I'm not very tech savvy...

just trying something to see if it works

Fire victims of Gruar

Yesterday we went into a basketball court to visit with around two hundred people who have nowhere else to live right now. A fire broke out in their squatter village a month ago and took what little they owned. It happens to be the same squatter we do a program in on thursdays. One of the Danish girls provided me this picture that you see above, of a woman and her bed. (Her baby is sleeping next to her on that pillow.) Since the Danish are still with us they did some more dancing for the kids, which they loved! They also did a few drama's, and then Pastor Ding whipped out this awesome, passionate sermon, which I didn't understand at all haha, but definitely got the idea. When Pastor Ding gets fired up it's impossible to ignore him. What a champ! 30 or 40 people raised their hands to accept the Lord following his message, praise God! I pray that they aren't satisfied with just being saved, but that they have a hunger for more- for a relationship with God daily

Today was SUPERKIDS Saturday!!! One of my favourite days of the week :D I sat with some of the same kids that I used to sit with last year- Nicole, and Renz, Jean Paul, David, and of course tons came to sit on/with me whose names I don't know yet. It was so fun!!! Shouting out prayers and bible verses, playing games, singing songs, watching a special dance by a few of the kids... it's all awesome. Then our feeding portion of the day commenced, which of course is organized, efficient, and loooong haha. It takes a long time to feed 450 kids! I wish I could explain every part so you could understand how complex it is! But maybe it's just something you have to see. It always feels crazy and overwhelming but in the end, we get all the kids fed and they leave with full bellies and hopefully smiles! It was so much fun, felt so great.

I'm pumped for tomorrow- church and youth group. I feel so much love here. I love these kids, and take ownership in a way. i know them, they know me, I want to look out for them and make sure they are okay. Well, better than okay.

Angle.

Round two!

I've been back for one day.

The plane landed in Manila at 9:30 yesterday morning, June 2. I am not in the least embarrassed to confess that I cried tears of joy as I saw the Manila harbor coming into view, completely overwhelmed. The humidity hit me like a wall, no suprise there. I got through customs, brushed my teeth and changed in the washroom, and headed out to grab a cab. He brought me to the church instead of to Treesa's- she wasn't going to be home and I decided I'd rather go and see all my friends first rather than crash in an empty house. I had the driver stop one block away from the church so that i could walk in. So much has changed... Anyway, I walked through the door to find the Danish team painting away, and just past them I saw Ate Rona! So I followed her into the church, dropped my bags, and we proceeded to hug with lots of squealing and crying on my part. I was actually shaking! Ahh. It's so good to be back.

As it was thursday, most of my friends started to trickle in. One by one I got to hug the youth of this church who I LOVE. I should explain for those reading who don't know, on thursdays we make a butt load of rice and ulam (yesterday our ulam was soup) and then bring it to Gruar, a squatter village nearby. We gather all the kids together and sing songs with them, dance, do a drama or tell a story with a biblical message, and then we pray and hand out the food. Since we have the Danish team here, they were our entertainment yesterday. They were wonderful! The kids especially liked when they performed a hip hop dance haha. Typical for them- dancing really grabs their attention. I recognized a lot of kids, and some of them remembered me. I saw Mae Mae. She was the girl who ran at me and jumped into my arms the very first time I went to Gruar, she had no idea who I was but she decided to just run at me! So since then we've been good buddies. I walked up to her and Ate Beth called her name, she looked at me kind of like a deer caught in headlights haha, and after a few seconds she LIT UP! We hugged, and pretty much kept hugging throughout our time there. I held up a few of the smaller kids so that they could see the Danish team's program, saw all kinds of things I'd forgotten I'd see... things that make me sad... But being back in that squatter village confirmed so much in my heart and in my spirit. God uses me there. God uses me here. I can LOVE these kids and it can make a difference in their lives! Not because of me, but because of Jesus in me. Awesome :)

So we finished up at Gruar, a fulfilling and blessed time, and headed back to the church. Pastor Ding and Ate Mona drove me over to Treesa's house. Only Mike was home, so he took my bags and we went to the kitchen where I tried to eat as much as I could, considering that it was 4 or 5 in the morning as far as my body was concerned! Treesa came, tried to feed me more, (lol) and we chatted about her daughters upcoming graduation, and how crazy everything has been getting ready for that. At about 8:00 I went into the room I'm staying in to get ready for bed and almost slept in all my dirty clothes haha, I could barely muster the energy to shower but I felt a lot better after I did. I slept SOLID, it was wonderful. All the way till 8 when Treesa woke me up to take me over to the church.

