Our concrete jungle... part of Manila
Carabou!
Kuya Andy and Kanawan kids 
Esmeralda made it to the top of the mountain!
Ate Mary and Kanawan kiddies
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
welcome to the jungle...
Our concrete jungle... part of Manila Carabou! Kuya Andy and Kanawan kids Esmeralda made it to the top of the mountain! Ate Mary and Kanawan kiddies
welcome to the jungle...
Kanawan classroom
Kanawan girl carrying a stick to fetch fruit from trees
Rice drying and clothes hanging...
Kanawan kids praying... "Salamat po..."
Len Lyn and the village in the distanceWe just got back from a 5 day trip to a small village about 5 hours north of Manila. We traveled there with a team of 7 Canadian students that we’re hosting for a few weeks and we organized a 4-day vacation bible school (VBS) for the children of the village and surrounding areas, totaling about 120 kids ranging from 3-12 years old (it’s summer hear so the kids are on summer break through May). It was definitely one of the coolest experiences we’ve had so far living out here…The village is about a mile hike into the jungle from the nearest road and located on the high point of a dense, lush valley. There’s about 30 families totaling maybe 150 people in the village and some of us stayed in the church while the others stayed in the pastor’s hut (Mary and I and a few other stayed in tents outside the church). We held a session in the morning and one in the afternoon, and we’d serve the kids lunch in between. We had the evenings free to hang out with the kids and people in the village. Very few people in the village spoke English, so it was a challenge to communicate but our Filipino teammates translated some and kids are pretty easy going as long as you have some cool new games to teach them. We arrived on Thursday around noon and while everyone was setting up and getting situated, one of our teammates pulled a few of us aside and showed us a 10-foot Philippine Cobra that a dog found and managed to kill (they weren’t sure if the dog was going to survive because that kind of cobra spits venom, but I think he made it)…The thing was probably three or four inches in diameter at it’s widest point and was easily over 10 feet long! So what do you do with a 10 foot snake in the jungle? You eat it!...they cooked it up and we had it the next day for lunch, it was pretty good actually…tastes like a dense chicken. We held the VBS on Thursday afternoon through Saturday and it went really well. We attended the village’s sunrise Easter service and later that day went on a hike to a small mountain near the village…wow, some of the most amazing natural scenery I’ve ever seen, and quite a contrast from the bustling city of Manila. When we said goodbye on Monday late morning, the Pastor’s wife prayed for us all (in Tagalog) and even though I couldn’t completely understand her, she kept thanking us for our work with their children and how much it meant to them that we came all the way out there. Some of the women cried and thanked us as we left the village. We’re hoping to go back again once more before we leave the Philippines.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Maganda Gabi (Good Night) Update #2
Hope all is well in the states. We’re thinking of you often… We’re adapting and making big strides (forward and backward) everyday. Last Thursday was filled with several lessons. We're really loving our squatter kids! We hate calling them that. They shouldn’t be called “squatter kids” defining them by the place they come from. I think an easy way to describe squatters are people living in attached shacks. Andy describes it as one step above living on the street. We’ve been so blessed to work with these kids on a somewhat of a consistent basis where we’re learning more about them, and them us. Last Thursday our team had the chance to take the kids on a field trip. The trip was overall a success – a messy success! Nearly the entire school attended which put us in charge of taking 60 kids out of their squatter area for probably the first time. The looks on their faces when we left the city, driving by mountains was priceless. However, there was a rather different part of the tip. Every time we would get back on the bus to travel to the next destination, about a quarter of the kids would start throwing up! Or if not throwing up, trying hard not to vomit, holding a barf bag over their face. The motion of the bus was something many for them had never felt before. Most kids walk everywhere, don’t travel far, and if they do they’re on a bicycles, or a trike. The air conditioned bouncing tour bus was something the kids could not handle! It's times like this where we can identify what we've culturally grown accustomed to.
Andy and I have decided that we want to devote a lot of our time here to fundraising, purchasing and building a playground for the school. This is something the facilitators, teachers and even students would never ask for but something they clearly need. The ‘backyard’ of the school in covered in rocks and not a well kept place for playing. We currently play red light green light and duck-duck-goose in the street in front of the school (moving to the sidewalks taking time outs every time a vehicle passes). We’ve been doing a lot of research and have thankfully found some contacts and are encouraged that this may be something we could see through during our stay.
