Waiting

I don't quite know how to kick off this post, so I'll just jump straight in! The good news is that I am feeling a lot better than I did last week and definitely a lot less tired!! I last posted on Wednesday, when I said that I was going to be helping with the Tondo youth service that evening. However, it rained! And when it rains in Tondo, it means that the church and many of the homes get flooded, and a lot of things are unable to happen, including the youth service. It was a shame because I was really looking forward to going, but it did mean that in essence I got 3 days off last week which I definitely needed!

The church is still flooded, as you will see from pictures later on in the post.

Thursday was my first day of helping in the school so I didn't quite know what to expect! When I got there, Grace (the principal) asked me if I'd mind helping them sort the library so of course I said I didn't mind. Basically, the school is being inspected some time this week, and they will fail the inspection unless the library is put in order and classified! I don't think they'd had any sort of classification system beforehand so it was quite a big job. This is what it looked like when I started:

At first I was on my own, but soon some youth from the church of the librarian and her brother came to help.

At 11.30 it was lunch time (?!) so I went to the cantine and bought myself a portion of whatever the children were having. Today it happened to be rice (well it's rice every day!) with some sort of tuna/mungo bean based dish. Although it looks a fairly small portion of rice, believe me it's not!! At first I couldn't finish it all, but by the second day I could...

While I was just finishing, Jane Walker (the founder of PCF) happened to walk past my table so she stopped and said Hello. I was glad I was able to see her while I was here, and she even gave me a tour of the school after lunch, as I hadn't really seen much of it properly.

Livelihood - making the products that we sell in UK!

Grace with some of the children

Jane and Marilyn (one of the teachers)

After the tour, I had roughly 30mins left before I was being picked up, so I went back and helped in the library again.

On Friday I was volunteering at the school again, but this time I did spend all day in the library - mainly sitting down and sticking masking tape to the spines of the books! Oh, and lunch was rice with some chicken thing in a liquidy thing with leafy things! Here's a picture as I'm not sure my description is very accurate ;-):

And some lovely children who came and sat with me!

At 3pm I was meant to be picked up by Brenda to take me to Navotas to do the teaching I missed on Tuesday, however she got caught in traffic and didn't arrive until 4, by which time it had been decided that I would travel to Navotas in the school bus (nothing like what we know as 'school bus' here!) with Brenda's Mum. It was all a bit complicated, but, in the end, I did end up going by the school bus, and Maureen and Brenda went by jeepney or some other form of public transport! I arrived in Navotas by 4.40, and again had to wait again because Brenda wasn't there yet, and neither were the other two I was meant to be teaching! I'm getting better at this waiting without knowing how long people are going to be or things will take, but it is hard! I think I started teaching at around 5.30-7 and then we drove home to Malate.

Donna, with Brenda

Lisa demonstrating! (from the left: Rafelyn, Brenda, Donna)

Me teaching Rafee

Lesson finished so Maureen played Chopsticks!

One of my other two Navotas students - Christine

And the other one - Maryann!

On Saturday, the effect of the rain was very evident on my schedule! We were helping with the feeding in the morning, but instead of having the children come in and sing a few songs before sitting down to eat, we had to bag everything up and give it out at the gates. The church was under probably about 6” of water.

Some of the women dishing the food into the bags

Tess cooking the meat

The children waiting at the door!

The gates of the building - outside you can see the rubbish and where the kids live

On their way home from getting their food

In the afternoon, I went to Ortigas (Ron and Joanna's) to teach the Tondo girls – again because the church was too flooded to teach there.

Sunday started very similarly to Saturday, with helping with the feeding at the church and again having to bag it up and give it out at the door. At 11 however, I had the blessing of being able to visit baby Jemar. Almost a year ago, newborn Jemar was abandoned by his mother who was trying to sell him. Joanna asked in one of the PCF church newsletters if there would be anyone willing to sponsor him and pay for his milk every week. I couldn't bear to think of him being abandoned with nobody to care for him, so I offered to pay for his milk, although I could only afford half of it. My Mum pays the other half. It turned out in the end that his Mum did want him, she just couldn't think of having to feed another mouth. With someone paying for his feed, she gladly welcomed him back! So yesterday I was able to take them this month's milk and see them for myself. He is almost a year old now and a lot healthier looking! And it was a nice surprise to find out that his Mum is also called Lisa :-)

Lisa and baby Jemar!

