God's miracles!

We have had so many God stories this year! From His grace to His provision to His presence that brings us peace, God has truly shown himself faithful in our lives. Our latest stories are answered prayers that have taken months of seeking Him to see the results, but His timing is always perfect.

First of all, last week God provided us a house to live in for the remainder of our stay here. In reality we didn't make enough money to be in what we felt like was a safe neighborhood for our kids and then someone from the church offered for us to housesit for them and trade work around the property for rent! It is a huge blessing!

Then, remember our stories about Natalie being able to do ballet last winter as an answer to her prayer! Well, she is still loving it and we are happy to report that now her and Isabelle are both on a 75%-100% scholarship for ballet/gymnastics!

For the past few months Natalie has been excelling in school. We have enjoyed homeschooling, but she is a total extrovert. She thrives around people, loves to perform and loves meeting new friends. We began to pray about putting her in a classroom, but the public schools wouldn't test her into first grade because of her age. Not only has God provided her a 50% off missionary discount, but a good friend has pledged to pay the remainder of Natalie's tuition for her to go to a private Christian school near to where we live! We even have someone to carpool with! We know that she will have a great year!

God is AMAZING! We have seen so many miracles in the last few years, but he never ceases to amaze us! Thank you all for your prayer and help! You have given your time, (to help us move) and finances (sometimes our support check comes in the mail and we have no idea who has sent the extra money) and your faithful friendship. You are all amazing too!

Summer 09

Right after we got back from Montana we went to a family reunion in eastern Washington. It was a great time to see relatives and reconnect. (The pics are from my Uncle Bill's mini horse farm.) We took Gabe straight to the airport so he could go to the Philippines for the summer. He was hoping to lead an outreach team from the school, but that didn't work out, so he went to begin building our house. Because of the weather, a motorcycle accident and many other "road blocks" he was unable to begin work. This time was good for him to draw up the official building plans, encourage the church, spend time with his family, and meet with our YWAM leadership there. Everything is settling into place and looks promising for our return there. They are all getting as excited as we are for our coming back. Unfortunately Gabe did not take any pictures... (guys!) so I'll have to add a youtube link of some video from his trip later. Thanks for all of you who prayed for him during this time!

Community development

Right after having our beatiful baby boy last April, we packed up and drove to Montana to help staff the Foundations of Community Development school with Youth with a Mission (YWAM). It was great to hear all of the teachings again and to see how of lot of the behind the scenes work is done. Gabe was also able to have one on one discipleship time with the director of the school to prepare him for leading in the Philippines about a year and a half from now. Overall the school went well. At first the students were all quiet and some of us wondered what they were taking away from each lecture, but in the end, especially during the debriefing interviews and discussion it was evident that all of them have learned a lot and have truly enjoyed the school. They will all be mighty workers for God in their communities all over the world.

A beautiful tradition

In the Philippines each child has many godparents- people that can watch out for them as the grow up and speak into their lives. We have extended this tradition to our friends and family here in the States as well by asking them to be a part of our children's lives as godparents. Just before we left Montana we had an informal dedication where his "Ninongs" and "Ninangs" from there could pray for him. Here are some pictures of Gabriel Judah with some of his godparents.

A Late Introduction

Wow, the last few months have just flown by. We would like you all to meet our little Gabriel Judah! He was born on April 6th and was 8 1/2 pounds. He brings so much joy to our family and the girls just love him! He is a good baby and even sucks his thumb like his big sisters. We drove over to Montana with him to go to YWAM when he was just 10 days old, so he's already had his share of adventures. He's snuggly an super cute and we are so happy to have him!

Merry Christmas

We have been so blessed to spend the holidays here in the US this year. Its been snowing like crazy and we've been enjoying celebrating with my family. Every year we do something special on all of the 12 days of Christmas. Each day we do a holiday activity like making cards or snowflakes or looking at lights. This year we also went as a family to see the Nutcracker. The girls loved it!

Adventures in Homeschooling

This year Natalie started homeschool. She is loving it. Her favorite is math and she's an excellent reader. Last week we had a great time learning from a book called Living Long Ago. We read about ancient fashion and culture. Her favorites were the Egyptians and the Middle Ages.

Supporting the church

As an Assemblies of God pastor in the Philippines, Gabe's heart really went out to a very special AG church near to where we were staying. They had no pastor and struggled with issues of division and a lack of understanding of how they could reach their community. While they were zealous for "spiritual" things, they often missed the mark when it came to sharing the gospel with the community and supporting each other in practical ways. Gabe was honored to be able to teach on "The 8 Qualities of a Healthy Church." It was a great eye opener for the people to see that they needed organization as well as spirituality, brothers and sisters serving in their gifts and need meeting evangelism. We pray that God will use this fellowship to reach many people in the future.

Rocket Stove

An intereseting project that Gabe was able to work on while we were in the Dominican Republic was building what is called a rocket stove. The majority of the people in the countryside still cook over a wood fire. This type of cooking takes more time, requires a lot of wood, and the fumes are very toxic to breathe in. A technology was developed using recycled material, that is accessible to everyone, that would cook food faster and for cheaper. Instead of using a lot of wood to build a fire, only a few twigs burn up an insulated tube and produce "rocket-like" heat.

The people loved this project and Gabe was able to share the gospel with many community groups because of his willingness to help them in a practical way.

Restoring the Land

One of the principles of community development is helping the people to see the value of the resources that they have. We found that in the Dominican Republic people were reluctant to plant small gardens to feed their families because of their socialist history. It was wonderful to work side by side with them and show them many plants that promote good health. Many of these "greens" were just growing as weeds in their yards. Gabe really enjoyed learning about organic farming and was excited to see the quick fruit of his labor.

Outreach in the Dominican Republic

Thank you all for your prayer for us the last two months. I'm sorry that its taken us so long to update you about our travels, but the internet was terribly slow there. We are truly grateful for the opportunity to serve in such a beautiful country and meet some wonderful people. We learned a lot and are excited for next year when we can take a team to the Philippines to share the gospel and strengthen communities.

Wish bone wishes do come true

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

We have something very special to be thankful for. Last year Gabe won the wish bone break at Thanksgiving, and wished for a baby boy. Well almost one year later we have found out that his wish is coming true. Thats right... we just found out that we are having our first son! Our family is all so exicted and we feel truly blessed to be expecting this little blessing the beginning of April. God knows the desires of our hearts! Wishes do come true!

Long haired Gabe

Gabe the Painter

My husband amazes me! Just give him a job and if he doesn't already know how to do it, you just teach him and he'll be a pro in no time!
In the last year we've been able to reconnect with some great family friends of mine from when I was in high school. They have a booming Painting business and amazing generous hearts. Gabe has been so blessed to be able to get a full time job and has earned multiple raises since he started. He's really a hard worker and this provision has helped us on our way to purchasing more land in the Philippines and starting our base.

Welcome to the Bagtas family page!

We'll friends, we've finally broken down and started a page of our own. We hope you all like the format and how easy it is to see our pics and read our updates! Let us know what you think!