We’re falling into our ministries nicely here. Andy is providing accounting services for the school and organizing their finances. We’re there as often as we can be and are planning feedings so the kids occasionally get healthy meals. I joined a women’s Bible study on Tuesday nights. We help with a youth emerging leader’s ministry whenever we can. We help with hosting teams and are researching playgrounds in our off time. By the end of the week, we’re rather tired – but feeling more and more that we’re making an impact and feeling in the right place.
We are slowly but surely learning the language here. It’s hard to devote enough time to the language as we get fairly spoiled as most Filipinos speak enough English. However, every time we want to go a bit deeper or begin to speak or ask feelings, we're unable to communicate and are reminded of the importance of learning Tagalog.
We have had the chance to take a few quick trips outside of the city while we’ve been here. We ventured to Tagaytay where you hike to the center of a volcano in an island. Then we helped lead at youth retreat in Rizel that was a weekend full of beautiful scenery, WARM WATER AND FRENCH TOAST (the owners were from Connecticut). We also took a trip to a large mountain and hiked through the jungle (and got lost) to see the top. And this Thursday we leave again to run a VBS for the Kanawan tribe for 5 days.
We welcome a team of 7 Canadian college students tomorrow and are preparing for our schedules to change as we’ll need to accustom these missionaries to the lifestyle we still growing accustomed to.
We’re thinking of you and praying for you often.
Andy and I have decided that we want to devote a lot of our time here to fundraising, purchasing and building a playground for the school. This is something the facilitators, teachers and even students would never ask for but something they clearly need. The ‘backyard’ of the school in covered in rocks and not a well kept place for playing. We currently play red light green light and duck-duck-goose in the street in front of the school (moving to the sidewalks taking time outs every time a vehicle passes). We’ve been doing a lot of research and have thankfully found some contacts and are encouraged that this may be something we could see through during our stay.
We’re falling into our ministries nicely here. Andy is providing accounting services for the school and organizing their finances. We’re there as often as we can be and are planning feedings so the kids occasionally get healthy meals. I joined a women’s Bible study on Tuesday nights. We help with a youth emerging leader’s ministry whenever we can. We help with hosting teams and are researching playgrounds in our off time. By the end of the week, we’re rather tired – but feeling more and more that we’re making an impact and feeling in the right place.
We are slowly but surely learning the language here. It’s hard to devote enough time to the language as we get fairly spoiled as most Filipinos speak enough English. However, every time we want to go a bit deeper or begin to speak or ask feelings, we're unable to communicate and are reminded of the importance of learning Tagalog.
We have had the chance to take a few quick trips outside of the city while we’ve been here. We ventured to Tagaytay where you hike to the center of a volcano in an island. Then we helped lead at youth retreat in Rizel that was a weekend full of beautiful scenery, WARM WATER AND FRENCH TOAST (the owners were from Connecticut). We also took a trip to a large mountain and hiked through the jungle (and got lost) to see the top. And this Thursday we leave again to run a VBS for the Kanawan tribe for 5 days.
We welcome a team of 7 Canadian college students tomorrow and are preparing for our schedules to change as we’ll need to accustom these missionaries to the lifestyle we still growing accustomed to.
We’re thinking of you and praying for you often.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Our kiddies...
"I praise you because you made me." Psalm 139:14
They loved their headbands
Red Light Green Light
Watercolor gifts
Chanting 'Jollibee Jolibee'!!!!
Monday, February 25, 2008
Visiting province outside Subic
We didn't realize it was this lush outside of our concrete city!
cute kiddies!
Jungle girl!
waving on the jungle bridge...
It looked like that scene in "Land Before Time"
2/25/08 Photos
Dirty bums!
Our mode of transportation - Jeepneys
Largest mall in all of ASIA! Yes we're in the right spot!
The first knife we've seen here (Pinoys eat with a fork and spoon only). Found at Starbucks!
Pastor Andy and Rico translating!
Saturday, February 16, 2008
More Photos...
1. Sarah's birthday
2. Squatter homes
3. Can I keep her?
4. Youth Mobilization team
5. Duck duck goose at squatter school
Hygiene Day photos
PHOTOS shown:
- Registration for Hygiene Days
- Teaching tooth brushing
- International Teams Hygiene Days sign
- Barber Kuya Andy
- Volunteers and Kids
Hygiene Day today….