They live in a part of the dumpsite where the air is always polluted from the smoke of  making charcoal

Jemar and his Mum!

To get to their 'house', we had to walk right across to the other side of the dumpsite – so I was able to see even more the huge mass of poverty that there is here. These people aren't poor. They're more than that – the poorest of the poor! And it is heartbreaking to see the squalor that they're living in. I really commend PCF and the PCF church for the work they're doing here – it's amazing. I know some of you reading this know a lot about the work they do, but some of you don't know much, if anything at all! So I really would urge you to look at the PCF website (www.p-c-f.org) and to find out more of what they're doing, and I am happy to answer any questions if you want to know more.

After visiting the dumpsite and seeing Jemar and his family, I went to Navotas to teach and help with the kids church. I arrived quite early however (12.15) and before they had had lunch. But being the lovely people they are, they welcomed me in and gave me some of what they were eating (rice and some pork dish called adobo! - very nice http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobo_(Filipino_cuisine)). That's one thing that I do like about this culture, everyone is so welcoming. When you go to the supermarket for example, they are so much more helpful than any shop assistant is in England! Maureen, when she first arrived here, had a lot of things to buy, and most of the shop assistants brought it all the way home for her, and even made up the things like the wardrobe and the fan in the condo!

After teaching I helped a little at the kids church before coming home and having a relaxing evening in the condo, as well as paying a visit to the mall to get a few things, and treating myself to a dinner at Burger King. Eating out over here is very cheap compared to home!

Today I have definitely needed my day off, and I have been quite tired today, but I feel ready to work again tomorrow and I am so grateful to God that I have more energy than last week! “Those who wait on the Lord will rise up on wings like eagles”. I feel like I have been doing a lot of waiting this last week, and the Filipino culture is very different to home – the word 'hurry' doesn't exist in their vocabulary! But, however much I get annoyed sometimes, I think it has been very good for me to stop and slow down. We can get into the 'quick quick quick' mindset so easily, that we can forget to take notice of the important things in life, and in fact I feel a lot closer to God when I am taking things at a slower pace. So that has definitely been my challenge this week!

And finally, the icecream from last week's post! Many people had a go at guessing, in many different places across the wide web, but I don't think anyone got all 4 correct! Here is what they are: chocolate with nuts and marshmallows (this was the .5 for those who just guessed chocolate ;-)), cheese, ube (some sort of purple root vegetable! Sorry this was a very hard one for those who've never heard of it ;-)) and strawberry! Surprisingly, the only one I didn't like was the chocolate!

Here's the picture again:

And a new challenge! These are yoghurts. And this time I'll give a clue - 2 of them are 'normal', 2 aren't!

So that's it from Lisa today! More will come later in the week...


EDIT: About the yoghurts, I meant they aren't normal FLAVOURS, for those who are getting confused!

First Week!

Sorry it's been a while since I updated this! So be prepared for a very long post! :P As many of you know, I've been very tired (and still am) and also a bit homesick.

On Thursday as I mentioned, I went to Ron and Joanna's for lunch and got given my schedule. On the way back it absolutely tipped it down with rain – I had never seen so much fall all at once! It honestly was like a river running down the window pane. It was warm rain though so it was actually very refreshing to walk through! Then when I got back I went shopping with Maureen to get a few things like towels that I hadn't brought with me.

On Friday Maureen and I went to help at the New School where they had a dental mission. The children got looked at by one of the army people to decide what needed doing, and then joined a queue for either 'extraction' or 'filling'. Then at 10am we were taken on a tour of the PCF sites in Navotas (the cemetery) and the Smokey Mountain dumpsite. After that we returned to the Condo as I had started to get very tired. I spent the evening replying to emails and talking to my family on Skype!

PCF Water Filter Station on Smokey Mountain

Birthing Clinic

One of the 3 toilet blocks that PCF has set up on the dump

I was very surprised to see a snooker table, but it makes sense. The people are wonderfully resourceful and try to repair everything that comes in in the trash, so there were even TVs etc. that they had managed to repair and could then use to earn a bit of an income!

Flies!!

