Author: Jonathan and Heidi Bamford

Mountain Rice

Mountain Rice

If you were to visit us in the village this week, you might ask, where are all the people?  They are in their fields harvesting rice.  This is what harvesting upland rice looks like for our neighbors.  The process they use is slow and labor intensive.  With a blade they hold in their hand, they […]
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Rare But Not Extinct

Rare But Not Extinct

Perhaps some of you read the same article I did; Volunteers discover 10 Pioneer-era Apple Types, Thought Extinct, in Forgotten Orchards Across the Pacific Northwest. Apparently, there is a team of people who spend countless hours and travel hundreds of miles each year in search of more than 10,000 apple tree varieties that are no […]
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Where does the Buck Stop?

Where does the Buck Stop?

Many people are confused as to where the buck stops.  I will explain.  The confusion, of course, comes from the multiple meanings of the word “Buck.” Buck can mean a male, perhaps a deer or a man with the name of Buck, or it can be slang for money, or a euphemism for a responsibility.  […]
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Got an Ax to Grind?

Got an Ax to Grind?

Our Isnag neighbors are all busy preparing rice fields and everyone has an ax to grind. Many people wonder why bench grinders have two grinding stones.  Some people think that one stone is course and the other fine. That may or may not be true, but the real reason is so that you and a […]
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Timing Isn’t Everything

Timing Isn’t Everything

Heidi was reaching for the kitchen timer so I suggested that she should go for the white one, not the pink one. These spiders aren’t dangerous, but timing isn’t everything and for some unknown reason it still isn’t pleasant to have one run up your arm. Last week we went to town to have a […]
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2019 not 2020

2019 not 2020

Happy New Year! We would like to share our vision for 2019, but it isn’t 20/20; some things are a bit fuzzy. We trust they will come into focus as the year progresses. It looks like we will be involved in 4 or 5 leadership meetings, 3 weddings, 2 cross-Pacific Ocean flights, and one major […]
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Self-Control

Self-Control

Considering that here in the Philippines, Christmas seasons starts in September, I think we have shown a lot of self-control in waiting until December to start having Christmas programs.  We were doing well, but we lost it last week and had two programs. A third one is coming up in a few days.   The […]
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How did last week go?

How did last week go?

How did last week go? It went great! Thanks for asking. We started off the week with a visit from Evelin from Germany. Evelin is on a short-term mission trip to help our mission organize our various library resources. She decided to take a break from the books and come and add a bit of […]
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December News

December News

You will be pleased to see that even though I’m late, I did get a picture of David teaching. David is a great teacher and people really engage with his illustrations. David has just started teaching through the book of Acts. One of the first things that happens in Acts is that many people hear […]
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Is Missing Two out of Three Bad?

Is Missing Two out of Three Bad?

I spent last week doing the tedious job of working through the editing remarks that the translation consultants made when they checked the book of Romans last February. It isn’t that glamorous, so I don’t take many selfies of myself hunched over the computer. My intent was to take pictures of our co-workers who work […]
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