Trip to Manila

Again, sorry it’s been a while since we’ve given an update. Things have been scattered here to say the least. Ok, so I wanted to talk about a little side trip I took with Pastor Bong (above). Bong is the pastor of a small Assemblies of God church in the midst of one of the largest relocation sites, Handumanan, on Negros (some residents pictured below). There are more than 150,000 squatters who’ve been relocated to this one area. These are people from as many different backgrounds that you can imagine, all forced to live together, in community, and get along. Somehow they make it work. It’s truly amazing. I must’ve seen a dozen pickup basketball games in Handumanan, at least eleven of which I received an invitation to join.

Bong explained to me that he used to be a relatively well-to-do business man here on Negros and that while he recognized God’s call on his life a long time ago, it wasn’t until a recent brush with death that he decided to submit to God. It was refreshing to see community development work/workers who are working from the ground up as opposed to assisting from without.

While I was visiting Handumanan with Bong, one of our last stops was at Randall’s house. Randall (pictured above) is a member of Bong’s congregation. He lives in a house about the size of an average American lawnmower shed with his 3 children, wife and grandfather. He has about a half an acre of farm land where he grows rice, peppers and various other produce. He asked if we’d eaten yet and Bong told him no. He began to gather firewood and ordered his oldest son to bring him a steel pot and a machete. We proceeded out to the field where Randall harvested some local root vegetables and sweet potatoes. After peeling them, he boiled them in the steel pot along with two fresh duck eggs. Bong explained to me that the root vegetables contained high traces of cyanide and that if not cooked properly, consuming them could be fatal. This gave me a new perspective on what it means to ask God’s blessing before we eat. I prayed His blessing on the food, Randall’s family and farm, and thanked Him for His creation that yields enough to sustain us.

The vegetables and fresh duck eggs were wonderful and needless to say, Randall was able to adequately remove enough of the cyanide that the potatoes didn’t kill me. It wasn’t until we were leaving that I realized what a special and holy moment I had just experienced. From Randall’s perspective, I was treated like a king. Bong explained to me that every week Randall gives him ten percent of his harvest. That’s all he has. The previous week he managed to harvest twenty sacks of rice, so he gave Bong two. It wasn’t often that his ducks laid fresh eggs and Randall was more than happy to offer them to Bong and I as a gift. Though Randall had little, he was selfless with what he had. I’ll never forget that meal.

Moving ahead. We spent this past week in Manila (400 miles north of where we’re staying in Bacolod City). Our flight arrived early Saturday morning and we spent all day at the Mall of Asia, the site of the GK Expo. The expo was exciting. There was a parade, live music, representatives from nearly every GK village, vendors, concessions, games, children’s activities, et cetera. There was something for everyone.

Far and away, my favorite part of the expo was a real, live monkey. Yes, a monkey. We were able to get pretty close to him and he looked at Brooke and me as curiously as we did him.

At the expo I was able to meet several interesting people. I met Tony Meloto, the founder and former executive director of Gawad Kalinga. I was also able to have an interesting conversation about microfinance with Tony’s successor, Tito Luis. The President of the Philippines, Gloria Arroyo, was also at the expo to demonstrate her support for GK’s development efforts.

In Manila, we were hosted by Tito Bong and Tita Leony Susara. Along with their two children Jamie and Richard, they provided us with wonderful hospitality. I’m not sure what it was, but Sunday night I got really sick…again. Similar symptoms to what I had a few weeks back. I couldn’t eat a thing all week. Needless to say, Brooke and I really miss home cooking.

Conveniently, Tita Leony used to work for the Department of Tourism in Manila so she was able to show us around the city a bit. We toured a few universities and caught the sunset in the Manila bay. The Old City is beautiful and rife with Spanish influence from the colonial period. There were beautiful cathedrals and cobblestone streets and the policeman still dressed in the ancient garb. In some places, it is easy to forget you’re in Asia as it has more of a European feel.

On Thursday, we were able to celebrate All Saints' Day with the Susaras. All Saints' Day is a unique national holiday where everyone gathers around the graves of their loved ones. There are games, food, music, dancing, et cetera. Admittedly, I felt a little out of place considering I had just met the Susaras four days prior and now I was celebrating a significant holiday with them. But, to them, Brooke and I may as well have been members of the family. In fact, we’ve made arrangements to stay with them the week before we return home as they want to help Brooke locate any traces of her family in La Union, in the north.

We have plenty of pictures to show everyone when we return and we appreciate all who take the time to check out the blog to see how we’re doing. Continue to pray for us until we return. We continue to miss everyone and think about you often. Until next time…