I just love their smiles. And they are ALWAYS smiling!

One of the trucks

This is in Navotas now. A lot of the houses are built over the river. It's scary to see such young children walking about - it really is not safe at all, yet that is where they live!

Dogs and animals of all sorts were a common sight

The graves and coffins that they are living around

Saturday started with us helping with the feeding in Tondo. The children sat in the main room and sung a few songs and prayed before going through in batches to the dining room to be fed. It is so lovely and warming to the heart to see little children of all ages worshipping! Especially considering the conditions they live in, yet they always greet you with a smile and a wave and a big 'Hello'! That's what makes this work worthwhile. By 11am we had finished helping with that, and Maureen had gone home to rest, so I sat down and waited for the youth to come, as we were leaving at 12.30 to go to Ron and Joanna's for a fun and fellowship day.

I had my first experience of Filipino time and travel though, and there were many complications with the different transport they were trying to use, ending in us not being picked up until 4pm! It was quite a challenge as we were stood in the boiling heat by the side of the road for at least 3 of the 5 hours, and although the youth are lovely and do their best to make me feel welcome, they don't speak very good English (some better than others) and for the most part were talking in Tagalog between themselves. Plus, if you know me, you know that I can't stand up for any length of time without getting very tired very quickly! Still, the transport did arrive and by 5pm we were at Ron and Joanna's.

We had a lovely evening. The youth swam in the pool while we (Ron, Joanna and I) watched and then later on Ron got out his guitar and we sung a few songs. We left theirs at 10.30, and so I didn't get back until 11.30pm.

Joanna, and some of the youth!

Any guesses for the flavours of this icecream?

A lovely young girl called Andrea. She is very sweet and welcoming!

Sunday I had a very busy day! We went to Tondo in time for 9 (which means leaving the condo at 8) and then I was playing the flute in the Worship Group. It was really nice to be able to play the flute again, although it was strangely different and I think the heat definitely affects how I need to play!! (sorry if that last sentence doesn't make any sense ;-)). Then I was helping with Rosemae's Sunday School class aged 7-8. Again, it was all in Tagalog and the children didn't understand a word of English, but it was still fun. After that it was time to help with feeding again. PCF church do this feeding 3 times a week, and it is vital for the children who will almost definitely not get enough food at home. They are praying about developments to be able to feed the children every day, so watch this space!

After feeding, I quickly had a bowl of whatever it was they were eating, before driving to Navotas. In Navotas I taught piano for 2 hours which was a challenge not knowing how much English they could actually understand! They seemed to enjoy it though and they did really well. At 3pm I then helped with the Kids' Church in Navotas, and also helped in another Sunday School aged 4-6! By this point I was very tired, and starting to get a migrainey headache/sickness. At 5pm, the lovely Navotas girls who had run the kids church had invited me for some time out at the mall. I rode in a jeepney on the way there which was an interesting experience! I couldn't sit up straight, because I would bang my head on the ceiling! :-)

At the mall we looked around a few stalls, and a few of the girls bought some things, and then we went and did some karaoke (!!). I enjoyed it because the girls all have amazing voices and are wonderful to listen to, but I already had a headache, and it did just make it worse. We got back to the Navotas Church at 9 and then I was able to take some Paracetamol. So by the time I arrived back at Malate (9.40) I fortunately no longer felt ill, but instead I felt very weak and almost fainted quite a few times! Fortunately Maureen had saved me some of the food she had cooked for herself, and once I had got that inside of me I felt a lot better. And then I stayed up 'til the wee hours of the morning talking to lovely people on Facebook! :-)

Christine, Donna and Maryann on the way to the mall in the jeepney!

Me with my lovely wellies that everyone keeps making fun of ;) and Rafee and Brenda

Monday was my day off anyway, so I just spent it around the condo doing various jobs and replying to emails etc. Tuesday I was meant to be working, but I was still very tired so I just slept for most of the day, getting up in the evening to have some food and watch television with Maureen. Then I read before sleeping again. Today I should have been going in at 3pm, but Joanna suggested I miss out the teaching and just go for the youth service this evening, so I will be leaving at 5pm and hopefully getting back no later than 9.

