Play Round the Playground…

AFTER!



All the pieces
Slide over the school


They played on the slide before it was even unwrapped and attached to a playground!
BEFORE
Tire swing construction

We were just preparing to write somewhat of a discouraging blog post, apologizing that the playground is potentially out of reach and may never be delivered. Well that was yesterday and today we write with a fully completed playground!

Tuesday night we anxiously awaited for the playground to arrive at 5pm, then 7pm and no playground. We were quite worried as the playground had to be out of the port by Friday August 8th. Otherwise it was considered "abandoned" where the customs officials can keep the playground or sell it as they please. With a possibility of delivery on Tuesday we really had our hopes up for the first time in weeks. No delivery on Tuesday, so we took the Canadian team to our school on Wednesday and waited, and waited, and waited until 3pm a Schenker China delivery truck came around the corner. All the kids rushed out and everyone was clapping and cheering!

Our next challenge was the large spiral slide that was too big to fit through the school to get into the backyard. Fortunately the gentleman next door offered to help and suspended the slide with rope and led the slide over from the 4th story next door. Our next task was the full assembly and the instructions were just as we expected (well we expected nothing) considering we'd been requesting instructions for 4 months now. An agent did draw a picture of the playground (which was no use) and handwrote in Chinese a few explanations. The assembly was a near miracle! The playground was up and nearly together within 3 hours. The next day we cemented and added final pieces. Today we presented it to the children. Their faces were well worth all the pain and agony. All the community is talking about it and you can already feel the attraction to the school.

Thank you all who were involved. This was a significantly larger project than we anticipated and it took more involvement to make it a success. Thank you to Cotton Creek Elementary School, Mom's mission fundraising donations, the Wallenstein team, Centennial Baptist Church, Andy's mom who created a plaque, Alissa Manske who coordinated donations and sent a large bag full of jump ropes, basketballs, volleyballs and bean bags, and all others who donated during our stay in the Philippines. The playground has been a huge success! G2G as Filipinos say (glory to God)!

Thank you God for:
• Releasing the playground
• For being bigger than customs and corruption
• For the assembly of the playground
• And thank you God for no rain for the first time in weeks
Please pray for:
• Mom's upcoming lung surgery Aug 14th
• Our departure from Philippines Aug 16th

Banaue round 2…

We had enough of discouraging playground news and the city so we took a 9 hour bus ride North to the Province and enjoyed the 8th wonder of the world! BANAUE!!!! Fortunately we have contacts there that fed, housed, and transported us all around!

floods...

We had another flood a few days ago.. here are some picks of when the sidewalks flood and the water is so dirty you can't see where they start and stop... so we're walking through the middle of traffic here... its' what all the Filipinos were doing so...

China and Manila visit!

We just got back from China with the Thomas family. We first showed off Manila and what we do here. It was neat to see how excited we were to show them certain things. It made us realize how proud of our new home we really are. Passions are always best when shared with friends and family. During their stay we shared the school, the playground and our kid’s homes with them. As expected the kids took to them immediately! Pat was just like another Andy and the little ones immediately took Erin. We toured Tagaytay – a Philippines volcano and shared authentic Filipino food. Andy and I were also treated to nice dinners at restaurants we’ve been dying to try and a few showers in their hotel with water heaters! Then we set off for Beijing, X’ian, Hong Kong and Macau. We climbed the Great wall, walked Tiananmen Square, toured the Terra Cotta Warriors, shopped Hong Kong until we dropped, and saw Macau!

Thanks to Pat, Kay, Erin and Aaron for traveling 24 hours across the world to share something so important to us with us! We miss you already!

Thank God for:
Thomas’ here and back safely
John Mark's med results with no Tuberculosis
Muy Muy’s leg healed
Playground arrived in Manila port!

Manila TYPHOON Frank!

We woke up Sunday morning at 4:30am to sounds of things crashing and being blown around outside. The power was down and the rain was the heaviest we've ever seen. But we're fine... no worries Typhoon Frank (signal 3 out of 4) couldn't get us! Can you see the cab driving towards us in the top photo...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7468493.stm

Please pray for our kids as we couldn't make it out to their squatter homes to see if their homes withstood the storm. Please also pray for the victims and family member of the 700 passenger ferry that sank during the storm.