So that's where I am right now, 9:46 am, typing away on the church computer. Today we go back to Gruar, not to do our big program but to visit with some people who had their homes recently burned down- again. (Squatter villages are vulnerable to fires, with burning garbage and homes made partially of cardboard...) So we're making pancit, I'll help with that and maybe wander around Sunset Drive in the new grocery store and check out some of the newer shops.

Will write again soon, much love!

Ange.

draft from may 9...

How can I be discreet, how can I be vague? I'm distraught to know that one of my friends, someone I truly love and care for, is living in a completely unsafe environment at home. How can I go home now knowing the situation she's in? I'm sick, and it's not just because of the MacDonalds sitting in my gut. Another girl, one of the sweetest I've ever known told me the story of how she came to be an orphan. She told me every detail of her mother's death and we cried together. Leaving her was harder than any autumn csr or greenbay goodbye. I hugged her and we both knew there was a chance we'd never see each other again- it was obvious in our uncertain smiles. I'm so, so sorry to her that she trusted me enough to tell me of her deepest heartache and then I left only a couple days later. It's in no way fair. I have three days left here but I'm already weeping. I don't know how to fly away from the Philippines and leave the first church family I've had in years. I've made friends in this time that I could trust my life to. They love me, they trust me. They welcome my opinion and give me responsibilities, believing that I'll do a good job or at least try my best. I really feel like I belong here.

27 days baby!

Don't get me wrong- I wouldn't trade this time to be home. I've been more impacted during these last three months than I even know. But I am really excited to go home soon. Lately I've been missing the comforts of home, and my family. I'm still happy to be here though, and I really need to stick with it and not get tired, distracted or lazy. Pray that my team will stay focused on the task at hand- sharing in the glory of God! Having the privelege to look like Jesus to these kids, loving them like he would. And pray for the hearts of the children in Gruar squatter village... the God will touch them in a way that will change their lives.


It was a sad day on wednesday. When we got to the orphanage, we learned that one of the babies, Armondo, had died in the middle of the night. He had been there for a few months, and several of the staff, and some of the team had grown attached to him. What's more, it was a complete surprise to find that he'd passed away, because no one saw it coming. Admittedly, Gentle Hands never knew the full extent of his health. It seems there must have been something wrong inside the guy that no one knew. The workers were obviously still somewhat in shock while we were there that day. A few Ate's came in to pick a last outfit for the baby to wear. Mondo had club foot, which he had just gotten surgery for. He also had a cleft pallet, so when he smiled his upper lip would spread out and we'd all smile. He was a very cute little baby and I didn't want to let his memory slip away without at the very least writing about him.

... may it be a sweet, sweet sound in your ear.

Basketball is huge at frontline! I've never met so many people in one place who love basketball so much. It was fun! We got to watch a lot of games and we ended up playing a lot of volleyball too.

Now that I'm home, (Cainta home) I regret not having written another blog while I was there, because of how much would happen in just one day. Now I feel like I couldn't possibly remember everything.

The highlights were visiting FTC, (face the children) which is a compound set aside specifically for kids who have lost their parents or been picked up off the streets and brought to safety. Some of their stories are really amazing, and heartbreaking. But God is good and he brings restoration. We also went to a prison in San Pablo city and I was blessed to take part in worship with a group of the convicts. They've been saved by God's grace, and in turn give their praise to him. Talk about inspiring... you can't know what that's like until you're there- listening to prisoners sing "how great is our God". I could cry right now just thinking about it. I can't wait to show my friends and family some of the photos I took and the video footage Dani and Matt got. Dani is putting together what's turning out to be almost a full length film haha. And it's wonderfully done, so I'm excited to show everyone. The day after the prison ministry we went to a hospital and prayed for the patients. We went to the third floor and mostly stuck with pediatrics. There was one baby there, born roughly 5 months premature. This baby had already been out of the womb for over a month but she looked... well. I can't explain how she looked. She was in an incubator or anything, she was just laid on a hospital bed with a blanket placed over her tiny little body so only her face showed. Her name is Angel, and her twin died only a week before we visited. I still pray for that baby, and for her poor Dad who sat so faithfully at her side. I can't imagine what thoughts and pleas are going through his mind. What is that like?

