On the other side of the world.
Pacific Ocean.
The Philippines.
Leyte.
Tacloban.
KIM: The Lighthouse.
This is where I am this month. After 5 days of travel, from Honduras to LA to China to the Philippines, we finally arrived at our ministry site. Yes, it really took 5 days, though we did have a long layover in LA which was a nice break and allowed me to stock up on the essentials…like gum! 🙂
This month we are working with Kids International Ministry in Tacloban on the island of Leyte. One of the first things we learned about this place is just over 2 years ago it was ravaged by a super typhoon named Yolanda. This island was hit the worst and if you google Tacloban many of the hits that come up are about this typhoon. So that being said, this is a recovering community. They have rebuilt, but they are not just surviving, they are living.
Ministry:
So we have done a lot of things this month. One of the first things we did however was help plan a kid’s Christmas party for the children of the surrounding community. Thankfully the staff at the lighthouse had a general idea of what was going to happen, so we just had to help with passing out tickets, decorations and sorting through boxes. The party happened 3 days after we landed in Tacloban and let me tell you those three days were filled. A small team from Manila came down and planned all of the games and picked up prizes so we didn’t have to which was such a blessing.
Then it was Saturday.
We started the day off with passing out blankets, mugs and soap to families in the community. Each family received a blanket, mug and 2 travel sized body washes. The people were so thankful. In the afternoon, I helped register over 500 kids for the Christmas party then helped with games and crafts. It was a crazy, exhausting afternoon, but we weren’t done yet. After the game/craft time was over all the kids sat down and we passed out boxed dinners to them as well as a juice pouch. We had just enough dinners for all the kids, which was such a miracle. Then…oh yes there was more…then we got to pass out Christmas Shoeboxes to each child. you know those Operations: Christmas Child shoeboxes you have done? Well I got to help pass them out! It was so cool. Each child got a box and a bag of candy before leaving. It was such a cool experience and I will definitely be doing boxes again when I get home.
So the entire month has not been this crazy, I promise. So Monday and Tuesday, then Thursday through Saturday we do ministry. Since there are 15 of us this month, our team leaders divided us into groups of 5 and we rotate through three different ministry opportunities. So on Monday we might do construction in the morning and have open-ended time in the afternoon (I will touch on this in a minute). Then on Tuesday, we will do a feeding program in the morning and construction in the afternoon…skip Wednesday, then onto Thursday we have open-ended in the morning and the feeding program in the afternoon.
What each of these ministries consist of:
Construction – There is an addition being built on to the current building, so we would help out with whatever needs done. This could mean carrying buckets of dirt from the construction site to an out of the way spot. Moving cinderblocks from one are to another. Carrying cement in buckets from one location to another. Or just doing whatever needs to be done. Sometimes the men would shoo us away saying they didn’t have anything for us to do and then it would become open-ended time.
Open-Ended – During this time we would could do a couple of different things. We were encouraged to do prayer walks, listening prayer for the team or squad, or ask the Lord prayers. During this time we also made Christmas cards for the staff, helped clean and whatever else fell into our laps.
Feeding Program – During this time we would pile into a van with two big totes in the back and we would drive to a school or community. We would then stop, get out and start passing out food to kids. These kids would bring anything from pitchers to tupperware of various sizes to cups or bowls or plastic bags. Sometimes we would stay and play with the kids and other times we would drive further down a road to pass out whatever was left over.
Fun:
Well we have only had one adventure day thus far as they fall on a Wednesday this month, but since we get 4 days off for Christmas, I guess we will have plenty of time to adventure! So, my one adventure day consisted of a relaxing, slow morning until 10 am when Jamie, Dottie, Jay, Amy and I hopped on bikes and rode down the road. There is a white cross on a hill that we were trying to get to. We made it past one slightly busy intersection, but the next one we encountered was a lot more busy so we decided not to risk it and ended up turning back around. On the way back we road to the ocean to take some pictures and just enjoy the sound of water…it was beautiful. We then continued on our way back to the Lighthouse (which is what our ministry spot is called). The rest of the day was spent relaxing and journaling and hanging out with people.
Some other fun things we have done are:
-Cross a suspension bridge that survived the typhoon…although all that was there to walk on was a 2×4…yay! (at least it was over water)
-Visited one of the largest mass graves from Typhoon Yolanda (over 3000 people buried there)
-Visited the memorial for General MacArthur’s return to the Philippines during WW2 (also realizing this island was one of the islands referred to when you learn about island hopping…enter history enthusiast!!! Excitement)
-Went to a movie (In the Heart of the Sea) -It was good
Little Nuggets from the Month:
-Kittens…yes I said kittens. The Lighthouse cat had 5 kittens before we came and they are adorable. Let us just say I have spent an abundant amount of time cuddling, holding and just playing with them. After going 4 months without contact with cats, it has been bliss
-The staff here at the Lighthouse. They are wonderful. Mama J and her daughter Kim cook our meals and they are both so sweet. They always have smiles on their faces and are so willing to answer questions. Honestly – they are amazing.
The other staff: Aira, Aaron, Beryl, Abby and Andy are also awesome. They have been so warm and welcoming. They have answered questions with patience and smiles. They have welcomed us into this ministry and walked alongside of us. They are also pretty amazing.
-All the history here. Really, as a history lover (especially World War 2) I have loved learning and discovering. Beryl has also told me about Japanese bunkers around the area, but I have yet to see any
-Our 4 hour tour (cue the Gilligan Island theme song)…no but really. Aaron, the social worker for the Lighthouse, asked our sub-team (Victoria, Lauren, Jay, Dottie and I) if we wanted to help him deliver a few presents to his clients. We agreed as we had open-ended that morning. We thought we were going to be gone an hour tops maybe two as there were only 7 presents to deliver…ya, nope. An hour later we were at the first stop. A little girl, whose father climbed a coconut tree and chopped down coconuts for us. He then cut them open for us so we could drink the water. It was really cool. They also sent coconuts with us. We then hopped back into the van and took off down the road again. Another hour later we were at our next stop, but unfortunately the child was not home so we left the present with the parents. There was a little store across the street so we used the bathroom and Aaron offered to buy some snacks so we picked out some snacks before hitting the road again. The next stop was a family with multiple kids so we dropped off the rest of the presents and prayed for the family. It was then a short 30 minute drive back to the Lighthouse. I really enjoyed the trip. We drove inland so it was really pretty with mountains and rice fields aplenty. It was just fun to watch the scenery pass by. A good 4 hours.
-The roof of the shipping container and the view it offers. They have 2 shipping containers stacked on top of each other and a ladder up the roof. You can see the ocean towards the east and the mountains to the west. So suffice to say, amazing sunrises and sunsets.
-Aussie basketball players…A basketball team from a church in Australia came and stayed at the same place we were for a week. It was interesting and fun. We learned new worlds, traded expressions and stories.
Suffice to say this month has been wonderful. The people here are generous and always have a ready smile. I have enjoyed the ministry diversity. While the size of the team has been stretching at times, I am learning to enjoy it. I have also been a bit homesick especially with Christmas approaching. Thankfully the ministry site has wifi, so I have been able to text with my family multiple times.
And so Family, Friends and Supporters, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the Philippines. May your Christmas be filled with Joy, Peace and Hope and your New Year filled with Peace, Blessings and Love.
Love you all!
Love, Rebecca
