Philippine
Mission Trip
Getting to
Work!
Don, Jamie
Walker and Chris Gerber
April 25-May
14, 2013
Urdaneta,
Pangasinan, Philippines
SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013
3:00 AM All three of us were awake by 3 AM after heading to be at about
10 PM. Welcome to a little jet lag. J Chris went to the empty restaurant at about
5:15 and we joined him at 6:00. After visiting we had coffee and pandesal
before Arnold and his family picked us up at 6:30 AM for 7:00 AM worship in
Asingan. That might seem early but it
has been extremely hot and projected to have a heat index above 115 F today so
finishing by 9:30 is not such a bad idea.
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| Don with a little friend! |
We went to the Ramos Elementary School in Asingan and were blessed to
meet and greet many old friends from previous trips. It was exciting to see new
babies born since last year and to see how much the children had grown.
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| Jamie teaching the children |
Jamie would go with several of the young ladies to teach a children’s
class of about 15 under the 5th grade. Her class met under a tin roof of a small hut
near one of the classrooms.
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| Chris teaching in Asingan |
Chris taught the adult class and did a wonderful lesson on “Why I Left the
Dutch Reformed Church and My Family’s Traditions”. Nico did the translating for him and does a
fine job!
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| Song books sent from Trenton |
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| Zake leading singing |
Zake Santiago leads the singing and really does a good job. The congregation is using the old song books
that we shipped to them and they are quite proud of them and the singing is
very good.
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| Chris showing bro. Willie pictures |
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| Don preaching in Asingan |
I spoke at the worship hour and my lesson was on Pleasing God and Not
Man. It was a bit of a follow-up on
Chris’ lesson. After services we spent nearly
an hour visiting and loving our family here that we had not seen in a year. Chris
got to show brother Willie Ojeiro the pictures of the beans he grew on Sand
Mountain with seeds Willie provided him.
Willie was quite pleased!
After leaving the service, we went to a large outdoor public hall for a
wedding reception for the daughter of one of the members at Asingan. After about ½ hour, we concluded that things
were running late and we were brought by to the resort by Arnold.
We changed clothes and ate in the resort restaurant, Bai Marin, for
lunch. Jamie had a Greek salad while I had Lechon Kawali. Mine was grilled pork
belly then crispy fried with rice. Quite
a good meal. Chris ate the fried chicken
with a fruit plate. Jamie and I got our
fruit via a banana and watermelon shake.
Amazing the fresh fruit combinations here …. that are delicious!
We all had an afternoon nap before a Bible study scheduled at sister
Vickie’s house. Unfortunately due to our
alarm being set at 4:30 AM instead of PM J we hurried out of the cabana just as Chris pulled
off with Arnold. So a little blogging
time…..
Supper time and the temperature was 93F but the heat index is
115F! We have been cautioned and it is
all over TV warning folks over here to drink lots of water to stay hydrated
during this heat wave…and it is not letting up this coming week. Time for my evening refreshment….mango and
watermelon shake while Jamie, always the traditionalist J, sticks with mango and
banana shake!
11:00 PM We just had shakes for supper as we liked them so muchJ During supper got word from Mom that Dad was
in ICU in Shands. He either has an
infection, an abscess or a leak where his colon was reattached. Worse case scenario is having to reconnect
his colon because of a leak. The abscess
and infection both can probably be treated with the antibiotics. Tough day--
being 10,000 miles away from your Dad and Mom during this but she sounds upbeat
and have been in communication with our girls and they are keeping in touch with
their Nana!
Still hot as it is 99F heat index at 11 PM! VBS and Ladies’ Bible Class
for Jamie tomorrow at Binalonan!
MONDAY, APRIL 29
3:13 AM Was lying awake and in
the bed after a night of short bursts of sleeps dreaming about growing up and
time with my dad. The phone rang at 3:13 AM. Got to know when the phone rings
at 3 AM it’s not good news or it’s a wrong number. It was not a wrong number. It was Ginny, my sister calling from outside
the ICU at Shands Hospital in Gainesville. The news from the Critical Care
doctor was not good. Dad was septic and
not responding to antibiotics. Infection
was all through his body and they had to find the source.
Mom called about 4 AM here and said the radiologist was getting ready
to drain the abscesses in his abdomen and allow them to heal. He perhaps was a little more
encouraging. He did tell them that the
healing process for older patients would be slow but he felt good about the
procedure. Of course, there is still the
problem of having kidney, liver and proper blood function. But right now that is all they can do. We
have been praying about him and his care with everyone we can and we know there
are many folks praying for him around the world.
Mom and I also talked about how that Jamie and I being here on the
mission trip and Walker and Elizabeth (my nephew and niece) working in China
are exactly what he would want us to be doing and actually what he would love
to be doing. Two of our daughters, Laurie
and Leigh were on their way to Gainesville from Montgomery and the last I
heard, Louise was trying to decide with Ethan whether to go or not. Melissa Lee Hicks, a lifelong best friend of Laurie’s was going to go to
Gainesville to keep Ethan and Ellie while Louise was there, if she decided she
could come. It is great to have friends
that stick by you. Sure love and appreciate
Melissa! (among many who have been so kind to our family)
As sunrise approaches, Jamie and I are planning to go ahead and conduct
the VBS at the Binalonan church of Christ, while Chris will work with Arnold in
the area around the Asingan church of Christ.
I am going to try and focus on the tasks at hand here, all the while
with my heart back with Mom and Dad, my sisters and my daughters in Gainesville.
