Final Visual Journey

Well, I'm just getting around to posting the final photos of our marvelous Philippine adventure. I've got everyone's photos now and wish I could share ALL of them with you. Kim, Nancy and Kathy...you all took some really great pictures. Thanks so much for sharing them so that I could post them here.

OK, get ready...here are some photos related to the end of our journey...our final days in Manila. Feel free to read the last posting again if you'd like a reminder about any of it.

Remember I'd mentioned that balut...the partially cooked duck egg...the one with the embryo? Well, here it is...and Kathy...still can't believe you ate that thing!

And here are the other local delicasies that we sampled....chicken, beef and pork intestines; snails and "chocolate soup" (pork cooked in pork blood) with sweetened rice cakes:



A picture of Pastor Choy's church in Basatlan:

And some of the former gang members who joined us for lunch that day:

Now for some miscellaneous fun shots...Chuck with a bag of coke...uh, that would be the legal, drinkable kind...

nice.com - One of the internet cafes I used while we were on Mindoro (it's the red sign that you cannot read):

And now some pictures of our work on the island...the dining hall was our big project. And the floor turned out to be the major focus of our effort due to termite infestation. Here's a shot of the floor with the wood floor joists (the infested ones!)...

And here's a shot with the new steel c-joists, all wire-brushed and rust-protected by us:

A picture of the one project we did finish...the playground!

And to finish out, some shots of the teams...first, our BranchCreek Community Church team as we were leaving Valley of Peace (minus Charlie, Kristen, Matt and Marilou):

Jay and ZsaZsa, now official BranchCreek World Outreach team members!

The Valley of Peace team:

And last, but most definitely not least, the ENTIRE team...everyone from ISACC and BranchCreek on our last night in the Philippines:

I guess this ends the journey. Thanks to you all for coming along and for supporting us with your love, finances, prayers and encouragement. My prayer for you all is that one day you are also able to experience something similar...it doesn't have to be halfway around the world...you can reach out and build bridges and new friendships right in your own community.

God bless,

Nancy

The Journey's Over, But the Posts Are Not!

As all of you know by now, the team arrived safely home in Philly on Sunday, Jan. 14. I sure liked our flight schedule for the home journey much better...it was nice to have the long flight broken into smaller segments. That 16 hours to Hong Kong was a llllooooonnnngggg ride!

It is now 5:20 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 16 and I'm writing this at my desk at work. It's the first time I've been able to log in to the Blogger site since Jan. 11. I guess they've been having some server issues since some of you have mentioned to me that you also have not been able to log in to comment on the blog.

In this posting, I'd like to catch you up on our last couple of days in Quezon City. My next posting will be photos of these events, so please check back in a week or so.

Anyway, on Friday, Jan. 12, the team went to Basatlan to see the site of the future youth center and to visit Pastor Choy's church and gang ministry. Imagine the team's surprise when we were picked up by Pastor Choy and there was a machine gun sitting in the front of the van!!! Turns out it was a "toy"...shoots pellets I think...but a pretty real looking one and it got us all in the "mood" for our visit! LOL

The story of the ministry led by Pastor Choy is a moving one. The area of Basatlan where the ministry is located is very poor and there are about 15 gangs located in a fairly small area. Gang wars are common. And as Pastor Choy told us, the police have learned not to come to pick up the pieces until the wars are over...too many police were shot trying to break things up. Pastor Choy lived among the residents of this area for several years and while befriending the gangs, actually changed his life schedule to be the same as theirs...he would sleep during the day and then hang out with the gangs all night. The result is that 4 gangs have come to know Christ. And not just a couple members of the gangs...the entire gang.

That day we were served lunch at their church...a teeny little room that they are unbelievably able to pack 50 people in for services. We had the honor of about 10 of the gang members joining us for lunch. We also got to see where Pastor Choy once lived...it is now the living space for the former gang members. A one room place that would comfortably fit maybe 3 people sleeps up to 20 at night. But that is still so much better than them having to sleep on the streets.

The former gang members have also started their own basketball league which they also run themselves. The other gangs also participate...peacefully! It's just amazing to see the work God is doing there.

Next we met with the barangay (sort of like a mayor) of Basatlan. He's a Christian man, dedicated to honest politics and helping those he represents. And he's committed that the municipal government will help Pastor Choy out financially with construction of the youth center once the final pieces of land have been aquired.

