Back from the Philippines

Hello all! I'm back!

Actually, I arrived back in Ottawa Sunday June 16. I apologize for not writing earlier. Between jet lag, a busy schedule, some new "news" to process when I got back plus the processing I've begun on all I saw in the Philippines, it's been an interesting week.

My trip was such an incredible experience. The Philippines is a beautiful country, the people are very friendly and hospitable, there was a lot of interesting food, and most importantly, God taught me a lot.

For those of you who haven't heard much about what I was doing, here's a brief summary. I have some friends who are Missionaries with an organization called International Teams (IT). They're leading a program called "Encounter Teams", which is designed to help the team members encounter God, themselves, the world, and their future through an 8-month program in which they visit and get involved in several different types of ministry that International Teams has established around the world. I was invited to visit, encourage, and get involved with the team for a couple of weeks, and joined them in the Philippines for the first 2 weeks of June. While there, the team was focused primarily on working with the urban poor of Manila.

We had the privilege of living in an area of Manila that was not a tourist area. As a result, almost the only white people we saw were each other. As such, while traveling around, spending time in a restaurant or mall, we would tend to get a lot of stares. It was a little odd to be eating a meal while 10 strangers stared at you the whole time. The team leaders had two babies that we sometimes brought along with us. They really got a lot of attention when in public!

We had the opportunity to visit several squatter villages in Manila. These are communities that are built wherever there's space, from wood, steel, sometimes a bit of cement, but basically what ever people can manage to scrounge up for very little or no money, all built very close together, often without plumbing or electricity. The quality of construction generally was below that of our barns or backyard sheds and tree forts. Within Manila, there are hundreds of thousands of people (if not more) that live in these "houses". We had the opportunity to work with the children in a few of the villages, and assist in the construction of an addition to a squatter church in another.

As I work with some of the less fortunate here in Ottawa as well, I found it interesting to compare what I see of the poverty here in Canada with what I saw in the Philippines. Here in Canada, there are a few that live at, or below the level of the poorest in the Philippines, generally due to chemical and/or psychological problems, but beyond those people, the level of poverty in the Philippines was huge compared to here. We are certainly very blessed. I did find it encouraging to witness the hard-working nature of the Filipinos. Even considering the massive level of poverty there, I still see more beggars in one evening in Ottawa than I saw in my entire time in Manila. The poor there seem to all find something to do, I imagine at least partly because they don't have a social safety net like we do to rely on. Mind you, many of the "jobs" people find are ones that we wouldn't dream of having here. We visited one squatter village (Piatas) that was build up against the big city dump. These people would scavenge the garbage that was brought in every day. I saw several guys in a little river that runs right beside the dump cleaning plastic bags others had scavenged in order for them to be clean enough to sell to recyclers.

I was quite challenged and encouraged to see the incredible faith the national missionaries possessed there. On the second Wednesday we were there, International Teams East Asia had a day-long missions conference that they invited us to attend. Pastor Gahni, the director of IT East Asia, spoke in the morning about poverty, and the effect it has had on the Christians of the Philippines. A number of years ago, he had struggled with the question of why God had allowed this Christian nation (the Philippines) to become so incredibly poor. He eventually came to realize that through their poverty, the Filipinos had learned to depend on God far more than believers in richer nations generally ever do. We have a tendency to rely on God only after we have exhausted our own resources, and since we have so much, we tend to rely on God very seldom by comparison. In order to be really used by God however, one needs to be broken to the point where they are able to let God work through them -- something I saw evidenced quite often the lives of many Filipino missionaries. Even with all their poverty, the Philippines has become a great Missionarysending nation. What a challenge for me! How much do I allow God to work through me, to lead me, provide for me, to use me? I had thought I'd been doing relatively well in this area, but have now seen that there is so much more I have to learn there. (Now there's a frightening thought -- that learning process!)

I could go on, but should probably tie this up for now. Perhaps I'll send another in a few weeks, or we'll have a chance to talk more in the coming weeks.

Many of you have asked if I would be taking pictures. Well I have -- 4 rolls, plus I brought back some digital pictures that my friends had taken. Mine are currently out getting developed, but I do hope to be able to share them with you all in the near future. Hopefully next weekend, I'll have some time to put together a web site with some of them, so those of you who I don't have a chance to show the others to will still be able to see them.

I am so thankful for all the prayer that many of you have offered up for me. God is such a great god! He has taught me so much, and still has a lot more to teach me. Hopefully I'll have a chance to slow down a bit in the near future, and do a bunch more processing of all that I saw. I'll look forward to sharing more as God continues to teach me. If you could be praying that God would continue to teach me lots through these experiences I had while away, and others that seem to keep coming my way, I'd be very thankful.

I hope you've been having a great weekend! I'll look forward to telling you more about my trip in the coming weeks!

In His Service,
Steve.

Hello from Manila

Hello all!

Well, I've been here over a week now. Wow! What a place! The Philippines is so much different than what I'm used to.

The Internet has been a little interesting -- this is my third time trying to send this email in the last 3 days. Each time I've come into the Internet cafe, the net has gone down before I had a chance to send. Hopefully it will work today!

