On the lighter side...Public Transportation

I want to fully experience the culture and part of that is being able to get into and out of the city by myself. We live about 15 miles from downtown, or a one hour commute using public transportation. The Saturday before the Kurtz's arrived I was making my second solo trip to the city to go grocery shopping. I was going to a different grocery store, conveniently located in the mall, which required going a different way than my first trip. I needed to switch jeepneys in the Matina section of the city. I thought I new were that was. I got off the jeepney, walked around the corner, and their sat another jeepney. I asked if he was going to NCCC and he replied and motioned to me. I couldn't hear what he said, so I repeated my question. I still couldn't hear or maybe understand, his reply but his motion's seemed to indicate that yes, he was going to NCCC. He seemed annoyed that he had to repeat himself. I hopped on board and off we went. Immediately, the road seemed wrong. I knew it was a short ride so I decided if I didn't see the mall soon, I'd get off. Well, no sooner had I decided that when we turned onto a narrow, one lane road. I knew this was not right. The problem was, if I got off, I didn't see any jeepney's going the other way to get back. It was a very poor section and I knew they didn't have white people walk down their street everyday. I figured all jeepney's have a route and it would either turn around or go in a circle. I thought I'd just ride it out. I began to see water on my right. Definitely, I was not going to the mall! When I was the last one left on the jeepney, I asked the lady taking the money if it turned around or went in a circle. She didn't speak English. I pointed to myself and said, "Wrong jeepney. How much?" The driver turned around and said 5 pesos. As I was handing them my money, a jeepney was coming toward us. The driver of the jeepney I was in leaned out the window and said something to the other driver. He looked at me and said, "Matina?" I answered yes. He motioned me to the other jeepney. I thanked him and hopped on board the other jeepney. When we got back to where I had first switched jeepney's, I paid my 5 pesos and got off. I didn't know the minimum payment was 7 pesos. I figured if it was 5 one way it would be 5 to go back. Oops!

I had figured out where I had gone wrong. When I got off the first jeepney I wasn't supposed to go around the corner. I was just supposed to switch jeepney's. I went around the corner to the correct street and there was another jeepney. A man looked at me and asked, "NCCC?" I answered yes and hopped on board! Thank the Lord, I made it safely to the mall. I just refer to my detour as a cheap sightseeing trip, a spot most tourist overlook!

I do much better now, the Kurtz's allowed me to take Emi to the mall. My only concern now is that car rides put me to sleep. Especially, long hot rides. I hope I don't fall asleep some day and find myself in an unknown location! It may be my next adventure!

Botoy

The entire team was too large to take to one village so we split into two. The team that went to the village of Botoy was myself( Kerry), Maia, Dusty, Emi, Tiara, and Lilet, our leader. Botoy is located at the top of mountain, a 5000' climb. The first third of the hike was steep but after that it became a gradual uphill. This is the rainy season so it wouldn't be a hike without a little mud, just enough to keep it interesting! We were the second team ever to visit Botoy and the first foreign team. It would be 5 days of a lot of firsts! Our objective was to build relationships in the village.

We stayed at the Datu's (chief's) hut and it was the largest and nicest hut I've seen in the mountains! It is on top of the ridge line overlooking the village below. It was a great location: great view, nice breezes. He didn't stay with us, instead preferring to stay at his hut by his fields. He was to come on the day we arrived but it was Monday afternoon before he ever arrived. I was beginning to think we'd have to go to his field if we wanted to meet him! He had given his permission for the people to have a church service but he had made it clear in the past that he wasn't interested in a church. Our job was to help change his mind.

When we arrived, we met pastor Robert. He is the pastor in the next village and his heart is to plant a church in Botoy. We thought that they had been holding church services in Botoy before we had arrived only to find out that we would be a there for the very first church service ever on Sunday! On Saturday evening we hosted a fellowship outside the chief's hut. Dusty played and Emi, Tiara and myself sang with him. Then I shared the gospel. I didn't ask people to step forward or raise their hands, so I'm not sure if anyone accepted Christ but it seemed well received.