Later that afternoon we were at ISACC for a debriefing of our visit and for a sampling of local delicasies. You'll really have to check back for the photos of this...it was a riot! I think most of us were brave enough to sample the majority of items...fried chicken, pork and beef intestines, snails in coconut milk and "chocolate soup"...pork cooked in pork blood served with sweet rice patties. But the star of the evening was the balut. Kathy...YOU ROCK!! You are an ANIMAL!! She ate the balut...none of the rest of us would even try it. A little education...balut is a duck egg that is not completely cooked. You crack open the top, drink out the liquid and then peel it. Inside is a duck embryo...yep, complete down to its little beak...and you eat that next. Finally you eat the yolk. She never even flinched...and even better, she kept telling us all afterward "it really wasn't bad!" Hmmmm, sure.....

Later that night we had a farewell dinner with Mack and Rhoda Bradshaw at their lovely home. A group of about 20 gathered...ISACC staff and our team members...it was a marvelous send off.
Saturday morning we did a bit of shopping and had one more Filipino meal before leaving for the airport. Lucky for me someone in the group ordered halo halo for dessert...it was fabulous...way better than the halo halo I had here in the states.

Then we headed on home...all uneventful, good flying weather, which was great. And our baggage made it this time...well, for everyone except for me! But it was delivered yesterday at 2:00 so that wasn't too bad.

And here we are, back in our reality...and I'm still trying to adjust, trying to sift through my experiences of the last 2 weeks and hopefully become a better person as a result of it all. I'm so blessed to have had the opportunity.

One final note from Marilyn...she'd asked me to post this last Friday...
"Hi Suff,
So nice to hear from you during my stay in the Philippines. What a surprise! I return home on the 13th. Please send an email and fill me in on what has been happening in your life.
Love to you, too,
Marilyn"

More from me later, when I have the photos to post...

Fairwell to Puerto Galera and Valley of Peace

It is now 10:00 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 11 and I'm wrting from Manila. Today we left Valley of Peace and Puerto Galera for Manila. I'd hoped to post a bunch of pictures of our last couple of days, but am not able to on this computer I'm using. So, those of you who are interested should still stay tuned after we get back because I do plan to post photos of our last few days once I'm able.

But until then, here are a few words to describe our last couple of days:
It has been rainy the last several days, but in spite of that we were able to completely finish work on the playground! Yippeee...it looks gorgeous. And we were able to finish demo work on the dining hall and do as much of the support work for that as possible, given the rainy conditions. Chuck and Scott, along with Po Poy, Jun, and Jomer, did an awesome job on that building. I'm just blown away by what they were able to accomplish in such a short time.

Last night we said our good-byes to the Filipinos on the team. It was emotional for me...while I miss home and all of you, endings have never been easy for me. I'm going to miss all these people that we've met and worked along side.

The ferry ride back to Batangas this morning was again uneventful, praise God. And we had a nice evening of R&R once we got back to the OMF house where we are staying in Manila.

I'm starting to feel a little overwhelmed by it all...the sights, sounds, smells of this beautiful land. The contrasts...from the squatter's shacks, some stacked 2 and 3 high, looking like a tower of cards just waiting to topple...to the gorgeous modern mall in Manila that we visited. The crazy traffic with all the honking and the smell of diesel exhaust in the air. The luscious tropical surroundings on Puerto Galera. And the relationships we've made, especially with Jay and Zsa Zsa. I think it'll take me some time to process it all when I get back.

Tomorrow we will visit the area of the youth center in Basatlan that originally we'd hoped to be working on. I'll share more about it tomorrow. It's a moving testimony to the awesome and amazing power of God, how that ministry got started.

Now, however, our team has a lot to say to family and friends, so here goes!

Nancy S. sends out huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY greetings to Jojo and Jeff from her and Aunt Mar!!! They wish they could be there with you to celebrate and are looking forward to seeing you soon.

Kim and Scott have the following notes for their loved ones...
"To Jon & Tina
That's what 'The Boss' does, he cracks the whip!

To Kelly
We hope you have a wonderfil time on your cruise. J-A-E we can tell that you girls are praying for us. Thanks!

Dad & SJ
Hope the house is still standing and that Bry is doing ok without us. See ya soon,

Bob & Ali
My fear of spiders has been overcome by the fear of humongous cockroaches!

