The Balut Video...

I am finally posting my balut-eating video. Rather than embed it in the original posting from many weeks ago, I'm just posting it today. Thanks to Sandy for shooting video and then sharing it...and for her excellent narration. :) Enjoy.



(If you prefer, you can click on the TITLE above and it will serve as a link to the video on Google Video. Oh, unless you're reading this in a RSS feed, then you'll have to go to the original blog to use the link and maybe to watch the video. Or maybe not. Sorry to be so...high maintenance.)

When People Get Mixed Up

Okay, I know that Sandy and I are both Caucasian females of approximately the same height , age 45-55, with short blond hair that is showing grey-- but really, I can tell us apart easily.

I can only speak English -- Sandy can speak English and at least two languages of wider communication used in Mainland Southeast Asia.

I was born in North Dakota -- Sandy was born in Arkansas (did I remember that right?).

I used to work for Heritage Christian School -- Sandy used to work for Pan American Airlines.

Here's the deal -- we were both in the Philippines and then in Thailand for a number of weeks at the same time and our Filipino and Thai hosts sometimes got us mixed up. Totally understandable.

It got really funny when people who know us got us mixed up. Really? Well, usually they only knew one of us and saw the other at a distance...but still. Too funny. We toyed with the idea of switching name tags for a day and going to each other's meetings. Could have been fun.

The American Cemetary in Manila

Guests for the 2008 Vision Trip arrived in Manila on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. On Wednesday morning we did registration and orientation. After lunch went on a tour of the city on a big, air conditioned bus. The purpose of the outing was to keep people engaged and awake -- and to see some sights while doing it. One of the places we stopped was the American Cemetery in Manila.

It isn't easy to write about such a place. There aren't words to express enough gratitude or enough sorrow either one.

I walked and looked and walked and thanked God for the freedom I am privileged to enjoy as an American. Unlike the other stops we made that day, for this time I separated myself from the crowd.

It wasn't a place to experience with people unless they were ones with whom silence was comfortable.

From the website:

The Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines occupies 152 acres on a prominent plateau, visible at a distance from the east, south and west. It contains the largest number of graves of our military dead of World War II, a total of 17,202, most of whom lost their lives in operations in New Guinea and the Philippines. The headstones are aligned in 11 plots forming a generally circular pattern, set among masses of a wide variety of tropical trees and shrubbery.

The chapel, a white masonry building enriched with sculpture and mosaic, stands near the center of the cemetery. In front of it on a wide terrace are two large hemicycles. Twenty-five mosaic maps recall the achievements of the American armed forces in the Pacific, China, India and Burma. On rectangular Trani limestone piers within the hemicycles are inscribed the Tablets of the Missing containing 36,285 names. Rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified. Carved in the floors are the seals of the American states and its territories. From the memorial and other points within the cemetery there are impressive views over the lowlands to Laguna de Bay and towards the distant mountains.

2008 Vision Trip: Philippines - PHOTO ALBUM

2008 Vision Trip: Philippines

Click on the above image and you'll be transported to my Picassa photo album where you can view and comment on over 100 images from my recent adventure in the Philippines.

The Little Princess @ Faith Academy

Tonight I attended the Spring theater production at Faith Academy outside Manila. Kelly Chesnut mentioned that their daughter (and son) were to be in the production and I think I invited myself to come and see.

That turned into lunch at TGIFriday's at the Galleria (near the church were BSF was) and then the journey out to the school for a carpool pick up before hanging out at their house for a few hours.

Those of you who know me well know that this was just about a perfect day for me -- a great way to spend an "extra day" in Manila. I'm so grateful for John and Kelly's WARM hospitality.

So, not only was it fun to see their son David playing the part of a "Child in London" but also their daughter, Melissa (on the right) in the role of Miss Amelia. She played along side Miss Minchin (on the left), portrayed by Alyssa Hause.

Come to find out that Alyssa is the granddaughter of someone I know - Aretta Loving. So fun!