Thank you all for donating!

I think Russell (left) thinks he's my boyfriend...
Sister Sonny in new donated pants
Playing in the mango tree that will have a tire swing soon!
The Boys and their new donated hats

Teacher Joy in her new donated dress

Isa pa (one more) update

Kids at squatter home (most are siblings... can you see the matching faces?)
Andy and Muy Muy
Muy Muy and his healed leg
Muy Muy is feeling better!
Thank You (Salamat Po) Cotton Creek Elementary School!

We’re back together in Manila. A place that has become home for a short time but will never replace our home home. We’re enjoying our time here, but truly looking forward to seeing your faces soon!

Our playground is moving right along. When we decided to take this leap this year, we had no idea international business practice would be one of our many lessons! We are purchasing our playground from a Chinese company as the playgrounds here are far too expensive. We’ve found that business between two Americans and a Chinese contact in the Philippines is rather difficult. Our American business experience and training plays no part in our current transactions here. For example, we thought if we ordered something for delivery, it would simply be delivered to the address included. In the Philippines, it is a common practice to hire a Port Broker. This is a hired person to handle the fees, customs transition, and to prevent (not ensure) your product from being kept (or held ransom) at the port. We’re also finding that emails or common practices like phone calls can be very different (especially considering the language gap). Keep praying for this playground, as it should leave the China shores today!

The children are getting more and more excited as they KNOW something is going on. It has been difficult to hide the bags and bags of gravel, sand, shovels and the tire for the tire swing. The word of the playground is spreading as local brothers and fathers of the students are volunteering to help in construction. This is and turning the playground into somewhat of a community project. I think one of my favorite things about the school is the diversity of the children there. On Fridays we’ll see kids with shoes, (or slippers as they call them here) fully clothed with a backpack and books next to another child wearing his or her one outfit This project is really bringing people of all different backgrounds together!

We’d like to especially thank Cotton Creek Elementary School for successfully raising $1,500 to donate to UTWCA playground! See attached photo of our kid’s thanks.

While I (Mary) was home I was overwhelmed with great financial donations as well as material donations for these special kids. This last week, we started to hand out the donated clothing and shoes. It’s nice that we’ve had the chance to develop relationships with the kids and their family to give us a fairly good idea of who is in the most need. It is so nice to put shoes on the feet of kids that never wear them. This adds far more than warm feet! The shoes will help their health as many kids extract worms through their feet. Rob and Annie sent me back with a suitcase full of baby clothing and some adult clothes. The first week we got back one of the families we are closest to had a baby. The mothers usually give birth in their squatter home and often cut their own umbilical chords. This family was THRILLED to have clothes for their new baby girl! We’ve included some pictures of our older students that love their new clothes.

One of our favorite little kids Muy Muy (pronounced Moy Moy) got a bug bite on his leg that swelled up to double the size of his calf. We’d been eyeing the bite for a few days until we realized we really needed to do something and took him to the hospital. Fortunately Muy Muy’s severely infected leg is doing much better with antibiotics and some lessons of hygiene. It’s interesting the injuries/illnesses that can be easily treated at home in North America are not the same here. The little 4 year old’s hands are never washed and when he scratches his bite, he doesn’t understand how he’s creating an infection. It’s also hard to prevent these issues with the lack of water the kids have at home. Today we take Muy Muy back for a check up. We’ll also take another baby of the neighborhood who has strange white lines all over his tongue.

As it’s easy to grow tired of the constant need with our children, their families, and frustration with our lack of understanding business here; we try to celebrate the positive steps we make. Mom received the best news we could have asked for last week. The doctors wanted the tumor to shrink 20% over four rounds of chemotherapy. After her scan last week, the results read that her tumor has already shrunk 25% after two rounds of Chemo! Pat, Kay, Erin and Aaron come to visit us next week and we can hardly wait to see family again! Happy Birthday Kelsi! Congratulations KK and Aaron!

We know God is good! Thanks for the prayers!

