We left Manila at 10:30pm Monday and arrived safely in San
Francisco at 7:30pm...also on Monday. I tell you, that international
date line thing can really throw a person off. Thankfully, I did not
much trouble with jet lag again. Whew! I'm glad for that.
My
trip to the Philippines was an all-around wonderful experience. I
appreciated getting to know the people on the Ripon team better, and it
was a pleasure getting to know the people on the Ashland team. Let's
hear it for new friends! I also really enjoyed getting to know some of
my Filipino brothers and sisters. The Filipino people are so friendly!
My experience in the Philippines has really whetted my appetite for
overseas missions, but it also served to light a fire under me for
reaching out to the people here in my own community. Just because I am
back in my own culture does not mean it is going to be easy though. I
tried to strike up a conversation with the lady who was checking out my
groceries at the store this afternoon and was reminded how much harder
it is going to be to talk to Americans. Harder as a rule anyway. There
will always be the exception. But who said life is supposed to be
easy?
It has not even been a week yet, and already I am off and
running again. Tomorrow morning I strike out on the next adventure. It
is time for our annual trek to Washington to go camping with the
family. This has always been a highlight of my year. I am sad to miss
seeing my church family though, especially those who were on the
Philippines team. I will not be around for the next four Sundays
either. One of the ladies at church said something the other night
about church discipline... :)
Tori
and her husband Dan are missionaries in Manila. They helped organize
much of our trip for us. Tori met us for our final trek by boat to get
to the island.
FRESH coconut juice. Mmmm!
The avenue from our guest house to the main road on the island.
Meal
times, especially breakfast, were one of my favorite parts of the day.
It was a good time to get to know everyone. And the morning coffee was
delicious!
Sunday morning before church.
We REALLY underestimated the number of children who would be there! It was amazing!
I
think this was our first afternoon out to the feeding sites, and the
rain drenched clothes were a perfect start to what we would experience
the remainder of our time there.
Yay for the rainy season!
Feeding the children.
The balloons were a huge hit.
Along
with the singing, Bible stories, balloons, and feeding, we also gave
the children vitamins and bandaged up any boo-boos. We gave out many
"comfort" bandaids. It was funny watching some of the little ones
carefully searching for that scratch they knew they had in order to get a
bandaid.
Some
of the ladies from the church who faithfully cooked our breakfast and
lunch every day. These ladies are also very instrumental in the feeding
ministry. They each have one day off a week that they do not go out to
the feeding sites.
By the end of the trip, our team had become very good friends. :)
...but the results are better because of it. We can make our plans, but it is the Lord who directs our steps.
As
I mentioned before, we arrived in Boracay right along with the
torrential rains. Of course we would have preferred dry weather, but I
have really appreciated seeing first hand the sort of conditions that
the people here have to deal with day after day after day. Yes, they
also have their days of sun and dry roads, but that is only a part of
the life the live. Pastor Glen was praising the Lord for the rain after
our time at one of the feeding sites the other evening. While part of
the team is working with the children, one of the men speaks to the
adults who come with their children. Monday evening five men and one
woman put their faith in Christ. The really exciting part about this is
that they only reason the men were there that evening is because the
rain had prevented them from going fishing. Lois had a fun way of
looking at it: "God looked down on those men tonight and said, 'You're
not going fishing; you're going to BE the fish!' " Amen!
Yesterday
afternoon is another good example of things not going as planned. I
had the opportunity to help with the construction of a shelter at one of
the feeding sites. We went back to the site after lunch to finish the
work, but for some reason, the pastor never made it back out to the site
to show us what needed to be done, and none of the Filipino workers
came back either. Miscommunication, perhaps? I really don't know.
While we were waiting Don started playing with the children who were
around and I struck up a conversation with a young girl (18 years) who
was also there watching us. Her name is Leonisa. Thankfully her
English was pretty good. She was eager to talk, and I really enjoyed
our time together. It was a good experience to just be in her village
and see the conditions that she lives in. It gave me a taste of what
building relationships will be like if the Lord puts me in a tribe
someday. If Pastor Rolando had showed up as we were expecting him to, I
would not have had the opportunity to talk with Leonisa and make that
contact. We hung around at the site for about an hour and a half before
leaving. The rain prevented us from going back out to the site today,
but I am very hopeful that I will be able to go back before we leave for
Manila on Friday.
This is a picture of the shelter we were working on. (courtesy of Rick Turske)
For more pictures and other updates from our trip, go to http://blog.tursketech.com/. Rick is one of the team members on the Ashland team.
