To accompany my first podcast episode that goes into more detail about our recent endeavors, I wanted to provide pictures of our surroundings.
A lot has happened in a relatively short amount of time, and sometimes I feel like my words cannot accurately explain the full extent of our activities. (And if I did try explaining everything in words, the blog would be 10 pages long..)
So here are some random visuals to compensate for my lack of words!
Disclaimer to my team: I have not yet mastered the art of capturing the most flattering, spontaneous photos of people. But I still like the photos because they show the moment. For some reason most of the pictures I take of you guys make you look mad/tired/tired haha. Sorry about that!
This is the church / porch area of our first house. The pastor and his wife, our host family, live in this house and run the church right outside. Kids of all ages frequently stroll up and see what’s happening, especially when we are around. But the church does an amazing job of catering to the kids and welcoming them. They have a well established youth ministry of high school kids who also volunteer with the younger children. Here in this photo we had just returned from a trip into town and the kids watched us as we talked.
This is the street where our house is located in Dagupan. Dagupan is a relatively metro area with a lot of smalls streets branching out like this one. People here truly live on very low wages and do not have very much. But they are kind and hospitable and willing to interact with us.
We are followed by kids all the time. They want to be around us and see what we do. They like the attention and crave the love.
Our team’s main ministry in the Philippines is church planting; working with the pastor and the volunteers to help community members make it to church and find an intimate relationship with Jesus. But in our downtime, we interact with a lot of kids. Getting their parents to come to church is a little harder.
Basketball has also been a really fun surprise here in the Philippines. I’ve been able to play a lot — usually as a way to bond with younger members of the church and community. But sometimes I get the chance to play mostly by myself and unwind after a long day of constant interaction — something that my introverted self appreciates very much.
A quick sunrise trip to the beach with the pastor and some friends and family.
We enjoyed breakfast by the sea and fellowship with each other. After having spent only a few days with these people, they were quickly becoming familiar and comfortable to be around.
Our few days in Dagupan was just a waiting period until we moved to our more official location — Calapangan Sur. This northern town is much more rural and tucked away between rice fields and mountains.
We are staying with the Pastor and his wife still, but at his sisters home. This is the view from the bedroom that my teammates and I share.
Our ministry here is still church planting. There is another pastor here that has known our host for a long time, and the two are working together to plant a branch of the church here in this community.
We have started going house to house, praying for people and inviting them to the Sunday services. Most are receptive to the invitation and all of them welcome a prayer and blessing from American missionaries. They pull out chairs and sometimes snacks, as we begin to ask them about their lives and see if they have specific prayer requests. Usually they ask for prayer of good health,, sometimes this leads to us laying hands on someone and praying for healing over an injury or illness.
This is our team with two women who live close to our house. The one in the light blue received salvation and healing that evening. Her kidney stones were removed and she accepted Christ. The older woman is a strong believer in Jesus.
Our team has breakfast (and just about every meal) outside on the house’s large porch/patio area. People who work on the property walk in and out, family and friends hang out and play music, and we enjoy our coffee and rice and eggs while preparing for the day.
Celebrating a baptism in the river. Pastor Ferdi (our host) is the older man on the left in the light blue shirt. The young guy in the back wearing the jersey and straw hat is Pastor Sackz. They are the two men who are establishing the church here.
Another trip to a beach to enjoy some time of rest.
Our drive back from the beach — a bunch of us in the bed of the truck, enjoying the scenery and wind. This is also how we drive to some of our locations, like when we visit schools.
During one trip to an elementary school we walked from classroom to classroom, popping in and saying hello to the kids and their teachers. They all gawked and stared at us and giggled.
During a visit to a high school campus, we played a game of softball against the local team.
I’m reading a book about a guy riding his bike from Oregon to Patagonia. He left his comfortable lifestyle at home in the States to experience more, and his trip brought him to a wide array of crazy experiences. The feelings that he expresses in the book accurately match many feelings I have on my trip. At one point he says, “Days flew by. But I felt like I had been there for months. I was living in a vortex, an autonomous moment.”
This. Is. So. Accurate.
Thank you for your prayers and support. Please listen to my VERY FIRST PODCAST EPISODE. It is called the Created for More podcast and you can listen on Apple’s podcast app or through the SoundCloud link provided in my last post. The first episode is called “When in the Philippines.”
It’s pretty long, and most of my episodes are not going to be this length.. we just had a lot of ground to cover because we discussed our travel days and our first experiences here!