Perhaps one of the most impacting moments I've had during this whole trip was when we visited a dumpsite where a large group of people are living. They collect different things from the rubbish, like coils, or plastics, glass, whatever they can find of any value I guess. And even children will do this, which I don't need to say is incredibly dangerous. We visited some families that come to one of Frontline's churches. Our time of fellowship with them was really good. The pastor just goes in to check up on them and bring encouragement, and remind them to come on sunday. I still haven't sorted out exactly how terrible the living conditions were, especially with all the hazards. But again, it goes without saying that this is not an ideal way to live and bring up children. I've got some pictures that I look forward to sharing. Maybe I'll make up a slideshow or a video and show some churches. It needs to be known that our brothers and sisters are living this way. And that babies are growing up in trash. I can't talk more about that right now.

San Pablo was beautiful, but I'm glad to be back in Cainta too. I'm pretty sure that as a team we agree- it's good to be home. Anyway, it's time for me to find something productive to do lol. Maybe see if I can help make dinner or read some more bible. Right now I'm in Genesis, I'm in chapter 17 when God declares circumcision as a symbol of the covenant between Him and Abraham. How funny is our God that of all places he could have chosen to cut skin, it had to be the willy? Haha. I just find that humorous. But then He's also the God who made bunnies and sea horses so I can't really be too surprised can I? He does lots of crazy things lol.

Be strengthened and encouraged- take heart, for He has overcome the world! Amen!

love, ang (angle/little guy/naan bread/lobby the lobster)
haha, i've got a few nicknames these days.

my redeemer LIVES

These past few days have been hard to describe! I'll start at friday, which ended up being one of the craziest nights of my life.

Our schedule said to wake up at 6 for devotions, so we did- only to find that devotions were cancelled. So we had one of our own. We went through Romans 8 and though I didn't know it at the time, it was good preparation for the rest of the day. We went back to bed for a nap, had lunch, and got picked up in the afternoon for what we thought was an outreach to Palakpakin. Not the case. Everyone except us seemed to know that we were going to climb a mountain that day and enter into an intense spiritual atmosphere.

We quickly learned that during Holy Week (easter and all that), mass amounts of people flock to this one mountain in the Delores area of San Pablo. These people climb the mountain, some to a place called Little Jerusalem and take part in rituals, sacrifices, prayer and worship of all kinds of gods/religions. Basically it's a giant melting pot of spiritual forces that have existed in that place since long before our parents were thought of, let alone born. This is also a mountain where higher up, crucifixions still take place. So basically its crazy right.

We prayed before getting into the van and leaving the compound. At this point, I still really didn't know what was going on. We drove a ways, then walked for a bit, handing out flyers, if you can call them that. They are little sheets of paper with information on sin, confession, salvation, etc. Then we drove some more and finally, a couple hours later, started to climb this beautiful, beautiful mountain. The climb was FUN. Having grown up with ravine in my backyard I hiked a lot as a kid and since I've been here I never realized how much I miss it. We didn't get all the way to the top, because we'd spent too much time elsewhere. So with the sun about to set in two hours time, we gathered together at Little Jerusalem. A group of people (who wear catholic bracelets coupled with occult gowns) allowed us to hang out where they were camped for the week. We chatted with a few of them and prayed, then when the sun was pretty much down, we ate some bread and prepared for our program. This group of evangelists from Frontline are experienced in this business, where I was quite uncertain and out of my comfort bubble- the demon worship going on all around me didn't help either. Anyway, the Pastor introduced us and shared a bit of what we were doing there. Then Taylor and I gave our testimonies, followed by some clips from the Jesus movie. Right in the middle of our presentation we had to stop the movie, because at whatever time it was, the catholic-cult people had to have their prayer time. So they got around and literally worshipped the mountain. I probably don't need to say that everything about it felt wrong and weird and bad. Anyway, the program resumed and we finished our movie. Then we asked for people to come up and receive prayer if they were in need of healing or wished to be saved. I had the privlege of praying for three people and with the help of Jonah, led one man to be saved. It was awesome! Two of the cult women were healed that night as well, praise God. Haha... though, after they'd been healed they went right back to their demon worship. Oh well lol what can you do?

After all that, our other activities seem mundane to write about haha. But our worship this morning in church was fantastic! Filipinos can really teach North Americans a lot about praise. We woke up for breakfast at 5:00 and got to the church for 6:00- it was so early because every easter sunday they have a sunrise service. It was a sweet, sweet service with the ordaining of three new ministers and a sermon about what Jesus really meant when he said "it is finished." "Tapos na."

Okay now I'm finished with the blog. Time to watch some old men play basketball! Haha.

God bless, I love you guys!!

Angela.