The church service on Sunday was held at the billiard hall. They didn't have a church but they had a pool hall! Our group sang again and Dusty preached his first sermon ever! It's always an adjustment to talk through an interpreter but Dusty did great. Pastor Robert asked if anyone wanted to accept Christ and at least 15 people did! It was an awesome first church service! Afterward, we were trying to get to know people. It's kid of hard when you don't speak the language! I've been picking up some words here but I'm learning Visian not the Matisalug tribal language. It's all confusing to me! Anyway, Tiara, our teammate from Manilla, was able to interpret for us. Emi was answering questions about herself and life in the US. At first I was taking videos of people & then letting them see it. Normally, this is a big hit with the kids. I barely got a few smiles this time. Most were very camera shy. Next Maia & I tried playing with bouncy balls with the kids. They don't bounce well on dirt so I was throwing them in the air. They'd catch them and throw them back. I only had two and Maia wanted more. I returned with about 8 more bouncy balls. I threw them all in the air at once and it was so funny to hear the squeals and see the chaos that ensued. We finally found something the kids enjoyed! We played it, and played it, and played it.

After lunch, Emi, Maia, and I taught them "stop, go," our culturally relevant version of red light, green light. We figured no one had ever seen one of those before! We also taught them "manok, manok, okonos" literally, chicken, chicken, rooster, aka, duck, duck, goose. We also didn't sit on the ground, it was too muddy. The kids never seemed to tire of that game! I, on the other hand, got a little tired of it after the 50th round! But, I enjoyed playing with the kids. Mostly the kids who would play with us were boys. There were only 2 girls who would play. The other half of the kids sat and watched us play. We had piqued their curiosity but not enough to get them to interact with us. Even the little girls shied away from Maia, which was surprising. In our previous two mountain trips, Maia was a celebrity with kids huddled around her just wanting to be with her.

Lilet had asked me at lunch on Sunday to invite the military to eat dinner with us. We had 15 army guys with us. I asked Lt. Pito, the man in charge, for all of them to join us. It's a good thing I'm white. It made him feel obligated to agree! The look on his face when I asked him was, "No, that's the last thing I want to do, I think I'd rather starve," but he just nodded and said, "Yes, ma'am." They all showed up! They don't speak conversational English well so they are uncomfortable talking with us. We let Tiara interpret for us! (I am surprised she didn't have a headache after all the interpreting.) After we ate, we had a mini battle of the bands between Dusty and one of the army guys. They would sing a song and then pass the guitar back. After Tiara told them they didn't have to sing religious songs, they relaxed a bit. Karaoke is popular in the Philippines and so they like to sing love songs. Dusty had to rack his brain to remember the chords & words of a few long songs. We wanted them to feel comfortable around us. He'd only come prepared with praise & worship type music but he pulled it off. He and Emi even sung a duet. Dusty shared the story of David & Goliath. Lilet explained that we never like to miss an opportunity to tell others about salvation. She explained salvation and all 15 men accepted Christ! God was definitely working in this village. I asked if I could get it in their language, how many would like a Bible, and they all wanted one! We haven't had a chance to shop for them yet but they all want a pocket Bible. I'd like to highlight some verses for them. (Let me know if you have suggestions, besides salvation, I was thinking of words of courage for when they're in battle.)

Monday morning we tried our hand at farming by helping to plant 70 fruit trees. It was a very steep mountain side that someone had to go ahead of us with a bolo (very large machete) and clear a path. The holes had already been dug and they were spaced about ten yards apart. A very long ten yards! It was very rugged terrain. Farming is not an easy life. We managed with only minor falls and no injuries. It just added more laughter to our trip, of which, their was plenty of it on this trip!

In the afternoon, we handed out toothbrushes to the adults, flip flops to the boys, and panties for the girls and small children. Sadly, the panties seemed to be the only clothing some of the small children had. We would later see them walking around in just their new panties. The funny thing about flip flops in the rainy season is that it's easier to walk without them! When going up or down a hill, most people took them off. Actually, if my feet were tougher, I think it would have been easier, too!

