I would love to say that everything for this trip went smoothly and we went and accomplished our mission and came home, but that would make for a very boring story.
So this is how it went...
it started out very unconventional, just an idea that was taken hold of by a group of young adults who have a heart for missions. It was very exciting just thinking about the possibility of doing this. So, we started planning on ways to raise the money and all of that kind of stuff. At this point nothing could ruin our plans. Little did we know that there was going to be some hoops we were going to have to jump through in order to make it happen. Some of these hoops were too small and left some people behind. Some hoops were very overwhelming, and almost looked like a stop sign. Just the fact that we were on our own, without the help of the church made it that much harder. I had never done anything like this, so each step of the process was like hitting a brick wall. But, unlike the kangaroo in the book Jump, who is secured by a 4ft tall fence and surprisingly will not try to escape because it cannot see where it s jumping, we decided to jump anyway.
By making that decision as a group we were able to go through all the hoops that were put in our way and we were supported by all of our families and friends and our church congregation. We ended up raising more money than we needed to and all I can say is, to those of you who did not believe we would be able to do it, I told you so.
Now I am only saying that because everyone acted as if God was not a part of the process at all. No one had faith that God would provide for us except for us as a group. That made everything very hard to combat against. But, because we had faith, God kept us going and met and exceeded our needs. So these people were not only doubting our capabilities as young adults, but also the strength and power of God.
In spite of that, we had everything planned and ready to go. We had a wonderful worship night to send us on our way and we left on Tuesday July 2nd.
We arrived in Manila The night of July 3rd I believe, and were going on faith that our traveling would go as planned. We had no idea who was picking us up, and we had so much luggage that everyone probably thought we were staying there permanently. We finally saw a guy with a sign that looked like it said Escalon, but it was so small we could hardly see it. Then he waved at us and we figured that he was the only other white guy around so he was probably there to pick us up. Soon to realize we were right, we sighed in relief and were starting our journey in the Philippines.
We stayed that night at a guest house, which was a lot nicer than I was picturing in my head. The weather was humid, but not as hot as we all thought it would be. The next day we spent going around Manila with our driver Ador. Our first stop was a World War II Memorial, and it was such a cool and interesting place to celebrate 4th of July, remembering the lives lost fighting for our freedom and safety. Then we basically spent the rest of the time in Manila at multiple shopping malls. We found the perfect birthday gift for Andy while we there and met a very interesting guy at Starbucks who encouraged us in what we were doing and inspired us to not lose faith.
Next we embarked on our first Philippine bus ride, which was worrisome for me because we didn't really know when to get off and we had no one to guide us when we did get off. The ride was longer than they told us it would be and also freezing! We finally made it to our stop and we were all so tired, but so grateful to be warm again. With all of our luggage we tried to find where to go from the signs that Andy gave us, and luckily a few people helped us and we were able to wait for our boat.
The boat was a whole different experience altogether. We were all deliriously tired and once we started boarding we had the most difficult time trying to get our luggage up and down all of the stairs that were in between the dock and the boat. I really think they had more stairs put in just for us. Luckily for us though the workers were kind enough to help us girls out. The boat was very cramped together with bunk beds and nowhere to put our luggage. So, in order to keep our luggage safe we put it on all of our beds and tried to sleep the night away. It was a rough night because it was so freezing, and all we had were sheets. It was warmer outside than it was inside the boat.
With that ride behind us we gathered all of our luggage and headed to the port to meet Andy. Except....Andy wasn't there.
No worries though, Dan had given us his phone number the night before just in case and thankfully we had it. As soon as he arrived with his friend and fellow missionary Rus, we said our hellos and were on our way to Boracay!
As soon as we got to Boracay we had some awesome pancakes for breakfast made by Liv, another missionary, and then dropped off all of our luggage at our hotel. We then went to the Agape school where Andy teaches and got to watch as the students interacted with each other and the teachers. We went to our first feeding site that day and it was such an amazing first day! We played, laughed, and ran around with all of the kids and got to see something we normally don't get to see everyday. The kids were so inviting to all of us and all they wanted was for us to love them and give them attention. Of course we enjoyed that as well.
Everyday we would start by joining with other teams to do construction at the school, which mostly consisted of making concrete and passing buckets to build a wall. It doesn't seem like much, but it really does help them a lot when we can step in and do some little projects for them. After that we would shower, eat lunch, and then go back to the school to tutor. Tutoring proved to be very challenging and there were a few times where it was really discouraging to some of us because we didn't know how to help them in the way that they needed it. What we learned throughout our time there was that even if they didn't understand what we were trying to teach them, it gave them personal one on one attention that they can't normally get and just our effort and our enthusiasm that we bring with us to tutor can change their attitude or even make learning a little more fun for them. Tutoring was challenging but the most rewarding part of our trip. Then we would go to a feeding site which would be a different one each day. Each feeding site that we went to we would sing some songs with the kids, teach them a bible story, help them with a coloring sheet, and then feed and play with them. The feeding sites were eye opening to all of us, including me, because of how the villages were structured, how the people lived, and how the kids lived. For me, it was eye opening not in the sense that they were living in poverty, because I've seen poverty and people living in those conditions before. What struck me was how, yes, by looking at their outward appearance you could see that they lived in poverty, but if you looked at their hearts there was no sign of poverty at all. You could see love and thankfulness and joy.
