Philippines - 2007

April 9-19, 2007, Henry Weigel

Travel and the Routine

The purpose of the trip was to prepare the site and raise a large tent for the Family Circus Ministry headed by Darrell and Sandy Blatchley. The trip was organized by David Wagner of Builders International and his parents, Stan and Julie. The team consisted of nine members: David, Stan, Julie, Sam, Gary, Sharon, Steve, Richard, and myself. My travels took me from Washington, D.C. to Minneapolis (where I met up with David and Gary). From there to Tokyo where we met the rest of the team; then on to Manila. We spent the night there and met missionary Mike Williams who took us on a tour of the International Correspondence Institute's printing facilities located there; Bethany Bible College, and the Asia Pacific Media Ministries office. We then headed for Davao in Mindanao where we were picked up by the Blatchleys. We worked together with many local people and some young missionaries in training.

Problems

On Saturday, April 14, two of our team members Richard and Steve, had medical problems. Richard dislocated the joint of his artificial hip and Steve was seeing strange light corona in one eye, similar to what happens in a detached retina – which he had had before. Both were taken care of. Richard, a big man, with great difficulty was gingerly taken out of his room and by ambulance was taken to a hospital where an orthopedic surgeon was able to rejoin his hip socket. He had taken a little food that morning so had to wait six hours before anesthesia could be administered to him. All the while he was in great pain. David Wagner was with him the whole time. That impressed me – a regular mother hen, that David. Steve was taken to see a leading ophthalmologist who told him there was no retina detachment. Steve had had cataract surgery and one of the implanted lenses had shifted a bit letting light in around an edge. He was in no danger and could wait to have it tended to at home. Praise be unto our God who lovingly looks after His people.

Children's Services

On Sunday (4/15) we were at one of the Family Circus' services for children. They hold six services on a weekend, three on Saturday and three on Sunday. The last one on Saturday is held at the beach – they haul bleachers there for the kids to sit on. All six services can account for as many as 5,000 kids. They transport the kids with jeepneys and three-wheeled bicycles (I guess that makes them tricycles), with extra seats. Jeepneys are unique to the Philippines. They were originally constructed from old World War II jeeps by elongating the chassis and putting in bench seats that run parallel to the length of the car. People sitting there tend to knock knees together – hence the name, jeepneys. (At least I believe that's the story I heard.) It was a Jesus-focused meeting lasting slightly over an hour. The meeting had narrated mimes, testimonies by the kids, prayers, stories, songs, Scripture memorization, … . During the meetings some of the kids get medical attention such as dental care, vitamins, food, etc. Each child gets $6 of play money that can be saved up and used to “buy” rice, clothing or other articles a child would like to have. If a child misbehaves too much some of the money has to be paid back as a fine. This ensures discipline as some families depend on the kids buying rice with the money so Momma gets after them to be good and not lose the money. After the service, as kids leave, some have Darrell pray for them. When children accept Christ they can trace their hand prints on the wall. The walls are full of hand prints already.

Ministry Opportunities

On Sunday afternoon we went to the mall to shop. There were many kiosks where people were selling various kinds of jewelry. I felt led to offer one of the young sales ladies a Gideon New Testament. She declined, saying that she was a Muslim and could not accept it. I said that the Koran says that Jesus was the messenger of God and that the New Testament talked about Jesus and had His words in it. After hearing that she took the book, thanked me, kissed it and laid it with her things. Some years ago I had been to Bangladesh on business and stayed in a modern hotel that had both the Bible and the Koran (both in English) in the night stand. I had perused the Koran and had come across the part about Jesus being the messenger of God. I thought it a significant approach in reaching out to Muslims.

One of the Family Circus staff, a young man from Davao, learned that I was a mathematician. He asked if he could ask me for help in algebra as he was about to take such a course. I agreed. So I tutored him via e-mail working problems and explaining the steps. He passed the course and got a decent grade.

Devotions

We started each day with devotions. Monday (4/16) was my turn to lead. In seeking the Lord as to what to bring forth I thought of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and its importance to the believers. Missionary to the Congo, Gary Dickenson, and I had had a conversation on that subject in which he pointed out the importance the Lord Jesus placed on this baptism: Jesus told His disciples not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father; i.e the power from on high. Then I thought that the team members are all Pentecostals and what was I doing in telling them the importance of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. I tried to prepare another topic but to no avail. I came back to the first one. I illustrated the talk with experiences from my own life; how I had been confused early on about this subject but later in a dramatic fashion the Lord Jesus baptized me in such a powerful way that there was no mistaking that it was from God. The effect in my life and the believers is to witness, even when we are not outgoing. When the Lord presents us with an opportunity He also helps us to engage in such opportunities. Several members mentioned how it had encouraged them. David Wagner said to me that he likes passionate people, would I join his team. I wrestled with this while in the Philippines and came to the conclusion that I needed to make myself available. Before telling David I had to talk to my wife as that could mean significant expenditures of funds. Grace was very enthusiastic about this opportunity, so I told David, yes. We are still in the process of working out just how I can fit in – we'll see.

The Tent

We finished preparing the site and erecting the tent. The site preparation was the hardest part. It had been a marsh and truckload upon truckload of clay fill-dirt was hauled in to firm up the ground. A good bit of the dirt was taken by the neighbors with Darrell Blatchley's blessing, to fill in their own lots and get rid of the marshy breeding grounds of the mosquitoes that carried dengue fever – a sometimes fatal disease. When the tent was up Darrell led us in a prayer at the center post of the tent, dedicating it to the Lord's work among the kids in Davao.