Wow these kids were dirty! Brown knees, black feet, boogers on their noses, and lice in their hair - filthy in fact! However, we have NEVER seen kids play like that! They were so filled with energy, love and spirit! Street kids and squatter kids aren’t afraid of much – even a very tall white kid…. Needless to say we had a blast today!
Aside from the large ministries of street gangs, Rugby boys, squatter school and programs; Youth Mobilization is very involved with the general public. We stopped counting kid’s heads this afternoon at 160 when we ran out of toothbrushes. But we served many more than that as they would all opt for a free haircut, shower, and warm food. Each participant today received a free haircut of their choice, a hand scrubbing (fingernails clipped), a shower, a tooth brushing and some warm soup and a cup of milk AND a lot of red light / green light, duck duck goose, patty cake, and push ups with Kuya (term of endearment of a ‘brother’) Andy (they say Aaaaaaandy! With a long ‘A’)!
By the way I picked up some serious hair cutting skills today. I can now cut females’ hair into “V-cut”, “Asian girl” (that is short in the back tapered to long in the front), “square” and the general “layers”.
Aside from the large ministries of street gangs, Rugby boys, squatter school and programs; Youth Mobilization is very involved with the general public. We stopped counting kid’s heads this afternoon at 160 when we ran out of toothbrushes. But we served many more than that as they would all opt for a free haircut, shower, and warm food. Each participant today received a free haircut of their choice, a hand scrubbing (fingernails clipped), a shower, a tooth brushing and some warm soup and a cup of milk AND a lot of red light / green light, duck duck goose, patty cake, and push ups with Kuya (term of endearment of a ‘brother’) Andy (they say Aaaaaaandy! With a long ‘A’)!
By the way I picked up some serious hair cutting skills today. I can now cut females’ hair into “V-cut”, “Asian girl” (that is short in the back tapered to long in the front), “square” and the general “layers”.
Magandang Umaga (Good Morning)!!!
We've only been here 3 days but are already adapting nicely. We arrived to an EMPTY apartment but fixed that ASAP. This will be our 4th time moving together in 1.5 years and we are beginning to think we're professionals. We purchased a bed, bedding, dish soap, towels, and bathroom organizer. And 2 days later – dishes, cookware, A FAN, dish drier (no dishwasher), a squeegee (no shower curtain and that's how you clean the tile here), signed up for jugs of purified water, cell phones (sorry local plan only), more bedding, a refrigerator, towel racks, groceries (someone here is always hungry - Andy), brooms and ant chalk (to keep out ants and cockroaches).
Our apartment is really nice and in a nice part of the city. It's about a block from the ministry office, so it's really convenient. It's also a quick 'trike' (a motorcycle with a little cab attached to the side that just fits both of us) ride away from a huge grocery store called the 'Cash and Carry.' It's right across the street from a karaoke bar. Our first night here was Fat Tuesday and it was wild. We were exhausted and we just got our bed delivered and were starting to lie down at about 10pm. We turned off the lights and said a collective 'ahhh' when across the street blasts the theme song from Top Gun. It's funny now, but it was miserable that night, they rocked out to all the classics until the wee hours of the morning…it's ok we're resourceful and moved our bed into our kitchen.
Last night we ventured to the Cash and Carry again. We love it as it reminds somewhat of home. First it's air-conditioned and has a few of our favorite! Frozen tortillas we a god send (however, we have nothing to heat them in yet), ice cream and chips and salsa (even Tostidos brand).
Since we've been here we've had orientation, a prayer vigil, Mercy Ministry and Batang Krayola (children learning thru cloring with crayons). Mercy Ministry is on Wednesdays and is for the "Rugby boys". Rugby is the type of glue the kids sniff to get high to escape from their current lives and take away their hunger pains. It is fairly common here as it is cheap and legal to buy. Most Rugby boys live under a big bridge and find ways to make money (i.e. make a small wooden bridge for people to cross wet areas and charge a peso = 1/40th of a dollar). After mercy ministry (hanging out with the boys and making them lunch) we went to find a little boy Anjon (about 3 years old) who we heard was in the hospital with HEPA (hepatitis A). We went to his home to look for his family. I wish we would have taken a photo, but felt too badly. The conditions we the worst I've ever seen. Urination and human feces everywhere, a strung piece a cloth that makes a hammock for the baby. We couldn't find the family as they were at the public hospital (public hospitals typically do not give care – only private that require payment do). We found some "Rugby boys" in the neighborhood. They were again finding creative ways to make money. However this was tough one to see… An abandoned factory dumped all their waste on the side of the road (where Anjon lives). I thought it was a trash dump – apparently those are significantly larger. The boys were digging through the trash to find metals that they could turn into the "junk shop" for pesos (1 kilo of rusty old metal = 12 pesos and 40 pesos = $1.00). The encouraging part is that many of them are saving this earned money for a trip put on by youth mobilization to take the boys on overnight sports trips instead of spending the money on Rugby glue.
