making us smile :)

Here's how the Barkman boys are making us smile these days.....

- Cody loves to tell us stories. Here's a typical one: "Daddy, do you know what I fink is funny? A crocodile climbed into a tree and then put a peanut in a box and frowed it into the garbage can!" .... followed by a deep, fake and terribly amusing laugh which makes us all laugh, every time. 

- Every morning Makai walks to the fridge, points to the very top where the bananas are shelved and says, "nana" until I'm forced to drop whatever I'm doing and give him way too many deliciously sweet mini bananas. 

- Cody is taking swimming lessons with Tito Leon, who has also successfully taught the rest of the kids in our apartment complex how to swim. Cody's still a little hesitant to put his face under without coaxing, but he can swim the length of the pool by himself with his kick board. Not bad, hey?! Here he is with his swimming buddy, Stu (who happens to be from Vancouver!)...

- Makai loves playing with his "Quiet Book." This gem of a book (from Tante Evelyn- THANK YOU!!!) kept Cody quiet for remarkable lengths of time at this age (great in church- and I'm sure many of my readers helped me find missing pieces between pews!) and the book is now working its magic on Makai.... 45 minutes of non-stop QUIET! Yes please :) Also, notice the curly hair. He's definitely a Bartel boy right?

- Cody's been asking us a lot of questions lately.... Mommy, does Makai have nipples? Ate Reg, did you meet a sea lion? Tito Bryan, what is book (or any other random word) into Tagalog? Mommy, are you a girl? Are you an Ate? Does Uncle Jayco have a jumping motorcycle in Canada?

- We now have two boys addicted to trains, cars, trucks and motorcycles. Whenever Cody plays with his train set, car ramp or just drives a motorcycle or truck around the house, Makai is sure to pick up something with wheels and follow suit, with the appropriate sounds and all. I'm pretty sure, thanks to his big bro, that Makai has gotten into the whole driving scene much quicker than Cody did.

- We went to a great little amusement park in Manila the other week and Cody had the time of his life!  His favourite was riding a kids roller coaster in his very own truck. He thought he was driving it himself :) 

And Makai loved the little playground...

- One day after Ate Sam (our lovely helper two days a week) had watched the boys all day, Darnell and our friend Bryan and I met the kids outside and as I crouched down to say hi to Makai, he walked right past me, then right past Darnell and straight into Tito Bryan's arms. I think that explains how awesome Bryan is with our kids :)

- Largely influenced by his Daddy, Cody is very into cars and motorcycles. His latest love is dirt biking and he is VERY excited to try out the ATVs (or what he likes to call "jumping motorcycles") with us at the cabin this summer. In the meantime, he gets pretty stoked about this type of dirt biking....

- When Cody does something silly/strange that we've never seen before and we ask him where he learned that, the answer is, without fail, "Umm, Papa taught it at me!" And when he gives hugs to his friends, it often starts with, "This hug is from Papa." 

- Cody does yoga once a week. Yup, kids yoga! He loves it... a lot. The first day of the class, he must have said, "Mommy we're doing yoga, mommy. This is yoga!" about 20 times, even when the activities we were doing weren't really yoga at all :)

my friend Shari teaches it... she's great!

I could go on and on. But I'll stop here :) Needless to say, these boys bring us a ton of joy!

thankful for a lovely birthday girl

Last night at our Peace Church gathering we had a little surprise birthday party for our well-loved sister, Ate Reg. We invited more of her friends to join us and I made a cake for her (well actually a trifle.... long story involving a cake breaking and an unreliable grocery store but the end result was delicious!). We had a great time celebrating this amazing young woman.... we all shared what we love about her and then she had a little (tear-filled) something to say too :) And then we read Matthew 14 together and learned about God's radical compassion from each other's insights and questions about the text. 

the whole gang! youth night :)

the photo collage Crizel, Cody and I made for Reg

This beautiful young woman has become a sister to me, to Darnell, and also to Cody and Makai. Before we left for the Philippines (almost a year ago now!), I often prayed that I would find a true friend in Manila, someone who really understood me, despite being from different cultures. I know many of you also prayed for this. Well that prayer was answered in this beautiful, determined, smart and compassionate woman.

Reg is part of our family. She usually stays on our couch 2 or 3 nights a week and is always welcome. Even when we feel like we need quiet family time, this lady is part of it. She adores our boys, babysits on weekends when we need a date, and stays up late with me chatting- sharing our struggles and our frustrations. She has gone on endless road-trips with us, introducing us to the IMC churches, translating, touring, hosting, and babysitting. Her wisdom and advice are indispensable to us. Because she grew up with American missionaries, worked at Peacebuilders Community in Davao (after we were there) and speaks impeccable English, we understand each other SO well. This alone, in a cross-cultural context, is a huge blessing! And its neat that we have such a three-way mentorship... learning from each other in so many ways. 

Reg has been and still is, exactly the friend that our entire family has needed. I couldn't be more thankful for her. We love you, Ate Reg, and are so incredibly blessed by your friendship. Happy Birthday, dear sister!

"Theo sa Kanto" (God at the street corner)

If you know anything about the Philippines, you probably know about jeepneys, the country's main form of public transportation. Here's a picture, just in case...

I doubt you've heard of a jeepney church, though. We hadn't either, until we met a group of inspiring youth who had the brilliant idea of starting a radical Jesus-following community in a jeepney! The jeepneys that are parked in their neighbourhood every evening provide for a great space to gather and learn about the Kingdom of God and what it means to follow Jesus. These youth live in Tondo, an area of Manila that is one of the poorest and most densely populated parts of the Philippines. 

So how did we get connected with this alternative community? The youth initiating "Theo sa Kanto" are part of Evangelical Youth for Social Action (EYSA), a youth movement started by our friend, Bryan (read his story here) and a partner of Peace Church. Several of these young church-planters from Tondo have started gathering with Peace Church weekly so that they can be more equipped to study the Bible and lead others in radically following Jesus' way of peace.

Peace Church has quickly become a community that equips leaders to serve/pastor in their respective areas. Most of our community is made up of pastors and community organizers and we are already seeing the impact Peace Church is having within our network....  Jesus' message of Shalom is being lived and witnessed around us! And these young people from Tondo are a fine example of it. We are excited to journey with these amazing youth...