Last Call…

From Steve…

This time tomorrow I will be on a flight from Manila to Hong Kong on my way back home. This has been one of the best experiences of my life on so many levels.

• On the outside, I found the landscape, weather, life routine, traffic, random people, all interesting, sometimes beautiful, and all valuable, especially since I have never spent any significant time outside of the U.S.

• Internally, I wrestle with the immediate emotions of wanting to help the hungry, the unclothed, the sick, the unwelcome as Jesus asked us to with the intellectual conditioning of being rooted elsewhere. What is the balance between helping here and being in full-time ministry at home? For the teens, this could eventually be home in their world of ideals and dreams that have time to come true. And I have no doubt, none, that one or more of them will come back here and call it home someday. But my situation is obviously different, so I will pray and listen for what I do from here. I do know I’d like to return.

• On the deepest level, I am changed without chance of parole. The seeds that have been planted in me during my time at Pilsen, or for that matter CCC over the years, received a huge watering during my trip. God’s purpose for us here on earth is to help people believe in Jesus and help them live a better life. As many daily actions as we can accomplish should try to meet these two purposes. I know I will return to the States looking to do more to remove suffering from and add faith to others.

That was the opening monologue. If you have somewhere to be, you might just save the rest for later. Here is the update on the last 3 days:

Saturday morning, yesterday, Billy and I slept in til 10am. The others went off somewhere that I do not remember. We spent all afternoon at FTC with the kids and during that time, a torrential rain storm lasting about 2 hours just pounded the area. Some of us stayed dry watching a Filipino movie on the Spanish acquisition of the islands and the introduction of Catholicism in 1521. It is Philippines Independence Day (from the Spanish) today, the 14th, so all week there have been celebrations. The movie was in Filipino and Spanish. What a mess.

Saturday dinner was pizza at the Bluebox which was celebrating its contributors and investors. Then we all went off to watch the Santo Nino Baranguay team (mostly Frontline players) play another baranguay for the bball championship of baranguays. In a word it was intense. Sto. Nino, once down by 17 in the first half, roared back to win by 3.

Sunday: church at the Blubox where Bobby played drums and Jessica and Michelle sang with the band on the English songs (pix and video on the way on FB). In a basketball 2 on 2 earlier in the week, Bobby and Jake almost beat David and Mike, who are on the Frontline team, but almost doesn’t count in bball. So the almost-winners had to buy the actual winners dinner at Outback. So we all went Sunday late afternoon and had great filet dinners with all the trimmings and drinks for $18 American each on average. Jessica and Michelle split cheese fries (put puzzled look and comment here). Outback was preceded by an afternoon of shopping and browsing in one of the near-Manila malls, quite big and high-end. This was clearly the flip-side of the Filipino economy we were seeing. After Outback, we indulged in the air conditioned theater and saw The Karate Kid. Two thumbs up as a family movie from this critic. Then back to base camp. Thanks to David for driving us all 90 minutes each way.

That brings us up to today, Monday, June 14th. After a blueberry pancake and corned beef hash breakfast at the Pessina’s watching the Celtics beat the Lakers to take a 3 games to 2 lead in the best of 7 match, Jake and Bobby went off to a bball rematch with David and Mike with the girls (Billy has not been feeling well and eventually slept all day today). I went off to sit in on the Frontline Worship Center’s version of the Big Idea meeting with Pastor Jeff and the CPs, Max, Ruel, and Noriel. Also in attendance were Rhoda, McKoy, and Frontline’s first missionary, Fred.

Fred’s life story makes mine seem like Disneyland. Fred does not have the use of his legs, yet he walks around with his hands and arms moving his feet in front of him. You cannot even picture this until you’ve seen him do it. He also uses a wheelchair but Jeff told me that has been a recent development. Fred has spent most of his life like this, preaching the gospel in the Philippines, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Russian Georgia, and Finland, where he now lives.

Anyway, I finished the meeting while Jake and Bobby were losing a best of five in the rematch. The bet was for t-shirts designed by the winners that the losers have to wear. Update on this on the other blogs, I’m sure. I think conventional wisdom is that the shirts will be pink with some embarrassing saying or two. Afternoon saw me at FTC for a few hours for final goodbyes with the kids while the rest of the group went to the San Pablo market. This time at FTC was so memorable. Some of the kids wrote me notes in my journal, we took many pictures, which I’ll try to post on FB, and I got to talk with each of them one-on-one before the truck came back to fetch me. I must admit, I was choked up on a few of the goodbyes.

At 5pm, I was honored to be able to give another small group training session for the Bluebox and Balocbox leaders using the same material I used with the Greenbox last week. There were 24 leaders and apprentices there and I was humbled at the opportunity. It lasted til 6pm.

At 6:30, the American CCC team was recognized at the Frontline Weekly Leadership Community. Each of us had a few minutes to share our reflections of the three weeks preceding. It was an emotional time. During this time of LC there were words by Jeff Pessina and his longtime brother, Fred, and finally a huge feast of spaghetti and meat sauce and dori fish! Yum. The night closed out with some Americano vs. Filipino bball, for which I stayed through the first game. They are playing as I type – I can hear the dribbling now.

Thank you for reading these posts, those who have. I have felt led to share as much as I had time to do to let many know what this ministry is doing here and how much of a worthy cause it is. I hope I will have more time to talk with you in person back home.

Salamat po!

 

Reflections From the Editor’s Desk

From Steve…

• I am no missionology expert by any stretch of the imagination, and never will be, but short-term mission trips do not have to hurt.

• Thank you COMMUNITY Downtown Campus for your flip-flops. After reading the blog posts put up by the students recently, I forgot they were given out cuz I was at another station at Divisoria. They were beautiful and had love written all over them.

• So proud of Michelle.

• For the record, the only reason I can blog more is because I’m too tired to do everything the students do! I need more recovery time. Every member on the team has his gift. Mine is knowing when it’s time to rest (lol).

• The bug reputation out here is overrated. Yeah, you might see some weird beetle, like the one we found on night #1, but for the most part, it’s no big deal. I wish we saw more lizards, tho.

• One of the unexpected gifts I will return with on Thursday is a deeper dependence on the bible. I have been asked to speak to small and large groups while here and I’ve taught some leader classes, and I found inspiration I didn’t realize I could have helping me select verses and parables that were just right for the moment. Go Holy Spirit!

