THE HEPPNERS IN ASIA

We had REALLY great intentions of doing an every 2 months newsletter. No, really, we did! The amount of teams and visitors to GH and staying with us has been NONSTOP since December 21^st! Christmas was busy and fun…New Years came and went with a bang! And Tracey was sick with a nasty flu thing for most of January. (More about the visitors near the bottom of this post!)

But it didn’t end there!

More visitors in February, a trip to the USA for Jonathan, spring break at the beach and 3 weeks of Dengue, Typhoid & UTI for Jonathan as well! (We figured by counting the days of incubations, etc, he acquired Typhoid in his last US trip and Dengue somewhere here in Manila before we went to the beach for Spring Break.  After two weeks of his bones feeling like they were breaking and constant fever he started to feel better and the colour started to come back to his face. Literally his colouring was grey.

us on our spring break at the beach

Thank you all for your prayers for him the last few weeks! Not gonna lie – it was a little frightening for us all. Thank GOD for his recovery!

Our year anniversary back in the Philippines has come and gone!

It is TRUE! We arrived in Manila for our “second time around” last January 1, 2011. It was hard to believe when New Year’s arrived that we had been here a year already! Boy, does time really fly!

What an incredible year we have had readjusting to Filipino life, moving from the little condo the bustling business district in Makati City to a lovely house in quiet Pasig City. 

The kids have had a great year at Faith Academy – making friends, getting involved with teams (basketball for the boy) and clubs (puppets and band for the girl).

It has been really awesome to watch them grow – as individuals and in height! If you can believe, Caleb is a good 2 inches taller than me now!! CRAZY! And Rosie is not far behind!

Jonathan has continued to travel back and forth over the pond to Canada & the US as Fund Developer for Gentle Hands at many churches and groups who are interested in being involved in GH, whether it is sending supplies, finances, or teams to come volunteer. He also has been doing some speaking when he is here in Manila, at his dad’s church in some of the Sunday meetings. Plus he and his high school friend who is also a missionary here with his family, Robby, have started a basketball clinic-type program, afterschool for middle school boys, called The Furnace. In the words of Caleb, it is awesome. Plus our involvement in Church of God Makati, the church we planted along with J’s dad and some other pastors when we were here the last time, will be increasing in the near future..more about that in our next update!

Tracey continued to volunteer at Gentle Hands thru Media & P.R.– taking pictures, doing some admin here and there for my sister-in-law, and whatever else may come up to be done. She has stepped down from taking an “official” role as Media & PR at GH but remains an advocate and helps out Charity whenever needed. She has also been getting involved in the photography community. She heads up a community group called SMUG, where photographers, from hobbyists to pros, have speakers, give back to the community, have fun together, go on photowalks..it’s awesome! In November, Lonely Planet Philippines magazine sent her on an assignment to Turkey to photograph for their feature cover story. The issue came out in April..pretty exciting!

trace on a SMUG (photo community) “giving back” outreach with Habitat for Humanity Philippines

Yes, our first year has been very rewarding and everyone has adjusted well. For sure it’s had some rough spots – missing home and all it’s conveniences, the occasional being sick, etc. But for the most part – it’s been awesome!

Thank you for continuing to support us in prayers and support, both emotional and financial, as we continue to serve the beautiful people of the Philippines.

Welcome to Grand Central Station!

We have LITERALLY had NON-stop visitors since December 21^st of last year!

For the holiday season we had Cuong & Athena and their family from Japan from the 21^st to the 1^st of Jan 2012. We have known Athena since 2000 when she was here as a short-term missionary working with Evan & Charity. It was great to reconnect and share some holiday cheer with them, and be involved at everything that goes on at GH at Christmastime!

us with pastor alan and pastor joel from canada

Then in January we had two different pastors from Canada come visit – Joel Goodnough from Brooks, AB was here for 3 weeks and Alex Allan from Swift Current, SK was here for 2 weeks. They did lots of speaking, preaching, helping, working at the church here in Manila, at Gentle Hands, out in the province. We even got to show them some touristy things too – so they got the full meal deal! It was cool to get to know them – Jonathan knows them both quite well, but the rest of us not so much. But that changed now!

trace’s cousin blayne and wife tara here volunteering at Gentle Hands

A week after they left my cousin Blayne and his wife Tara were here for 2 weeks to volunteer mostly at Gentle Hands. It was super-awesome to have them both here!

