Philippines

Wednesday 4^th September.  The bus from Baguio left on time with everyone falling asleep, which was a relief as I really didn’t want too much stimulation at 4am.  I pulled my cardigan across my eyes, rearranged my pillow and tried to snooze. I think I dozed off and on before waking around 5:30am, when I drank my water (didn’t want to get dehydrated in the air conditioning).  Then at 7am I ate my prepared breakfast and of course, being oats, it soon had the diuretic effect on the water I had drunk earlier.  Thankfully there was an on-board toilet, as this was a non-stop bus (except for when the driver needed to relieve himself and pulled over on the side of the road).

I enjoyed watching the first light change the colours of the fields as we zoomed down the highway.  They looked like rice or some kind of grain fields.  We passed small villages and towns before entering the hustle and bustle of Manila.  I was quite surprised how quickly we travelled.  The bus didn’t need to stop at the tolls, as we had on the way up in a private van, as it had an electric tag.  So no long queues holding us up.

Once in Manila, there was one stop at the bus station before dropping us off at Terminal 1 around 10am.  I entered the terminal to ask for directions for the airport circuit bus.  Being misunderstood, I headed off to the transfer bus where I was told I needed to go to Bay 6 for the public airport circuit bus.  The transfer bus was only for those arriving and needing a transfer between flights to either domestic or international terminals.  I asked which GATE do I exit from but again was told Bay 6.  Ok first walk back to all the exit gates and then ask.  One of the guards at GATE 1 said I go outside and walk down till I get to Bay 6, I said I’d like to walk inside in the air conditioning as it wasn’t so hot, he then directed me towards GATE 4.  Thank you!

I found Bay 6, where I was shown which bus to board, indicating I should take my case on the bus with me.  I was the first on so chose to sat up front where there was space in front of me for suitcases and bags.  The bus took some time before it was full but I wasn’t in a hurry as my flight was at 3:20pm arriving in Cebu at 4:35pm.  An older American man and his young Pilipino wife and daughter also boarded the bus.  He wouldn’t stop asking where the driver was and when will the bus leave, does the bus have a driver?  I was getting a bit annoyed, then I realised he should have taken the transfer transport, as they had only just arrived in Manila. Unfortunately by this time the driver had arrived and taken his fare.  Terminal 2 was of course the last terminal on the bus route.

I found the Philippine airline counter to book in my bag and was told it was too heavy by 4 kg!  Domestic travel you are only given 10kg baggage allowance and 7 carryon luggage.  Deli had suggested asking to weigh them together but this was not permitted.  The attendants suggested I rearrange the load and take more on as hand luggage.  Praise God I had brought a small shopping bag with me which I loaded with all my breakfast cereal, nuts and seeds as well as my sandals and anything heavy I could find in my case.  The case passed with 11kg.  Praise the Lord!  My hand luggage was also given a tag of approval before I was given my boarding pass. What a relief.

After passing through the guard points, I made myself comfortable while waiting for the flight.  I sat chatting to a lady who had helped me when my watch band snapped at the first check point while trying to get all my things onto the scanning belt.  She had just come back from the Middle East where she worked.  It was a lovely way to fill in our time while waiting.  Then just before boarding there was an announcement that our boarding gate had changed and I had to walk to the other end of the terminal.  We didn’t have long before we boarded a bus that took us to the plane.

I had an aisle seat so was unable to look out the window at the islands below, although as it was really quite cloudy, I don’t think there was much to see.  Mindy had messaged me while I was at the airport to ask if it was today I was arriving.  Somehow she thought it was tomorrow.  I had intended to message her but she had beaten me to it.  I reassured her it was today.  She said she would be a little late, around 5:30, after picking up the children from school.  Again I was in no hurry and anyway leaving without her wasn’t an option as I had no idea where I was going!

When I arrived in Cebu, I repacked my suitcase so that there was less to carry and waited.

It was lovely to see Mindy again.  I’d seen her once in Geelong after her trip to Thailand in 1992 but since then we hadn’t really kept in touch except through Facebook.  She hadn’t changed much at all other than she now had two children.  Her husband, Sam, was away with work commitments in the US, returning that Sunday.  After picking me up, we stopped at a Vietnamese restaurant for Pho, which everyone enjoyed.  Then home to the 12 floor of their condominium on the hill.  I love how a simple flat can have so many names.  I think condominium is one of the fancier names.  This one had 3 bedrooms, one with an ensuite, another bathroom with shower, toilet and a sink, a veranda off the lounge and dining area and kitchen opening onto a back veranda/come laundry with another toilet/shower room and spare room for a maid.  Mindy’s son, Benj, kindly gave up his room for me to stay.  Mindy reassured me that he preferred sleeping on the sofa bed in their room.  I was relieved they all went to bed early as I was exhausted.