Tricycles in the Philippines

While there is a growing number of Filippinos who can afford to own a small motorcycle as a form of personal transportation, most of these vehicles are used as a form of income -- offered for hire.

A motorbike can be a taxi itself (with an extended seat, one can easily hold 5 or 6 Filippinos) or can be fitted with a side-car when it becomes a tricycle.

You see these most on the side streets in Manila where taxis and busses dominate the main roads (but not exclusively there) and in smaller cities. I love them -- they provide inexpensive and relatively reliable transportion from place to place.

Mostly they are used for shorter trips. Depending on your size (these were not designed for Americans in general, and certainly not for those of us who are larger), you can faily comfortably ride 3 to 7 people in one of these vehicles (plus the driver).

The tricycles and jeepnees are all named. On Saturday, Sandy and I found one which shares my name -- and, since we were thinking about hailing one for a trip back to the hotel, we hopped in. The driver told us that his wife's name is Ruth.

I've talked before about getting a golf cart for the transport from home to work in Orlando. I'd love one of these. I won't hold my breath -- we have too many regulatory bodies in the States to ever tolerate the "risk" of this type of transportion system. Too bad. These and jeepnees are really rather efficient and fun.

Underground River, Monkey Trail, and the Beach

On Monday, we had the choice of either going Island Hopping in Honda Bay or of touring the world's longest navigable underground river. A third choice -- a bus tour of historical sites in PPC -- didn't get enough takers to happen mostly because these other two things were so cool and because there were two differnet flights out and back to Cagoncillo island (where Jacqueline lived for most of her time working with the KAgayanan) and many people took that opporutnity.

The journey was long and had it's ups and downs. Lots of them, actully. It was a journey over and thorugh the mountains and thecsecond part of the journey was over a road that is under construction. Our van was as comfortable as it could be -- not crowded and reliably airconditioned with a good driver and able tour guide -- and still we were flung around a good bit. Was it worth it? Yes. Would I do it again. Yes.

So, let me give you a brief outline of the day:

• breakfast and early departure from the hotel


• 2 hour van trip over the mountains and through the forrests (Dex was our guide)


• motorized boat trip out to the island


• boat ride into the underground river (with a guide who paddled the boat)


• a "walk" on the monkey trail (that included steep, wooden stairs and then cement stairs)


• motorized boat trip to the beach back on the main island


• lunch on the beach (tuna, pork, salad, rice, soup, soda)


• 2 hour van trip back over the mountains


• quick stop at a Vietnamese refugee community with few inhabitants


• hotel for a shower and pre-packing before the evening banquet

I traveled with Sandy, Cory, Kristy, Donna, and Jeanne. Great group. We laughed...a lot.

And, for me personally, after a week of GREAT events held mostly in hotels and other buildings and in the city... I was SO READY for some outdoor time. I needed to see trees and sand and sunshine and flowers and critters of all different sorts. This was a very refreshing day for me. Yeah, nature and time with smart, fun, women who like to laugh a lot -- a very good day.

Ask for a vehicle with 4 wheels

On Sunday morning each of the guests on this Vision Trip had an opportunity to "go to church" with a local congregation. Some, who had prior relationships with various ones of the translators naturally joined them. For the remainder of us, we were divided between many of the local churhes who participated in the Friday Papalangga events -- churches with whom Lloyd and Dahl Estrada are working to increase their engagement with various aspects of the Bible translation movements in the Philippines and around the world.

I was paired with Cory (who had come to serve as part of the staff for this week-long event as a friend of Wycliffe) for our Sunday morning advanture. (Cory has lived in the Philippines for 16 years and is engaged an a camping ministry here.)

Pastor Mario del Barrio picked us up at the hotel in his very own tricycle and we traveled the 12k out to his little church that lies just on the edge of the propety of the "prison without walls" I'd visited on Friday.