• Happy Birthday, Stephanie, in Boston (It’s still June 11th there). We miss you.

• Another unexpected gift happened last night in a life group with Billy, Jake, and me. We read the parable of the seed sower – hard ground, thorns, fertile ground. We talked about it for about 30 minutes, and then, I felt moved to ask who had not accepted Jesus as Lord and only Savior. There were 10 Filipinos in the group. Four of them raised their hands. After carefully (and excitedly inside) explaining the salvation story, I asked each one if he/she understood and wanted tonight to be the first night of a new life in Jesus. All four raised their hands. I prayed, Aiza translated, and they all prayed along and become new brothers and sisters in Christ. Please pray for Helen, Pez, Jennica, and Jamie.

• Quasi, one of the Filipino leaders of the same group, commented on Pastor Ruel and the Frontline church’s approach after the prayer. He said, all the other church’s missionaries that come through here try to get us to join their church. Not you. You talk about relationship with God. That’s good.

Amen, brother Quasi.

• Can see how easy it is to fall in love with the FTC kids. I wrote 11 good-bye notes yesterday to give to them on Tuesday and I was struck that I knew that many well enough to say something meaningful, specific, and personal on my first trip. In fact, I could have probably scratched out a few more if I jog my memory and might before I leave.

• Spent many hours with Jeff Pessina yesterday, Friday, as we drove into Manila to pick up a color printer and confirm my return ticket. Both objectives were met without problem and the quality time was inspiring to me. The dream here is BIG as Dave and Jon tell us it should be. This is a very worthy cause.

• I relax at night after FB and email and blog with some spy-vs-spy easy reading, The Doomsday Key, by James Rollins. It won’t brush up your Shakespeare, but it will keep you on the edge of your virtual seat while your body and mind drift off to dreamland.

• Teenage dancing is big here. The best boys are better than the best girls in this reporter’s opinion. But I think they have a long way to go to compete with the Chicago break dancers I have seen. Still, it’s great to watch, and they are dancing for God.

• If I hear Justin Beaver one more time I’m going to smash the iPod or phone I hear it on and waste all the good will we may have banked so far.

• Videoke is bigger than sleep here.

• Killer UNO is the Official Game of the 2010 CCCPI Trip.

• Max (Blue), Noriel (Baloc), and Ruel (Green), CPs of the boxes here are as passionate about hpftwbtG as anyone in Chicago. You see the mission on t-shirts and banners and hear it from stage. They are big fans.

• The food here that Winnie Pessina has prepared for us every day has been outstanding. I guess I was envisioning power bars and k-rations every day, but that is far from the situation. Thank you, Ate’ Winnie. The jeans that fit when I left Chicago are now tighter!

• We have had an attache’ or guide or friend-driver with us the whole trip, David Covic. He’s a great guy and has made our trip exciting and fun (read exciting any way you like). But I especially like the way David brings out the I-hate-to-lose-ness in Bobby.

• Finally, having written all that I have about this place, I miss home, Maria, Maureen (especially), and my peeps in Pilsen. What I am experiencing here will undoubtedly affect for the better what I do at my campus. And I think I can still help with what is going on here at the same time, God willing. I just got to figger that out. It may become another Abraham story – obedience does not require understanding.

 

Final Week

As I sit here and write, I am in unbelief as to how quickly time has passed us by. It feels like just yesterday we had arrived in the Philippines and were unpacking our bags. But now we have less than a week left here. The trip has been incredibly moving and eventful to this point for every team member. We cannot wait to share pictures, videos, and stories with all of you. I will attempt to upload some pics to the blog later today.

We have done so much lately. Steve has had some time to blog and has covered most of it, but we will give you some different view points on it through the different people that have experienced the trip.

As for me (Bobby), my love for the Philippines has only grown.

We have done everything from ice skating with FTC to drumming and singing in the Tent Outreach to washing the feet of the poorest of the poor. But I have been here 5 times so I will let the rest of the team explain their feelings to you.

Michelle-
I LOVE THE PHILIPPINES SOOOOOOOOOO MUCH LITERALLY IM NEVER LEAVING NOOOOOOOOOOOOO I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!
anyway, now that that’s out of my system!
I’ve really realllly enjoyed my experience here. This has been my 3rd and longest trip to the PI. I feel incredibly lucky to be able to spend a 3 full weeks here and to have experienced all that i have experienced!
Since we have done so much its almost impossible to describle EVERYTHING in detail, so I will just write about one or two of my most impactful experiences.
1. Divisoria-
Last Saturday, June 5th (I think!) we went to a super poor area in Manila. The city is about 2.5 hours away, but the drive took much longer, closer to 3.5 hours because the truck we were driving in broke down! but after the transportation issues, the day went really smoothly. We got the chance to wash the feet of children, supply them with brand new flip flops (which were donated from a group at CCC) and give them a chance to express their dreams. There were 4 stations at the event that day, at one the kids got beaded bracelets with colors that represented what Jesus did for us. At another the kids were given paper and crayons and drew pictures of their biggest dreams. It was so sad to see that a large majority of the dreams were simply a happy family, a house, clothes and love. How many times a day do we take that for granted? It was heartbreaking to see the condition of these kids. Another station was the foot washing station. There, we had the task of washing the feet of these street children. Some of them have no shoes so their feet were EXTREMELY dirty; it was humbling to see- knowing that at the end of the day we have the luxury of cleaning our feet if we feel like it, and some of these kids hadn’t washed their feet in months or years. The whole day was great, we got to sing songs with the kids and play games with them and just share time and love with them. One of the kids even pulled out a picture of him with Elizabeth from last year when we went! The kids are so sweet, they remember us and are always hugging us and showing love. I love the Divisoria day because it inspires me to make a change to help out the kids who have so much potential! It was a great, emotional day!
2. Baloc- We have had a couple opportunities to visit the dumpsite of San Pablo City, and each time I am amazed and impacted. We always work with Pastor Noriel, the pastor of BalocBox campus; He is super cool and so passionate about people and sharing the gospel. When we went into the dumpsite the first time, we visited families who already attended church and we visited and encouraged them, and prayed for them. The 2nd time was different, we visited families who do not attend the church regularly. We tried to encourage them to attend and we prayed for them. It was heartbreaking to see one family who had two kids, both with the same sickness. We are trying to find a way to get the kids medicine, but it is just so sad to see the condition in which they live. I cannot imagine living there; it really inspires me to want to make a change in the world. It is a good long term goal to try to make businesses to provide jobs for people like the ones living in Baloc. I really love love love visiting baloc because so many of the people still have trust and faith in God even though their circumstances are so bad. And the church staff is really inspiring to me. I wish we could spend more time there!