GM
We can see the fruits of your prayers, thank you. Hope all is well.

Ernie & Naomi
We did not eat any snake meat or drink any blood as per your suggestion, but the octupus was a hit."

And a couple notes from me:
Bob and Alice (and anyone else praying for me)...I so appreciate your prayers to date. They have been such a blessing to me. Now I have a specific request...I had a sore throat from last Saturday through yesterday. Now, thankfully the sore throat has gone, but it took my voice with it and has left me all congested! So, for the last 2 days I have had no voice and the last thing I want is to get on the plane for the ride back with my head all congested. Prayers for a speedy healing would be much appreciated!

Patti...I'm up for that pasta whenever we can get it on our schedules!

JP...can we have our dinner on Monday night? Looking forward to being able to spend some time together when I've had a chance to get a bit rested.

And to all of you who've posted notes over the last couple of weeks...it has meant so much to me personally and every member of this team. And especially thanks for your prayers...they have sustained us on this trip.

More tomorrow...

Puerto Galera - Lots of Photos!

Hi all!!! Another marvelous day in the PI!! It's almost 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 9 and since Jay needed to come to town to send an email anyway, me, Nancy and Marilyn decided to join him. I'm here at the internet cafe while the other three are off shopping!

Today the objective is to post as many photos as I can in one hour....so, here we go...

The infamous concrete beds...this is a shot of Kristin crashed on the concrete bunks (I'm also sleeping on the bunks).

Here's a photo of our ferry from Batangas to Mindoro...

And here are a couple of inside views on the ride over:

Our jeepneys at the port in Puerto Galera that were waiting to take us to Valley of Peace:

The walk from Valley of Peace to Puerto Galera:

This is the dining hall...our major project. This was taken on our demo day....that's Kim and Nancy doing their thing...

Some proof that I am actually doing some physical work here!

Here's a picture of Jomer (our host at Valley of Peace) and Po Poy (our local construction expert). These guys have been indispensible to us!

Some of the lush, local plant life:

But of course, we can't work 24/7. And our ISACC guide, Jay, is a remarkably talented guy. Who'd have ever suspested that he'd also know reflexology. He is really a remarkable guy and we are blessed to have him with us.

Sunday we had some R&R at one of the local beaches:

And last, but most definitely not least, the most photographed child in the Philippines!! JP!! And that's Zsa Zsa with him. She's ISACC's architect on this project. An amazing woman of God...she's donating her time on this project.

Notes from the team to family and friends:

Marilyn wants to thank everyone and especially her prayer partner for their prayers during her struggle with this infection. She is doing SO MUCH better!!! God is so good!

Also, here's a note from Marilyn to her coworkers at GSK...

"It was so nice to hear from you all. I am feeling much better today (had some kind of nasty bug for several days). This trip is an awesome experience. Thank you for your prayers and don't work too hard! :)

Warm regards,

Marilyn"

And here are a few notes from Nancy S. to her family and friends:

"To Chris, Jeff and Mom,

We have an appointment on Wednesday. Hope all is well.

Love,

Nancy and Marilyn"

"To Patty and Mary Beth,

Love and miss you both. Thanks for your prayers.

Love,

Nancy and Marilyn"

"To Worthington, Konzman, and Sandy/Bob families,

We love and miss you!

Love,

Mom and Aunt Mar"

And from me to you all...hope you're having as much fun back in the States as we are here!! I'll be posting again soon!

Love you!

Puerto Galera - Valley of Peace

Wow, the world is an incredible place these days. What a great time to be alive. Here I sit in this teeny, weeny little 3rd world village at an internet cafe...imagine. And there are probably a half dozen of these cafes in this town! The village (Puerto Galera) is about a 20 minute walk from the Valley of Peace, where we are staying so I should not have much trouble getting back for at least one more posting before we head back to Manila next week. It is now 8:45 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 6.

I know how much you guys love the pictures and I LOVE posting them, but I cannot figure out how to download them at the moment. I've tried repeatedly to post them, but can't. I think today you'll have to endure reading all my words to find out what's going on.

