|
Trip Summary from Team Member Mac:
Since we got back from Manila I have been asked often if we had fun. My response is that fun doesn't describe it. Rewarding, moving, life changing, spiritually enlightening, eye opening, heart rending describes it better
I told the team on a few occasions that I was way out of my comfort zone and I am sure that was true for all of us. Heat, humidity, cold showers, toilets without seats, no toilet paper or paper towels, showers without shower heads or no shower at all, strange foods (I'll let someone else tell you about Balut), strangling traffic, smog and carbon monoxide, language problems, night sounds which disturbed sleep, and most of all the discomfort of seeing incredible poverty with squatters living in conditions which we would find impossible to bear.
Never the less while it was not fun it was GOOD. Philosophers talk about "Being for self and being for others". The Bible is full of lessons about serving others and growing ourselves through experiences. Our trip provided both of these. And we believe we planted many seeds in others and in ourselves.
We worked with 26 kids at the New Faith Family Children's home everyday. From the infant Moses who was found abandoned by the river to Noriel, a gifted but troubled teenager. They all worked their way into our hearts and I am sure we will never get them out nor do we want to. We also worked with squatter kids outside the children's home and at several other locations. They too found a permanent place in our hearts.
Most mornings we worked on a construction project and worked hard in heat and humidity. Mixing cement by hand, pouring footings, laying block, stuccoing, screening sand and hauling heavy bags of sand, rock and cement. The Ministry Center we worked on will have a dentists office, doctors office, apartments for volunteers and a secondary school for orphan and squatter kids who could not otherwise go to school. The project is being done by a young man from Indiana named Dan Bucher who is only 23 years old. After visiting Manila and seeing the needs of children he went home to Indiana and raised $100,000 and came back to do the project.
We also were moved with compassion for the children but also with admiration for those who serve these children every day year after year. Jeff and Colene Long and their family who started and run the home represent many who are giving their lives in service to others and we are in awe of them.
I had the additional privilege of visiting another children's home in Cebu where equally devoted staff have served the children of Cebu for 27 years. God surely is pleased with their devotion and will say a resounding, "well done good and faithful servant", when they go home.
Was the trip rewarding? Absolutely. Would I do it again, even though I had doubts when I left? Absolutely, without a doubt.
|