For those who pray, please pray that I will get over this tiredness soon! I think it's a combination of accumulated tiredness over the last 7 hectic months, tiredness from culture change and the heat (!) and the jet lag. But it means that I am not really enjoying anything at the moment, because I'm just thinking about when I can next sleep. And it just augments the homesickness as well, because I am longing to have a proper night's sleep in my comfy bed at home!

Tomorrow and the next day I am helping at the PCF school, and I have no idea what I'll be doing there, but that will be from 9am-4pm. I will try and update this a little more regularly as I'm getting a little bit more into the routine of life here.

One book that I am reading at the moment that I am finding VERY helpful is 'Hinds' feet on High Places' by Hannah Hurnard. I read a chapter every day and it always has very relevant comments that speak right into my situation (sorry can't think of an alternative word right now! ;-)) and how I'm feeling at that precise moment. Yesterday, one sentence that stuck out at me was “Upheld by the Shepherd's hand and supported by His strength, she had been unconscious of either tiredness or weakness”. I am praying that I will be able to hold on to God through this very challenging time, but I know that He knows what He is doing, and He has plans for me here, even if I can't see them! And even when “I'm not holding onto Him, He is holding onto me.”.

And I really can't thank everyone enough! Those people who have messaged me or talked to me just when I needed it, you know who you are! And those people who have written me letters and sent texts or put notes in a brown envelope, thank you! God has used so many people to help me through this last week, and I know he will continue to be there for me, through everything.

Prayer please

Just a quick note with a few prayer requests.

I'm really struggling to adjust to the culture here and I'm absolutely exhausted....tomorrow will be my day off so I'm hoping to get rested up to be able to face the coming week. At the moment I can't! And I will also try to do a more interesting blog post with pictures and possibly videos and more details of what I'm doing here!

And thank you everyone for the support :-)

First Thoughts

Okay, so I have now been in the Philippines for 17hrs...! So far, I have loved everything and I am really enjoying seeing the different culture. I feel right at home here.

So, the journey.

I left home at 10am on Tuesday and then flew from Birmingham at 2.15pm. First flight was lots of fun - it was my first flight since I went to Brazil aged 3 so I had great fun working out what all the little buttons did ;-). I then got into Dubai at 12.20am and as my next flight wasn't until 3.45am I went to Costa (using a mixture of American Dollars and United Arab Emirates Dirhams as currency!!) and bought a drink and talked to people on Facebook/Twitter. Then went to next flight which was also fun although I accidently fell asleep, therefore missing breakfast and then getting extremely hungry as they didn't serve lunch until 2pm!!

I got into Manila airport at 16.30 and by the time I had been through customs etc. etc. it was 17.20. I had stupidly not re-read the instructions I had on what to do when I got out of the airport, so I just sat and waited in the 'passenger's waiting area [sic]'. I also didn't have Maureen (the lady who was picking me up, and the lady who I am staying with)'s details so I just sat and waited. And waited.

Eventually the guards helped us find each other, I think it was around 18.40. But while I was waiting, in a completely foreign country with no details of anyone and no idea how long I was going to be there for (!), God filled me with a sense of peace. I wasn't worried. God wasn't going to have brought me that far only to have me stranded at the airport. I am usually a very impatient person when it comes to just sitting around and doing nothing, but I surprised myself in being able to sit on my suitcase and just sit. Just enjoy the culture and absorb it all in (not to mention the heat!).

God has answered so many prayers in the last few days - I can't stop thanking Him.

Today I have got a light day - just spending a few hours with Ron and Joanna and then I'll probably go shopping for stuff with Maureen this evening.

For those of you who pray, if you could pray that the jet lag isn't too bad (so far I haven't felt anything, Praise God!) and also that my camera will be miraculously fixed, I would much appreciate it!

Also, I just wanted to say a massive THANK YOU to everyone who has emailed/messaged/texted me etc. letting me know that you are praying for me and thinking of me...it has really kept me going :-) and I will try my hardest to reply to them all asap! xx

"I leave you peace; my peace I give you. I do not give it to you as the world does. So don't let your hearts be troubled or afraid."
--John 14:27

Arrived!!

A VERY quick note as it is gone midnight now and I really ought to get some sleep....

I have arrived in the Philippines safely and I'm really enjoying everything so far! More to come tomorrow... :-)