Meeting John Mark, our Compassion Child

After eight years, we got to me the boy that we had been sponsoring! We went with three compassion staff to his school to pick him up for the day. His mom met us at his school. They had arranged ahead of time for him to be able to leave school. At first he was very shy, just tipping his head up for yes, a typical Filipino gesture.

When asked what he'd like to do first, he wanted to take us to his house. So off we went. He lives in a squatter's settlement in a house similar to a hut in the mountains. We were probably quite a sight walking to his house. It was our family, Pio and his sister, Joanne, Katrin, a volunteer from Germany, and 3 compassion staff workers. Skip, the kids, and I were given chairs to sit on in the kitchen. I was giving out presents when the floor dropped a couple of inches. Skip thought it was a good time for him to step outside! Apparently, the floor isn't used to so much weight! We took a group picture with our family and his and then left.

We took John Mark, his mom, dad, and younger brother out for lunch at a buffet restaurant. They looked like they might need a good meal. As soon as we finished eating my kids had the Uno cards out. It was one of the gifts we had given John Mark. As we started playing, John Mark began to relax and feel more comfortable with us. We played several rounds and were having fun.

While I was playing cards, Joanne starting asking his parents some questions to get to know them. She is a formal social worker and has previously worked with World Vision. She seemed to know what questions to ask to get them to start to talk. Emma, his mom, shared how they had met. Before they were married, her husband used to stalk her. Emma's mom was afraid he would rape her so she insisted that Emma marry him. A decision I'm not quite sure I understand. Emma cried through the wedding ceremony, knowing that she was marrying an alcoholic drug addict. Their life together was very rocky. Emma is a construction worker and very strong. At times she had to literally carry her drunk husband home. She would get angry at him and beat him. One time, she almost strangled him to death but someone intervened. Two years ago he developed asthma. It forced him to get off of drugs. Emma currently works as a construction worker making 170 pesos a day. His dad is unemployed. They spend 60 pesos a day on rice. John Mark and his 11 year old brother each receive 30 pesos a day for food while at school. The remaining 50 pesos is used for food to go with the rice. Not much to live on!

John Mark was such a sweet, polite boy. He had a ready smile and seemed quite bright. He does well in school, especially in math and science. It's hard to believe that he has been growing up in such a rough home life. His parents seemed to have reconciled and were amicable to each other. John Mark and his mom know Christ but his dad does not. It is required by Compassion that the mothers of sponsored children attend a weekly mom's group. Emma is trying to get her husband to attend since she is working and he is not. Please pray that the influence of his family and that of Compassion will help bring his father to the Lord. Only Christ can really make a difference in this family.

We ended our trip with a stop at the mall to get John Mark a basketball. I had brought an air pump with me but the basketball didn't fit in our already overloaded suitcases! I saw a court nearby his house that he'll be able to play on. We also gave money to Joann for her to take Emma grocery shopping. She was able to buy enough rice for three weeks and vitamins for the kids. She was overwhelmed by the gesture.

I'm very thankful for the chance to meet the Valores'. I learned a lot about his life in a very short amount of time. His house was nicer than I had imagined but the home life was much worse than I thought. That had never come through in the letters. It was such a gift to get to meet them and I now know how to better pray for him. By the time we left, the kids and John Mark were playing together and enjoying each other. I hope this becomes an annual event.

Hong Kong

Our spur of the moment trip to Hong Kong to avoid paying the renewal fees for our visas, worked. We came back into the Philippines yesterday and were granted another 59 days! Who would of thought that flying round trip to another country would cost less than renewing our visas? But, God worked it out wonderfully and we got to meet new friends.

Hong Kong is small in land mass but large in population. As a result, it is all tall buildings wherever you look. It's a very clean city with a great, easy to use public transportation system. We were able to navigate the city by ourselves if it was needed. The most confusing part is after you get off of the MTR, the train that goes both underground and above ground. The most congested parts of Hong Kong are underground. When you get off its like an underground city! There are restaurants, shops, and malls. It was really cool! You can walk blocks and cross streets all underground and in air conditioning! There were escalators everywhere. Hong Kong is very mountainous, which makes for a beautiful backdrop to the city skyline. So there where even escalators outside. It's definitely a very modern city. Skip said he felt like a country bumpkin gawking at all the tall buildings

Helen, who was part of our team last year, met us at the airport. She took us to where we were staying and took as to dinner. It was a traditional Chinese meal, served family style. Unlike the US, chopsticks are not optional, they are the only thing available. Its either learn or starve. I don't think I'll be switching to the Chinese menu anytime soon! (skip enjoyed it)We had 11 courses and dessert. The first course was a platter of pig's feet, cow tongue, pork in jello, and jellyfish. It got a little better after that. Maia liked the dumplings and ate half of them. Jackson didn't like any of it so we stopped at McDonald's on the way home. Thank God for MickeyD's! The kids may not have survived without it!

