September 8, 2007
DEAR FRIENDS,
We knew we had arrived in Manila last weekend when:
We walked through a department store, and saw an extremely large area devoted to selling just men’s handkerchiefs (a very popular item used by many all year to wipe off sweat while traveling via public transportation).
David asked for some butter to put on his waffles at a restaurant, and the waitress politely informed him there would be an extra charge for butter.
Our Filipino friends greet us as “Ate” and “Kuya” (elder sister and elder brother)-at least they haven’t switched to “Lolo and Lola” (grandfather and grandmother)!
To renew our driver’s licenses, we queued up before 8 different windows, filled out 4 forms, had our eyes, weight and urine checked, were photographed twice (at different windows), paid 4 different fees and the whole trip only took us 3 hours, our fastest time ever.
Old Filipino friends take one look at David, and call him-to his face-fat (“mataba” and mean it as a compliment. I think I would cry if they said it about me, since I have been losing weight!
Our hearts are indeed glad to be back, although even after 21 years, we find that readjusting to life here is taking significant time and energy.
Praise:
After a hectic start at the Houston airport, where we were charged more than expected for an extra bag, and almost not allowed to leave the country due to a misunderstanding about our visa to the Philippines, God smoothed our way, and we and our luggage arrived after 30 hours travel time at our OMF Mission Center here in Manila.
We have had positive communication with Katy, and when she had car trouble, she called her brother and asked him to help her.
Some Prayer Requests:
We found a house we liked, one of a “triplex” of town homes on one lot in a quiet, secure neighborhood within walking distance of our office. The price was significantly over what we had budgeted but we were able to negotiate a slightly lower price. But, we have yet to sign a contract so pray that all will be worked out if this indeed is the right location for us.
We arrived in Manila early on Saturday morning and were in the office first thing Monday morning. We are feeling a bit overwhelmed by the work and have yet to get into a rhythm. Pray for us to know what to tackle first, and how to wisely divide our ministry responsibilities between the two of us.
New Term, New Communication Tools
We plan to continue regular email prayer updates and hope that eventually we can include all those who used to get our written communications. We also need to figure out a user-friendly way for people to subscribe and unsubscribe from our email list.
We have also introduced a blog www.http://nicholsconnection.wordpress.com in order to improve our communication and connection with our friends, family and supporters. David has been blogging www.http://ruach.wordpress.com for several months now about what he is learning in his spiritual formation studies. We welcome comments and suggestions to improve the communication process.
We have been told that we must try skype so hopefully by our next communication; we will be set-up for skype conversations. For the meantime, we do have a cell phone which can receive text messages or phone calls (the receiver of phone calls or text messages is not charged in the Philippines either!). Our cell is
but please be merciful and remember that we are 12 hours ahead of Eastern standard time in the U.S.!
With great appreciation,
David and Doris Nichols
Serving as OMF Philippines Personnel Resource Managers
“You O LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. With your help, I can advance against a troop; with my God, I can scale a wall.” Psalm 18:28-29