At the same time, Tracey’s sister, Kristal, arrived on the 13^th of Feb and will be here until June 2^nd. It’s been so amazing having her here and seeing the growth in her life and the dreaming for what can be really take hold of her heart!

kristal, trace’s sister, and one of the sweet ones from Gentle Hands

See? Lots of visitors! We love them!  

Summer 2012: Canada

This summer we will be going “home” to Canada for the months of June & July. Along with Jonathan doing a number of camps and meetings across Canada and the US, we will be visiting some friends, family & supporters along the way & Caleb will be working with my cousin Blayne for almost a month to make some summer money – he’s at that age now. We will be finalizing schedules shortly here. Check out Facebook page for more details and for our schedule…we would love to see you!

Also if you would like to get together with us, please contact us so we can fit you into our really crazy summer schedule! We are thinking of doing some big BBQ type gatherings in some of the major cities so we can see a bunch of you at once!

 Love you all! xoxo

Jonathan, Tracey, Caleb & Annarose

i had sent out our OCTOBER newsletter but forgot to post it on here. so HERE…take a read if you would like. :)

october jonathan was in north america with his fund-developer hat on for Gentle Hands. 16 days. so long! then i got a call if i was free from oct 28 - nov 5…to go on assignment in TURKEY for lonely planet philippines magazine. j and i looked at the calendar and 10 days later i was on my way.

it was awesome. :) the 10 page feature is to come out either dec or jan i think. will keep you posted.

christmas is just around the corner. wow. that means it’s been almost a year since we moved here. now THAT is crazy.

will do a christmas update.. so talk soon. :)

xotracey

70 women. 70 headshots.

last february i went to the corrections institute for women (CIW) otherwise knows as the women’s prison. my motherinlaw was speaking at an event there. i went along to take photographs…that i wouldnt be able to show to the public, being as they are inside the prison.

but the experience was eye-opening. and my heart also opened as well that day; how AMAZING would it be to photograph these women? each so precious to HIM and to us. women, who you can see in some of their eyes, that dont feel beauitful or worth anything anymore. that could never be able to give back but would cherish such a thing as a beautiful photograph of themselves and see truly how beautiful they are.

i shared this dream with ana, one of the pastors from our church which is involved extensively at the prison. she thought it was a great idea…didn’t know when that would ever be. but said she’d keep it in mind.

this past sunday, ana came to me smiling. they were doing a retreat at the prison this mon, tues and wed. and i was going to be allowed to bring in my camera to photograph the women!!!!

and thats what i did yesterday.

i arrived at the visitors gate and a minimum security inmate, we will call zoe, with big smiles and open arms. she began to tell me about some of the ladies attending…how there were two very well-off inmates that hated each other. one was a major car-napper, the other a major drug dealer. and after the first day of the retreat, without anyone’s prompting, they looked for each other and made amends, with tears and hugs. WOW. and then the very old inmate who is has stage 4 breast cancer, with open cancer wounds who is attending.

suddenly my heart didn’t feel as heavy as it had been the last few days with my own burdens.

i was asked to share briefly why i was going to take the photographs. in my broken tagalog, i told them how i visited in feb. how god showed me how beautiful and precious you all were to him. and that as a wedding photographer i photograph beautiful women and they were no different. when i finished they all cheered. my heart was overwhelmed.

as i watched the women sing and laugh and listen intently to the speakers, my eyes filled up with tears. the speakers were all talking about their identity and who they are. wow. so crazy how it all was tying together.