We stayed with Agnes, a friend of TMFI. She has previously been to the Philippines on a missions trip. She has a 3 bedroom flat on the 28th floor. The kids kept calling it a hotel. They seemed to think any tall building you stay in is a hotel, not a home! We took a bus from the airport to Lam Tin, the section of Hong Kong where Agnes lives. Jackson loved the ride on a double decker bus! We sat up on top, of course. We went across a bridge over the ship yards. Again, Jackson was loving it. He's always loved ships. From the window at Agnes', we over looked the water and could see Hong Kong Island. Jackson spent lots of time looking at the cruise ships, ferries, and cargo ships. The city skyline looked beautiful at night.

Sunday was our first full day. Agnes took us to church at St. James, an English speaking church. The pastor sounded like he was from the UK. It definitely had the British influence with its formal service and conservative singing style, very un-Asian. Another friend of TMFI, Courtney, met us at church. We all went to lunch afterward. This was also Chinese but very good. Next we were off to see take a tram up to "The Peak," a great spot above the city. To get there we crossed to Hong Kong Island by ferry, a highlight for Jackson, of course. The Peak is a building shaped like a boat on a short tower. It has a great view of the city. From there we took the MTR under the water to get back to Agnes' flat, another exciting adventure for the kids. Helen, Juliet, and Ada met us there. Helen had cooked for us. I can't remember the name of what I really enjoyed but it was similar to a corn fritter with shrimp inside. Dipped in banana ketchup, it was delicious! Afterward we got to know everyone and Skip shared a mini Bible study. Thankfully, the kids were able to get to bed after dinner. It was a fun night but the party didn't end till 11. Helen had an hour trip home and then work in the morning, yuck!

Monday was the highlight for the kids. It was off to Disneyland Hong Kong! We took the MTR, meeting Courtney along the way, switching lines, and eventually getting onto the Disney MTR. The Disney experience began here. This one was above ground and the windows were shaped like Mickey's head & ears. Inside it had Mickey handles and Disney sculptures. Courtney had taken off work to go with us. She had a Disney employee for a friend who gave us three tickets to get in! After we went through the gates, I was approached by another employee. She wanted to know if we'd be the Grand Marshal for the parade! Of course, we agreed. It was in the afternoon and we all got monogrammed Mickey hats to keep. It was fun! (Jackson & Maia's favorite line of the day was, "Grandma will be so jealous!") When asked what their favorite rides was, the kids can't couldn't come up with just one. Every time we got off a ride, they wanted to ride it again! They liked Buzz Light Year, It's a Small World, and Space Mountain. Maia was just tall enough to ride Space Mountain and we rode it twice. I was surprised she enjoyed it! Skip, Lilet, and Courtney got tired but the kids and I kept going! We ended the day by watching a great fireworks show over the castle.

Tuesday we went to Helen's house for breakfast. She lives in the "country" on the 31st floor of her building. Obviously, countryside means something different in HK than in the US! I defined it as having some space between the buildings! Actually, here it was less crowded and there was a bike rack outside of the MTR station. Some of the buildings were only 4 stories high. This is the edge of HK and we could see across the border into China. On a side note, we had hoped to go "underground" in China but it didn't work out. While at Helen's, we met her 76 year old mother. She just recently had nasal surgery and suffers from depression. Se even came out of her room to see us. Before we left, we prayed for her. I think she enjoyed seeing kids.

Helen took went with us on the MTR to meet with two ladies from the Cedar Fund, an organization that has been supporting TMFI's FLIC projects. They took us to lunch, which lasted most of the afternoon. They have not been to the Philippines yet to see what they have been funding. We took the opportunity to share about our experiences this summer. They had lots of questions. It was enjoyable afternoon.

We had about two hours before we met Ada, so we took the MTR to get to some street markets. We love hitting the outdoor markets! They are like fleas markets but selling new items. I enjoyed the ladies market and the kids liked the goldfish markets. It was two blocks of fish, lizards and turtles. (While there, we found Nemo! He was with Dori! Soooo, glad that's solved.) We went to dinner with Agnes, Courtney, and Ada and then off to more markets. I made a purchase at a little grocery store and then the man, who I think was the owner, came with me to make two additional purchases on the street. He was my negotiator! Between Agnes and I, earlier in the day, and the store owner later, I got some good deals! It was quite fun but tiring! We didn't get back to the flat until midnight. Fortunately, the kids were troopers and didn't even complain! Maia did fall asleep in my arms as we were shopping.

