Drew in the Philippines

July 10, 2011

Jetlag and Parties

I have never travelled this much in my entire life. It felt like we were on a plane for an entire week. Everything went smoothly though. God protected us and Natalie's directions were spot-on. We finally arrived in Iloilo City around five o'clock and the weather was surprisingly pleasant (it had been raining earlier). We were received at the airport by a joyously weeping Natalie and the reunion was amazing. I can't express how cool it was to be with my sister in the place she calls home. Soon afterwards, we were brought to our welcoming party where we met Natalie's missionary friends. The party was mostly a blur because of jet lag, but the conversations and the people were incredible. I'm extremely excited about the coming week.

July 11, 2011

Old Fashioned Carpentry

Best night of sleep ever. The hotel is much better than I expected and the beds are as good as any in the States (probably better). If it weren't for the infrequent water pressure, the lizards, and brushing our teeth with water bottles I would have forgot we were in a foreign country. The certain "isolation" from electronics and modern conveniences has already been good. I've been able to spend more time with God and read His Word. Angel Edgar even made us daily scripture cards for each morning. They've been excellent.
That morning we got ready and then had breakfast and our devotional with Natalie. The focus of the devo was how we will find ourselves changing as God uses us to change other people's lives. It was really cool to hear that because it lined up perfectly with what I prayed for the previous night. After breakfast, Natalie took us to the Sonshine Center where we met Jolito, the carpenter. He speaks very little English and we don't speak any Ilonggo, but working with him has been awesome. He is very talented and we are all learning patience because there are no power tools! When Natalie told us Jolito thought it would take about four days to build four shelves for the library, we didn't believe her, but now we understand why. A cut that would take about 15 seconds with power tools can take up to 45 minutes by hand. It really has been an awesome experience though, and we're already starting on the second shelf. After a day of work, we played some basketball with the kids and then ate dinner (spaghetti and meat balls) at Natalie's house. That jet lag didn't give up though, and I was worn out. Another great night of sleep ahead.

July 12, 2011

Earthquakes and Testimonies

5:00 AM and the hotel was shaking. I thought someone was trying to wake me up, and my dad thought it was plane turbulence again, but we soon found out it was a 6.2 earthquake (lesser magnitude where we were). I'm fairly sure it was just God letting me know He was planning amazing things. We woke up an hour later and walked to JD's Restaurant for a true Filipino breakfast of garlic rice, pork strips, and orange juice. Devo today was about Paul's testimony in court to Agrippa and how we all have a testimony of our life before, the transformation, and our life now with Christ. We were all asked to prepare a five minute testimony for tomorrow's devo and I had been asked to share with some guys later that evening.
After breakfast we headed to the center and helped Jolito build shelves again. I spent all morning cutting "Satanis boards." Satanis is Ilonggo for Satan if you couldn't guess. Chris and I dubbed the boards as such because they're about 6 inches wide and 3 yards long and I took up the task of splitting each one of these boards down the middle for the full 3 yards with a simple handsaw. You have to sit on the board to hold it steady and then slide it forward a few inches every now and then while you cut, and just when you think you've made real headway, you look back and find that there are still miles of board left. My dad said these boards are in Dante's Purgatory. I don't doubt it. For lunch we had some sort of stew with rice, but my dad made the mistake of eating one of the peppers. He immediately keeled over and almost fell out of his chair. His face told volumes of the agony he was experiencing. I tried a small bit of the same pepper to see how hot it was, and... it was scorching. No doubt, the hottest pepper I've ever tasted. It burned your tongue as soon as the juice made contact. It all worked out though because my dad used it in his message for the bible study.
We worked some more and then I went up to prayer with the staff. They opened with some acoustic worship and then we had amazing prayer in smaller groups. I felt very slow and American when I was praying, but it was still awesome. After prayer, I headed back down to work with Chris and Jolito on the shelves. By that time, Chris and I were having a blast with the Satanis boards, Elijah's everlasting pot of glue, the bent nails, the flathead screws, and the air brooms. Jokes and laughter filled the evening and we decided that there were a lot of lessons and sermons to be found in our work. Nomil brought us bananaques, which are fried banana sugar fried sugar heaven-ness (emphasis on the fried sugar), and some Filipino coffee which is also loaded with sugar. It was terrific... though I'm not entirely sure if there really was a banana in there.
After good day of work, Natalie took us to Barrio Inasal which had the most amazing "chicken on a stick." We got it to go (without rice) and ate as we walked, which made us look very American according to Natalie. Everyone headed back to the hotel, but Natalie and I went back to the Center to meet up with Nomil, Zyross, Peter, Car Car, and a big group of Jr. High age kids to take a Jeepney over to a court and play basketball. I fumbled my way onto the Jeepney, stepping on a lot of toes, but thankfully Car Car made a spot for me. He immediately put his arm around me, grinned at me, and said "I'm glad you're here." I can't express how much that meant to me. We talked all the way to the courts. Once at the gym, Nomil asked if I would share before we started playing rather than in the middle so that we could play continuously. I was a little nervous, but I shared my testimony and a short word that God gave me as I spoke while Peter translated for me. It was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had. The Spirit of the Lord was tangible and the guys were so receptive to what I had to say. It was simply incredible. God is so amazing. I love giving Him the glory because He deserves all the glory and all the honor and all the praise! Paul's account in court has come so alive to me now. We played after that and it was a blast! I had no idea what was going on most of the time because of the language, but I'm pretty sure we won every game. I headed back to the hotel after that and successfully yelled "Salamat!" (Thank you!) to all the guys before getting off the Jeepney and received a rousing "Salamat" in return. It was an amazing day.