there were 7 tables of women. we photographed them by tables. i found a couch by a door so i could prop it open ever so slightly to get some nice side lighting. and away we went! some smiled so freely. others needed some prodding and encouraging. while others’ pain was so evident in their eyes, i was lucky enough to get them to look at me. with a tender touch to their shoulders, i thanked them and smiled. some smiled back. others quickly walked away. and some hugged me tightly.

i seriously was on the verge of tears throughout it all.

when we were done ana came to me and said, oh there is just one that doesn’t want her photograph taken. i said, really? we will see. and i quickly sought out for her.

she was a 33 year old. been on hard drugs since she was 10. she shared her story. i dont think she has been in long. i found her and touched her arm, please i would love to photograph you. your face, your hair, they are so beautiful. she sheepishly looked at me and as our eyes met and she saw that i was not scary, she agreed.

wow. wow. wow.

she was the last inmate i photographed yesterday. and her eyes still leave imprints in my mind.

i photographed 70 beautiful women yesterday. each one tells a story. a hard story. but it’s their story.

thank you for letting me love you through my lens.

xotracey

a view from inside CIW, the only women’s correctional facility in the philippines housing 1800 women. photo credit.

whether i am going to be able to post any to the public i’m not sure. i may know at a later date.

I have been reading scripture differently lately. Sort of losing myself in it. An immersion of sorts. What I have found has been quite overwhelming.

This scandalous redemptive mystery of the Gospel is a mysterious journey of discovery. It is not an embedding process where we insert ourselves into the organizational life of a church. It IS an immersion; something that saturates EVERY moment and part of life. I find it inspiring that with nothing more than the offer of come ‘Follow Me’, the disciples dropped everything and walked with Jesus into this Life.

When we choose this kind of journey with HIM, He cuts us loose. Outside all borders, boundaries, and barriers…outside of our constructed comfort zones and fears. It is out in the wild with Him we come to discover that the Kingdom of God is an uncivilized place, or as Erwin McManus writes, its a ‘barbarian way’. To often communities of faith struggle to make themselves ‘culturally relevant’ and in so doing continue to tangle themselves up in a civilized world. 

There is no redemption in cultural relevance. What we need is a wild, inherently courageous and uncivilized guide. We need to recognize Jesus walking toward us, beckoning us ‘to follow’ Him into a world that longs in ignorance for Him.

The Kingdom of God is not a low risk blue chip investment created by the brokers of religion for consumption; an attempt to make life better or for retirement plan at a tropical resort. It can’t be calmly considered, and casually digested. THIS Kingdom can not be domesticated, it can’t be franchised and placed along side the other proprietors of religious goods. The King of this Kingdom can’t be restrained, leashed or muzzled from His continuous challenge of our selfish way of life. He is not willing to settle for less than us being who He made us to be, which often comes at the cost of what we THINK He made us to be(but thats another conversation…). 

He is a seeker. A hound, dont be offended by the picture of it. Yes, a hound, on the scent, seeking us out with incredible ferocity.

Have we sanitized Jesus, making him a spiritual guru of sorts selling a success dream? Does He come rather tamely, in a three piece suit, or as cool hipster…to tidy up a few bad habits, make us better people, more prosperous, more cool…sending us back into the world grateful for the self-help? Really? Seriously? Is that the extent of this message of hope?

I think in lots of ways, we have. And this is not the Jesus of scripture. Where the true Lord Jesus is, everything changes. Think of the words: transformed. freedom. redeemed. united. hope. life. alive. force. faith. These are words that hold power and birth movements of change. Isn’t it interesting that we have had some level of success at fitting ‘christianity’ into our culture but trying to fit Him and His way into our normal rhythms of life is like trying to push a camel through the eye of a needle. hmmm, have read that somewhere. It don’t work. Or if it does, its really really messy. He doesn’t fit into anything that was, He makes all things new. And He does it at the cost of we may see as ‘my precious’. And often when ‘my precious’ is killing me. Maybe thats why we opt for the religion over the person…hmmmm.

