three so far, but I expect a few more soon. In the meantime, Americans: hopefully I'll see you soon. Pilipinos: I'll see you in a few months. Nick

Here We Are

Alas, we have finally reached the point that I thought was so distant. The school year is over here. My first year of full time teaching is complete. I've been in the Philippines ten and one half months now. I'm coming home in a few weeks. As my mother and little sister can tell you, that car ride to the airport back in May seems like millenia ago. There was so much uncertainty then, accompanied by the flat out fear that comes from finally letting go of the reigns and watching God drive for a while.

Aparri Bible Seminary celebrated graduation on Wednesday March 15, 2012. We had eight graduates this year, two received Bachelor of Theology degrees, one received a Bachelor in Christian Education degree, three received Associate degrees in Church Music, and two received Associate degrees in Christian Education. We had some Amerikano guests for graduation: Clarence Hogan who was the guest speaker at commencement and Some members of the Campbell family that I met when they were here last June. I enjoyed meeting Mr. Hogan and seeing the Campbells again.

The night before commencement was the candidate's banquet where the faculty and parents of the potential graduates enjoy an evening of "fooding" together as well as some other activities. I was asked to be the speaker for this event and it went very well. When they first asked me to speak I wasn't really high on the idea, I'd spent the earlier part of the day dealing with immigration issues and really wasn't in any kind of mood worth being in. I reluctantly agreed and God just took that and ran and the results glorified Him.

The next few weeks are going to be spent running around Luzon trying to make immigration arrangements for next year and teaching some Greek refreshers at a sister school of Aparri, Philippine Bible Seminary in Vigan, Ilocos Sur. Please pray for both of those activities. The immigration especially because it has a huge potential for frustration.

This past year has been such a blessing. It is difficult to describe it, but it has been truly amazing to see God work in such personal ways. The year wasn't completely problem free, but by and large the lack of issues, conflicts, and difficulties was also truly amazing. I treasure that sense of divine purpose.

Please continue to pray for me. Please continue to consider supporting this mission again next school year. To my friends in the United States, I look forward to seeing you.

Great News; Let's Hope For Some More

After my last post I received some encouraging responses almost immediately about my possible return. In fact I received enough of a response that I'm not going to be referring to it as a possible return anymore. I'm going to be referring to it as my return to the Philippines for a second school year.

The Lord answers prayers at the perfect time. I very much feel like the Lord has confirmed my suspicion that I should return for another school year by showing that he will continue to raise the support. When I got all this good news Isaiah 12:1-2 immediately flashed through my mind:

1 In that day you will say:

“I will praise you, LORD.
Although you were angry with me,
your anger has turned away
and you have comforted me.
2 Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust and not be afraid.
The LORD, the LORD himself, is my strength and my defense;
he has become my salvation.
Just so you are aware, one church has already stepped up and said that they will provide a month of support for next school year, which is fantastic. That's one, we need eleven more through any possible combination of donors. Please prayerfully consider being a part of this mission.

One of the things that I decided to do recently was to read the Old Testament more and I'm currently sojourning through the Prophets. I've been very surprised with how much things resonate with me as I read them. Certainly that above passage in Isaiah was one that just made my heart shout.

Things are winding up here for this school year, this week is the final week of classes and tests are next week. I've even got two of my three tests written and I'm close to finishing the third. I'm looking forward to finishing this semester; everything has been great but those 6:45 AM devotions are getting to me.

Let us all celebrate the return of the "Filipino Englishing" section, something that has been conspicuously absent from this blog for far too long. There have been some good ones lately, like "translationing" but the best by far was one of my students who wished to jokingly refer to another student as untrustworthy. Instead of that word he went with "trustworthless" which I like a lot better. Another good one has been a bit of a joke between myself and some of the students when we're on the basketball court. Whenever we can't handle a pass or dribble a ball off of someone's foot out of bounds we say to each other "don't too much!"

Thanks for reading, I hope you are well and in the mean time, don't too much.

Nick

Very Fellowship

I mentioned in the last post that we had an inter-seminary fellowship coming up. This momentous event has now been completed, and I can confirm that it is in fact "very fellowship." The other schools that are a part of the fellowship are Philippine Bible Seminary located in Vigan, Ilocos Sur and Philippine College of Ministry located in Baguio City. The founders of these schools and Aparri Bible Seminary had connections with one another when they first arrived in the Philippines back in the 1950's. This was the fifth fellowship which was started with the intention of strengthening the bonds between the schools and their respective students. I enjoyed it because I got to see some people I already knew (mostly from Vigan) and also to meet many new people. An added bonus was watching all the students fellowship; a long time ago one of the students promised me that they would always make me smile. That is a promise that they constantly deliver on. This time the main source of amusement was how many of the students developed crushes on students from the other schools and vice versa.

