Banaue

One way Youth Mobilization mobilizes youth is by taking Filipino youth on a short term exposure trip to another location in the Philippines and have them serve. So two weeks ago our team led a group of 10 Filipino youth on a 5-day mission trip to an orphanage in Banaue, Philippines. Banaue is famous for its beautiful 2,000 year-old rice terraces. Banaue is located in the mountains of Northern Philippines, about a 10 hour drive North of Manila. We held a vacation bible school (VBS) program and a daily feeding for the children of the surrounding area, totaling 75 children in all. We held the VBS at one of the local churches of Banaue, which is located on top of a small rice terrace in the town, overlooking the beautiful valley of rice terraces. None of the youth had ever served on any sort of mission trip before and some of them have not even had a chance to serve in their church at all.

Going here gave the youth a cross culture experience without even leaving the Philippines. The children spoke a different dialect than the youth so the common language was usually English. It was awesome to see them take charge of the daily lessons and activities and pour their love on the kids. We really believe that as these youth took a step of faith and stepped out of their comfort zone, their relationship with the Lord was challenged, stretched and strengthened. Our goal going into the trip was that the lives of both the children and the youth would be changed as a result of the work done. One of the nights we were showed a movie about the life of Jesus at the orphanage and invited everyone from the community. Many people came and at the end Greg closed the night by asking if anyone wanted to give their life to Jesus and many children and adults responded. We praise God for using us and our team to minister in Banaue. YM is looking forward to further opportunities to serve with the orphanage and the church. After the VBS was completed we had a recreational day where we took a jeepney ride to Batad, the next town over, and hiked the rice terraces in that area.

Kids Stuff !!

It’s been a busy month since our last newsletter at the end of March. As we mentioned back then, YM (Youth Mobilization) was hosting a team from Emmanuel Bible College (EBC). We were very involved with this team by taking them to different ministries and showing them around. We assisted EBC with a DVBS (Daily Vacation Bible School) located in Tondo, which is an urban poor area of Manila. This area is known for being very dangerous because of the gang activity. Because of this the church members were our shadows everywhere we went. We slept at the church which is right in the community for one night. The pastor told Greg that nobody attacked us because they knew that we were Christians. Praise God for His protection! The DVBS was held in two different churches simultaneously with over 200 children total. EBC lead the DVBS again with the same theme as what was done in the tribe at the end of March. This was “The Quest for the Kingdom.” A week after the DVBS, YM assisted the churches in this same community with their first ever evangelistic concert. Through songs, presentations, and an evangelistic message many people surrendered their life to Christ. Please continue to pray for breakthrough in this community.

Some of the kids

Crafts

Greg with some of the youth from the church

Us, some of the Volunteers and EBC at graduation

Also while EBC was here we held another hygiene clinic with a new partner church located in yet another very poor area of Manila. At the clinic 100 more children received haircuts, nail cuts, showers, a healthy snack, and a hygiene kit with contents of a toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, and soap. We also had a paediatrician teach the parents on proper hygiene and nutrition.

Greg on ear cleaning duty. The dirt and smells that come out of their ears is unbelievable.

The area the hygiene clinic was held. So many of the rivers here look like this.

Another Climb - Mt. Daguldol

Here are some pictures of another mountain climb we did. This time we camped over night on the summit. The mountain is a couple hours south of manila right by the ocean. It was beautiful!!

The Summit

The Summit and our small tent that we can barely stretch out in....but hey, it's light!

Greg and Andy cooking beans for supper.....Yummy!!!

The Ocean next to the mountain

Refreshing 'Halo Halo' after our climb down

The Kids In The Mountains

Here are some pictures of the dvbs we held for a village in the mountains. We wrote about it in our newsletter but we have so many awesome pictures that we want to share.

Hiking!

Several weeks ago we had a chance to get out of the city with some friends. We drove about 2hrs south of Manila and hiked Mt. Makiling. The second picture to the left is of the mud spring. It stank like rotten eggs and you can see in the picture the steam because it was so hot. Yes, the picture below is Greg thinking he's Tarzan and swinging from a vine.

The New Drop in Center

These are some of the youth and kids who will benefit from the drop in center. At the center meals will be provided, they can shower, they will be taught more from the word of God, and it will be a safe environment for them to hang out in.

Our work day cleaning the new drop in center...and...Showing off our muscles

Our first fellowship at the drop in center

The Craziest Field Trip Ever

Our team made an awesome connection with a Christian school for squatter kids in February. We wanted to help the school out and bless the children with a field trip. So back in March we boarded 60 very excited kids on a bus for the trip. Before the bus was even moving the little girl beside me was holding a rag over her face and looked like she could puke. 'Come on' I thought. 'we haven't even started to move yet!' Then we did start to move and about two minutes later she puked. So I sent her up front thinking that if she goes up there it might not be as bad because she can see out the front. WRONG!! That didn't help at all. In fact, about 1/3 of the kids that day puked every time we were on the bus. It was unbelievable!! At every stop all us leaders would collect all the kids barf bags and put it in one big barf bag. Never have we seen so many kids barfing at once. We never even thought to take into consideration that these kids have never traveled on a bus before. hahaha...now we know. Despite this, I definitely can't say it was a bad experience. Most of the kids have never been out of the area they live. The places we visited were out of the city so the kids saw mountains, lush jungle areas, a dairy farm and factories for the first time. The look on their faces was priceless. Especially when they saw the mountains.


The Barf Bus

This is the little girl that I held a barf bag for the entire trip

Jollibee, which is a fast food restaurant, was our last stop. Spaghetti totally looks the same coming up as it did going down.