In November 1995, we sold everything we had and moved to the Philippines, where our new home was this grass nipa hut (35x27 feet). The walls and the roof didn't connect by about three feet, and there were holes in the hut, so we had many small "visitors" — we once caught a three-inch scorpion in our bathroom. We used the husk of a coconut shell to polish our coconut wood floors, Filipino-style. When we took a "bath," we went into the "c.r." (comfort room) of our hut, where we dumped a few buckets of cold water over our head. These huts should be replaced every couple years, but we lived in our nipa hut for four years, until we were finally able to build a hollow-block (cinderblock) home, which is much safer during typhoons.

We live in the barangay (village) of Lourdes on the Bohol mainland (tenth largest island in the country), Lourdes' population is 6,000 but very spread out; our nearest neighbor is 500 meters away, and we are about nine miles from the nearest hospital and grocery store. Cars are expensive here; as long as we were able, our family rode together on one motorcycle — all six of us! As our children have grown in the last five years, we've had to find alternate means of transportation.

We were excited when we bought our own hand pump for water (our first major purchase after we arrived in the Philippines). People from many areas were able to come by our hut to use the farm's water pump for their daily water needs, including washing their clothes and taking baths here. (In left photo, the women are carrying full six-gallon containers of water on their heads! And they have to walk up a steep hill to get home from our property.) We finally built a nipa hut resting shed and provide cold water for the many people who travel along the road each day. After four years, the hut collapsed as it was made of nipa and other indigenous materials, but we hope to build a new one soon that will last longer.

In this photo (at right), the villagers are washing their laundry in the river; it's a great way to socialize and catch up on the news.^[1]

It may be primitive compared to our lifestyle back in Southern California, but we wouldn't trade it for anything. We've seen the Lord change violent guerrillas and drunkards through His lifechanging power, and we've seen the Lord heal and do wonders for these people, who are among the poorest of the poor. Even our children love ministering here, although they do miss their grandparents and friends.

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^[1]We (the Morys) have a small "manual electric washer" which has separate tubs for the wash cycle and spin cycle.

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