Overall the work of God is VERY prevalent here. The inspiring stories of the Filipino missionaries are overwhelming. People rising out of poverty and raising enough pesos to serve the world is incredible to see. A lot of our teammates come from squatter areas (people who never really have homes – they find an area to create a shack in the middle of the city and are required to move at any given notice. All the squatter areas we've seen so far house hundreds of people in terrible conditions. The Lord is enabling miraculous programs, testimonies and transformations here. We're blessed to be a part of it!
We attached a few photos of the Mercy ministry (a boy with a pile of metals and digging at the abandoned factory), a photo of the fish farms from the air plane, and our apartment. We added a brief video of the city to youtube titled 'Traffic in Manila, Philippines' and 'Riding in Trike with Groceries' under people and blogs. We also posted this on our blog to keep it updated for everyone. Please forward this message on to anyone we may have missed.
We miss you all! Thanks for your prayers!
Our apartment is really nice and in a nice part of the city. It's about a block from the ministry office, so it's really convenient. It's also a quick 'trike' (a motorcycle with a little cab attached to the side that just fits both of us) ride away from a huge grocery store called the 'Cash and Carry.' It's right across the street from a karaoke bar. Our first night here was Fat Tuesday and it was wild. We were exhausted and we just got our bed delivered and were starting to lie down at about 10pm. We turned off the lights and said a collective 'ahhh' when across the street blasts the theme song from Top Gun. It's funny now, but it was miserable that night, they rocked out to all the classics until the wee hours of the morning…it's ok we're resourceful and moved our bed into our kitchen.
Last night we ventured to the Cash and Carry again. We love it as it reminds somewhat of home. First it's air-conditioned and has a few of our favorite! Frozen tortillas we a god send (however, we have nothing to heat them in yet), ice cream and chips and salsa (even Tostidos brand).
Since we've been here we've had orientation, a prayer vigil, Mercy Ministry and Batang Krayola (children learning thru cloring with crayons). Mercy Ministry is on Wednesdays and is for the "Rugby boys". Rugby is the type of glue the kids sniff to get high to escape from their current lives and take away their hunger pains. It is fairly common here as it is cheap and legal to buy. Most Rugby boys live under a big bridge and find ways to make money (i.e. make a small wooden bridge for people to cross wet areas and charge a peso = 1/40th of a dollar). After mercy ministry (hanging out with the boys and making them lunch) we went to find a little boy Anjon (about 3 years old) who we heard was in the hospital with HEPA (hepatitis A). We went to his home to look for his family. I wish we would have taken a photo, but felt too badly. The conditions we the worst I've ever seen. Urination and human feces everywhere, a strung piece a cloth that makes a hammock for the baby. We couldn't find the family as they were at the public hospital (public hospitals typically do not give care – only private that require payment do). We found some "Rugby boys" in the neighborhood. They were again finding creative ways to make money. However this was tough one to see… An abandoned factory dumped all their waste on the side of the road (where Anjon lives). I thought it was a trash dump – apparently those are significantly larger. The boys were digging through the trash to find metals that they could turn into the "junk shop" for pesos (1 kilo of rusty old metal = 12 pesos and 40 pesos = $1.00). The encouraging part is that many of them are saving this earned money for a trip put on by youth mobilization to take the boys on overnight sports trips instead of spending the money on Rugby glue.
Overall the work of God is VERY prevalent here. The inspiring stories of the Filipino missionaries are overwhelming. People rising out of poverty and raising enough pesos to serve the world is incredible to see. A lot of our teammates come from squatter areas (people who never really have homes – they find an area to create a shack in the middle of the city and are required to move at any given notice. All the squatter areas we've seen so far house hundreds of people in terrible conditions. The Lord is enabling miraculous programs, testimonies and transformations here. We're blessed to be a part of it!