WISH I COULD WRITE MORE AND STAY HERE FOREVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!! MAHAL NA MAHAL NA MAHAL NA MAHAL NA MAHAL NA MAHAL NA MAHAL KITA PHILIPPINES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jessica-
wowwwwwz i don’t even know where in the world to start!!!
IM STILL DREAMING I LOVE IT HERE SO MUCH! AND IM NEVER LEAVINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG! ( bobby hates when i write that)

well over the past few days we have done so so so so much! God has definitely been working through our hearts and the people around us! We have been so blessed by the encounters we have had with some of the most amazing people! This is the longest trip i have ever taken to the philippines and i can actually say that it feels like home now! it feels like this is where i belong .
Some of the events we have done in the past few days is taking the FTC kids ice skating and out to eat at pizza hut! it was a blast!!! Bobby kept trying to knock me over, but he never succeeded of course! i ice skated with banjo the most, we had so much fun even though it was only some of the kids 2nd times ice skating they still were so good! we also got to go to a service at Baloc, which is in the garbage dump where they started another campus! pastor noriel and his church continues to amaze me! The holy spirit is so alive in Baloc, the people there, you can feel God inside of them! We got to hang out with the youth leaders there and we have become really close with them! Also, we did visitations in Baloc at the houses in the dumpsite, i got to share with a guy who didnt know the Lord yet, him and his family were really hurt by their circumstances and felt really hopeless, i shared my testimony and about how God would die for only them if they were the only people on earth! Gail and Mr. Caballero also shared with some families, it was really powerful! I never stop thinking about those people in Baloc, they deserve so much more than what they are given, and I know it is my job to help them! I can’t wait to start business in college so that with Gods help i can start up some business ideas that will help give those people in baloc an opportunity to live the way they deserve too! We also went to divisoria, which is also one of my favorite parts of the trip! we got to wash feet, which is my all time favorite! we got to help the kids color and they were supposed to color the dream of their hearts. it was so touching because most of them drew houses with a picture of their family in front of it. My heart is so broken by the circumstances of the kids in divisoria. all of them barely had clothes and almost none had shoes, they all had some sort of infection or sores all over them, but they were still the most beautiful kids i have ever met! We got to hand out flip flops that the naperville north highschool campus at CCC made for them! what a blessing! we gave so many kids shoes because the people at CCC put in time to buy and decorate flip flops! I seriously can’t even begin to write about all that has happened, it is so hard to put into words! Through my life i hope that i can continue to use what i have been blessed with to help others! people have so much potential if we all just work together to help each other! klsefjsjfslkfjeoifjsijflskfjlksdjfoiefji so much going on in my brain!! I love the FTC kids, i have grown so close to all of them!! we are like all family here, it is going to rip me apart to leave! I can’t believe that half my heart will be across the entire world here in the philippines! I thank the Lord so much for these opportunities to build relationships and grow with these incredible people! I thank my grandparents, parents and bobby for helping me to be able to go on this trip!!!! I am SOOOO thankful! I miss gail and katelyn so much! The country of the philippines is so beautiful and so are all the people!!!!!!!!!!!!!! plkease let me stay here! <3
LOVE EVERYONE RA RA RA RA
<2 byeeeeeeeee na burning passport na
so much to say yet so little time <3

Jake-
I still can't even believe that I'm here in the Philippines. The trip has gone so much faster than I ever expected and ever wanted. I love it here. It really has been one of the most impacting trip of my life. Although I've only known the FTC kids for two weeks, I feel like I've known them forever. I've come to know most of them very well and they're all awesome! I loved going to the pool and ice skating with them. You could see in their expressions how much they enjoyed those little trips to places we go to all the time and don't even think about it. I don't want to leave and it's gonna be sooo hard to say goodbye to all of them. The places we've gone and the things we've seen has really showed me how good we have it. I think going to the dump site has showed me that the most. They literally scavenge for their food and clothes in the piles of garbage that arrive there everyday. I couldn't even imagine having to live like that. Going to Divisoria was one of my favorite experiences as well. It was amazing to see how much the kids loved seeing us even though we didn't even know them. Many of them even tried to make hand shakes in the first 10 seconds I met them. I think giving out the flip flops was the most impactful part of the event. We had to have the near by police help keep the lines from getting too out of hand and eventually we had to stop because kids were getting pushed down by adults so it was too dangerous. It was amazing to see how desperate the people were just to get a simple pair of flip flops. In the states, that would have been like nothing and not many people would have cared at all. But here, it was as if we were handing out $1000.
I'm sooooo thankful for being able to go on this trip. It truly has been one of the best experiences of my life and I don't want to leave.

 

Hunting for Bars

From Steve…

It’s Wednesday night and the day is almost done here at base camp at Frontline. Getting an internet signal is difficult so took off about 15 minutes ago in search of a signal better than one bar. The closer you get to the Pessina house, where the router is, the better the signal obviously. So I went out hunting for bars. I was trying not impose on their house, but I was sitting on their bench outside of the house when Jonathan, eldest son(?), came home, saw me there and invited me in. So, I am taking advantage of the hospitality of the Pessina’s, who keep their family room screen door open and the light on well into the evening. They have said many times to us that we are welcome to come and go anytime. So, I now have 5 bars on my wifi connection because I am literally 4 feet from the router. Bethany Pessina, youngest daughter, is fighting with Skype, Joel, youngest son, is watching a cable special on killer carp, and I’m enjoying this bit of home away from home.

The rest of my group is doing something, maybe playing UNO again. I don’t know.

The last we met, Jake was a Brontosaurus, Billy was a T-Rex, and they were terrorizing little kids. Good work if you can get it. Last night we went to one of the many “Crusades” Frontline runs here. The week-long event’s main purpose is to preach the message of salvation in neighborhoods around the area but it is wrapped in an awesome, entertaining tortilla that brings the hungry and thirsty in from the nearby neighborhoods. This particular night, Rhoda Lynn Pessina, eldest daughter and impressive vocalist, started off with the popular Miley Cyrus song, “The Climb.” She sang another popular song, judging from the singalong-ers in the audience (under a big-top-like huge tent) and then some old man from Chicago was invited to come up and give his testimony. Someone translated into Tagalog while this guy talked in English. I heard from Michelle that it wasn’t bad, so I got that going for me.