I do not know if it was an oversight of some sort, but somehow we
managed to arrive in the Philippines the same week as the beginning of
their rainy season. The rain we have received over the last two days
have been incredible! This morning the ladies in our group went
shopping at one of the local markets. I almost did not take my
umbrella (the weather was pretty nice when we left, and who really needs
an umbrella anyway?), but it's a good thing I did. I think I can say
that I have now experienced a torrential downpour. And it kept on
coming! We were wading through streams of water by the time we headed
back to the guest house. The storms have made for some really nice
waves on the beach too. I've been told that normally the waters are not
as rough as they have been. The waves have been really good for body
surfing though. Only one of many "first" experiences I have had on this
trip. Several of us even went swimming after dark last night. We did
not have to worry about undercurrents like we would back home. There is
a reef surrounding the island, so you can go out pretty far before the
water gets too deep. The water feels so good too, especially with the
high humidity here. It has been the perfect way to cool off.
I
have really enjoyed getting to know the members on our team and to see
the work that the church here on Boracay is doing. Sometimes it feels
like we are not really doing that much, but this morning I was reminded
that simply by taking the time and effort to come "all the way over
here" has been a tremendous blessing and encouragement to the believers
here. I'm afraid that I underestimate the work of the Lord far too
often. God has also used this time to remind me that I do not and
cannot define what His work is. My job is to be faithful in whatever
sphere I find myself, and live for His glory. The church here has a
tremendous outreach on this island through the children. They now have
twenty-one feeding sites where they feed upwards of 1000 children each
week and teach them about the Lord. Through the children they have been
able to reach the parents and they have a number of different Bible
studies going on throughout the week. The passion that these people
have to reach their community is so encouraging. They are very focused
in their vision.
Thankfully, I have not seemed to have had a
problem with jet lag even though we completely skipped Tuesday due to
crossing the international dateline. Weird. I'm still confused as to
what day it is.
Well, that's all for now. I wish I could
include some pictures, but I do not have a way of downloading them at
this point. That will be remedied when I get back home.
Thank
you for your continued prayers! It means so much to know that there are
people on the other side of the world who are praying for me and the
ministry we are involved in here in the Philippines. God bless!
Our team should be returning on Monday July 20. Thank you much for all your prayers. I'll be sure to post pictures with an update when I get back.
Bleh! I had to go to the mall for something today, and whenever I
am there for very long (particularly if I have to walk through the mall
to get to the store I need) I always leave with a depressed, hopeless
feeling. There is so much STUFF vying for peoples' attention -- people
who are so desperately trying to find some sort of meaning in life. But
without Christ this life has no meaning. Stuff will never ever
satisfy. It will only create a longing for more. As I was driving home
a song about heaven came on the radio, and I was reminded anew how much
of a stranger I am to this world. I am only passing through. Yes, I
am inescapably IN this world, but I am not of it. I feel that now more
than I ever have. I am so thankful that this life is not all there is.
In
other news, I have now graduated from New Tribes Bible Institute. It
was a fantastic two years that has truly changed my life. At this time
it is my plan to continue with the training of New Tribes Mission and to
enter the work of missions full time. The Bible school is the first
phase of New Tribes's missionary training. The second phase focuses on
culture and cross-cultural ministry, language and linguistics, Bible
teaching and other church-planting skills, as well as many practical
skills that will be useful in living in a remote setting. Some of these
skills include things such as how to butcher a chicken, basic
electronics, baking and cooking from scratch, some basic medical skills
including administering shots, and so forth. Lord willing, I will be
going to Missouri in January to attend the Missionary Training Center.
This training is another year and a half.
In the meantime, I will
be leaving for the Philippines on Monday with a group from my church.
We will be meeting up with a team from Ashland, OH and working with some
missionaries and the local church on the island of Boracay. The church
ministers to the children of the island by feeding them and teaching
them through Bible stories and lessons. The church has eighteen
different feeding sites around this 5x2 mile island, and they reach
roughly 1000 children each week. We will also be helping them with a
construction project. This will be my first time overseas, and I am
eager for the opportunity to work alongside members of the body of
Christ in a different culture and setting than I am used to. The
language on Boracay is primarily English, but it is still a different
culture, so I know that communication will be different as well. I
would appreciate your prayers over the next two weeks. The trip will be
from Monday July 6 to Monday July 20. My prayer is the God will be
glorified through HIS church during our visit.