We attached a few photos of the Mercy ministry (a boy with a pile of metals and digging at the abandoned factory), a photo of the fish farms from the air plane, and our apartment. We added a brief video of the city to youtube titled 'Traffic in Manila, Philippines' and 'Riding in Trike with Groceries' under people and blogs. We also posted this on our blog to keep it updated for everyone. Please forward this message on to anyone we may have missed.
We miss you all! Thanks for your prayers!
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Are we Crazy?
Yes, yes! We're ABSOLUTELY crazy! Anyone who would leave 2 great jobs, our first home and the best friends / family - to go live in a 3rd world country is CRAZY! And we love it!
Why did we decide to pick up our lives and move them half way across the world? (it really is half way - the Eastern plane ride takes one hour longer than the West plane ride).
Our crazy decision was inspired by the following goals:
Why did we decide to pick up our lives and move them half way across the world? (it really is half way - the Eastern plane ride takes one hour longer than the West plane ride).
Our crazy decision was inspired by the following goals:
- Grow together
- Grow with God
- See the world
Why Philippines?
We're moving to Manila, Philippines for 9 months to participate in the long-term service work by a team representing the Philippines, America and England.
We have been blessed to have been able to participate in a few service projects throughout our lives thus far. We've learned through those experiences that we have developed a passion for participating in service projects and that being involved in service work is something that we want to do for the rest of our lives. One of the aspects of service work that we want to experience in our lives together (before we settle down, have kids, etc.) is international service work. From a prior mission trip in college, Mary was introduced to a non-profit mission organization called 'International Teams' or 'ITeams.' ITeams, headquartered in the US, connects long-term mission groups in countries all across the world with people looking to do short-term work (under one year), like us. There is a group in Manila, Philippines that is doing some great things and we got connected. We ultimately decided that it was now or never for us to do this, so we're moving to Manila and joining the team for 9 months.
We have been blessed to have been able to participate in a few service projects throughout our lives thus far. We've learned through those experiences that we have developed a passion for participating in service projects and that being involved in service work is something that we want to do for the rest of our lives. One of the aspects of service work that we want to experience in our lives together (before we settle down, have kids, etc.) is international service work. From a prior mission trip in college, Mary was introduced to a non-profit mission organization called 'International Teams' or 'ITeams.' ITeams, headquartered in the US, connects long-term mission groups in countries all across the world with people looking to do short-term work (under one year), like us. There is a group in Manila, Philippines that is doing some great things and we got connected. We ultimately decided that it was now or never for us to do this, so we're moving to Manila and joining the team for 9 months.
Ministry Details
Youth Rev:
- Youth Rev is a once-a-week, whole-day activity that is designed to help youth and youth leaders develop their leadership capabilities and ministry skills. It aims to meet their 4 universal needs, namely: (1) Strategic Training; (2) Access to Quality Resources; (3) Relationship & Community (the need to belong to something bigger); and (4) Mentoring & Coaching.
- Windows YP is an annual youth missions conference that aims to bring awareness, stir-up interest, equip, empower and challenge the youth to participate in missions. Aside from the divided workshops for youth ministry enhancement, the conference also includes plenary sessions led by anointed missionaries and visionaries, Filipinos and other nationalities.
- Twice each year, we set-up local and foreign short-mission exposure trips giving young people the opportunity to put into action what they have learned. Our vision is to gather young people from different parts of the world to do mission in one particular place. So far, we have seen Filipino youth working hand in hand with young people from Canada, USA, UK and Australia.
- Together with his wife Gila, Pastor John, also an IT Philippines missionary started the Mercy Ministry. Their only desire is to help street children find new life and hope in Christ, especially those who are abandoned by their families, abusing solvent and the homeless. They set-up programs that aim to bring about total transformation. These programs include feeding, youth camps, sports and technical training, just to name a few. Many are surrendering their lives to Jesus and some even went back to their family to be reconciled.
- In partnership with a local church in Cavite City – Jesus Christ Our Beloved Savior (JCOBS), we are ministering to the children, the youth and their families who are living in the Cavite City Dumpsite through a weekly feeding ministry, educational assistance program and livelihood program.
- Each week, about 250 children are fed and taught the word of God through Bible Stories and recreational activities which largely involves the used of crayons and coloring materials. The ministry’s main aim is to help, train, and equip street children so that they will become productive members and great leaders of their home, society, and the world.
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