Miller & Consuela

This past weekend Dan and I, and about 30 others had the opportunity to go to a New Testament dedication and also the dedication of Genesis and Exodus in the language of Isnag. It was an awesome opportunity to see how God has been working in these people's lives.

What was it like in the Isnag village? For me, and many others it was an awesome experience. I'll try to give you a mental picture until we can add some photos!

We flew in on small, 6 seater airplanes and landed on a grass airstrip. Ready to greet us were dozens of friendly Isnag faces, who were their to meet us and also to help us with our luggage.

From the airstrip we began the 1 1/2 mile journey down a dirt path to a river where we crossed over in small canoes. (Being careful not to tip!!) Then we hiked up about 250 concrete stairs to our home for the next few days. Along the way our hosts were very gracious to stop and let us rest, as all of us visitors were not as fit as the Isnag's who lived here!

Once in the village we were brought to the translator's home where we could rest until we were assigned to our host families house.

I roomed with 4 other girls who are with our Discovery team here from the US and Canada (we'll tell you more about them later!) Our hosts were Miller and Consuela. They welcomed us with open arms, fed us coffee and breakfast each morning, let us borrow one of their two kerosene lamps, and just loved on us! Most of the Isnag people are farmers. They grow rice, pineapple and many other different types of produce. What they grow, is what they eat, along with meat only on special occassions. The same is for Miller -- he is a farmer and Consuela is the 1st/2nd grade teacher at the local elementary school.

The entire time we were their the Isnag people spoiled us with the most Nameet (delicious) pineapple in the world-- I think I ate at least 5 pineapples on my own over the weekend. Also, they were so generous with the meat and vegetables they cooked for us. We felt very special, and they became so special to us!

It was a sad time as we said goodbye after only 4 days, not knowing if we'd ever see these people again. We do know that the Isnag people have impacted our lives forever.