July 13, 2011

God Loves People!

We had lunch and devo at JD's as usual. Today we each shared our testimonies with each other. It was amazing to hear each other's stories. I even teared up thinking about Paul's account again and how God absolutely loves it when we're proud of Him. It's like children being proud of their daddy's strength. So beautiful...

The three of us worked on shelves again with Jolito and his apprentice, Leo. I spent most of the morning working and practicing my Ilonggo with Leo because he knows English as well and is a very encouraging teacher. Natalie and Jane (one of the teachers at the Center) were also very helpful when they were around.

The work and the heat started to wear on us though, and near mid-day my dad jokingly said, "I need a life-changing experience!" I promise you, it wasn't 30 seconds later when Mr. Mike, his wife, Jude, and a little Filipino boy named David, walked in the room. David was probably about nine or ten, but was tall for his age. He was thin and bony, but had large bright eyes. He was wearing a backwards baseball cap, and constant half-smile only partially hiding his buck teeth. They began to explain how David had a bad heart and wasn't even supposed to live this long. He is scheduled for surgery later this year, but they are all praying and believing for a new heart for David. We were all blown away by this, but then Miss Jude said, "Oh and Jolito is his father." I could hardly keep from tearing up. They continued to explain how Jolito's wife had died of the same heart condition and how he was finding work wherever he could and working extremely hard to pay the medical expenses for David and how the Sonshine Center provided him with a lot of work. It's difficult to not see God working in all of this. A life-changing experience no doubt.

That evening, the girls had a "girls-only" lesson together. Natalie told me that Car was outside playing his guitar, and I had nothing better to do, so I headed outside to join him. I find it funny how God will often show up when you least expect Him. He likes to reveal Himself in the little things. Picture for a moment a calm evening as night begins to fall on the city. Guitar chords strum, joining in with sounds of the city traffic a few feet a way. A beautifully sincere voice sings praises to Him and all that is left in your mind is God's love. I was halfway across the world and was having the most amazing worship experiences of my life with one boy and one guitar and the sounds of the city all giving glory to God. I cried when Car played a beautiful song in Ilonggo and then cried some more when he switched halfway through and translated the same song back to English. It was simply beautiful. God's love was tangible and I will never forget it. Soon Chris and other joined us and we sang together. I was just reminded of how much God just loves His people. Glory to God in the Highest!

July 14, 2011

A Cultural Experience

My dad, Chris, and I joined Peter in the morning to work out at the University. It was nice to do something kind of American, plus it always feels good to exercise. Chris was having difficulty not dancing with the moms for their class though.
We headed over to the Center around noon and continued constructing and staining the shelves. I practiced my Ilonggo with Chris, Leo, and Jane again. Natalie and I had somewhat of a communication break down, but we were able to work all of that out in due time. She mentioned earlier this week that mission trips are like a crucible as far as relationships are concerned. Everything heats up and a lot of the time it forces some ugly stuff to the surface. It's good to work things like that out though.
After some time at the Center, we walked to Jollibee's for lunch. It was somewhat American, though the food wasn't quite "home cooking."
Afterwards we went with Peter and Zyross to the basketball courts to play with some guys. It was a lot of fun, but I rolled my ankle a bit so I didn't risk anything with more playing. I went with Peter and stayed at his house for the night because Natalie thought it would be a good cultural experience. It ended up being a great experience and Peter was more than accommodating and hospitable. We even got to play Super Smash Bros.

July 15, 2011

Sunburnt Sermon

I took a bucket shower for the first time. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought, and it definitely woke me up for the coming day. Peter and I met everyone at the hotel and then went to JD's to plan our day at Guimaras. We took a large boat across the ocean between the two islands and then took a Jeepney to our location. It was a beautiful private beach with and alcove and a place to cliff-jump and everything. We swam and jumped and ate and sang. It was a wonderful day all around. The only problem was, most of us got burned. Especially me...
We headed back around 3, after a long day of resting and got ready for service. We worshipped for a bit and then my dad preached a message about the power in Jesus' name while Pastor Chris translated. He did excellent, especially for the time given. The entire team went up at the end to pray for the moms and dads who needed healing. It was a powerful experience.

