We first met Michel about six years ago when she arrived from Mindanao, Philippines, to fill the role of mission school teacher here in Kamantian. It didn’t take long before we realized she was a modern-day Dorcas. With a degree in secondary home economics, she had the skill to remake clothing to fit the small stature of the Palawanos. If she didn’t have something else to do, she was sewing clothing for someone or teaching hygiene and homemaking skills. It didn’t take long for the Palawanos to fall in love with her. With a bubbly take-charge personality, she was great at getting people to cooperate.

Unfortunately, Michel’s involvement with our mission was cut short by malaria and her reactions to the malaria medicines. We sadly said goodbye, but we kept in touch.

This February found us again in Mindanao, on the campus of Mountain View College where Jilin’s older sister, Bubit, is in school. It is a rather involved trip getting to Mindanao, and even more so to get to the campus. It is a beautiful place with cool weather.

We were there at Mountain View to attend Michel’s wedding on February 25. The Philippines have been experiencing an unusually long rainy season. For several days leading up to the wedding, Michel prayed, “Lord, please don’t let it rain on my special day. This is a once-in-a-lifetime occasion, and I want it to be beautiful.” Indeed, the Lord did bless her with a beautiful, sunny day.

This was our first experience as insiders in a Filipino wedding. Kent gave the homily, Jilin and Bubit were ushers, and I was a sponsor. As Michel had instructed us that Kent’s usual attire of shorts, t-shirt and flip-flops would not be permissible at her wedding, a full day of shopping in Divisoria, a clothing district of Manila, was required. Michel wanted us in traditional Filipino and Filipina wedding attire. Kent purchased a pineapple-fiber barong, which he wore over black slacks (and black shoes!), and I bought a pineapple-fiber blouse with a scarf that wrapped around the collar, which I wore over a black skirt. As Jilin picked out her outfit to purchase, she commented that she felt like a rich kid.

The evening before the wedding, several of us gathered to decorate the bride’s car. This was the car that was to take Michel to the park for the wedding, not a getaway car as in an American wedding. The wedding was scheduled for seven o’clock Friday morning in a beautiful grassy area overlooking the Bukidnon Valley.

The morning of the service, Michel could be seen scooting around on her motorcycle in her wedding gown doing last-minute errands. When the time came to go to the grounds, she dutifully sat in the bride’s car and was chauffeured by Andrew Hahn, her groom-to-be. Once at the site, she waited patiently for the rest of the guests to arrive.

To the strains of beautiful keyboard and violin music, the ministers walked up and stood in front. After a prayer, the sponsors walked down the grassy flower-strewn aisle. We stood to the side and watched the groom’s stand-in parents walk in (his real parents were unable to attend). Then the groom, best man, bridesmaids and groomsmen came down the aisle, taking their places to the sides. Two young boys, the Bible Boy and a Covenant Bearer, carried satin pillows with a Bible and the marriage contract.

After the maid of honor was in her place, four small girls came down the aisle dropping flower petals all along the way. Finally, the bride entered. Michel looked radiant as she came down the aisle on the arm of her father, with her mother on the other side of him. Father and Mother gave their blessing to the couple as Andrew came down to escort his bride up to the chancel.

Kent’s homily was very moving—he can hardly preach without it being evangelistic and mission-minded. It was also very fitting, for Michel and Andrew are two very mission-minded people. After special songs and dedicatory prayers, it was time to sign the marriage contract. The principal sponsors were invited to witness the signing and then to sign it themselves. Then the bride and groom were declared man and wife. After the kiss, Michel was handed a Palawano basket. Opening the netting on the top, she released butterflies her father had caught (he’s a professional butterfly catcher) to signify change and new life.

After a very organized picture-taking, all were invited to an outdoor reception a few houses down from the park. It was a brunch with vocal and instrumental music interspersed with counsel and advice from several sponsors. I was privileged to be one of those selected. The bride and groom told their love story and then expressed their gratefulness for all who participated in their special day.

After closing prayer, we returned to our guesthouse, changed clothes and went out on an excursion to enjoy the local sights and waterfalls. It was a very pleasant Friday afternoon, and we enjoyed the company of the bride and groom as well. In fact, they stayed around the whole weekend. Saturday night, Andrew and Michel came by our room. As we sat down to chat, we sensed they had something momentous to tell us. I squealed in delight when Michel said she and Andrew felt God wanted them to come and work with us as our lowland support team. They would report for duty after their honeymoon. Several weeks earlier, we had invited them to join us, but we didn’t let ourselves get too hopeful.

We are thrilled to introduce to you Michel and Andrew Hahn who will be short-term (we hope it may become long-term) support for our growing lowland outreach. They bring to the job many attributes that will move the work forward and free up Kent’s time to stay in the mountains more. Michel speaks Tagalog as well as Palawano and other dialects. She knows the Brooke’s Point area well (where our lowland base is), knows many politicians in the area and is familiar with the hospital system. Andrew has lots of experience that will enable him to manage and maintain our mission vehicles and farm equipment. He also has construction experience. We hope they will help us construct buildings on our base property to consolidate our equipment and housing in one location.

Welcome Andrew and Michel! May God richly bless you in your new life together as He uses you to bless us and His people.

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