The reality is I think we’ve all caught glimpses of the Kingdom of God, this Kingdom of Jesus. And often it goes unrecognized because it is outside our comfort zones, beyond the barbed wire, warning tape, in the messy places, outside the black and white lines into which we’ve etched our theologies. You see, out there beyond the walls, its unsettling. Life is not in our control. We miss the ‘coming of the Kingdom’ because its difficult to understand what’s going on. But if we would look but for a minute our hearts would awaken in ways we have secretly longed for. We would discover something so scandalously redemptive that it would shatter our way of life and change our world.

It would be like a man who has discovered a treasure in the midst of the brokenness of life. His shovel digs into the pavement of life and strikes something solid, glittering…it mezzmerizes him. He will sell everything, sell his entire life to have this treasure. He will liquidate all his life’s assets just for this treasure. wow. Am I like he? hmmm…heard that somewhere before too.
There is nothing wrong with church, and for the record I am convinced that the big C Church is the hope of the world. BUT often we’re in danger of going to church, reading the bible, singing songs, saying prayers, doing good deeds, being baptized, having communion so much so that we risk not making the great discovery. Maybe, we have to look beyond the building we erroneously call church so that we can be startled by discovery. 

Discovery?

Uh huh. A discovery that buildings and forms matter not one whit. Its the Kingdom that lies within us that holds such incredible power. We need to stop allowing the gathering place, the building we go to, the church place we tend to hide in, to be an excuse to live the great pretend. 

WHAT? yes, the great pretend. Like you don’t know what’s going on. Like you don’t know you have a destiny, a role to play in the PLAN of the King. Like you don’t really know there is more than you could possibly imagine for the one who chooses to ask, to knock, to seek…to lay it all on the line for This King.

Listen closely…have you heard the clink of the blade of the shovel against the glittering treasure? Have you? 

If you have…oooo…well now the stakes are higher for you. And maybe thats why you are so miserable…because, it’s redemptive beauty will haunt you…cuz you have a sense of it’s worth, an idea of it’s power to transform everything it touches. 

Hearts.

Imaginations.

Passions.

Dreams.

The world.

A whole being…ignited by the dream of His Presence here…and the Kingdom of God made known.

oooo, I have a dream.
j

over a week ago i acquired “sore eyes”, or conjunctivis.

this is the first time i ever had this. and let me tell you, it ain’t pretty.

it began with my eyes feeling a little sore..so i rubbed them, naturally. then my sisterinlaw, charity, took one look at me when i was at Gentle Hands last tuesday and said, “oh, you have sore eyes..ya it’s going around here.”

fantastic. not. so off to mercury drug, the local drugstore chain, i went to fetch some antibacterial, anti-inflammatory drops. bloody expensive let me tell you. so i began drops.

and my eyes slowly started getting worse. nice-not. and i developed an inflamed node in my face near my ear. nice - not. and my eyes burned like a bugger. nice - not. and they “gooped”. super nice. NOT.

by friday they had not gotten better with the said drops. so i went on antibiotics as well. still nothing. so on sunday, my motherinlaw suggested an medicated ointment. at this point, i was up for trying anything.

you see, i couldn’t see anything, really. my eyes were scratchy. they ached…oh did they ache. i had to close them cuz leaving them open was too painful. and they burned. snap, did they burn. so what does one do when this is all  happening? one doesn’t work on the computer and answer emails that continue to pile up. nor does one work on weddings and sessions that need to be edited and out to clients either. nor does one use the time to even do up blog posts for scheduling. no cuz sitting at a computer with your eyes OPEN is far too painful.

and when you look out, everything is blurry…only if you look a certain way does the blurr fade and there are glimpses of clarity. really annoying actually. :)

so one sits. lays. “be’s” with their eyes closed.

i know, party time, right??

after a few days in, i ACTUALLY had the nerve to ask god, “so…what is it that i can learn from this really shatty situation??”