Throughout the night, there was alternating music and youth break dancing, both very well done. Billy was photog with Katelyn’s camera, so FB will have all the good shots of the event. Eventually Angelo, from FTC, and Noriel, the campus pastor from the Balocbox gave the message and the altar call. Several dozen people answered the call and all of the American mission team came up and helped pray with for the people. It was a moving event.

Back at the ranch, UNO! Michelle was having a life-record great game and Bobby was, well, not living up to his expectations of crushing David from FTC. I called it quits at 10:30pm, in 2nd place behind Billy. And that was my Wednesday.

Today began early, as Green Box Pastor Ruel picked us all up at 7:30am for a morning of what he calls visitations – casual, walk-about dropping in to homes of people in his church. It promised to be another hot one here, 85-90F with mid-80’s humidity. We drove to a Baranguay named Santissimo, where huge rice paddies stretched out before us. We walked through the rice fields along paths that had been built through the middle of the paddies to keep our feet out of the water and mud rice likes to grow in. We reached the homes and split up into groups. Jessica and I went with Pastor Ruel. We visited several families, asked how they are doing and prayed for them. Interestingly, their homes were very well-kept and nicely decorated (for them). They were small but afforded the owners and renters protection from the elements and a place to gather, eat and sleep. What was immediately evident was that Ruel has tight relationships with these people, almost all of whom are either in a life-group or come to Sunday service at the box. One of our stops was in the home of a mon and dad whose 19-year old daughter had recently left and was living with a guy. The mom was struggling to accept and forgive. Jessica prayed for this family.

My last stop was alone with Ruel to visit Eileen, a single mom who was suffering from serious depression because her husband had left her with two 1-year old twins for another woman. She had just been released from the hospital the previous day after a 2-day stay for a suicide attempt. The husband was a drug user and gambler and is providing no money at all for her or the kids. She saw Ruel in the doorway and immediately went to him and cried on his shoulder as he comforted her. We then sat with her and talked. This week, she fed the twins only water and sugar for their meals. She has her mother in the neighborhood to help out but she is not in a position to do anything significant. After some discussion, we determined that Eileen needs P3000 per month ($65) to support herself and her two twin babies (see my FB profile pic), Joseph and Jillian. I don’t know her long-term plan, but we left there knowing she had the next month’s food, rent, water, soap, etc. covered, if you know what I mean. We prayed for her, met up with the rest of our group and headed back to base camp. The walk from the car to the neighborhoods across the treeless rice fields was about 20 minutes each way; good tanning opportunity! Yikes.

Lunch and rest for me til 2pm, when Pastor Ruel came back to bring me to a life group (community small group) at the mall in downtown San Pablo City. You talk about nuts?! Between the vegetable, fruit, and (many) fish open air markets and the cheap store front vendors like you see on the streets of any city, except the merchandise is really bad, 2-way traffic barely had a lane and a half to negotiate. Trikes, cars, busses; it was chaos. We parked in a not-so-sweet-smelling underground garage and took the stairs up into the mall. Fox Valley or Oak Brook malls this was not. It was crowded, hot, and there were a million cell phone and electronics stands outside the stores and restaurants that lined the outer wall. The life-group was up on the top floor in an air-conditioned office. All the experiences of getting there were worth it over the next hour fifteen. These people have built real community. I was honored by being asked to lead the group, so we talked about being Salt and Light. By the end of the group, many of the members had tears in their eyes from one of the testimonies or stories they had heard. I wish I could go into more detail. It was a great experience.

While I was in the life-group, the rest of our CCC group visited the hospital again. Look for their posts and pics for details.

I stayed with Ruel all afternoon, talked small groups, dinner-ed at his house and then met with 18 of his small group leaders and apprentices, where I taught a CCC Small Group Leader 101 class. The people here are so hungry for knowledge and improvement. They were a great group and we had a delicious rice (surprise!) dish after the training session. Most of the people in the group spoke some English so I made some cool new friends. Thank you to Nancy for letting us use her home and to Richelle, JC, and Rudolf for making me feel comfortable. You guys are great.

I connected back up with our group at tonight’s Crusade event. Same format, but with a twist. In the band were some Americanos!!!! Bobby on drums, Jessica and Michelle on vocals. I missed their first set, which included “Jesus Take the Wheel,” but I caught their second set at the close, two worship songs. We prayed for the people accepting Jesus up in front of the stage. Then all climbed in the Frontline bus and headed back to the ranch.

So here we are. Bethany is still fighting with Skype, although I can tell from her expression she’s having some success. I am going to say good night and thank you all for reading and commenting. I feels good to stay connected.

 

“JAKE IS A BRONTOSAURUS…”

From Steve …

Right now (Tuesday, June 8, 4PM), Bobby and Michelle are playing basketball with Rico, Jake and Billy and Frontline twin kids, CJ and BJ, are uploading photo’s from Katelyn’s camera, Jessica is not within my range of vision, maybe in her room. We are on an open spot in the schedule til 5PM. Week 3 has officially begun for us.

Yesterday we took the FTC kids ice-skating. It was so fun. They haven’t been ice-skating since this group took them last year. We rented the whole rink for an hour at P600 ($35) for all 30+ skaters. The pictures for this event should be up on FB today. Billy is doing that now. After skating, we took everyone to Pizza Hut and then back to San Pablo. The ride was 90 minutes each way. The kids had the no-A/C bus and gratefully, the visitors had the one with air.

Even tho we had the A/C the ride was still depleting for this reporter, as is the trip as it gets on in days. I must be honest; not in enthusiasm or in expectancy or joy when I am with the kids or talking to the Pastors of the various boxes, but physically. I am convinced this is a young-man’s game, as they say, or at least a game for which one needs to train. Not that I don’t have the heart for it or willingness, but the students in our group have so much more energy and patience with the kids’ noise and need for attention. I feel like I have to develop that, which may just be adjusting my compassion and commitment meter. I’m also guessing the more you know the people and kids, the more you feel like they are family, and that just takes time and frequency. Here’s where Jake gets big kudos because he has connected with the kids in a real natural way and this is his first trip. Like right now, 3:34PM, Bobby and Jake are in the room wrestling with 3 six and seven year olds (Rico, CJ and BJ). They and Billy did the same thing last night after playing full-court 5-5 basketball with the Frontline team! They wore out the kids last night, who eventually fell asleep in their room. It’s an awesome relationship to observe, our sons and daughters with all these kids who at one time were unloved and alone before FTC gave them a home. How much more in tune with God and His will they are than we were, parents, growing up. How proud of them we should be.