I've been living in what I've discovered is a very nice church in a great, quiet neighborhood here. Now that's all relative. I am woken up every morning by 5am by all the roosters crowing, dogs barking. By 6, I hear people outside sweeping, trying to sell stuff by honking their horns, doing laundry, etc.

I've really been hit by the huge difference in money here, and back home in Canada. When I first came into the neighborhood I'm staying in, I found it cramped, small houses, dirty, etc. It seemed, while not slum, a rather poor neighborhood. After Seeing a bunch of other neighborhoods, that perception has changed quite a bit. The community now feels like a beautiful, nice middle-class, safe place. There's a huge variety in the architecture (unlike neighborhoods that really only have 2 different houses, done over and over again) I quite like it actually. (For those who know the Philippines, I'm living in Lagro in Quazon City.)

I'm starting to feel at home here now. I've ridden a jeep on my own a bunch now, and am starting to feel comfortable getting around, at least in my own area. It's kinda cool to start feeling independent, able to make my own way around. The girls on the team still haven't found that after several weeks -- the local missionaries won't let girls travel without a guy. I guess I 'm fortunate to be a guy sometimes!

It's interesting to see how the Philipinos perceive us. Since we're not in a tourist are of Metro Manila, there are very few white people. Some of the children of the national Missionaries we're working with had never seen white people before us! We get a lot of stares from the locals, especially the 2 babies in our group.

When we're with the national missionaries, it's quite common to hear about financial needs. The perception seems to be that westerners are very wealthy compared to here, and they see us to some extent as a source of funding. One thing that's really hit me is how big the disparity is between a Philippino and a Canadian. Several of the needs that people have mentioned to me that seem quite significant to them are about what I would make in a day or two. Wow.

So far, we've done a bunch of things here in the Philippines -- we have visited several squatter villages, did some evangelism with some children in one, and helped in the construction of a youth center for a church in another. I even got to do some ice skating at Megamall on Sunday! This coming week, we have a bunch of things on the schedule. We'll be visiting a city dump where many people live, and scavenge the garbage that comes in each day. I imagine that will be tough to see.

Last week I had asked for prayer for Leilani, my friend who was in the hospital with digestive problems. Well, she's out now, and feeling much better. Thanks for your prayer. Keep praying for the rest of the team, that we manage to stay healthy! We have to be so careful of what we consume. There are a lot of things that while safe for the locals, aren't safe for us, since our bodies have not built up an immunity to them. That makes things interesting sometimes -- trying to explain to a host why you can't drink something that they think is safe...

I've seen lots of stuff here this past week, and have lots to process. I'll look forward to telling you all more about what God has been teaching me as I figure it out! Keep praying for me in this regard, and that I continue to pay attention to all that God has to teach me in the coming week.

Please pray also for me for wisdom as I think and pray about how I might continue my involvement in the ministries here after I leave. There's lots of needs, but there's also a lot of issues with westerners supporting national ministries that, if not handled properly, can in the long run do more harm than good.

Thanks so much for the notes I received from some of you. Even in this short time that I'm gone, it's cool to hear about what's happening at home, and in your lives. I apologize for not responding to everyone. Hopefully this will do!

The coming week looks like it'll be a busy one, so I'm not sure yet when I'll next have a chance to check email. Hopefully I'll get a chance at some point this week. I hope you have a great week, and look forward to hearing from you all!

Your Friend,
Steve.

Arrived in the Philippines

Hello all!

Well I'm here! I've been in the Philippines for a day and a half or so now. The flights went well, and I somehow managed to deal with the jet lag already!

My time here so far has been quite amazing! The community I'm living in is quite beautiful -- lots of vegetation somehow fits in around tight quarters. The houses, etc. are all very unique. I'm actually sleeping in a room above the 3rd floor of a church in the community. The people at the church have been amazingly hospitable. I'm humbled by how sincere, welcoming they've been.

I've been able to spend a bunch of times with my friends here as well (Craig & Leilani, their daughters Elizabeth and Katharina, and team members Rachael and Stacy). Aside from a bad reaction Leilani had to something in some water or something (she went to the hospital my first day here after having some "digestive problems", and is hoping to be discharged today), they seem to be doing well.

I've had some other interesting experiences as well. I've had a bunch of rides in Jeepnee's (cross between a jeep and a bus, a common form of transportation). They are so much different than what I'm used to. Margaret and Deb would know what I'm talking about. I'll have to show you some pictures of them when I get back!

Already, God has been teaching me stuff, and I've hardly begun. It will be exciting to see what else He has to teach me! I expect to see some poorer communities, likely in the next few days. It sounds like we'll be getting into a bunch of different things as well, although it still remains to be seen what all we do. Apparently flexibility is an important characteristic of someone working here!

Thanks so much for your willingness to pray for me and the team. Here are a few things to pray about:

• Leilani's quick recovery


• Health for all of us


• That God would continue to teach and guide each of us, and that we would be paying attention

At this point, it looks like I'll have access to email once or twice a week, so would love to here from you!

I hope you had a great weekend, and have a great week!

In His Service,

Steve.