and so began the revelations….

how often do we rely on our sight for so much of what we do. as a photographer, my sight is imparative. i have thought many times about “what if i became blind?!” scenario. the thought haunts me…the reason i wont get laser eye surgery - the POSSIBILITY of it NOT working and leaving me without my sight.

and even in day to day life..its really hard to wash dishes or make a sandwich when your sight is really blurry and fuzzy. or trying to read…good luck with that.

back to the “so one sits..lays..be’s.

i have reflected much the last few days on  how my soul relys on what it can see as to where my belief lies. say again? if i can SEE that god is blessing and providing and showing me the way i should go, then i believe.

i mean isn’t the saying something like, “seeing is believing”?

but take away the sight…do i still believe god is my provider and that he is gonna show me what i am to do, when i can’t see it laid out in front? hmmmmmmm… THAT is sometimes another story.

so as i laid in blurry silence i noticed/discovered something. i dont need to SEE things to believe that god is for me..that he will make a way..that he will provide..that he will show me what i am to do…

no…i have to LISTEN. to his voice. the still small voice that so often i know that i sometimes dismiss for “oh that’s silly, or insecurity, or this or that”. sometimes that voice is the very thing that will solidify our faith.

here i am, a week into these “sore eyes”…and the ointment is helping. i am coupling it with the drops. still on the antibiotics. they are starting to feel better. not healed, by any means, but like there is hope they will be better. :)

and even though i still don’t know where the means will come from, or what i am supposed to be REALLY doing, or how i am supposed to do it…i do know that i dont need to SEE it with my eyes - although it’d be really nice!!- ..i need to believe in what i am HEARING resonate in my soul.

xotracey



if you haven’t stayed up to snuff on my photo blog, i was in canada for 2 weeks in june to shoot the delightfully fun wedding of KYM & WINMARK. i had known since december 2010 that i was going back to shoot their wedding, just before we headed on our philippine adventure jan 1, 2011.

what i didn’t know is how hard it would be going back “home” to canada.

you see, if you know me at all, i am an all or nothing sorta girl. i throw myself into whatever and whereever i am. whether it’s shooting, leading a group, creating something, my bio-polar running life. you name it, i throw myself in it, if i’m gonna do it. like the vancouver photographers networking group i co-founded with a fellow photog and dear friend in 2008. it was something i was passionate about and went for. today, the group still exists and has almost 400 members. hello.

so it wasn’t a surprise that when we landed in manila i would do the same - throw myself back into the culture i knew well for 5 years (1996-2001). altho i barely used my tagalog in canada - mostly when i was shooting weddings and there were filipinos! - i began conversing like time had stood still. the asian way of life - circular thinking - came back like second nature. i think it was what my soul needed, really.

which leads me to the canada vs the philippines thing.

i found this on a website and it was really great to explain.

Eastern Culture Vs Western Culture

This is an insightful understanding of Eastern Culture vs. Western Culture…in an interesting pictorial representation. Of course one can’t generalize everyone into these “categories” but the drawings DO capture the essence of cultural differences between western and Asian cultures, in a snippy, entertaining way.

Blue=Western & Red=Asian (following graphics copyright of Yang Liu)

Opinion

Way of Life

Traveling

Transportation

The Boss

Relationships/Contacts

Punctuality

Self-image

In a restaurant

Moods and Weather

The weekends

At a Party

Queue when waiting

Handling of Problems

Anger

The Child

The elderly in everyday life

i think that the images explain themselves. :) i can TOTALLY relate to so many of those images, mostly red!

it was very easy for me to slip into the asian culture, being that so many of our core family values reflect so many of these. (not ALL, but many!)

back to my trip to canada…because i was immersed in living here, i really didn’t prepare myself for going back home, emotionally. the “reverse culture shock” that i got punched in the gutt with once back on canadian soil. in fact, the night before my flight for canada i STILL hadn’t packed and even THOUGHT about my trip. oh my.