Gail and Katelyn left at 2AM for the airport and their return trip home together. We haven’t heard anything by now about their 5:30am flight so we are assuming all went well. This morning we went to the San Pablo City jail for the second time. The girls went to the women’s dorm and the boys, we sat and talked with the men leaders, heard a few testimonies from the men plus a testimony from Elmer Pessina, the adopted young-teen son of the Lead Pastor of Frontline and His wife, Jeff and Rowena (Winnie) Pessina. Elmer was invited in off the streets a few years ago and gave an awesome testimony about how God is good and has given him a chance at a healthy life. Here’s this 12-13 year old kid giving a strong testimony (his first time ever) to a group of 8 or 9 adult prison inmates, and Elmer is doing the encouraging to keep their faith in the Lord! Pretty amazing stuff.

We didn’t stay inside as long this week, but there was a group of “quarantined” sick inmates with mouth masks sitting on the floor of the cellblock, not in any cell. We were told that these prisoners were sick and needed to stay out in the hall on the floor until they got better. There was no sick-bay or wing for them to have a bed and they had to come out of their cells where at least they shared a twin-mattress with someone. Bobby and I prayed over them. Then each of us in the men’s group, Jake, Billy, Bobby, and I split up and each took a cell or two of men to pray for. It was so stinking hot in that prison today. It was a high of 90-95F outside most of the day (right now it’s cooler as t-storms are coming in).

We hit the 7-11 after the prison because we are out of bottled water at base camp. A new supply is due today, but we haven’t seen it yet. This afternoon has been lazy. Lunch, some furious UNO (with new twists and turns in the rules which made it fun for some, not for others). Billy just left with Joel, one of the Pessina’s sons to go shoot some soft-pellet guns at immobile objects (hopefully).

Gail and Katelyn’s names have come up half a dozen times already. It’s like we have a gap that’s unfilled after spending two weeks every day with them. Miss them.

More to come. Thanks for reading.

P.S. BJ just ran up to me wide-eyed and exasperated, whispered, “Jake is a brontosaurus!”

 

Dateline: Baranguay Santo Nino (jurisdiction or neighborhood within San Pablo City), PI; Day 13 Sunday, June 6, 2010, 11:55PM.

We have a lot of catching up to do – Friday, Saturday, and Saturday.

First of all, a shout out to Elizabeth for agreeing to be our “Tagger” on FB. Katelyn told us this morning that she’d agreed to do that from the States. Such a help. It’s hard for some of us to display pictures, let alone tag them all, from the web because of bandwidth. Tagging was taking Kate forever, but it was very Kool she was doing it for us.

Friday, June 6th, we started out the day slapping wood stain and preservative on about 100 of 250+ palm-wood boards that will be used to build two new FTC dorms. The girls’ will be the first one to be built. The cinder block is up, cement room foundations are poured, some of the plumbing is in. You can really see what it’s going to look like. Unlike the current FTC property, 10 minutes away, this land the dorms are on is the main Frontline campus where we are staying and where the Pessina’s and other staff live. The staining was very messy business and we all needed a serious hosing and scraping down afterward. But our voluntary labor saved many pisos in the budget AND there was a TV plugged in which actually received a “clear” signal of the Celtics/Lakers game 1. Fun for all. I will not get into NBA team rivalries here on this blog. But “L” begins the words “Lakers” and “Losers” in a 7-game series.

After scraping off the stain and resin (with a sharp object in some cases), we hung out at FTC with the kids all day, watched some really bad Filipino TV shows, watching the light and heavy intermittent rain, and Katelyn, Jake, and Bobby playing volleyball in it, played some dry volleyball in which the Americanos beat the Filipinos, and strengthened the bond between visitor and child by just chilling. Men’s basketball game afterward (another blowout win), and I can’t remember anything else about Friday, except…

…Saturday, June 7th, actually started the night before when Mike Erickson visited us at 10pm Friday to brief us on our next day’s expectations. His last words to us that night, “Alright! Get some rest and be ready to roll at 3:45.” As in A.M! It proved to be a night during which we would have to sleep fast to get ready for our trip into the Manila neighborhood of Divisorio.

The only way to describe the scene in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Manila is something out of a movie or relief fund organization – kids, adults, babies, mostly under-clothed, occasionally not clothed (babies), caked dirt on their skin, many with skin sores and rashes, all with rotted or missing teeth. These are the street people. They live from scrap to scrap. As a team of missionaries, we were led by Frontline brother Jeff Rice, who has been building relationships and helping families in this neighborhood for 5 years. In an alley between two apartment buildings, in a very commercial and traffic-jammed part of the city, the team put up a big blue and white striped tent, a set of speakers, some tables and other stuff. As soon as we showed up, the buzz began and kids and homeless moms and dads came out of nowhere to see us. The younger kids immediately attached to the teens and Gail. Several remembered Bobby, Jessica, Michelle, Katelyn, and Billy and the reunion was on. Honestly, it took me some time get my emotional balance. I had to pray about my role there, asking to be led by events and the other members of the team. Eventually, I just started talking to the adults. Some knew a little English, some we just smiled and shook hands. One father with his family sat on the curb in the alley. While the kids were singing hymns with Pastor Noriel, I sat on the curb and asked the father where they lived. He knew some English and he said here, meaning the alley and with his hand indicated that they move around. Next to him was his wife with a baby who had the results of a major head cold working on his upper lip. Runny noses were a pretty common site.

