March 08  
Hi Friends and Family,


Now that we are over half way through March... February really flew by for us. And from the news we’re getting home, it sounds like it did for a lot of you too.

The months of February and March had several highlights for us. Here’s an update…

1.

With 150 votes coming in from all over the world, one band name came in with the whopping majority. Meet the newest rave of Germany, Philippines, and the USA …drum roll… ”No Man Can”! Or as the Filipinos say, “thenomancanband”. Thanks to our loyal fans who voted. We (Geoff and Erica) personally preferred “Humane Society” but our choice lost abysmally.
2.

The “nomancanband” played at several gigs. We played a Valentine concert for a local university and a birthday concert for a friend. We also played a free concert in Agdao, the slum community that we visit every week to hang out with the teenagers. While we’ve got a ways to go before perfection (you know Geoff), these gigs have given us opportunities to get experience playing in front of Filipino crowds and building relationships. This is important because we’ve learned that silence after the music has faded does NOT mean you’ve failed miserably. It means they are in awe of your musical prowess (or maybe that’s just a Filipino trying to make us feel better, we’re not sure:)
3.

We were able to sponsor the band members to attend a Bamboo concert. Bamboo is the hottest band in the Philippines right now. One of our guys LOVES Bamboo and had never seen them perform. Another band member had never even been to a real concert before. So, it was a joy to experience these firsts with them. Bamboo is unique in this culture because they are a band with a cause. Coming from a background of drugs, Filipinos now see them as a voice for rehabilitation, Filipino pride, and justice issues in this country. Here is their website: "http://www.bamboo.com.ph"
4.

We’re getting a van!! Some friends and supporters have graciously offered to celebrate what God is doing in their lives by sharing with us the funds to buy a van for the band. WOOHOO!!! Now we have to figure out how to survive in the traffic on our own!
5.

A college student, Betsy Murphy, has volunteered to join us for the summer to help with Ariel and play in the band. This is a huge answer to prayer as we’ve struggled to find help that we can trust.
6.

Erica is in her last month of thesis writing! After losing half of her paper to a computer error (ouch!), she’s been able to rewrite it with even more clarity than before and move forward to the last push of the process.
7.

We’re finally starting to understand this culture (a little bit). We came across a book about the ins and outs of Filipino relationships and social interactions, and it has helped tremendously. We’ve started to experiment by smiling our way through conflict, and it works! It’s a wonder what rules can be broken if you’re sporting a smile.
8.

Estudyante kami. (We are students.) We started our formal training in Cebuano, the language of Mindanao, which is the island that we live on. We can say exciting things like, "The tree is tall" and "You are fat!"
9.

And finally, we want to leave you with a clip of the latest craze around here… the Papaya dance. Imagine grocery shopping and just as you are reaching for a can of green beans, the speakers start to blare loud disco music, and the entire store of people stop to dance in the aisles. Welcome to the Philippines. "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alX5ni4n4xw"

Thanks for reading! We love you and we miss you.


Love, Geoff and Erica