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...