The weekday schedule for Mindy and the family started around 6am; fortunately I was usually up before then, I even started doing my exercises but not jogging, I don’t like to jog on cement, which has been my only option since leaving home.  By 7am we were all out the door in the car being driven by Jeffrey via the school to drop the kids off, then to the office in Cebu central.  Mindy and Sam have established Renewsiya, a successful IT business, which trains people who have been exploited due to sexual abuse or trafficking.  After being trained, they join the team on the floor, who work on projects from companies from all over the world who outsource to businesses like these.  This one of course being different in that they are giving work to those rescued from exploitation and abuse.

Mindy is a GP and part of her job is to visit some of the rescue homes on a regular basis to hold clinics.  During my time here she asked if I would hold three sessions on parenting. There were 4 people who had shown an interest and put their names down to attend but on the day 20 men and women showed up and returned the following two days.  This was very encouraging as it was a voluntary lunchtime activity.  Mindy asked that I cover things like; children’s basic daily routines, age appropriate play, positive discipline and common behavioural issues. I also printed a few handouts and made a very simple toy everyone could make from an empty water bottle.  The feedback from the supervisor was very positive.

Mindy has also started a toy and book library, which she is setting up for staff.  I was asked to help get things ready by covering the books, and putting toys and puzzles into Ziploc bags with labels. I was able to show the staff some of the toys during our talk.  Part of my weekday routine was a coffee break at Ayala Mall, where the staff soon welcomed me by name.  Unfortunately one morning their coffee machine was being repaired so I went to another coffee shop which wasn’t so nice.  I don’t like hot coffee but this one was far too cold!  Some days I shopped at the Metro supermarket, even here one of the checkout girls remembered me.  When using your credit card you are often asked to show some identification, as card stealing is rife.  On this occasion, when I came to the checkout, the attendant said not to worry as she remembered me from before.  Nice to be known by those who serve you.

This, the second leg of my journey, turned out to be a longer stay in Cebu than originally planned.  From the very beginning, my plan was to stay two weeks with my friends in Phuket, Thailand, with a stopover in Singapore and Malaysian on route.  I had never really thought of visiting the Philippines until Mindy said she would love me to come over.  With my Phuket friends needing to return to Australia, I tried finding something else I could do during this time.  After lots of inquiries I decided the better thing to do was to limit my stay to 6 nights.

Mindy was delighted I could stay longer, which was a blessing.  I’d have more time to get involved and see what she and other NGO’s do here in Cebu.

The first two Sundays we attended the Cebu Vineyard Church, which was planted by Jacky Pullenger’s church from Hong Kong.  I felt quite at home amongst fellow Pentecostals. There was a lovely presence of God at both worship services, and it was a good message too.

The second Monday of my stay, I was invited to join the Vineyard leaders meeting.  Again the presence of God was tangible, followed by prayer for one another.  We then broke up into small groups and went into the nearby Carreta slums to minister.  This slum was built upon the old graveyard which had tragically caught fire and burned down November 2016.  Prior to being destroyed, it was a squalor, festering with all sorts of pests and diseases.  The government has since allowed the squatters to build more permanent homes, after families exhumed the remains of those in the graves.

Our group visited a church member to pray and encourage the family.  We also sat with some older women, one of whom had worked for 9 years in New Zealand.  She was 78yrs old, alone without family, now that her ex-husband had passed away, leaving her without children to care for her as she grew old.  Praise God for the church family around her.

Back to the church for lunch together, then I was dropped at Ayala, where I sat in the air conditioning enjoying my cappuccino before enquiring about Jeepneys to take me back to the condo.  This was quite an adventure, as I knew even asking someone for directions I would have to check they were correct.  I found the first directions from the information desk at Ayala took me sort of in the right direction, but with the wrong destination, which didn’t exist, ‘Olympic Hotel’ instead of Olympic Park. I asked a security guard checking the bags of those entering Ayala and he asked on his two-way radio, but no one knew.  I then asked a passing American, then an Australian who said he worked in Cebu.  He googled the hotel for me, this was when we found out it was a business park. I heading in the right direction asked three more bystanders and eventually found a Jeepney parking lot similar to a bus station. I had been given a number of the Jeepney going part of the way, checking whether this was correct, I found it was not 03Q but 04M.  Who knows where I would have ended up!  I joined the queue, waiting with black diesel fumes spewing from waiting and passing vehicles.  It cost me around 22 Aust cents to get to my first stop, JY, where I wandered around for a look and toilet stop, then another 8 pesos up the hill to the condo in Lahug. I was very happy with my endeavours!