After staying up till 2 AM trying to figure out how we were going to get it all packed and most importantly, distribute the weight in our bags to meet the airline requirements of 30 pounds, we were off to the bus stop at 7 AM. That completed our whirlwind tour of Hong Kong. We had a great time but more importantly, made some great new friends. They were incredible hosts and we're hoping they'll visit us some day so we can return the favor!

Pastor Robert

Please pray for Pastor Robert. Pastor Robert has been hospitalized with malaria. He is the pastor who has the heart to plant a church in Botoy. Two months before our team arrived his infant son died of complications from a hole in his heart. While we were in Botoy, he took his six year old daughter to the hospital. She died later that week from malaria. Please pray for his recovery, that his wife and two remaining children stay healthy, and that he will not become discouraged. Satan is trying to stop the church in Botoy. Please pray that he won't succeed.

agusan

We recently had an invite to attend a church on the outskirts of the Agusan marsh. Apparently being a foreigner leads to the assumption that you are a good preacher. (so far I have been introduced as Pastor Skip 3 times) We left Saturday the 3rd for Agusan. Public transportation is the way to go here in the Philippines, so we boarded our air-con bus and set out. The 5 hour bus ride to San Fransisco was pretty unremarkable, other than the fact that a trip of probably less than 100 miles took 5 hours. The bus terminal CRs(bathrooms) were very remarkable, but I won't get into that here.
We were met at the San Fransisco bus terminal by Pastor Don-Don and his wife Jeanette. They took us to lunch then to our hotel. We had come packed with hammocks and mosquito nets prepared to sleep at his house, only to be surprised and escorted to the nicest hotel in SF. The tribal pastors that Ptr Don-Don oversees had God speak and tell them to sow seeds in good soil. They were told we were good soil, so they all chipped in and paid for 2 nights in the hotel for us. I would've been content at Pastor Don-Don's house, but my first hot shower in 2 months felt pretty good.
The next day we took the bus 15 min to 4 square church. Whites always create a spectacle in these situations. The congregations are so welcoming it's humbling. After the Philippine praise and worship, which really has to be experienced, not described, I spoke on love, specifically the love of Christ, as being our motivation for everything we do. I used 2 Peter 1:3-11 as my main passage, and talked about how we can grow to love people more, with the love of Christ, and when this happens we will be more productive and useful. Now I am far from a great speaker and was relying on God to give me the subject matter that would impact the people. I was told afterward that the sermon fit in with what they had talked about the week before, and also went right along with the prophecy spoken during praise and worship. I thank God for using me!
After the agape meal after church Kerry spoke to the women of the church while I sat in on the pastors meeting. This was with 10 tribal pastors and several leaders. I kept myself awake (unsuccesfully) by watching the pastor's evil pet monkey. He would seem friendlly until someone would approach him. When they were just out of reach he would lunge from his bamboo perch, arms extended, shreiking a blood curdling scream. Just as you thought he would claw out your eyeballs, the chain would catch him and he would do a complete flip around the bamboo and sit back with a smug expression. It was fun watching people have the same reaction I did when it happened to me.(yelling and ducking so fast you almost hit the ground)
For the evening we had another agape meal, this time a Philippines specialty, Lechon Baboy.(roast Pig) This was delivered off the back of a motorcycle along with pop, fruit salad, and rice. The evening ended with 2 of the pastors returning with us to the hotel for prayer.
This was a new place for us to visit, and we were invited back to visit the interior of the marsh and visit the tribal churches. These are accessed by a 3-6 hour boat ride, depending on the water levels. From my understanding the marsh encompasses about 1,000,000 acres and is home to many species of wildlife, including crocodiles. I can't wait to go!
The Indigenous people of the Philippines continue to amaze me with their generosity, hospitality, and most of all their faith. They live under some of the most difficult conditions I have seen, and depend on God literally for their daily bread. We in the West seem to make it our goal to not need God in our lives. We plan for retirement, we have health insurance, life insurance, house/car insurance, excesses of food, clothes. What do we need God for? I think without a dependence on God for physical needs, we have a harder time with dependence for our spiritual needs also. America says that money is the key to happiness. Our wealth blinds us to the poverty of our souls. The American Way says we can always do it ourselves. We CAN'T! God's grace for our sins is the only solution.