Philippine Mission Trip

ANOTHER WEEKEND!

Don, Jamie Walker and Chris Gerber

April 25-May 14, 2013

Urdaneta, Pangasinan, Philippines

FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2013

9:00 AM

After breakfast Jamie and I headed out with Celine to our last day of VBS at sister Reggie’s house in San Vincente while Chris left with Arnold.  They were going to do a Bible study and then look at some other land options.  I already believe that the Lord will help us work something out as I am already dreaming of how the building will look and dreaming of building a missionaries’ room on the property.

When Jamie and I arrived at sister Reggie’s I did something I have not done in any of my previous 11 trips here…I drove a vehicle!  OK, I just backed up Celine’s truck into an alley from about 5 meters away…but that’s progressJ. We began my class with Shervin Cruz translating for me.  He is a very talented young man with some physical challenges but they never slow him or his sister, Cookie, from their love and work for the Lord.  They are two of my heroes!  He leads a wonderful prayer and we started our discussion of Cornelius and the Philippian jailer.  All 7 ladies brought back the Bibles we had given them and were working hard at keeping up with the scriptures.   At the end of the study 5 of the 7 wanted to be baptized.  As we were preparing to go, there were some non-Bible related problems that put the baptisms off until Sunday.  I will see all the ladies again on Saturday at the Urdaneta chapel (church building) for VBS graduation and I will encourage them again to do it now! This has been a most enjoyable study with these ladies!

Jamie taught 38 and then had the entire group of over 95 for singing at the end of the session.  There were 3 classes and it was extremely well organized and executed.  Jamie was assisted by a sister who was an official with the public school system and Jamie said she was an excellent teacher.

12:00 noon

We went to Magic Mall in Urdaneta and ate lunch at the food court upstairs with Celine, Chris, Dana and Arnold.  Much of the day Arnold and Chris had been working on finding property to consider for buying.  We discussed this and made plans for the afternoon as we received our second rain in two days.  It was a good shower and cooled things down for a bit. 

3:00 PM

We met with another 4P group.  This was the 4^th group Chris or I have spoken to about life improvement.  These are some of the poorest of the poor in Urdaneta.  The city of Urandeta has a poverty level of 70% and many of these we were speaking to subsist on less than P6000 per month for the family.  This is less than US$150!  The government assistance they receive is only about $38/month.  Arnold serves as a mentor to over 200 families within about 1.5 km of the Urdaneta chapel so this is a tremendous opportunity to reach out to families and serve their physical as well as spiritual needs.  To see a difference in governmental philosophies, in the Philippines, these families must attend a one hour per week group counseling session and religious and moral values must be part of the mentor’s agenda with no restrictions. I spoke on setting priorities for your life based on Matthew 6:33 and then invited them to services on Sunday when I will be speaking.  Chris then spoke about the Biggest Problem in the Philippines (and the world)-Sin. There were 29 adults present with 4 of us teaching.

Jamie, Dana, Celine and Jake had a group of 31 children that they had Bible class with and sang then played games with. 

6:00 PM

We attended the birthday party of Cookie Cruz who turned 42 at her home.  This might not be such a big deal, except when she was born her mother was told by the heart doctors she would not live to age 30!  She has lived 12 years beyond the most optimistic prediction and is a very active Bible teacher.  When we sang Happy Birthday to her before the birthday supper, she just sobbed.  She said, “Happy tears”. Her mother spoke very emotionally about her daughter living long enough to accept and serve Jesus Christ. A very touching time. Jamie had found some earrings for her and she was so proud and said she would wear them on SundaysJ I had to leave about 7 PM to return to Lisland for another appointment.

7:00 PM

Chris and I had a chance to meet with a Filipino preacher and his family to discuss some future plans for the Lord’s work in Pangasinan.  These preacher’s and their families are very dedicated and really recharge me and encourage me on each trip.

10:00 PM

Left the restaurant and went to bed after a very satisfying first week!

SATURDAY, MAY 4, 2013

8:30 AM  We a woke and had breakfast at the Bal Marin Restaurant at Lisland and Jamie and I were picked up by Susan and Butch Boniel and taken to Urdaneta church of Christ for Bible Study and worship services.  Chris was taken by Celine and Benny to speak at Binalonan church of Christ and then in the afternoon at Laoak church of Christ with brother Reuben Menodoza.

At Urdaneta, Butch, one of the three elders there, taught to Bible lesson in Tagalog, Why Study the Bible? There were 53 adults present and about a dozen children for Bible study.  Included were 3 of the ladies that I had taught during the VBS at San Vincente during the week.  During the worship hour, I spoke on Two Sermons—Two Responses from Acts 2 and Acts 7.  I gave the lesson in English and then brother JM Haban, one of the young preachers there, summarized my lesson in Tagalog. JM’s father, is the one of the other elders along with Arnold Zambrano.

Following the worship which was attended by over 90, there were two baptisms.  I was honored to baptize two of the ladies we had studied with in San Vincente.  One of them, Jeane, had a daughter and daughter-in-law that had been in my classes and wanted to be baptized but had sick babies that morning.  She said they have planned to be baptized next Sunday if not before. 

After the baptisms, the congregation had a fellowship meal for us.  Jamie had gone by the market and had Dana purchase fresh pineapple, bananas and pandesal for her to take to the meal.  You know Southern women, no way that they would go to a fellowship meal and not take a dishJ. It was a delicious dinner and allowed us time to renew many acquaintances with friends and brothers from past trips. 

4:00 PM  Jamie and went with Arnold, Dana, Nico, and Jake to Urdaneta Zone 2-B for another meeting with the government group 4 P that Arnold is mentoring.  Besides running 4 businesses and serving as an elder at Urdaneta, brother Zambrano is mentor to over 200 families that live with in ½ mile of the Urdaneta church building. Chris and I have had the opportunity to meet with most of these groups and the response to the spiritual side of life improvement has been very positive.  In fact today, it was so positive that we met our first opposition.  When we arrived, there were just 5 women there.  As we inquired about the others, we were told that 3 members of the Iglesia ni cristo (a group claiming that Christ reappeared in the Philippines in 1914 and told their leader that the Filipinos were the new Israelites) had been talking to the members of this group and told them that they would have severe repercussions if they continued to attend these meetings.  They further said that the Americans and the Filipinos teaching would try to get them to become members of the church of Christ. Well, they were right on that point! After a few minutes of visiting and encouraging 11 of the 29 adults that has attending the previous week came to my lesson and Jamie and Dana had 15 children that they and Jake taught while Nico interpreted for me.  After the lesson, we had purchased merienda (snacks) for the families and visited until about 5:30. 

After a quick run to Arnold’s office at the mall, we returned to the hotel at about 6:15 to have dinner and rest. 

By the way, Cinco de Mayo, came and went without any notice hereJ…Not even a taco eaten…