On Tuesday the most of the children went to school. They have school Tuesday, Wednesday, and a half day on Thursday. Odd schedule, but that's a story for another day. While they were away, Pastor Arnell and some others attempted to teach us the traditional tribal dance and to sing a song in Matigsalug. I thought they were just trying to entertain us for the afternoon, little did I know, I'd be performing it for the whole tribe! We had a final fellowship that night, celebrating our last night with a bonfire. Pastor Arnell and Norma performed the dance and than Dusty and I danced. (Emi says she doesn't dance and Tiara thought it should be 2 white people dancing. That left me by default, not by my dancing skill!) Amongst great cheering and laughter we danced. It started raining as we finished so we moved to the billiard hall. They asked us to dance again. We laughed a little harder, but danced again. Now if anyone is familiar with the Philippine culture, you would know what's coming. They have no qualms about putting you on the spot. They asked our group to perform something as our goodbye. Then they said that Kerry will be sharing something with them. Then they announced Dusty would like to say something. We had joked earlier with Dusty that if he had to preach, we'd give him five minutes notice. I didn't even get a five second notice! But, the point of our mission is to take advantage of every opportunity to share Christ. We performed & shared happily and more people accepted Christ. Praise the Lord! As we were finishing, they said someone had missed us dance. They asked us to dance for a third time. We complied. We laughed and they laughed. Laughter is a universal language, no interpreter needed! It had taken our entire trip but I felt we had finally connected. As we sang a goodbye song and shook hands, we received hugs and saw some tears shed. I looked at the kids, with most having a runny nose, a cough, some smelled, and I thought, these are the cutest kids! It was a sad goodbye.

On a lighter note, it had poured the entire time we were at the billiard hall. The datu's hut is at the top of the hill, following a very dirt packed path. A path that becomes a sliding board when wet. I attempted to carry my sleeping daughter up the hill, but, well, let's just say I would have been better off to do what the natives do: take off my flip flops! I ended up muddy but saved Maia. It only added yet another joke and more laughter to the trip! This was followed by a large spider sighting at the hut. The reaction to the spider by a fellow teammate almost caused Tiara and I to roll on the ground in laughter. Oh, team bonding at its best!

We left at 5:20 AM the next morning and quite a sight we were. We consisted of 15 military, 6 team members, people carrying our backpacks, two or 3 guys that took turns carrying Maia, and several teenage girls who had helped cook for us. They skipped school so they could walk us out of the mountain. That's how they say goodbye. We kept a great pace, thanks to our military escorts, and were out of the mountain in less than three hours. The last part of the hike was steep and slippery. A farmer had built a hand rail along his field to go up & down the trail. I knew we were in trouble if the natives needed a hand rail! Let's sum it up by saying that we ended up muddier than when we started with many more funny stories. We did earn the distinction as being the loudest group ever escorted by Lt. Pito, but he said, "at least they had fun."

I end this saga with a heavy heart. Pastor Robert, whose heart it is to see a church planted in Botoy, has just lost his second child. Six months ago after the first team left the mountains his 3 month old son died of complications from a heart defect. While we were in Botoy, they had taken his son to the hospital with malaria. He died 3 days later. Please pray for Pastor Robert, his wife Gem, and their remaining child, a 4 year old girl. Please pray for their protection from the enemy because it is a spiritual battle. Pray that satan will not win.

"fruit"

We went to the market, Bankherotan, again today at 4 AM. walking through the aisles, as I have said before is a shock to the senses. The people, sights, sounds, and especially smells, just hit you as soon as you step out of the truck, and remain until you leave. Walking through the fruit aisles is my favorite. The smells are better for one, and the exotic fruits are so varied in their color, smell, shape etc than anything we have in the states, its an experience just to look.

This brought me to think about the spiritual fruit mentioned in the Bible. Galatians lists the fruit of the Spirit as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. The New Testament mentions fruit alot, starting with John the Baptist speaking to the Pharisees in Matthew 3:7-10. Verse 10 says"even now the ax of God's judgement is poised, ready to sever your roots. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire. Matthew 7:15-20 and John 15:1-4 have similar messages.

Jesus and John don't beat around the bush in these passages. He says if we have no fruit we will be cut off and thrown into the fire. It seems clear to me He is talking about Hell.