July 16, 2011

I Hate the Mall

Today was interesting. We went to the Center a bit later than usual and ate some leftover pineapple for breakfast. I went outside and played with some of the kids until I was thrown into a basketball game with them. Car Car's younger brother (Kenneth or Ken Ken) was there. He is a good player. After basketball, we headed upstairs for Kids' Club. The kids sang some worship songs in Ilonggo to begin with, and it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard. It made me tear up to hear them sing and feel God's love pour out. After worship, Justine led them all in their dance to Catchafire by tobyMac. Somehow I got thrown on the stage as well to help with the dance. I had fun though. I sat with a small group of boys during the lesson and then went back to the hotel for some rest afterwards.
We all went to the mall that afternoon to eat and do some shopping. We chose McDonald's because it's American, but it was a nightmare. No tables available, no lines, no courtesy. It was difficult for me, and I was very close to throwing some elbows after the twelfth short person cut me off in line. I thought I hated malls in the States, but this was something else completely. After lunch, Chris and Krista left for the airport. The goodbyes were short, but sad, so we headed back to the hotel to watch a funny movie. That evening, Justine, Trisha, Natalie, and I went to Joey Pepperoni for dinner and then to Nat's house to make brownies, watch Youtube videos, and play cards. It was a lot of fun, and I slept well that night.

July 17, 2011

A Spontaneous God

At devotional today we talked about what we were learning or struggling with during the trip. The cultural inefficiencies were mentioned as well as learning to be flexible in every situation. For me personally, I mentioned how I was discovering God in unlikely places. He kept showing up when I was least expecting Him. He showed up in the playground that evening, sitting with me and Car Car as we worshipped. He was everywhere in that classroom when those marvelous kids sang from their hearts to Him. Back home we like to get in our schedules and set Sundays and Wednesdays and morning devotionals aside for God and leave it at that. We expect to meet Him in worship and learn about Him during sermons or quiet time. But as I'm writing this I'm realizing that that's not how our humanly friendships work. With true friends we hang out spontaneously and call or text on a whim or when we happen to be thinking about that person. Shouldn't it be like that with God? He is a spontaneous God. When we force Him into our rigid schedules we allow Him no room to move in our lives and in our hearts. I want my relationship with Him to be a deep rooted friendship where we can talk and hang out at any time. I want to experience him randomly and constantly and discover Him working in the little things and interactions of my life. I want to stop and thank Him and realize He is my God and He loves me and loves to reveal Himself in my life. When we begin to recognize these God inspired details we can begin to understand more of who God is and how much He loves us. God is so good!
After devo we went to Full Gospel for the Sunday service. It was hot and I was wearing long pants and a long sleeved shirt. It was rough. The bits I was able to catch from the sermon (it was in Ilonggo) were excellent though. It was about enduring trials and tests of life and coming out a better person. After service we went with Pastor Chris and his family to Perri Todd's where they serve hamburgers as big as your face. I had a chance to change into some cooler clothes thankfully. We went back to the hotel for a while and then back to Full Gospel to plan our day at San Isidro with Natalie and her team.
San Isidro is an area where the government relocated thousands of people after their homes were destroyed in the flood a few years ago. The living conditions aren't ideal and life there is even more difficult than other parts of Iloilo City. Natalie has a heart for the kids there, and ministers to them each Sunday by holding a Kids Camp for anyone willing to show up. Justine, Trisha, and I joined Natalie and three Filipino girls in a small room in the church to plan our day. It was hot once again and my attitude was heading rapidly downhill. We began with worship and prayer and then began working our way through the schedule. After we were prepared we took Mr. Mike's car out to the location. We walked around the houses there and the kids flocked to Natalie immediately. Right off the bat a bunch of the little boys ran up to me wanting to hold my hand and walk with me. That did more than enough to turn around my bad attitude and bring tears to my eyes. Most of their fathers aren't around and I guess they saw me as a real example of what a man is. How could I not feel the compassion of God flowing through me to them? His love is amazing. Once we rounded up the kids we held our Kids Camp for them, complete with games, memory verses, dancing, singing, object lessons, and snacks. Afterwards we hung out with the kids some more. They showed us all of their dancing and gymnastics abilities. We had to leave though and it was tough to drive off and wave goodbye to so many joyful and amazing kids. I love what Natalie is doing though. Even though we can't give them the opportunities or education or anything else they deserve, we can share with them the love of a Savior. It truly is the greatest gift we can give and it isn't cliché to me anymore. Presented with such an overwhelming problem like the poverty there, God's love is enough. More than enough. More than enough to change lives and transform cities. Although I left them that day, I hope I will see them again in heaven someday.