Soon after the singing, we opened up the three activity stations and the (un)controlled chaos was underway – (1) bracelets telling the salvation story in color beads were given out, (2) a coloring table with white paper and crayons where the kids were supposed to draw a meaningful bible-story picture (many just grabbed the paper and some crayons and ran to other parts of the alley), and (3) a foot-washing station where we literally lined up the kids (and some adults) on a long bench in front of six basins each manned with Americans and older FTC kids as foot washers. I spent most of my joyful but back, knee, and butt crunching morning at the washing station. Each washer was armed with soap, water, towel, nail brush, and nail clipper. They all were as worn out and tired as the washers were by the time we had collectively washed maybe 150 pairs of feet. I can only leave it to your own imagination to picture how sad this scene was. But the many bright sides involved the way we were able to witness to the (captive audience) kids and their parent(s) sometimes about how fortunate they were to have ten toes or two feet or be able to walk and how God has blessed them with these gifts even though they might not have some other things. Some of the adults came around asking about us – Were we missionaries? What religion? Are we the same as Mormons, who have been through there? Why are we doing this? It was a no-other-way-I-would-ever-have-this opportunity to tell strangers, very underprivileged and probably resentful strangers, about why God loves them and how He has blessed them with something if not everything and we believe that strongly enough to come here and do this and tell you about it. I do not know how many seeds were planted or nurtured today, but I do know what I saw and what I will never forget – the nodding of adult heads in recognition and understanding to the message of how Jesus washed his apostles’ feet because He loved them the way we were trying to love them and their kids. There were also many kids’ smiles throughout the morning and many, many photos taken. As usual, thank you, Katelyn, for your camera and uploading them to FB.
There is so much more to tell, but it will have to be without details or this blog will become wearisome if it’s not already:
• The truck we were in broke down on the way to Diversorio (brakes) and on the way home (fan belt); same said truck had no air conditioning and we had 20 adults, teens, kids in it. The trip time from St. Nino to Diversorio was 4½ hours. We left Diversorio at 12:30, stopped at McDonald’s for lunch, and rode traffic all the way back south to St. Nino, when we arrived at about 4:45. Outside temperature at game time? F90+
• We stopped at the Frontline Women’s Volleyball Game. Sadly, we lost in the finals of this tournament, but the girls played hard and well. They’re still really good.
• Great chicken and rice dinner!
• Basketball, serious basketball from what I hear. I was horizontal.
• Smores with peanut butter at the Pessina’s house. Winnie was so gracious to us. They are a most hospitable and generous family. They make their family room and kitchen/dining area (and wifi) available to us whenever we want (like right now). I hit the rack early, but I hear there was a wicked UNO game after I left.

Sunday, June 06, 2010:
• 9:00 AM Blubox Sunday service. On the first of the month, each Frontline service has worship GBTG, communion, message part 1, break out into small groups, and message part 2.
• 12:30PM Back to base camp for lunch (Dori fish (sorry Nemo fans), and yummy rice and veggies).
• 1:00PM More horizontal for me. I cannot keep up the pace here. As much as I try, this is a schedule built for marathoners and I’m a sprinter with bad knees.
• 3:00PM Worship service at the Balocbox, same format as the Blubox, but Pastor Noriel surprised me and Bobby by asking us to say a few words. I spoke on Matt 25: 31-34 about the sheep and the goats and how when you feed, clothe, and welcome the poor and needy, you do this to and for Jesus. Then Bobby encouraged the attenders to know they have the support of many unseen people who believe in what they are doing to reach the needy and spiritually lost at Baloc. In spite of not preparing, the words seem to come from the heart pretty easily and then God takes you the rest of the way as you’re talking. Bobby and I made a nice team again as we addressed the group, clearly identifying with the different age groups and Bobby getting all the girls’ attention!
• 5:30PM Back to base camp for me and Gail. The rest of the team was dropped off in very nearby Sto. Nino to participate in a last-minute-ly organized street-feeding event with Mike and Andrea Erickson from FTC.
• 6:00PM Gail and I spent a very nice evening with Pastor Ruel and his family, which include a great carbonara pasta dinner, a trip down memory lane courtesy of their wedding album, and much talk between Ruel and me about life-groups and leadership development. Boring to some, exciting to us.

That gets us current through mine eyes. I know some of you have been here many more times than I and some of my details are boring or common knowledge, or even flat-out wrong, but I have extended the invitation to many of my friends to read our blog and this may be their first time experiencing the commitment our families are making to this mission. Hence the mental picture-painting. Thanks for the grace on this one. G’night.

 

Baloc, Part 2; VBall, the Finals: Street Kids, the Beginning

Dateline: San Pablo City, Philippines, Day 9, June 6, 2010, 11:30PM

Baloc is heartbreaking. We went back after lunch and walked through the neighborhood of 50 homes with Pastor Noriel. We all stuck together from home to home. The first visit was awkward for me because here was a group of 6 white people following the local pastor around trying to make conversation. The conditions are unthinkable. Some of these families we spoke with have lived there 5, 10, and even 20 years! They don’t know what hope for a better deal is. CCC recently built 5 new housing units, still at the dumpsite, and moved 5 families into them. Most of the Baloc children attend the FCA, Frontline Children’s Academy, which also has a nice new green building just past the property line but walking distance for everyone. Most parents do not have jobs, health or dental care of any kind and you can see the effects of it.

They scavenge through what is dropped off by other people. Occasionally we saw beautiful flower gardens which tells me there’s a spark of hope in those homes, made of gathered parts. As usual, Jessica, Michelle, and Katelyn had a parade of kids following them, attached, getting pictures taken as we all walked out for the night.

The impact of it all on me is still undecided. The obvious emotion is compassion and generosity, but personally, I have been trying to find parallels to Pilsen and Chicago in my feelings and in what I see is working here. So, I am being reshaped to help more; but where?

You thought that was it for today, eh? NOT SO FAST!!!  After wolfing down some dinner of chicken and taters and rice, we walked to the volley ball court to watch the Frontline women’s team take on St. Somebody. Cutting to the chase, we lost the best of seven, but darn, are those PFM girls good at v-ball!!!! It was the league finals. We’ll get ‘em next year.

Now? Now, are we done? No way. After the game, we went with FTC Directors, Mike and Andrea Erickson and did a street feeding for the kids who wander around 24/7 in the city. Words won’t do this event justice, so you’ll have to check out some pix and talk to your designated Filipino traveler when they get home. It was great. Kudos to Gail for the idea of glow-sticks as a prize if they had memorized their bible verse. Two songs, awesome, relatable testimony by Jake, testimony by a Filipino woman, then small groups. Alan and I drew the toughest card in the bunch, 15-20 year old boys. No interest in getting pinned down by us asking stupid God questions. They were polite and even eased up a bit when I asked them through Alan, “Is this uncomfortable for you?” Big smiles of recognition. So we backed off, prayed, gave them each a glow stick and took a few pictures with Katelyn’s camera; check FB.

