It was a
Tuesday. A sunny, warm,
and uneventful day in the Philippines.
Mike Schuerman and myself decided to take a 30 minute ride downtown to the Mega Mall. A mall that is 6 floors tall. Each floor would be an equivalent of any “average” American mall. We got to spend an afternoon taking in some more “Westernized Asian Culture”. But far from our mind was the impending culture we would get to see as we left this Mega Metropolis.
Tuesday. A sunny, warm,
and uneventful day in the Philippines.
Mike Schuerman and myself decided to take a 30 minute ride downtown to the Mega Mall. A mall that is 6 floors tall. Each floor would be an equivalent of any “average” American mall. We got to spend an afternoon taking in some more “Westernized Asian Culture”. But far from our mind was the impending culture we would get to see as we left this Mega Metropolis.
Our way back to base was to be via the same route we took to the mall. Down Antipolo (Main Road) and off at Valley Golf (Location of KIM Ministries). But due to RUSH HOUR like traffic our driver started heading off the beaten path and down… really far down, side roads. We were gaining concern as both of us didn’t know where we were actually headed anymore. We asked the young man sitting across from us, ” How much longer until we stop?”, he didn’t understand. So we did our best to interpret in broken English. After a few attempts we are told it would be about another half an hour before we stop. We didn’t have a half an hour. Let alone a half hour in an unknown direction!
We shout up to the driver to let us off. He stops and we are dropped off in the middle of a slum looking road. There are children to the left playing with a kite that appears to be made of twisted metal and aluminum. The street was lined with run down shops, and open markets selling fruit, vegetables and fresh fish. The street was busy as people were out doing their nightly shop. People are staring at us as we walk back towards where we came, looking for a taxi, jeepney (a long Jeep like vehicle, carries many passengers), or trike (a motorcycle with attached side car, much like a tuk tuk) to get us to our destination. After about 10 minutes we find a trike able to take us up to Antipolo, but we are still only about half of the way to our final destination.
A Jeepney. Please Note: Jesus and Snow White on the side.
We start walking down Antipolo towards our goal, looking for anything that will pick us up and take us to Valley Golf. As we attempted to pull over taxis, we were waved on, as no one wanted to pick us up.
Night was on fast approach. We found a gas station about 2 miles up the road where a bunch of trikes were getting ready to head out for business. We talk to one driver who is willing to take us the rest of our journey. Praise God! It was ironic that our saviour trike driver had a sticker of Jesus, the shepard, looking after His sheep.
All in all we got to experience a grand adventure, and were held safe in our Father’s hands. God is good!
