Run for the hills!

Actually...just our 4th story room. Today there's a signal 2 typhoon coming! The whole area has canceled school and no one's working! It's the calm before the storm though, because it's a gorgeous day outside! A small cloud cover, a little sunshine, a cool breeze, the coldest it's been yet (like 80 something degrees). Em an I got to our daycare, had our devotion time with the staff, and they told us to go home! :( We're going to have to be creative with what we do with our day now :)

Update: my foot's all healed from that nail. Thank you for the prayers :)

Our classes have been going well. We've had at least one or two sessions for our 2 proverbs and our spanish class. Our first James class will be on Thursday. "Schedule" here in the Philippines is something like water...it flows wherever whenever. We kind of just aim for a day and find a time when everyone's free. A little frustrating, but we were well warned :) Our Spanish class has been a big hit! All our kids (and adults!) were really interested in learning the language. The Philippines was controlled by Spain for a time so many of the words are the same in Spanish and Tagalog or just a little off. For example, Filipinos tell time, days, months, and numbers in Spanish. We're trying to think creatively on how with can incorporate biblical principles and Scripture into our coursework for them. You can pray for some good ideas and if you have any, PLEASE comment or email them to me!

Food is great here. LOTS of rice all the time. Even though we're not big fish eaters, Em and I have gotten pretty good at munching down these little salty fried fish that we're served a lot. They're not bad when you get past them looking at you. :) Our staff ladies are EXTREMELY good at making dishes very tasty with not much at all. We're trying to learn all the names of veggies and leaves...it's hard to remember! There are about 6 kinds of bananas!

Pray for energy and creativity. Also continue to pray that we pick up a little more language bits. :)

Love to you all and blessings!

Week 2

Mid-week thoughts

Oh Dear Friends…

What an incredible day this was. EmEm and I were up and moving around 5am and at the day care by 7. Em led devotions for the staff members, teaching out of Psalm 46 (God is our refuge and strength). We spent the rest of the morning helping the three ladies cook for the children.

**Side note: As a means of precaution, I won’t be using the real names of the believers in this community. Any names you read in my updates are aliases.**
After learning how to make the food, wash the dishes (in a very particular way, I might add) and helping to serve the children, Em and I got to walk around the community a little bit. Kuya (Older brother) Craig introduced us to a few children and their families. One of the MBBs in the community is having his house rebuilt, so his previous home needed to be torn down. We were blessed to assist with the demolition. I decided I would do well on a demolition crew…it’s kind of fun ripping things apart. Our productivity ended short though when I so graciously stepped on a nail, poking through my shoe and into my foot. :P Leave it to me to end the fun! We went back to the day care, got cleaned up, and enjoyed a delicious lunch with the staff members.

Around 3, the staff met together to begin our study through Proverbs. Despite the language barriers and the lack of understanding we have of this culture, Em and I were able to read through and talk about the high points of the 1st 6 chapters. God was faithful! Our method has been to ask questions about the text. “What does wisdom mean? What does God say about temptation, parenting, etc? What does it mean to fear God?” We got some INCREDIBLE and unexpected responses from this group. It’s neat to see how much they know and what things we are teaching them for the first time. Pray that God gives us wisdom as we teach. It’s hard to relate to a different culture when you don’t know what’s normal for people (I.E. what are their cliché phrases or inside jokes or methods of parenting or understanding of…???) We are doing a lot of LISTENING and LEARNING and PRAYING. Continue to pray that God gives US wisdom while we teach about it. Also, we just found out today that we’ll be teaching another weekly class on Thursdays about the book of James. WE NEED GOD’S UNDERSTANDING AND STRENGTH! (A little creativity might be helpful too!)

Unspiritually, one thing I love about the Philippines so far is that they eat about 6 times a day. Breakfast, mirienda (snack), lunch, mirienda, dinner, (and for night-owls) mirienda!!! Meals are smaller, but for rice lovers and people that just like to munch, this is the place for you! For our afternoon mirienda, Kuya Adam bought us “banana-que” and “some-other-fruit-name-I-forgot-que.” They’re fresh fruits, dipped in sugar and fried. DELICIOUS.

Em and I are learning to love roaches and heat. God is faithful to help us through even the small things that are difficult. These are SMALL prices to pay for the service of other believers and the glory of God.

I PROMISE PICTURES ARE COMING!
Blessings.

Week 1

*The picture is of the view from our apartment.

I found an internet cafe!

Hi friends!

I'm sorry there's been such a delay. We've been without internet for several days and just today found a good spot. Hopefully I'll be able to post more regularly. Unfortunately today, I can't seem to figure out how to work my little thumb drive (with all my detailed update on it) with this computer. I'll try again in a few days!