In closing, tonite was the invasion of the flying ants. Film at eleven…

 

Baloc Part 1

From Steve…

Dateline: San Pablo City, Philippines, Day 9, June 6, 2010, 1:30PM

We just got back from the Baloc Box, where we had another delicious home-cooked meal of beef, potatoes and carrots over rice. Sound simple? But I assure you, with the spices and flavorings it a favorite with our group. We had built up an appetite hiking around the dumpsite grounds. The irony of this place is unmistakable. The first part of our walk took us through beautiful green and flowering jungle; coconut trees as high as a 5-story building, streams, and waterfalls. The local teens who were our guides seemed to be experienced in climbing the rocks as the falling water came down on them into a small pool below. The total height of the waterfall was maybe 50’. I’m not great at eyeballing these things. I’m sure it looked like more from Jake’s perspective, as he actually rock-climbed up the waterfall! And as bonus, he was refreshed from the attempt after we had walked for 20 minutes uphill in the 90+ degree heat to get there. Before we worked our way to, what I’ll call the second part of our walk, the dumpsite, the landscape was lush, LOST-like, an occasional cow and calf, and random makeshift homes with, what a surprise, chickens! At the higher elevation in the jungle, we could see the top of the higher mountains in the distance. Clouds were moving in. Then the sky opened up with huge drops and eventually streams of rain. Protecting cell phones and camera we took some gimme shelter and when it let up, we continued.

Eventually we arrived at the dumpsite. Garbage, of course, everywhere and, even though the rain damped down the surroundings, you could still catch a noseful as you entered the gate. A truck tip-station was on the left and on the right was a “field” of trash about the size of six (more?) football fields. We walked around it as the rain returned, making the trash-covered ground below our feet squishy and muddy. It was a better day for shoes than sandals, although we were the ones walking around not the ones having to rake through it and collect the choice items in a sack. There were several groups of people, some with facemasks, none that I could see with gloves, doing that as a new truckload of some kind of sorted refuse had been deposited. At times during our walk around the dumpsite the smell was overpowering, and at others, it was bearable, maybe because of the rain.

We did not have time to spend with many of the people. We will be going back later this afternoon for conversations, small groups, fellowship. Stay tuned.

 

Billy, Blueberry, Bem-Bem, Babies, Blue Box, BBall…

From Steve:

Dateline: San Pablo City, Philippines, Day 8, WED June 2, 2010

Billy MacKenzie arrived safe and sound about 1am this morning. Praise God for that. He had all his luggage and about 2 hours of sleep under his belt during his flight. He’ll sleep good tonight.

The day started off right – blueberry pancakes… as big as your head! I thought with the heat and full schedule I’d lose some winter fur. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! The food is too good here at FTC.

We then all took off to spend the morning with the kids at FTC. No structure, no plan, just spend time. [Sidebar: one of the toughest things about this trip, far from the heat, is being flexible. That’s all I have to say about that. Luckily I have only screwed that up on my first 8 days here. By day 21 I’m sure I will have made some progress.]

We played volleyball and the locals beat the Americanos after we had an 8-0 opening run. So sad. The most fun for me was playing with Bem-Bem’s new toy, a beat up, but still workable, tape measure. She would give me the tape measure then take the end of the tape, walk across the room and let go. Big fun and giggles as she watched it disappear into the case. Don’t know what’s in her 3-year old mind but it was happy.

After FTC, the boys moved into the A/C-capable office dorm rooms. At 50 pisos an hour ($1 American), we can run them whenever we need and it’s not a huge expense, but history tells us that we’ll be out during the days and the nights will be comfortable. But just in case, we have it. The girls were offered the option to move into one of the two office rooms but they have such a great set up in their dorm now, they declined. This puts us much closer to the washrooms and in the same building as the dining area. Posher digs. Nice!

After lunch, we all headed out to the hospital to visit and pray for people. We are definitely in the rainy season here. We all met up at FTC camp and the plan was to take the taxi tricycles that are the prevalent mode of transportation around here. Technically, one motorcycle driver, covered and windshielded, with a sidecar has room for two passengers comfortably in the covered sidecar, which has as windshield. Well, because there are no traffic rules here except for an occasional stop-light, and I mean very occasional, each trike can carry as many bodies as it can fit and it can drive one any part of the road that is open. It’s not uncommon to see two passengers behind the driver, 3-4 in the sidecar built for 2, and 2-3 hanging off the back outside. We had 4 trikes each carrying a full load of hospital-goers. Because of the pouring rain we had 3 in each sidecar and two behind the driver for 5. Still safe. The cost for about a 15 minute ride (no extra charge for the floodwaters that lapped up into the sidecar over our feet) for 5 people was 50 pisos ($1).

In the hospital, I met four families, two who had babies there (Mamau who had stomach problems, and Sereus, who had just been born two days ago) and two who had just had their appendixes out, Rowena and Gelyn. We talked with them through my new friend and interpreter, Alan from FTC, and prayed for them. As we were leaving, Alan told me the father of Sereus, Raymond, and his wife, Josephine, whom we had met when we prayed, had paid 2000 pisos of their medical bill but would not be allowed to leave, continuing to be charged, if he did not finalize the last payment of 600 pisos ($12). He asked if the Americans could help. We can do so much for so little sacrifice in this place. Of course, we did. This is just one small example of what we can do. There are so many other stories I could tell you about the way individuals in our group have been able to bring relief and joy this trip, in pisos and love. To love someone you don’t know – that’s the love of Jesus. And it’s so evident in the veterans of this trip. They have been an inspiration and example for Jake, Gail, and me.

Blue Box… another of the Frontline Worship Centers. We arrived at around 5PM from the hospital, again on trikes (yikes!) and we split up into small groups. I went with the men, Gail, the women, and the students with the students. While in the men’s group, run by Pastor Max, about half-way through group time, came a resounding game of “Big Booty” from the students’ room. I think the version they were using was “Big Mama, Big Daddy” or something like that. But it caught on and we had to drag our kids outta there at the end of group. There might be a FB video up soon on the last round.