We arrived on Mindoro (and Puerto Galera) without incident. It was a magnificent day to travel. It was sunny, cool (for here). We ended up traveling in rented vans to Batangas for the ferry ride to Mindoro because of our luggage (it would have been too much trouble to try to take a bus). I even got to get a Starbucks fix on the way...sweet!! The ferry ride was awesome. It was about a 45 minute trip. The water was calm...but me, Marilyn, Nancy and Kathy did manage to get soaked by the ocean spray coming into the ferry!

Once arriving in Mindoro we took 2 jeepneys to the Valley of Peace. The facility is in an amazing setting...truly tropical. Beauty that is hard to describe if you can't see it for yourself. Even the incredile poverty around here takes on a different feel in these spectacular surroundings.

And since we are in the tropics, all the insect life takes on new proportions if you catch my drift. So far we've seen a few spiders that were...no exageration...about 4-5 inches in diameter (including the legs). We've also seen a lizard that was about 5-6 inches long (body only). And then there was the HUGE cockroach...I'm not even going there. And there are any number of adorable little geckos, but we love them because they eat the mosquitos.

Anyway, the facilities at the Valley of Peace need a ton of work. We spent the afternoon of our first day here prepping playground equipment to be repainted. Yesterday Kim, Marilyn, Nancy, me and Chuck spent the morning with several of the ISACC folks (Po Poy, Jun, Jomer, Joel, Jay) deconstructing two rooms in the dining hall. It was truly amazing how quickly we were able to get that all ripped apart. But we found some unexpected surprises...bad termite damage that we did not expect in areas we did not expect...like floor joists. So we've had to order steel joists and hopefully they will get here before we leave, but we have lots of other stuff we can do. Like paint the roof of the dining hall...it's corrugated metal and yesterday afternoon we girls were busy wire brushing it, getting it ready.

The most amazing feat yesterday was accomplished by Matt and Charlie...they had to cut two walkways through concrete walls. What made this so incredible is that they only had hammers to work with...no sledgehammers...only hammers. Theirs was an effort truly blessed by God. You would not believe the work they were able to accomplish. Wish I could post the photos...

Kristin, Marilou and Kathy worked on finishing the playground equipment. They did a great job...even decorating the equipment with hand-drawn monkeys!

We have been so blessed in the evenings by the devotionals led by Jay. You've been such a blessing to us, Jay, in so many ways. We are all so grateful to have gotten to know you.

Today, the "kids"...Matt, Marilou, Kristin and Charlie all went back to Manila to head home. Your prayers for their safe travel will be much appreciated.

Notes from team members to family and friends:
Marilyn wants you all to know that Paul is recovering well from his prostate surgery and that he's back home. The dissection went very well. Thanks so much to all who were praying for him.
All of us want to send a HUGE THANK YOU to our prayer partners...
Ernie and Naomi
Bob and Alice
Mary
Tammy
Jessica, Amanda, Erika
Bet
Your prayerful presence is felt. Thank you so much for faithfully lifting us continually in prayer. I'm not sure who Marilyn's partner is, but please pray especially for her health. She's been struggling with a cold ever since we left the US and is now really being hammered by it.

Notes from me to my friends and family...
waterboy- you should see the water infrastructure here...pipes running all over the surface of the ground...I guess I crews would love those kinds of main breaks!
Linda..you loved Jill's fireplace???? Oh man, you have no idea how much hope that gives me...COLD WEATHER!! I'm dying in this heat (but not whining! LOL)
Chelsie...I miss your dad...

Oh, about those concrete beds...OK, I wasn't entirely forthcoming about them... heee, heee, heee...there are mattresses on them, but believe me...they are still pretty hard. So, to "mom, Jeff & Chrissy", Nancy and Marilyn might in fact appreciate those chiro appointments!

Well, guess I'll sign off now. Please know that your loved ones miss you all and send their love. Hope to be back soon...and posting photos!

Manila - Continued

Got a couple of great photos of the jeepneys for you guys. And for those of you who might not know the history of the jeepneys, they were the result of Jeeps left behind by the Americans. They were modified by the Filipinos as a form of public transportation, with the intent of replacing the kalesa, which are horse drawn carriages. First the photos of the jeepneys...they are fascinating...some are decorated so beautifully. As we learned today, the Filipinos don't like open spaces! And good thing since they are so jammed in around here!

The kalesa are not used that much anymore, except in Chinatown. How funny is that...I guess all cities have their own Chinatown.


This is something you guys won't see in America...


