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This is a video Moriah and I made for her friends back home in Tennessee. It is a fun little narrated slideshow chronicling the adventures of Moriah this summer.
My favorite is “This is house that we live in now, its orange… Here it is, this is the one!”
What is your favorite line?
The adventures continue even without the teams here. Below are some fun pictures from the last two weeks. We are meeting so many people and having a good time. Moriah is loving school and really making some progress. We will miss our friends, but we are excited to forge new relationships here. Keep praying!
Moriah started school this week! She is attending a very small, new Christian school called Tender Sprouts, located right on Rizal Ave., one of the main streets here in Olongapo, PI. Joel and I visited several other schools early on, and had even committed to one prior to finding Tender Sprouts. We stumbled upon it as we were walking one morning. We went inside, met Teacher Lany (as Moriah calls her) and came away feeling like this school would best suit Moriah’s needs during our time here.
One reason we were drawn to this school was simply the distance. Its about a 2 min. walk from our house! Every other school we visited would have required us to take transportation. Another reason we chose the school was because the teacher offered to do daily, one on one Tagalog tutoring with Moriah. This was at no extra charge, so we were very thankful for that 
There are only 10 or so students of various ages (b/t 3yrs-10yrs.) and the ACE curriculum used is very flexible for Moriah. Because they use paces, Moriah is able to move at her own speed, without the pressure of moving to fast or the boredom of being taught things she already knows. This also allows her some freedom to miss a day here or there when we need her to, b/c of our current busy schedule with the immersion teams here. Some of her schoolwork is “kinder-2” level, and other things are grade 1 level. Kinder-1 and kinder-2 are their preschool levels here, and grade 1 is similar to 1st grade in the States, at least that’s what Ive understood about their school system so far…
I walk Moriah to school every morning at 9am, and pick her up at 2pm. She has a one hour lunch break from 12-1. The final hour is her Tagalog tutoring. The school has a high emphasis on behavioral teaching as well as academic. Moriah is really enjoying school. I think the structure, and being around kids her age is going to help her a lot. The first day, I picked her up for lunch and took her back for tutoring. The next day she asked to stay and eat her lunch with everyone else. I was comforted by her desire to be there. The teacher often shares her food with her- rice, chicken adobo, etc. That seems the beat the PBJ I fix for her, LOL. All the other kids eat traditional Filipino food freshly cooked. I guess I’m going to have to step it up a bit I know it is very different for them to have a white girl there, as it is different for me to be sending her there. The teacher and I are working through our communication and I am trying to learn their ways of doing things. Moriah is a trooper. She has had so much to adjust to here, and Ive been surprised at her ability to vocalize this transition for herself. She is a strong little girl.
Below are some of the pics of the kids from the last few weeks. Some highlights! Moriah felt back at home safe and secure in the arms of Ronald 
Ethan still loves slides, even the bumpy filipino kinds. Tricycle rides are always a highlight for the kids. Moriah made instant friends with a Hanjin Employee, Boyet, who also has a 4 year old child who lives hundreds of miles away. We had a chance encounter with the mayor of Olongapo tonight as we were writing this update. Moriah made friends with a neighborhood girl name Joy. She is also 4 years old and the two of them hit it off like best friends.
Well we have only been on the ground for about 5 days now, and it feels like its been a month. We have hit the ground running to the different “areas of need” as we like to call them. I will try to give just a brief snapshot of life over the past 5 days, and as we begin to process these encounters more I am sure more in depth accounts will be posted here.
Ethan single-handedly holds up an entire 747 filled with over 400 passengers. There was a mix up in the booking and we were supposed to have received a paper ticket for Ethan to board the plane from Detroit to Japan. The travel agency never gave us this ticket and so as we sorted out the issue all the passengers aboard the plane had to wait. As if that wasn’t bad enough, our seats were in the very back of the plane so we had to feel the stares of all the passengers as we walked by.
We were in the air and losing 13 hours by crossing the International Date Line.
The kids didn’t sleep cause their schedules were completely backwards, but it didn’t stop them from enjoying their first day in the Philippines. The day we spent running errands and getting settled in at the house. The house is very nice, there is plenty of room for all 15 of us, and we actually get our own room. Wednesday night the team hit the bars of Calapandayan and Barretto. I stayed home with the kids while Rachel made her presence known with some of the girls in Barretto (an up date will be coming for this some time I am sure). I tweeted that night, “Its weird saying goodbye to you wife knowing that when she returns she will not be the same.” I think this trip will be filled with moments like this where we are forced to change or be crushed by the weight of this burden.
We spend Thursday out in the mountains near Olongapo. We hiked to find a river where we could swim, and along the way brushed up on our Tagalog with the natives known as the Aete. This was a different group of Aete than who we previously visited, however they were just as friendly and as much fun to spend time with. Moriah and Ethan loved the water of course, and we look forward to spending more time out there with Chief Jimmy and his family.
I sometimes forget how difficult it is to conduct business here in the Philippines. Something as simple as getting connected to the Internet takes a half of a day somehow. I am not complaining though, I still enjoy the pace of life, talking with the other people waiting and the AC units that most of these businesses keep cranked on high. But not all work stopped just because I was taking care of business. The rest of the team spent the morning in another one of our areas of need known as Pag-Asa, a slum area of Olongapo. The team met some really great people and took down the names and the needs of the people there. By Friday night, the kids were about halfway adjusted to the time change; they were sleeping from about 4pm to 2am. So Rachel and I would just stay up with them in our room keeping them entertained.
