Back from Another Asia Trip by Kerry

Hello! Lilet and I arrived back in Davao on Saturday afternoon after starting our travel at 12:30 AM and having a layover in Manilla from 4 AM to 11:00 AM. I'm not sure the cheaper ticket was worth having to travel all night! It was a very eye opening trip. We had arrived in the country at it 1:30 in the morning and the missionary picked us up at the airport. We drove 2 hours to her farm. We went to bed @ 4 only to get back up again at 7. (Sleep is very overrated!) Since I was American, she preferred to bring me in at night so I'd draw less attention to her farm. We had an orientation that morning and she said she had no clear calling from God what we should do that week. She has 3 different aspects to her ministry and had recently been traveling a lot with them. She felt she really needed fellowship with other believers. I shared that that was okay, I felt my summer was a continuation of how Skip & I met, as being encouragers. Our schedule for the week was to work on her farm. She needs a valid reason to stay in the country. She is in the process of starting an organic fertilizer company with a demonstration farm. That afternoon we worked on her farm planted small fruit trees. It didn't take long to plant 30 trees since the holes had been prepared for us. It is similar to the Philippines in that everything is done by hand and they are limited tools. We didn't even have shovels for planting! Monday's temperature was 98'F and 98% humidity. The rest of the week seemed about the same. Our days had the schedule of breakfast, devotions, work, lunch break, work, and then dinner. We worked hard and sweated even harder! I was starting to feel like a fish, always wet! We raked grass, leaves, palm branches, sticks, and anything else that was on the ground. On one side of the farm we put our debris into a canal that they were in the process of closing in. On the other side of the farm, part of the team used a shredded on it to be used for mulching. It is a natural, organic farm. We also helped clean up the front yard from a previous construction project and to make way for a new construction project scheduled to start in June. I also helped bag over 60 bags of coconut quire (shredded coconut tree and coconut shells, used in making fertilizer.) We did have 2 shovels to use for that along with a metal cookie tin and a dustpan. Sometimes, there just not enough tools to go around!

Being a group of foreigners, we attracted a lot of attention. It was a small village and everyone knew what everyone was doing. (Even more so than in the Cove!) People would just walk or drive by on their motorbikes to see what was going on. You'll notice in the pictures on Facebook that I'm always wearing pants, long sleeves, and a hat while outside. I was trying to hide as much as possible. The long sleeves were to have the added benefit of protecting your skin from the heat. I really didn't find that to be the case, though! One morning we started our devotions by singing. I looked out the window and there was a man staring at me. The missionary went outside to talk with him. He was just curious! He was one of the guys there to work on the farm for the day.

Politically and culturally it was eye opening. There are a lot of rights we have in the US that we take for granted especially the right to assemble and freedom of religion. Culturally, they are very family oriented with the family patriarch having a lot of influence over the family. There's so much family influence that most won't switch to Christianity if the family doesn't approve. It prevents lots of obstacles when trying to share the gospel, not that it's legal to share gospel! I got the opportunity to go to her Aunt's house and meet some of her family. We also went to her cousin's house and store to pray for her cousin. He was diagnosed with hepatitis years ago but it wasn't treated. There is free health care in this country but you have to bride the receptionist to see the nurse, bribe the nurse to see the doctor, and bribe the doctor to give you a diagnosis. Since it wasn't treated , it has since progressed to liver cancer. She is praying for a miraculous healing with the hope that the display of God's power will be a witness to her family. Her family members are not believers. We had to cut our prayer time with him short since it was drawing too much attention. She didn't want the neighbors to start to ostracize them and their store. Her cousin, though an unbeliever, thanked us for praying for him. Please also pray for the son of Uncle #7. (Odd as it sounds, they number their relatives and call them by their number!) He has a wife and 2 children.

There's a lot more to say and a lot of pictures. Some of the pictures are on Facebook. I can't wait to share of my experience in person! We topped off our trip by shopping in the city before we flew out and midnight. Lots of bargains to be had after haggling over the price. I managed to get some deals!