I think that every time I go on a mission trip I am able to see more clearly what child-like faith is and realize that as I grow older I grow farther and farther away from that, and instead I need to revert back to that child-like faith. I need to have an open heart and a gracious heart that illuminates for others to see.
During our time in Boracay we were also blessed to be able spend Andy's birthday with him. Being his sister, it probably meant a lot more to me, but I think that we all look up to Andy in different ways and we were able to see what God has done in his life and through his faith. We hung out with all of the missionary friends he has made and had some delicious cake. We then played capture the flag on the beach, which was so much fun, until we realized that someone had stolen our glow stick that we were using as our flag. Oh well, we enjoyed our time hanging out and celebrating with Andy.
Andy was very busy during the week because of all the things he has to do, but despite all of his work he would take us to dinner every night and introduce us to new food and lead us in a bible study afterwords. It was really good for us as a group to be able to have him there as our spiritual leader. For me it was just really exciting and special to see what God has done in Andy's heart. You could just tell from the words that he spoke and the prayers that he said that his relationship with God has grown to incredible depths and his faith is solid and unbreakable. It was a really inspiring thing to see in person as his sister the work that he his doing for these kids and how much they love him and to be able to see God's light shining through him.
Remarkable is a good word.
One thing that I can tell is on Andy's heart is the Ati people, and specifically the people who live on Carabao Island. Andy was the first white person to go over there, with one of the workers, Jerry who lives on that Island. Jerry goes over to the island every Sunday to see his family and so we went along the last Sunday we were there. Jerry showed us around where he lives and took us to see the mayor of the island, where we were treated like royalty, even though we are far from that, and took us to church with him and his family. We were surprised, because we were put on the spot to lead Sunday school for the kids, but it was really fun and a cool way to be embraced into their lives. We sang songs, and played some games, and we even did the hokey pokey. From there we went to the Ati village. Let me tell you that this was the fifth time that they have seen white people and so they are still very shy. When we first got there they were shy like we expected, but it was more than shyness. It was embarrassment of who they are as individuals and as a people. They are a lot darker than most of the people in the Philippines and so they are commonly outcasted and treated as if they are less of a human being. I was really taken aback by this and soon realized how much they need to know about God's love for them. If we didn't know what our purpose was for coming to Boracay, we sure knew now. This opportunity that we were given, to minister to these people could change their lives. Even though we only got to spend part of a day with them I know that Andy, Jerry and his family have in their hearts to continue this ministry opportunity, and I do believe that God light and love is being shown to them and lives will be changed.
I have to say that we spent a lot of time with children and ministering to people, but we also got to enjoy ourselves a bit. We were able to go sailing one day and I have to say it was so much fun!! I can't even describe the experience, you just had to be there. We went to a river and jumped out of a tree. There were three different levels that you could jump from, and Andy did all three, I managed two levels and everyone else stayed at one. It was a lot of fun, especially since it was also pouring down rain at the same time. It actually took away a lot of stress that I was feeling too, and I was so grateful for that.
Oh my gosh, I almost forgot one of my favorite parts! Sports ministry. We were able to play soccer on the beach both Saturdays that we were there and we met some awesome and very athletic boys. Basically we just played and played and played and we got to know the kids and just enjoy interacting with them. The first Saturday Katie was also given the opportunity to give her testimony to all the boys that were with us and it was such a great experience. We can't forget baseball/softball though. With the equipment that we brought with us, we were able share with them Katie's love of softball and a few of them actually played that instead of soccer. Blasphemy, I know. One thing that happened, without it even being planned, was our enjoyment of teaching and playing softball with a few little girls that were playing outside of our hotel room. At first Katie and I were just going to play by ourselves, but we decided to invite them to play with us and it was so much fun, even though they didn't quite understand the base running. The next day we saw them playing with a stick as a bat and some kind of ball. They were influenced by us!! They also came and knocked on our door to see if we could play with them again. That is the type of thing that I love.
Sadly our trip came to an end, ad we left Monday to catch our flight to Manila. Unfortunately, we missed our flight due to airline confusion and we had to buy a new flight for later. So, we just chilled and had McDonald's until our flight. Once we got to Manila, we were unpleasantly surprised that Andy could not wait with us inside the waiting area because he was not a passenger. So we had to say our goodbyes there. Once we got inside we realized that it was super freezing again and there were no seats. So we sat on the floor and had to wait until we could start checking in. Finally we made it through the boarding area, and if you can believe it, was even colder! We tried our best to get some sleep before boarding but it proved to be very difficult. Then finally we got on our plane and headed to Tokyo. Then form Tokyo to Seattle. When we go to Seattle, we were so relieved to finally be back on American soil. We only had a little bit of time before we had to board our next plane and so we rushed to our gate only to find out that it was changed and so we had to run to our gate. When we got there we realized that our flight was delayed. Oh yay, we would have to wait there for another couple of hours. We were so close to home and yet so far away. Finally we boarded and made it home safely.
So yes, our trip was not without snags and hiccups, but we made it through all of it because God was our guide and He was leading us through it all.
If you would like to see more pictures I have them all posted on my facebook. :)
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