Blessings, Andy & Mary

Me and the kids from Noah's Ark Orphanage
Grayzel and I

Batad Rice Terraces
Batad Rice Terraces

Noah's Ark Orphanage

Last week our team led a group of 10 Filipino youth on a 5-day mission trip to an orphanage in Banaue, Philippines. Banaue is famous for its beautiful 2,000 year-old rice terraces. Banaue is located in the mountains of Northern Philippines, about a 10 hour drive North of Manila. We held a vacation bible school (VBS) program and a daily feeding for the children of the orphanage and surrounding towns, totaling 75 children in all. We held the VBS at one of the local churches of Banaue, which is located on top of a small rice terrace in the town, overlooking the beautiful valley of rice terraces. The VBS was the idea of Mary and she was the main force in organizing and promoting the event, traveling to countless churches in the Manila area to stir interest. Mary was able to get 10 Filipino youth and two team leaders inspired to make the commitment to each raise P2,500 ($65) and commit a week to the mission trip, no small task to say the least! Unfortunately Mary wasn’t able to make the trip as she is now home with her Mother for the month of May while her mother starts chemotherapy to treat lung cancer.

It was very inspiring to see the Filipino youth, none of whom had ever served on any sort of mission trip before, take charge of the daily lessons and activities and really pour their hearts into the children. I’m a firm believer that when a person does any sort of service work for someone else, it’s not just the person receiving the service who is affected. I think that the person doing the work grows and receives just as much, if not more, in return for the work done. Our goal going into the trip was that the lives of both the children and the youth would be changed as a result of the work done, and by hearing what the youth had to say at our debriefing each night, I think our goal was accomplished. After the VBS was completed we had a recreational day where we took a jeepney ride to Batad, the next town over, and hiked the rice terraces in that area.

It was so nice to experience a different area in the Philippines and it amazed me how different life is up there. First of all, it’s quite cold (that is, cold for the Philippines). The temperature was about 50 degrees and rainy/foggy. It was such a relief to have some cool weather for a change…it’s summer here right now and Manila has just been sweltering lately. Second, the language spoken in that region is Ifugao, not Tagalog. It’s crazy to drive only 10 hours North of Manila, still in the same country, and have people speak a different language. It was a bit of a challenge for out team because nobody on our team spoke Ifugao, and in fact more people there spoke English than Tagalog. Finally, it’s hard to believe that each rice terrace you see is man made, over 2,000 years ago.

Even with all these rice terraces, the area is still feeling the effects of the rice crisis, as the rice grown on the terraces isn’t enough to support rice needs of the towns. Rice import prices have increased by 50% over the last year and it’s becoming harder and harder for many to feed their families.

Boracay, Philippines

A few weeks ago we took a last minute trip to Boracay, Philippines, a tiny beach island about an hour flight south of Manila. We had a weekend where we weren’t doing much, so we decided to go on a little adventure and see some of the Philippines we know we’d not have the chance to see again. Boracay island is a popular beach destination for local Filipinos as well as other Southeast Asian tourists as it has various water sports available, white sandy beaches, and plentiful restaurants and nightlife. We went all out and spent the weekend kayaking along the beach, snorkeling in the clear reefs off the coast, and jet skiing. Our afternoons were spent laying on the beach before running for cover from the late afternoon thunderstorms that rolled in and absolutely drenched anyone unlucky enough to still be outside. Our pictures are limited because the first evening we were there we dropped the camera into a pool or rainwater and it broke…oops. Sorry, you’ll have to use your imagination…

It was a great getaway and we feel lucky to be able to have had the chance to make it down there.

Prayer Requests!

Most of you know that I (Mary) am in Colorado for the month of May. My mom was diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer in April and is currently receiving chemotherapy treatments. While visiting home has been nice to see friends and family we’ve missed and warm showers are a bonus, Andy and I are naturally needing prayers. Please pray for:

• Andy’s spirit, safety, and health in the Philippines.
• Andy’s success with quick progression in the purchase and construction of the playground.
• That I would serve Mom in the best way possible for her and our family.
• That I would embrace my time at home, honoring God and those around me.
• Andy's and my relationship as we miss each other terribly and communication is fairly difficult.
• That mom’s body would respond to the chemotherapy shrinking the size of the tumor to allow for surgery and full tumor removal in August!
• That mom’s symptoms during the chemotherapy would vanish. That she would have energy, without aches and nausea, and her spirit would remain positive and strong!

If you’d like to keep up on my mom’s progress, visit:
ellenbeatcancer.blogspot.com

Blessings, MT