it really made me step back and reflect, let me tell you, about so much of what we do, as people in general, and how we live our life every day. i wish i could tell you all i felt/realized/came to conclusions about…but i think that would be TOO raw for my blog and may offend people, which i am not in the business of doing. and it would really suck after 4 days of my new blogging overhaul, that people stopped reading it cuz i pissed them off. :) i’ll leave that up to a blogger missionary i follow and relate to on SO many levels, jamie - the very worst missionary. go ahead and check her out. :)

anyways..all this to show and tell to say… i love both the philippines AND canada. equally. but differently. and i think that is ok. :)

thanks for hearing my heart.

xotracey

getting a routine set and in place right after you’ve moved HALF WAY AROUND THE GLOBE  is always a challenge especially for someone like me who doesn’t do well with getting routines to STICK!

nonetheless i have uploaded our APRIL NEWSLETTER. simply click on the link below!

APRIL 2011 NEWSLETTER

happy monday to all!

xotracey

it’s been 9 weeks since we arrived in the philippines.

so excited. anticipating. a little nervous. but mostly excited.

and why not? we were coming back “home” in a sense…a place we had put down roots for 6 years. both our kids were born here. the foundation of our lives as a married couple were in this very country and city.

we knew what we were coming back to. cultural and all. yet, some of those very things are taking their toll on me. 

going from weather changes from vancouver to manila - slight change. i sweat all the time. ALL. THE. TIME. i walk slower now so that i DON’T sweat ALL. THE. TIME. i don’t mind sweating at the beach, in my bathing suit. but i do not live on the beach, work on the beach, or even frequent the beach as much as i would like. and so you dress in layers, sorta. and move slowly.

things are NEVER on time here. EVER. you say 10am, maybe they’ll start or show up at 10:15..10:30..10:45 even.  i’m not one for being late.. it bothers me. i find it disrespectful. but i dont rush anymore to be EARLY. cuz no one else will be early. a battle i’m most certain i will NEVER win.

speaking of early…getting up at 5am every morning to get your kids out the door 5 minutes before 6am for their journey on the school bus. the good thing is that there is no traffic at this time of day for me to go to Gentle Hands..so i suppose this is a win-win. 

and what about school? i have yet to be at school since it opened. life is very difficult to get around without a vehicle. this not going up to the school thing is really hard for me. i was super-involved in our school in burnaby. on the pac..volunteering with class stuff. just “being” there. ya..i know it’s not forever..we WILL get a vehicle soon. but it FEELS like forever.

what about household chores? we live in a metropolis with almost 20 million people in it. i SEE the smog skyline. things get dirty and dusty here. i try and keep my bedroom window closed so my office/equipment stay clean. but the rest of our house is open, with screens. you gotta sweep every day. and the laundry. it’s not like home. it takes a looooooooong time. and you hang things to dry here. i’ve taken to putting a fan in the laundry room..helps the drying process. takes even longer when it rains. we don’t use the air-conditioning that is in our place either. too much $$$ to run it.(philippines, i read, is the highest electricity rates in the WORLD. le sigh.) so that whole sweating thing..you sweep and you sweat. you hang the laundry and you sweat. it’s just part of it.

oh and remember that waking up at 5am thing plays in there too…i’m about DONE by 8:30pm. the weekdays are brutal. not going to lie; i look forward to sunday mornings and sleeping without an alarm waking me up. :)

am i whining? absolutely. am i complaining? uh-huh i am. am i homesick? at times. am i certain we made the right decision in moving here? 100% we did. will this pass? totally it will. probably doesn’t help that Lover is off to canadaland for 2 weeks tomoro. le sigh again. :) but seriously..my head knows this is just a feeling and that it too will pass. my heart is just not there yet… <3

it’s re-entry. culture shock. the wall. whatever you want to call it. i’m there. and i’m just being real and thought you’d like to know that, yes, i live in the tropics, in “paradise”…but it doesn’t always FEEL like paradise.

xotracey