Another invitation to see more of Cebu came from a connection I had made before leaving Perth.   I met a Pilipino at the Regis Residential home, who once she knew I was going to Cebu, gave me her Aunty Evelyn’s contact details.  I contacted Evelyn not long after arriving and arranged to meet the second week to visit her church and go with her into the slums where they had an outreach with underprivileged, exploited mothers.  I waited for Evelyn and her sister at my favourite coffee shop, together we went to a luncheon put on by a church member and his business partner, who were celebrating a business venture.  I felt very blessed to join them as it was a buffet feast!  I enjoyed a taste of many local dishes.  When helping myself to some of the desserts, one of the chefs asked me to wait five minutes as he was baking a fresh batch and would bring them to our table especially for me.  After our lunch we visited Evelyn’s church, ‘Christ Forever Glorified Assembly’, to meet her Mum.  By this time it was getting a little late to go to the slums and instead I was dropped at the condo.

We tried to arrange going again on Saturday morning, but Evelyn had to fly to Manila and wasn’t home in time.  We tried again for the Sunday afternoon but Mindy’s family and I were invited to dinner at another Australian missionary’s home.  On Sundays the family are without their driver, so everything is done by local taxi, which when they see where we live and the colour of our skin, apply what I call ‘White tax’.  Praise the Lord nothing like this applies in Australia!  It truly is shameful! Anyway the taxi dropped us at the home of their English friend’s, Alex and Jo, where we were given a lift in their commuter van.  It was a lovely evening of fellowship for the children as well as the adults.  From here Alex dropped his family home before driving us back to the condo.  We were very grateful as it was getting late.

This Tuesday 17^th of September I decided to stay home to get this blog up-to-date, do some washing, watch a series I had been binge watching from the library at home and which I couldn’t get series 4 for at least 18 months, due to the long waiting list.  Praise the Lord, Sam enabled me to use their Netflix.

I’ll have been in Cebu 2 weeks tomorrow and should have been leaving for Phuket. It’s amazing how quickly things can change.  This last week I’m sure holds the potential for still more exploration and adventures.  Let’s see where the Lord takes me.

Photos:   1. Frangipani      2. Fields from bus to Manila      3. Mindy, kids and me eating out      4. IT office      5. Parenting class      6. Mindy and my treat, cheese cake and coffee      7. Carreta rebuilt      8. Evelyn at the feast      9. View from City Lights Condominium 

Prayer & Praise Points:
Praise the Lord for my time here in Cebu which is turning out to be very interesting in many ways.

Please continue to pray for the Lord’s protection, leading and guidance during my stay in the Philippines and as I fly out to Phuket, Thailand and Malaysia in the coming weeks.

Pray the Lord will continue to watch over me and keep me safe from sickness and disease, for good weather as I travel around during the wet season.

Please continue to pray for open doors and open hearts as I travel.  Pray the Lord will provide many opportunities to speak about the mystery of Christ during my time in the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia.  (Col 4:3)

I’m still believing for the Lord’s guidance for accommodation and ministry opportunities in Phuket and Malaysia.  I’m confident He will lead me as I look to Him for guidance.

Please keep Patrick in your prayers as he ministers with hymns and Gospel songs at Regis Residential Centre.  Pray that more helpers will join him between 2-3 pm on Sunday 22 September.

Please continue to pray for the salvation of my three sisters, Tricia, Jen and Kat and especially for reconciliation and forgiveness between Tricia and the rest of us.

Thank you for your prayers for the business, Senior’s Benefits and Rewards.  It continues to proceed, although there have been a few hiccups.  The trademark application is going ahead, as is Grace, who is working on a map for the location of our business partners.  Grace will soon be starting the app trial with seniors and coffee shops she knows in Sydney.  Please continue to pray for the success of our venture.

Thank you to all my supportive friends and prayer partners; it’s reassuring and encouraging to know you are all standing with me.