Somewhere in a corner of the large, sprawling city of Manila, there lives a unique community. It shares some similarities with other communities; there are women selling snacks and fruit on the streets; there are children shrieking with laughter playing tag in the alleys; there are old men lounging in comradely huddles on low chairs. However, these streets are strewn with garbage; these children are running barefoot in muddy roads in a set of the few clothes they own; and the men sit in front of small, crammed and crowded houses made of tin roofs and walls of rusty bedsprings and untrimmed wooden boards.
Welcome to New Smokey Mountain, the site of one of four trash dump communities in Manila. Most families in these communities are scavengers, making their living from items discovered in a nearby dump site.
A sample view of the New Smokey Mountain dump site.
Two children watch as small trash fires burn outside their home.
Nixon and Cara are a couple who have chosen to live their lives loving the people of Smokey Mountain (or rather, obeyed God’s call as He chose them). He a pastor and she his wife, they serve where others have warned that there was no money to be made. Due to the strange life-journey that the Divine Planner often ordains, the headstrong Cara grew up wanting to leave the Philippines and to become wealthy; worked as an entertainer in a club; led many other entertainers to Christ; and eventually returned to the Philippines to marry the man who would make it his life-mission to serve the people of dump communities.
New Smokey Mountain Church.
“I love them,” Cara explains simply. “Other pastors tell us we are poor. But every day, the ladies I pass call me, ‘Pastora! Pastora!’ They are so excited to see me, like a mother or close friend. These are my riches. Despite what they say, we are actually rich.” She explains how, at first, the ladies had come for the food. Then, when they ran out of food, they still came. “I thought they would not come. But they did, and asked me to teach the Bible. They were hungry for the Word of God."
A group of mothers at Nixon and Cara's church.
At first, Nixon and Cara held feedings and services under tarps and tents for the Smokey Mountain people. After nine years, however, through many prayers, a piece of land was found on which a church could be built. Bit by bit, God provided for all of the building. One friend donated wood for the walls and floor. Another acquaintance noticed they needed fans in the building. A nice CR (Comfort Room, a.k.a. bathroom) was installed, and many Saturdays, children can be found outside asking Pastora, not to play inside the church, but to use the nice bathroom in giggly groups of four at a time!
Peace!
In the programs she plans for the kids, Cara encourages them to serve others first. “When we pass out snacks, the children learn to first pass them out to others. Sometimes their eyes grow wide, and they are thinking, ‘what about me?’ I reassure them, ‘no problem, there’s more’, and they get their share in the end.” While she teaches the children to be content with what they have, she also fiercely encourages them to dream of a life outside the dumps. “I live outside the dumps, to show them that they must also live outside the dumps, especially the Young Warriors (boys, age 11-14). They must study hard, and dream of starting a family outside of here.”
Cara truly lives what she teaches. The house they rent just outside the dump community is a small one, and it doesn’t always have electricity. What they have is given towards the dump community. Even their children must depend on outside sponsors in order to be sent to school. Uncertain as this is, Cara is confident that the Lord will always provide.
Cara concludes by this one statement: “Mansions? Houses? What are they? My riches are right here. I get the privilege to be the hands and feet of Jesus.”
Cara smiles in the supply room of the church.
It was also our privilege to be there at New Smokey Mountain Church for the day, handing out food and clothing along with the CEOs of Trash Mountain Project, a non-profit organization from the US. TMP also sponsored a doctor, who came and saw 70 patients that day and prescribed and provided vitamins, pills, and antibiotics for them. It was amazing to see how much the people were blessed with this simple physical and medical help.
Teens help prepare to serve the food.
We help to hand out clothing to the children.
Dr. Fran sees a mother and her children, and give them the medicine they need.
Seventy patients received medical care that day!