My part in the fellowship was eating (it is a shared responsibility) and officiating basketball games. Six of them to be exact. By Friday night I was tired of running up and down the basketball court. In related news, I've just about "basketballed" through the bottom of my shoes. The soles are getting thin, this is mostly because the court here is pretty rough concrete. My current personal goal for basketball is to improve my leaping ability. Silly me, I thought losing a bunch of weight would make me jump higher; but it seems to have made me jump faster and only a little bit higher. I'm lucky to have the chance to get out and play a little.

Graduation is March 14 if you can believe that; precisely 4 weeks from now. All the students are asking me if I'm coming back next year, I've been telling them "I hope so." I started talking with my travel agent yesterday about returning the Philippines in June. Please pray for that situation. I'm basically to this point: I know that I'm supposed to be in the Philippines right now, and I think that I'm supposed to be in the Philippines next school year, and I haven't seen or heard anything that would lead me to believe that the situation has changed. On the contrary, the need is greater here and I feel I can meet that need.

Because of that I want to come back and that means I need funds. I need a little less than $10,000 for this to happen; and if the Lord wants me here then he will provide. Please prayerfully consider being a part of this mission. I am willing to go and there is a need that I can meet, I only need the means to travel and live while in the Philippines. Corollary, I'm coming home for a few months in April and if you know of any jobs that are available and would be a good fit for me, please let me know.

While you're praying, please pray for my family. Especially the Taylors. They have had a rough couple of weeks; my uncle Rob lost his mother and grandmother within a week of each other. This is in addition to the deaths previously mentioned in my extended family. Word is the family has had their fill of death; here's hoping things will calm down so people can adjust to new realities.

"Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his love endures forever." Psalm 136:1

Nick

Glory Hallelujah

Often times it is the conveniences of life that we get wrapped up in, I know this is true in my case. Perhaps it was about 6 weeks ago (maybe more, I don't precisely recall) that I heard a sermon about the differences between wants and needs. In response to this message I asked God to give me the wisdom to know the difference between the two. Shortly thereafter my laptop started malfunctioning and the internet service that I enjoy here also started malfunctioning. Other things that malfunctioned during this time were other computers that I could use to contact my family. I haven't been completely cut off for six weeks, I've managed a few emails; but for the most part I haven't had a lot of contact with anyone in the United States recently. I'm interpreting all those things as wants. The good news is that now, the internet service is restored. Additionally, the laptop and I appear to have reached a truce, there are still a few issues, but by the grace of God it is currently working.

So much has happened since the last post. It has all served to enhance my experiences here in Aparri and other places in the Philippines. The highlight of the interim has been my trip to Davao. I got to meet Mr. Elpidio Batalla who is from a town just south of Aparri, but moved to Davao on the island of Mindanao in 1956 to start a seminary. He was a gracious host as was the rest of his family. There was also a mission close to Mr. Batalla's house that he runs that was started by a graduate of Cincinnati Bible Seminary named Ruth Smith. It seems that CCU has long had a strong connection with the Philippines. I also got a chance to snorkel in Davao at a resort called Paradise Island. It was my first time snorkeling, and I only swallowed 1.5 mouthfuls of sea water. Pretty good I think. The fish and the coral were interesting.

It seems very strange to think about, but this school year and as a corollary my first experience here in the Philippines, are "rounding third and heading for home" in the words of the old lefthander. Two months and a few days, then I get to see my family.

My Ilokano has been steadily improving; my vocabulary isn't that large but it grows every day since I have at least 62 willing teachers, not to mention my colleagues here in the office, especially Sir Alex and Ma'am Linda. I'm also starting to get the pronunciation patterns down which helps a lot in terms of being understood when you are speaking. That accent that most non-native English speakers have that we all like to make fun of; that is the problem I'm working through right now with my Ilokano.

As I mentioned last time I want to return at least next year to teach here again. I have several reasons for this, but the most important is that I feel like God has placed me here to meet a need that he also equipped me to meet. Because of that I've been working the numbers for what it will cost to be here next year. Preliminary estimates (which include airfare) are $710 a month. Please consider supporting this mission that God has given me.