For now, we've begun our ministry work...teaching through Proverbs in English with 15+ students, also teaching Proverbs with the staff at the ministry center, helping with feeding and tutoring programs, and doing what we can to be encouragers to the staff. We are also living about a maternity clinic where we have offered our services to help in any way we can. We might observe/help deliver a few babies while we're here! YIKES!

Pray for language...we having some trouble and pray for wisdom while we are preparing lessons and learning how to interact with our students.

Many blessings!

MANILA!!!

I'm here!!!

Update: June 7th

Dear Friends,

The time has come!!! Tomorrow morning at 8:30am (central), I leave for the Philippines! I'm eager and anxious to see what I'm stepping into, but whatever it is I know God will teach me a great many things and hopefully use me for good. I have many prayer requests to leave you with so I'll list those at the end of this email.

I wanted to let you know a little more of what I'll be doing. In addition to making friends and doing community service type work in the slums, it looks like my ministry partner (Emily Bill) and I will be doing English readings for small groups as well as some 1 on 1 or small group studies of Proverbs. I was trying to study up today on the context and background of Proverbs to get a better feel for teaching it. It looks like I will be learning a lot as I try to teach!

Prayer Requests:

* For safety and stamina as I travel from San Antonio, to Detroit, to Nagoya (Japan), and finally to Manila. It will be over 20 hours of traveling. Pray for a good attitude :)

* For my family. Specifically (1) my sister (Amy) and brother-in-law (Haven) with their not-yet-born baby (Phyra) and (2) my father (Bill) battling with cancer. Pray that God would watch over them and keep them.

* For adaptation. Because I don't know all the details yet, there are many unknowns of being and working in the Philippines. Pray that I'll be flexible and quick to listen and learn.

* For consistency. Pray that I will be faithful in my personal study of God's word and in prayer, that my spiritual life will deepen with this experience and that I will encourage others in that as well.

* For John and Carol Koenke as well as the other SEND staff in Manila and Detroit--that they would be blessed for their welcoming spirits and that God would continue to bless and provide for their ministry.

* For health. That sickness would not hinder our work or friendships, but that we would be full of strength for what God has prepared for us to do.

* For teamwork. Pray that Emily Bill, myself, and whoever we are working with would be amiable and considerate--giving preference to one another and extending patience.

* For fruit. Pray that the seeds of the gospel we plant in our words and actions would take root and produce the fruit of new Christians in our Muslim and non-Muslim circles.

Thank you for your prayers, your love, and your kind notes to me. They mean SO much. Many of you have written words of encouragement and challenge to me as I prepare for this. I am honored to be backed by your faith and honored to carry your name in my representation of the gospel to another part of the world. God be glorified in each of your lives and in mine as we seek to serve Him.

Many blessings.

The Blessing of Rest

It's been such an enjoyable time to just live with my own family again. I forget how to interact with them when I'm in a college environment all the time! It's been especially wonderful to spend time with my sister and brother-in-law. Amy's posted pictures of our venture to the new section of the riverwalk. Visit her blog here:

For more fun, we went to the botanical gardens for the annual "Shakespeare in the Park" production. It's a free event open to the public and it's been a great tradition for us the last 4 years. This year's production was "As You Like It" and I must say, it was my favorite thus far.









With my time in Texas coming to a close and Amy's baby getting ready to pop, our family really hasn't planned anything these days. We're in a weird stage of waiting. So...when we're sitting in the middle of the day, twiddling our thumbs, we've come up with some fun things to do. The parents re-stained their deck. They keep threatening that they're calling me in 6 years to come back and do it again for them. As much as I'd love to, I think I have a dentist appointment that day (*winkwink*)Another fun thing we did today--Amy, Haven and I went to the Japanese tea gardens and the zoo!!!





















Well that's all for now. Please continue to pray for my dear sister, Amy, as she has her baby (HOPEFULLY this weekend). Also, pray for our friend Cathi. She had a nasty fall and is undergoing surgery tonight.

Be very blessed.

San Antonio Express News REMADE

Hello,

This is Emily Bruckart reporting from San Antonio Texas, where life is in no slow mode for the Cohoon-Bruckart clan. Here are the latest headlines:

*Oldest Cohoon son (Chad) finds out second child is also a SON. Cohoon name continues to the next generation.

*Bruckart dad successfully endures first round of chemo. A new haircut shows him ready for battle against cancer.

*Baby due June 1st, still in the hopper. Amy waits anxiously for this stubborn youngster to make her debut.

*Youngest Cohoon sister to wed this Saturday.

*Youngest Bruckart (ME!) to leave for Philippines one week from today!

*New wing of the San Antonio Riverwalk opens. Strange art displayed along the walk, but a lovely stroll past flowers and waterfalls.

This has been lightning flash news. Until next time, this is Emily Bruckart. Back to you.

:)