Just Some Info 'Bout the Blog

So, I just added a new list over on the right hand side of this blog called "Links."

Just as the title suggests, they are links to things that you might find interesting.

The first one is the link to my page on YOUTUBE, where I've uploaded all the ministry videos I've made...you can go there and catch up if you've not seen them yet....(if you scroll down on the youtube page, you'll find videos that I've marked as favorites...some are just cute and others are impacting...and others are YWAM related...I am in the Get Involved video, which is a YWAM promotional video)

The second and third are links to YWAM international and the YWAM Philippines websites. I am a YWAM missionary, and just thought I'd put that up so you can see more of what YWAM is up to in the world...and perhaps get a better understanding of why it's so hard to describe exactly what YWAM is....:)

Scroll down on this page for lots of photos and info about what's been happening in Butuan!!:)

We're getting CLOSER...one more week!!

The sign reads "Padayona ang maga bata"..."Let the children come"....The sign can be seen from the street, welcoming the children to come with the words Jesus spoke. It's something of a reminder to me, that we aren't the ones calling the children, it's Jesus.

The opening of the drop-in center is scheduled for March 1st and there has a lot of work going on the building for us to be ready for the kids. Just in the last three weeks, the bathroom and kitchen have been built...and are still in the process of being finished as I type this.

We are planning to take all of the volunteers on an overnite trip one nite this week for a celebration/thank you/bonding time. We have an incredible group of volunteers that we've been blessed with and I look forward to seeing them participate in this ministry. They've gone through 5 weeks of training in preparation for this and now it's time to put the knowledge into action.

The photo above shows the freshly built bathroom (CR is what they're called here..comfort room). I'll be sharing what it looks like complete too, but here it is in process.:)

The photo above shows the new kitchen....we'll be adding tiles to the cement counter tops...and the floor is being covered in concrete....people who know anything about construction would have been fascinated by this process...I'm excited to see what it will look like when it's finished.:)

Here's one of our handy new bookcases and some new decorations for the windows. There are some people around who have tried to break into the building in the middle of the nite, so we've had to have iron bars built to be put on the windows (obviously this is still in process also)...hopefully as a deterrent to those with thievery on their minds...though I don't know what they would want that we have in the center...unless they really want to finger paint or play with glitter. No, I know! It must be the playdough!!

:)Thanks for your prayers and for you financial support. We wouldn't be able to do what we do here without the support we get from the body of Christ around the world...:) Blessing on your heads!!

Hmmm.

So. It occurred to me the other day as I was pondering what to post on this blog that even common things that happen here could be interesting to the people who read this...

I've posted several photos below to share some common things...things like what I see when I walk to the road to get a tricycle (in New York they would say "hail a cab")...a tricycle...a street scene...

in the above photo, my house is the one with the grey fence...and a coconut tree in front...(if you enlarge the photo by clicking on it, you might be able to see all the papaya in our tree just inside the fence....

here's a couple of the local alarm clocks...oh, I mean roosters...it's very common to find roosters tied to trees by a piece of string or rope...they're kept for "cock fighting"...the *lovely* sport where you strap a small blade to the ankle of two roosters, then throw them into a "cock ring" and let them try and kill each other...people bet on these fights and lose all their money...One more thing to notice, on the left, a fantasmic papaya tree with a lovely papaya almost ready to be picked...

no need to adjust your monitors...the colors on the building above are accurate...these lovely one room apartment were just completed recently and there are large signs advertising them as "Bachelor Pads"...secretly I think it would be really fun to live in the purple one...:)

our road...the tricycle drivers won't come down it anymore...WAY too bumpy...we've almost tipped over a few times...

here's Lota (our college student who lives with us) and I inside the back of the trike...as you can see, they weren't really built with foreigners (me and Teresa) in mind...

The little orange trike...the main transportation here...there's a bench next to the driver and in the back, one seat on either side...powered by a motorcycle...costs 6.5 pesos (15cents) per ride, which takes you anywhere in the city...I've taken a half hour ride to church with seven people in one of these little guys!!...in the Philippines there's a saying- "There's always room for one more!!" :)

And finally, I'll leave you with a look at a smooth, beautiful, uncongested part of Butuan City roads...This is just around the corner from our house...the vehicle on the right is called a multi-cab...it goes for longer distances...it you come visit me, I'll pick you up from the airport in one of them...:)

That's all for now...leave a comment and let me know you're reading this blog...:)

Mobile Crossroads DTS Coming August 2008

I just finished this video for the school coming up this August.

I will be working in Butuan for the first part of the year, and then going up to Baguio City to staff this school. Hopefully this video will give you a better understanding of what the school will be about. If you are interested in being a student, please email me or you can send an email to the address at the end of the video....

Enjoy..

One Child**

I'd like to introduce my new friend, E...I met her a few weeks ago in the Plaza (town square). She was outside of a bank looking through the window and the guard came out to shoo her away, so she wouldn't disturb the customers by begging as they came out the door.

I happened to have a bag of sweet breads in my hands, so I called to her and got her attention. She crossed the street to where I was waiting and thankfully took the pieces of bread I offered. As she ate, I asked her about her life, with the help of my friend Dahlia, who translated.

E is 12 years old and was abandoned on the streets of Butuan, along with her siblings, by her mother when she was only six. Her father had all ready died. After some time, she was "adopted" by an American and his Filipina wife. Apparently she was well taken care of in that home and was happy. However, after the American died, she was thrown out of the house by the wife's mother, because of money issues. So she went back to life on the streets.

