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

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 distance

We 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.

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.

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'!!!!

Photos...

Youth Leader Retreat

Drop In Center Renovation

Tagaytay

Tagaytay

The "TOP" of the jungle

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!

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:

1. Registration for Hygiene Days
2. Teaching tooth brushing
3. International Teams Hygiene Days sign
4. Barber Kuya Andy
5. 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”.

Mercy Ministry and our Apartment

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!