Today we spent the day at ISACC (the Institutue for Asian Church and Culture), our partner on this trip. We learned so much about the Filipino culture. What I found most interesting is that even though the Philippines has the largest number of Christians of any country in Asia, their Christianity is largely a folk religion. Filipinos for the most part were never converted. They instead adapted Christianity to their culture. The saints became substitutes for their anitos or idols they had previously worshipped. Please check the link I've got on this page for more information about ISACC.

We also learned more about what we'll likely be doing in Puerto Galera. But since some of the supplies have not yet made it to the island we are still going to have to play it by ear somewhat. And for those of you who thought we were going to be having it cushy, our beds will be concrete!! Yep, not kidding!! Good for fending off termites, but we'll have to wait and see how it is on human backs!! Can't wait to get pictures of that.

We're also not sure if we'll have internet access on the island or not, so please don't get worried if you don't hear from us for a few days. We will be there through the 12th, so worst case I'll post our update when we get back to Manila.

But before I go, a few personal notes...Marilyn's brother Paul will be having prostate surgery on January 4. Please pray for wisdom for the doctors, for fast recovery for Paul and for peace for Marilyn and her family. Also, Tammy, Nancy wanted me to let you know that she got your note and so loved hearing from you. You are missed. And to all of you who've sent me notes, I can't tell you how much it means to me to hear from you. JP, you take good care.

Thanks to you all for your prayers and as we go forward, please pray for our safety getting to and from Puerto Galera. Please also pray that the Lord prepare the way for us and our potential encounters with the local residents there. Please also pray for good health for the team and that we all remain united in accomplishing the Lord's goals here in the PI.

Much love...Nancy

Tale of Two Cities

What a contrast between Hong Kong and Manila. Hong Kong has about 7 million residents and is amazingly clean for such a large city. It is also very modern and prosperous. Manila seems to be in almost shocking contrast. It has almost 11 million residents, but unlike Hong Kong, most of its residents seem to live in horrible poverty. I think the conditions that we were exposed to today struck all of us.

In a small way, I was reminded of the barrios in San Antonio. Pat, remember those shacks that used to be by VIA? Take those and multiply by 100K for effect. Places that are not houses at all, but simply 4 walls topped by corrugated metal...dirt floors, exposed to the elements.

Today Jay and Charm, our guides from ISACC, took us on a walking tour of Manila. And did we walk...for hours and I'm not exaggerating! First we started by walking through a shopping area....Charm is the person on the right...

We were also taken to see a Catholic church in the market area. Jay had pointed out the contrast between the church and the vendors immediately outside...fortune tellers and sellers of various potions. There are even people who will pray for you...for a fee, of course. Below is a picture that was taken after we'd left the church. And yes, that's me ignoring that young boy who was trying to sell me something. Heartbreaking, the young kids peddling and essentially begging. Marilou is showing us all a flower decoration that she had just purchased.

We also had an education about the history of Manila and walked around the old walled city. Here's the group posing with a guard that we came across (I assume in costume...first row, 2nd from the right).

We'd covered almost all this area on foot, so from the walled city we took a jeepney to our final part of the tour, which included seeing the sun set on Manila Bay. Those are young kids playing in that water...but the water was disgusting, it was filthy...trash all along the shoreline. I don't see how they could play in that water and not get sick. Anyway, you can't see it, but the US Embassy is just to the right in this photo. And the sunset was gorgeous.

Wish I had a picture to post of the jeepneys...maybe we can get one later to post, but that was a very cool experience.

Oh, Bob and Alice, you'll have to have Kim and Scott tell you all about our little adventure at the US Embassy...turns out you are prohibited from taking photos of US establishments! And by the time we figured that out, the guards had forced Kim to delete her photo...I'd have loved to have gotten a photo of that whole exchange with the guards, but well, we'd already pressed our luck!

We ended our long day with dinner at a very nice Filipino restaurant on Manila Bay. Hey, that's the name of the restaurant in Philly where we ate last fall...how cool is that!

At this moment, everyone except for me is in bed. But I know they all want you to know that you are missed and that they send their love to all of you. And I send love to all my friends and family...you are missed.

One final note...IT IS HOT!!!!!!!!!! I mean HOT!!!!!!!!!!! But that's the last time I'm going to whine about it.

Tomorrow is a training day at ISACC. The day will start early so I'll sign off for now. More later...