It isn't easy to read these passages, but like I said, Jesus wasn't known for making following Him easy. If you claim to be a Christian, think about your life and determine if there is spiritual fruit. If we are truly children of God we WILL have fruit. We need to evaluate our lives to see if we are producing. Faith without works is dead. Read James 2: 14-20. Vs. 17 says So you see, it isn't enough just to have faith. Faith that doesn't show itself by good deeds is no faith at all-it is dead and useless. The rest of this passage and Mt 7:21-23 tell us that not all who call on the name of the Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, to some he will say, depart form me, I never knew you.

I must also clarify that we are not saved by works. There is nothing we can do to earn or deserve Salvation. We are all sinners and are only saved through the grace of God by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. But, if we are a "good tree", one of Gods children, we will have good fruit.

One of the reasons I am in the Philippines this summer is because after thinking and praying about these passages, I determined that this was where my life produced the most fruit. After taking a missions course this week I have been reminded that one of the reasons we as Christians are here is to fulfill Gods redemptive plan to the nations. We are to go and make disciples of all the nations. Too often we get the mindset of Jonah, who wanted the benefits of election, but none of the responsibilities. We have become to introspective and desire the blessings of God, but do not want to be a blessing to others.

We don't need to travel to the Philippines, or to anywhere for that matter to fulfill that responsibility. We need to be fulfilling it wherever we are. We need to boldly tell and show people our relationship with Jesus Christ, and His love, grace, sacrifice and mercy, not try to justify our faith through facts, or cliche sayings.

Go make some "fruit"

On the lighter side...

Here's the food update for Sue! We've enjoyed fresh pineapple, mangos, bananas-both table and cooked, avocados,, lusones, and today had saursop shakes for lunch. They've been delicious!

Vacation Bible School

We just completed the the first ever TMFI VBS! Last week Mimi took Jackson & Maia trough the neighborhood inviting all 7-13 year olds to VBS. They thought the white kids might draw the crowd in! They expected 40. Our first day we had about 30 kids come in our target age group and about 10 kids between the ages of 2-6. We didn't want to turn anyone away so we left them stay. We also noticed that a lot of moms came and either stayed with their younger children or sat outside. Beng decided we'd have Skip & Chad (Miller) alternate days and speak with the moms while their kids were attending VBS. I had brought prizes and play money with me. We handed out money as rewards for memorizing verses, attendance, good behavior, participating, etc. The kids had fun and started inviting friends. Everyday we had more kids. Their was also the theory that kids heard we were handing out money & prizes and wanted some, too. Whatever it was, we grew. By the end of the week we had 25 kids between 2-6 and 48 kids between the ages of 7-13. PTL!

Belle and I were in charge of crafts. Being on a tight budget, we didn't have many extra crafts-if any. On more than one day we were scrambling to make more! On our last day, we made a key chain with a cross and beads with a kit I had brought with me. We had one left over! The beads on were a wordless tool to tell the gospel story. I told the kids about salvation as we assembled the key chain. It was probably the first time many of the kids had been presented with the gospel.

The redeeming of money for prizes was a big hit. The prizes we had left over we gave out to the kids who could say a memory verse. The kids crowded around, trying to be the first to win more prizes! Most of the prizes were school supply type items: pens, pencils, scissors, ruler, erasers, etc. I'm glad that's the types of things we had because one girl told me what her mom had told her. "Don't get any toys, get school supplies." I think for many the basic school supplies are luxury items! Most of the leftover prizes were the toy items: jump ropes, water colors, markers, colored pencils, etc.

The last day we had a graduation ceremony. Most of the kids got some kind of reward: good attendance, good listener, good at memory verses, most cooperative, etc. Lots a rewards. The mothers were invited to attend. They were proud of their kids as they received rewards. I was also the graduation speaker, again, low budget event. I presented Christ to the moms as well. We think it was the first time any of the mothers had heard that as well.

Overall, it was a great week! The kids made a few new friends. Jackson told me one of the boys might come up to play tomorrow. I hope so. Maybe more language will rub off on the kids. We are all learning a few words. My problem is, I can't remember them! They group letters together that we don't group to together in English. It makes it difficult to remember and pronounce! I was going to say good afternoon in Cebuano, but, well, I can't spell it!

Tonight is a good bye party for Chad. We're having a bonfire and a bar-b-que. Can't wait!