After a very quick dinner, we went to cheer on the Santo Nino Baranguay men’s basketball team, who blew out St. Mark’s by almost 20. The lead was up to 30 at one point. They are good.

So, there you have it from my perspective on Day 8. I hope the rest get to blog tomorrow so you can see the view through their planes of the prism.

 

Bees, Bars, and Baloc (in no particular order)

From Steve…
Dateline: Philippines, Tuesday, June 1, 2010, 11:30pm

Well, I know this is going to start to get boring but another astounding day has come and gone here for us here.

We started by visiting the jail, a facility and culture that have seen significant changes for the better since PFM and Jeff Rice began ministry here some years ago. I really did not know what to expect. It’s a smaller place than I expected; not Statesville in Joliet or anything like that. You just turn off the main road in San Pablo, they open the gate and you’re in. No metal detectors, searches, not even a mean stare. I think these visits are so commonplace and PFM has improved the attitudes of the residents/inmates enough that it’s no big deal. The men and women in this facility are serving time from petty theft to mass murder, we were told. Where’s Waldo?

In one of the outside meeting rooms, the “leaders” of the men’s ministry, inmates who have stepped up to be small group leaders and apprentices inside the walls, were having a “Leadership Community” of sorts. Bobby, Jake and I joined them and sat among them, shoulder to shoulder. The girls, Gail, Kate, Jess, and Michelle went to the second floor where the women are housed. I trust they will blog on their experience. Two “coaches” (in our vernacular, I guess), Norjim and Vincentes, led the men’s meeting with worship songs followed by 4 individual testimonies by Alex, Alan, Marjial, and Norjim himself. Each had a story of sin, repentance, redemption, and hope for the day they are released. Then they asked me to give a message of encouragement to these leaders and I talked on the 6 chapters in the book of Ephesians, how they could use this book to teach anyone what it is to be a Christ-follower (in 1, 2, 3), what we believe and why we believe it, and then how to live the life of one (4, 5, 6).

Then we went inside the halls of the cellblock. We sang some worship songs in Tagalog. After the songs, Bobby gave the message, one of hope and forgiveness. It was awesome. The Spirit was in the house and he did a great job! Then brother Jeff Rice wrapped up with some closing comments. All together, we were in the cell block an hour. I got to meet some of the men and shake hands with them and get pictures of them and with them. They wanted me to mail them back copies, so I will. See FB for those and a video of one of the worship songs. I cannot even tell you how many smiles I saw behind those green bars and how many warm handshakes we had between them. Each cell was maybe 30 ft. wide x 40 ft. deep at the most, and there were 20-25 men in each cell. They sleep on mattresses in shifts because there is not enough room; and it is hot!

We then visited FTC to spend the afternoon with the kids. I remembered so many more names today and now their faces are becoming distinguishable and unique after 6 days. I had a great conversation with 22-year old Alan, who is on FTC staff to take care of Lem-Lem, a disabled Filipino child. Alan never finished his 3rd and 4th years of HS, but is trying get into a GED-type course which will allow him to go to trade school or college. His tone had a hint of hopelessness to it. He’s growing up and facing reality without money or skills in a land where substandard living conditions (by US measure) are a net up.

We then went off to cheer on the Frontline women’s volleyball team who swept their opponents, the Unlimited (only in points against haha), 3 games to none. The Frontline team outclassed ‘em. That’s all you can say.

Then, as if we really deserved more good times, we had a wonderful close to our day. Pastor Noriel came to the PFM camp and picked us up in his pimped-out Filipino limo (pix on FB). I mean, this car would fetch nice dollars in Chicago. So, while Gail went off to a tent revival meeting with the Frontline Worship Center, the rest of us went to Baloc for a youth group bonfire at Noriel and Alma’s house, the site of the Balocbox, a new structure where they started holding celebration services in January of this year. It’s a very welcoming but simple open-air concrete and cinderblock building, surrounded by very tall palm and fruit trees; a sea of green for the walls because they are open-air. The box site is about 2 miles from the dumpsite, which we will visit Thursday for life-groups. The attenders were mostly teens and early twenties who were possessed with their cell phones and frankly need a course in etiquette when someone is speaking, but that’s a mission for another group, another day. The worship was led by our very own Michelle, Jessica, and Katelyn with Noriel on guitar. After a few brief impromptu welcome comments by yours truly on behalf of the team, I turned the floor over to Bobby again to work his magic on the hearts of the young men and women there. He spoke about not giving up on God, even when times are tough, and he drove home the point of how proud and supportive everyone in the States is of the Baloc church students and adults in the ministry to help people find their way back to God. Then we combusted into spontaneous Small Groups! I had 5 great kids in my group, Richelle (who already found me on FB before I started blogging, Jason, JM, Renal (youngest at 15 I think), and Stephanie, who was the oldest at 20 and very much aware of her appearance and image. While she was extremely stylish, almost urban, she was still humble and sweet. Our conversation will remain confidential but we talked about teen temptations and forgiveness and the challenge of having a Christian heart in a worldly body.

Then we ate. The bonfire was hot, the hot dogs were mysterious, the juice boxes were refreshing. To wrap up the night, more pictures were taken than at a wedding or prom!!!! Everyone bonded in their groups and American and Filipino alike wanted photos with each other. I would check FB for these, too. There will be many good ones.

Bars, Baloc, and, oh yes, Bees. When Jake and I came back to our posh digs, we found a kind-of-a-bee-looking-thing flying around his room. So we stalked it as it flew furiously in zigzag patterns about the room, evading our swipes of bad-intent. Then, by luck more than skill, I stunned the bugger with my Wisconsin golf hat. Once I had him down on the blanket I mercilessly pounded him with the hat. Finally, it was over. Jake and I examined our kill and realized this was no ordinary yellow jacket or bumble bee. It had a huge point for a nose and it had dug his stinger into Jake’s shirt which just happened to be in the field of play on the bed during the fever pitch of the battle. When I removed the enemy’s corpse, indeed a (relatively) long stinger with white stuff, venom?, honey? Elmer’s glue? was dug into Jake’s armless shirt sleeve. Whew! That was close.

What a great finish to a great day. Man against beast! Victorious in the battle for survival! Whatever… And by the way, this afternoon I looked over the wall – no Ed. Tonight? Very quiet. Taps, please.