On a much sadder note, I want to pass along my condolences to some of my extended family. My grandfather's sister Katherine passed away recently. We called her Aunt Kitty, and she was a very kind, loving, funny, God-fearing woman. I'm grateful for all those things and that I was blessed enough to know her. My thoughts and prayers are with her children and grandchildren as well as with all the families that make up the Ulrich clan that knew her and loved her.

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:37-39

Nick

Sorry about the Delay, Happy New Year!

December was just as busy as I told you it would be and January isn't slowing down yet. I have a feeling that things will be a whirlwind until April when I return to the United States. Hopefully that return will only be for a few months. The goal is to return for another school year and see what happens. Please, please pray for this. I feel that I belong here. For how long? That is the question everyone (including me) is asking. The answer of course is until God sends me somewhere else. Naturally I don't know when that will happen.

Let's talk about the Philippines. I experienced both Christmas (sort of) and New Year's here and they were interesting experiences. Christmas here is much less commercial. Gifts are given, but they aren't the focus. In true Pinoy fashion the focus of the celebration is eating. "Noche Bueno"is what they call it, and it is another meal around midnight on Christmas. The time leading up to midnight, and maybe after, is spent visiting friends and eating, or cooking and then eating, or maybe visiting family and eating. This is what they tell me happens. I was disgustingly tired from Choir tour and waking up for 5 AM devotions at Church the previous two days (one of which I spoke at) so I slept through Noche Bueno. New Year's eve was, naturally, more "fooding"and then it was "very fireworks." It was also my friend Kit's birthday so there was extra fooding for that.

Additionally, we have visitors from America, the Burns family is here right now spreading good cheer. It has been enjoyable talking with them and getting to know them. I met some of them back in September when I was stranded in Chicago for two days. One of the reasons they are here is a wedding, and so I met many new Pilipinos and Pilipino-Americans too. The best part thus far was that there was genuine hickory smoked ham and cheddar cheese at the wedding reception. I swear I ate half a pound of each before everything was said and done.

Our Christmas break ended this week at ABS, so we restarted classes, mid terms are next week. Time truly flies.

Please pray for my extended family, the Weltes lost one of their own last week to cancer.

God is good.

Naimbag Napaskuayo Amin (I Think)

The title for this post is supposed to be the Ilokano for "Merry Christmas to All." The usual caveats about me misspelling something apply.

December has been/ is/ will be busy. Somethings that have happened already this month: I taught Sunday school the past two Sundays at Aparri Church. That was interesting because they curriculum was already set. This meant that I was teaching on Jacob's wrestling match/ name change and Joseph being sold into slavery. Teaching the Old Testament isn't something that I do very often, so it was an interesting change. My class seemed to enjoy it, but I'm never seem to be a good judge of how well these kinds of things go.

Another thing that has already taken place this month, a basketball team representing Aparri Bible Seminary was first runner-up at the Isabela Minister's Fellowship on December 8-9, 2011 in Roxas, Isabela. I was a part of the team, and we had a lot of fun. Also important was that we developed as a team, and it is exciting to see young men improve themselves before your eyes. My stat line was a classic me stat line. 4 games, approximately 45 minutes, 2 points, 12-15 rebounds, 3-5 steals, 9 fouls, 50 screens set (including one really awesome one where the guy hit the floor)etc. A fun side note was getting kneed in the thigh about 8 times over the four games by guards jumping into me. But like I said, we had fun. We also represented the school well and I'm most proud of that. Additionally I met more new people; something that I always enjoy here.

What is happening: We are preparing for opening night of the ABS Christmas Cantata at Aparri Church. I had been practicing with the choir so I am familiar with the program, it should go really well. Especially if we can convince the basses to open their mouths and actually sing. I can relate, and I completely understand why they hate it, but they need to get over it for one night. So that will be tomorrow night, later this week the choir tour kicks off. So that is the current busy-ness.

What will be happening: Visitors from the U.S.A. and a wedding later this month (not mine), after that some traveling probably. It should be interesting and a lot of fun, but I'm sure the accompanying stress/drama will be epic because this is the Philippines.

At present present I'm most frustrated with my laptop. It will power up but won't boot up and it is driving me crazy. Sometimes I can get it to work, sometimes I can't. Saturday was a "yes," yesterday and today were "no." Such is life. I would appreciate your prayers on that matter. I thought I had figured out the issue, but apparently that isn't the case. I keep telling God that I'm listening.

So Merry Christmas!

Love,

Nick