February 1st, 2011
Actually got some decent sleep last night: 6 hours, from 8pm to about 2am. Then I woke up and couldn’t sleep, so it made sense to have two cups of coffee at 3am and do my bible and book reading for the day. By the time I was done with that it was 5am: time to cram 15 people with their packs into two vans and start off towards Puerto Galera, our ministry destination.
God and I had a good time during our hour-long van ride. Watching out the window, I saw many people going about their lives, getting their day started befor the day started. A lone jeepney driver: how many days had he been going at it now? A vagrant rumaging through trash: another hard day: would he eat anything at all? A student walking down the sidewalk: how much longer in his tiny room, eating not much more than noodles to save money for school? Does he really believe his life will be much different than the lives of the hordes of people around him? How many of those other people had big dreams and still do, yet are stuck in the mire of a dead-end business barely making the bills? I saw a jeepney full of people, no one saying a word to each other but all having the same goal in mind: to try to make it another day, and to try to make something of themselves. Life is hard; I could see it written on their faces. A couple leaned against each other as the jeepney passed by; love was all they had.
God: All these are my treasured sheep, my precious children.
I suddenly wanted to jump up and encourage them| “You’re all doing so well, God loves each of you so much. He sees your hardships and your hopes. He’s so proud of you. He knows that you’re doing the best you can with what you’ve got. He knows that is seems like there’s no way out. You’re doing all you can yet still can barely make it, but it’s not like that with God. He wants you to have a full life of abundance with him in heaven, and there’s nothing you have to strive for to get it. only believe (anyone can do that) that Jesus christ will bring you to the father and it’s all yours — his free gift to you.”
We arrived at a bus station, and after an hour-long bus ride we arrived at a port. After a 45 minute ferry ride we arrived at Puerta Galera. We hop on another jeepney and ten minutes later we arrive to rice and chicken with green beans and sweet tea. Over lunch we meet Pastor Al, a.k.a “Kuya Al,” meaning “Big Brother Al,” who gives us a rundown of the schedule for the month: Wednesday night youth bible study, and Sunday morning youth service. Morningly devotion, lead by a different person each day. An hour or so of clearing brush each day. Besides that, we have the whole month up to us. More precisely, we get to ask God and see what he would have us do.
During the bus ride I was able to chat with Alex someone-or-other (I’ll get his last name later) who founded Threads For Hope. The long and short of it is that Alex was a dorm parent working for a school for missionary children here in the Philippines. He would often come to Puerta Galera on vacation and in doing so he and his wife ddveloped an amicable acquaintenceship with a girl and her friend, both of whom sold bracelets on the touristy beach. One day her friend wasn’t there; she had been sold into sex slavery by her grandmother because they were too poor to survive on anything else. Broken-hearted, the Lord moved Alex to give the girl $100 USD and told her to make as many bracelets as she could with it. A month or so later she came back with 1200 bracelets. “It was good work for my family for a month, and good money to live on,” she said.
Suddenly Alex had 1200 to get rid of, so he started giving them to his supporters (he was a support-raised missionary, too). Someone remarked about the quality of the bracelets and said he should sell them. He told the story behind the bracelets as he sold them, and he soon had $1000 dollars on hand from earning a dollar a bracelet.
Alex prayed to the Lord what he should do with it, and was sent back to Puerta Galera to give the girl the $1000, and put in the order of however many bracelets that would make. Twelve thousand bracelets later, Alex knew the Lord was starting something. “God, I’ll keep giving the community the money and work for the bracelets, but you have to sell them.” And God sold them. Soon the bracelets were being sold at events, fundraisers, and conventions nationwide. With the ammount of money moving through his bank account it became necessary to start a non-profit organization. Thus, Threads of Hope was born. They now employ more than 500 people, and the side benefits of the business have been unexpected and pleasant: The children don’t have to be exposed to predation by perverted tourists when they go to sell bracelets on the beach. This gives them time to go to school, and their parents have the means to pay for the school. Older people who normally would be limited in their work opportunities can sit at home and be fully supported as they make bracelets. Those widows who would otherwise be struggling without a bread-winning husband are given enough work to support their families.A
nd that’s what’s happening in the Philippine jungles. The fifteen of us are staying in a house with pastor Al’s family, making about 20 people in this house. There are monkeys, and we bathe and wash clothes in a nearby stream, in which my last pair of shoes broke (I officially have no more shoes!). We have electricity though, and a beach not too far away. We’re excited to see what God wants to do through us in the community this month!
On the business side of things… I’m technically not fully funded, I’m remaining on the race by promise to pay any remaining balance by the end of the final month. Right now that balance is about $4,000. Please help me pay it down by donating! Also, for security reasons I’ll be out of contact for the month of March. No news is good news.