The team split up on Saturday with they guys going to visit the men up on the SBMA (former Military base) who work for Hanjin, while the girls visited the YWAM center in Olongapo. Hanjin is a Korean shipping company who has recently built the 4th largest shipyard in the world right here in Subic Bay. They employ over 18,000 people, and underpay most all of them. We made contact with several applicants being sent home due to illnesses they were unaware they had. (Another article will be written on this topic too) The YWAM facility here works specifically with women who worked in the bars. It was good to gain more perspective from people who are here doing things to help these endangered guardians of life (AKA the trafficked women of the Philippines).
The kids slept until 4am this morning, almost back on schedule. Today we spent the day hanging out with families at the beach. Ethan was a hit, with dozens of children hovering around him touching his skin. Moriah also attracted a crowd, but was too timid to make friends until right before we left.
As you can tell this has been an incredibly busy week, and tomorrow we start it all over again. Keep praying for us as we make this transition. We are really enjoying our time, despite dealing with the heat and humidity, and things will only get better as our bodies get adjusted, and we make more friends. God Bless!
Ethan Jayce is almost 14 months old now. His birthday landed on Thanksgiving day this year and we had a double celebration out at Nana’s house. Joel’s mom was here visiting and was able to be apart as well, which was really special. His personality is really starting to show itself I often play the comparison game (in a healthy way of course;) with Ethan and Moriah. One strong similarity in the two is their sensitivity. He will cry if I even look at him wrong I appreciate this trait in my children but it can become very draining to handle! Though he is sensitive to correction, it hasn’t stopped him from testing the boundaries- whether that be climbing the stairs, pounding on any electronic he sees, or even pulling his sisters hair He’s got a wild side, that’s for sure. He seems a little more daring than his super cautious sister. One of his favorites is bath time- seems to LOVE the water (also contrary to sissy). His biggest obstacles to overcome at this point in his life are his continuous nasty ear infections which contribute to poor eating and sleeping habits. We are working on it all though and he is healthy and strong, so that it a blessing. [Read more...]
I really enjoy the fall. Between the weather, the leaves, and all the events talking place there is just an abundance of things to be grateful for. Ethan is about to turn 1, Moriah is now 4, Rachel and I have been married for 5 years, I am now 29 years old and my parents have been married for 34 years, and the list can go on. Qolbe Nell, my new niece, was born on the 25th of September this year, the day before Moriah and Manny’s birthday bringing the grand total of grand children for my parents up to 7! For those who are keeping track that is 4 grandkids added in 15 months. It really is no surprise to me that thanksgiving comes in the fall.
Birthday’s and anniversaries are not the only thing that has been happening though. Our ministry made some big changes this summer and only sent out a few select people this past summer. Instead we had seminars here at the Nashville headquarters covering a wide variety of topics. Classes included: auto mechanics, soil and water testing, organic gardening, first aid and language training just to name a few. The institute is now half way through another semester, this is now the institute’s 6th year.
The changes from last summer have also brought about further changes for this next summer. Tentatively our plans for 2010 will have Rachel and I leaving in mid May and staying in the Philippines until December. This time is essential to the future of our ministry as we will be the start of a permanent ministerial presence in the Philippines. In December we will be replaced by another couple who will then stay until the summer of 2011. Please be in prayer for us as we continue to work out details and make the necessary preparations to spend that length of time abroad. We will continue to write updates here on olsonsr.us highlighting future plans and ways that you can be practically involved in our preparation.
Finally I posted, some recent pictures of our family. Check them out in the “Family of Four” gallery on our media page.
Ethan hit some milestones in his early development these last couple of weeks:) All in one week he started sitting up, rolling over (only in his sleep though lol), and cut TWO teeth (teething has been miserable)! he is getting to that fun age now! starting to interact with Moriah more, watching the two of them is becoming one of my favorite things to do. they love to laugh at each other. I can’t believe how fast he is growing. seems like just yesterday i was leaving the hospital with my new blessing. Ethan sleeps great through the night, but doesn’t nap so well during the day. guess you can’t have both He is a great kid, just like his ‘sissy’. 
Mo had her first soccer class today… Wow that was fun..ny? I was really proud of her and her friends Kiah and Justice. I mean they were actually able to control the ball, and do what the coaches were asking them to do. That is when they weren’t running to the sidelines for assurance from us parents. I had to give mo a pep-talk before even stepping onto the field ensuring her that the grass is soft and it will be okay if she falls. She seemed to take it to heart and the few times she did land straight on her face she brushed it off and with a smile said “that’s okay, its soft.”
Justy and Kiah were awesome too. One time the coach said to kick the balls outside of the white lines surrounding the field. Well Justice kicked it out of his field through the field next to us, and wound up two fields away before Gregg was finally able to catch up to him. Kiah was focused and fast. She was there to run, and run she did often leaving all the other kids in the dust.
In the end, all the kids had a blast, and are looking forward to next week. I am enjoying this time in Moriah’s life as she is learning so much, and i am very blessed to be able to be around to see it.
I have posted a gallery on our site. This one is not in with the others, but here is the link to the gallery, enjoy!
