Saw the Hands and Feet of God (March 24 update)

Thought I would share about two places I have visited recently in my quest to find what God wants me to do here in Manila (now that most of the waiting for people and things to set up our home is FINALLY done!)

Let me introduce you to Jen Chrystman (who Louise Bell and Faith Holwyn know).  She is a Canadian who has been here since the early '90s.  Currently she works with Dawn for the Poor, an amazing holistic organization.  Click http://www.dawnforthepoor.org/ for their information.  On this day I tagged along as she brought a STM from Waterloo, Iowa (seriously!) through Welfareville (seriously, that is the official name of this neighbourhood)

During this walk, we stopped at a daycare center that is run by Lisa (in this picture).  She has four children of her own, and her husband is the care taker of six different places of ministry for Dawn for the Poor.    The pictures below are of Edna who helps in a livelihood center.  They were bundling up an order fo 300 bookmarks that were heading to Winnipeg, Canada.  If you need any gifts, go to their website!

In this center they also do healthcare, mentoring for home church leaders and much more.  For all our friends who are in the medical field, have a look at their medicine cabinet...that is it for thousands of people.

Oh, and here is the view out the window so that you get an idea of the area. (and I thought you would enjoy the electrical, Bill!)  So many people in so little space.....

I have also gone with our church on Thursdays for Others to a work done by Youth With a Mission called the Balut Project.  Go to their website http://www.ywambalut.org/ to see what wonderful work they are doing. We brought lunch to a daycare in the Smokey Mountain area (given that name because the area is literally dump and always smokey) Here is the daycare center, and some shots of the neighbourhood around it.

As soon as we arrived, the kids started coming with plate in hand - a few had a spoon too.  We sang songs with them, and then dished out the pasta soup and juice and cookies.  The little ones had mothers with them, and as you will see in these picture, these moms care deeply for their children.  I think I will let these pictures speak for themselves....

After the meal, they all headed back to their homes....down these streets.....

Yes, my heart has been broken again by what God has revealed to me in these two places...I know there are countless pockets like this in Manila.  And yes, the words of God through Micah 6:8, James 2:14-16, Matthew 25:31-40 (plus many others) is calling me.  Pray that I will hear God clearly when he starts to reveal where he want me to serve and how.  I will keep you up on the journey my friends.

Life in Manila....March 13

Some have asked about how I am, as Linda appears to be the Chief Editor on this Blog. I can assure you that we view this as a joint venture that generally works best with Linda controlling the keyboard and mouse and me rambling on about the world around me. For a change of pace I thought that I would contribute a solo update on this beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon.

Big update.... it actually rained this week. Not a lot and not for very long but it actually did. I'm sure that my perspective will change when the rainy season arrives, but for now it was a very pleasant change. Once the rain stopped it instantly contributed to the humidity. The Filipino store owners instantly start sweeping the water off the sidewalks with their large straw brooms (they love to sweep here... a lot). This is the real first rain I have seen since arriving and was welcomed to an increasingly dry Manila.


Linda and I have now completed our Scuba Certification and are officially able to dive anywhere on the planet. The test was a combination of demonstrated skills such as removing your mask under water, replacing it and clearing the water out. We also studied hard and passed the 50 question exam with flying colours. Here is a picture of our latest Scuba adventure. We promise to send some pictures from under the ocean as well in future postings.

Work has been going well but I certainly have had to make some adjustments in the way I work. Asia, in general, starts the day later and ends the day later. This is due to the interaction with North America that tends to drift into the evenings when the west is waking up and getting into the office. I have spent many years getting into the office at the crack of dawn and getting home for family supper and sports events..... that does not work well here. Contributing to the change I have been given an office on the 3rd floor of our building.... the 3rd floor is very busy and full in the middle of the night (servicing Canada and US Daytime) but is dark and empty during the Philippine day. Over the past years I have worked in offices where there is generally a queue of people outside my office wanting to talk with me. Today, other than a few Canadian or US Expats, I am fortunate to have a visitor at all and they are usually terrified that I have asked them to my office to talk. This will get better over time as the local staff get to know me a bit and can relax. Things all move slowly.... still waiting for my real furniture to arrive and I am promised that the air conditioning will be on in my office this week. As long as the blinds are closed it is only 28 degrees....


A few more oddities and interesting observations.....

1. Licorice (Red and Black) is non-existent in the Philippines - When I asked my Filipino friend about it her response was "what is that"... this leads to number 2
   
2. It is really hard to describe what licorice is to someone that has never seen it (try it!)
   
3. We discovered that heating up frozen corn in the microwave was not a good idea.... when it started to pop. We have moved to heating it in boiling water.... It was an exciting few minutes!
   
4. They have Musical ATMs here. As I approached an ATM today it blasted out a groovy tune that said something about shopping.... I was too surprised and shocked to really get the full gist of the song. It was really loud!
   
5. Our neighbourhood is so safe that we even have crossing guards.... seriously... grown men with stop signs that will halt approaching traffic so we can cross at our leisure. They are armed which makes it even more silly... I suppose they could shoot the people that don't yield to the awesome signs.
   
6. Rooster Update: We have discovered what happens to Roosters that do not fair well in the fighting... As you travel along the streets of Manila there are people walking between the cars selling anything you can possibly imagine... including Feather Dusters (you guessed it) made from Rooster Feathers. A little disturbing....

Bye for now... Jeff