On the day I met her she asked me if she could come home with me. I can't explain what went through my mind at that point...but I knew I couldn't say yes. Praise the LORD, I all ready knew what hope I could give her. I told her about Project Destiny Drop-In Center. I told her about what kinds of things we'd do there...that we would feed her there...that she'd be safe there.

Before I left, with the help of Dahlia, I told her that I would look for her when I was in the city, and that she should look for me...that I would love to talk to her more.

The next day Teresa and I were doing errands in that part of the city, and we ate our lunch at Red Apple. (If you ever come to visit, I'll take you there...it's an interesting experience.:)) We had leftovers we were leaving the restaurant with, and Teresa was so excited about what I had told her about E. So we decided to look for her in the Plaza. She wasn't there, unfortunately, but we met some of her other friends...so we gave the chicken and rice (and brownie) to them and asked them to please tell E that Ate Susan would be back tomorrow around lunchtime to see her.

So I bought one loaf of bread, two cans of tuna, some sandwich spread and a can of juice. The next day, I made baggies of diluted juice (they probably don't drink enough water) and a bag of tuna sandwiches.

I looked at the small little pile of food on the table and wondered if it would be enough for the kids that might be there after it got around that an American was coming for lunch. But I just decided to trust that God knew who would be there and how much was needed, and that I was just going to be faithful with my "loaves and fish."

So off I went, alone. (We were having about 12 lunch guests in our house, so Teresa was needed there to serve them.) When I got to the Plaza, I was relieved to see that there weren't 50 kids waiting for me. The number was closer to 15... E was happy to see me, and a little bit shy, while she watched me the food away. I was amazed to see that there were more than enough sandwiches (one kid got 3!) and at the end, there was enough juice for every child there (plus the 2 adults), with one bag leftover.

I didn't preach, I didn't mention church or the Bible. I just simply passed out smiles, kind words and a bit of food. I remembered Jesus words about giving someone a drink of water...that it is like giving Him water. So I thanked Him that I was able to love these kids in His name. I told them about the center...and I hope to see them there one day. Relationship has been established.

I haven't seen E since that day. But I do look for her. I wonder if she's ok. I wonder if she ate today. I wonder if someone is hurting her. (It's well known in Butuan City that if you want sex with a child, you go to the Plaza.)

Please pray for E and her friends. She is one of more than 2,000 street kids in this city alone. Please pray for Butuan City. Please pray for the street kids all over the world today.

**edited to change her name, for her protection.

Fried Chicken with Friends

My friends, who also happen to be Project Destiny volunteers, Joice and Inday, were just here for dinner. We had fried chicken and rice...with a bit of chocolate for dessert, since it IS Valentine's Day... Joice was telling me that she would love to learn how to make a video on the computer, so I offered to show her how I've made the other PD videos. She thought that was a lovely idea, so we sat down together and made this video about the Christmas party we had last month.

Even though it was a month late, we were still in the Christmas season here in the Philippines, which lasts until February first. We invited the street kids who hang out in the bus terminal to come to the center on a Saturday afternoon. About 40 kids came and filled up the downstairs of our building. It was the first time we'd had kids in the center....what an amazing sight to see. We played games, sang songs, the New Caledonians performed some dances, and we ate.

At the end we were able to give each child a Christmas present in the form of a Ziploc bag full of amazing stuff. Each bag had: one washcloth, one pair of socks, one hairbrush (with hair ties for the girls), one toothbrush and toothpaste, a bar of soap and one toy. What treasures!!! The video shows the looks of glee and amazement on the faces of the kids...beautiful. Special thanks to Calvary Chapel Fremont for making the gift giving possible.:)

Hope you enjoy the video...
God bless you!:)

We've Hosted Our First Overseas Team!!

So have you ever hung out with a group of people who speak a completely different language, yet somehow through you common love for Jesus, relationship is formed in a beautiful, only-God-could-have-done-it way?

I live in a place where all around me everyday is a language I don't understand...yet. But somehow it's become a familiar unknown. Last month we hosted a team from New Caledonia, which is a French territory.

For two weeks I kept thinking, "WHY didn't I take FRENCH in high school?!?" The team was made up of 4 YWAM Discipleship Training School students who came to the Philippines for their outreach, and their staff leader, Aza, the translator.

We are so thankful they came. They were able to complete the painting in the drop-in center, help build a parsonage for a local church, participate in an evangelical crusade for children (which resulted in a children's Bible study group being formed), help us with our Christmas party (a month late) and prayer walk through parts of our city.

In the short time they were here, God formed a beautiful relationship between us. They prayed over us and over our volunteers, and as they prayed, they wept. God delivered a message to them about what He's doing here that didn't need to be translated. Through His revelation they understood how to pray, and how to encourage, and how to be a blessing in this place. It's my prayer that they were blessed beyond measure through spending time here in the Philippines, and that one day they will be able to return and see the fruits of their labors here.

Andy and I on the way home from church, in the jeepney.

Valery painting the face of some kids during the crusade.

Aza, their leader and amazing translator.

All of us. originally this was the nice group photo, but with a click of the button, I deleted the nice one. So here's the goofy one. Who ever said missionaries are SERIOUS?!!??!