We arrived in time for the end of Sunday School. The transiton to church was quick and easy. I was only in the building for 2 seconds before I had fond memories of another Pastor Mario and alittle church in San Jose, Costa Rica. While this particular church was a bit more rural, the similarites were uncanny in a very good way.

This church is part of the Assemblies of God denomination -- a fast growing denomination in the Philippines we were told.

Cory and I were both asked to share a testimony, which we gladly did. We might have been asked for more if there had not been a guest speaker: an evangelist from the US who was in the area doing ministry. Who knows. Many from the group were asked to preach at the churches they attended -- and did. I'm hoping to hear more of those stories myself as time goes on.

After the services (which included enthusiastic singing which I greatly enjoyed), the pastor and his wife provided a delicious meal. We sat and talked for a while as a tire on the tricycle needed to be reinflated/fixed before we could make our return trip to PPC and the hotel.

I asked this pastor who had given leadership to the Tree Planting aspect of the Papalangga events and who demonstrated in many ways that he is visionary how I could pray for him and his church and family. He shared many things; I want to pass one along to you and ask you to pray with me for this.

"Pray the God will provide us with a vehicle with 4 wheels."

When Pastor Barrio and his wife were first married (they met at Bible school) God provided a bicycle for their transportation needs. Later, he privded a larget bicycle. As their family grew, they trusted God to provide for thier needs and he came through with a motorcycle (125cc). As needs increased (larger and growing family and more ministry opportunities) they began to pray for a tricycle and, once again, God provided. The pastor shared with us that his youngest daughter recently encouraged (more like admonished, a he tells it) her parents to pray for a larger and more reliable vehicle. Will you pray with me that God will continue to supply all that Pastor Barrio needs and that our Father will specifically continue to interceed in the lives of the pastor's entire family in ways that will increase their faith and that will propell them into further ministry?

Mayor's Banquet: a Celebration of Culture and Conservation

The Most Honorable Mayor of Puerto Princesa City honored us with a delightful meal and celebration of both the cultures of Palawan Island and his city's commitment to conservation and restoration of natural resources.

Kagayanen Celebration in Puerto Princesa City

This, the fourth of the Kagayanen New Testament + Genesis Scripture Celebrations, is the first urban event of it's kind in the history of Wycliffe's primary strategic partnter's Philippines Branch. While SIL has been working in the Philippines for over 50 years, serving dozens upon dozens of minority language communities in language development, those communities have been rurual, remote even. While the primary islands which are home to the Kagayanen speaking Filippinos are somewhat remote (1 hour by plane from Puerto Princesa City -- which used to be 25 hours by boat), many Kagayanen now live on the island of Palawan, including in the city of PPC. The first Celebration was on the small island home of this language community -- the last was in the city in an air conditioned coluseium. (One of the reasons Wycliffe was able to invite so many guests to join us for this event was precisely because it was held in the city were there is infrastructure to host so many foreigners.)

Those who came from the States all seemed to share common favorite parts of the event, with the highest markes going to the Kagayanen music and dance (espcially an dance that seemed to spontaneously involved many members of the audience), Jo-Ann Richards' song (she is an ethnomusichologist serving in the Americas), and time spent with some of the Kagayanen people before and after the formal event.

I will readily admit that I am not very used to the formalities of events governed by protocol -- which this one was -- and found SOME of that tiresom while other of it was fascinating. I am amazed by how difficult it can be to be comfortable in a culture that is not my own. (More about that in another post.)

We traveled to and fro in busses and tricycles. We started the day in casual dress and, at each event, stepped up our attire until we were rather lovely for our evening banquet. It was a LONG and EXHAUSTING and WONDERFUL day. What a privildge to be able to honor the Kagayanen and the Wycliffe translators who have served in this work along side national translators and assistants for many years.

Pagpalangga

This Kagayanen word means “to love” and it stood as the theme for our day which began early with breakfast and a devotional by Dr. Tony Evans. He enthusiastically spoke of the critical work of Bible translation and the foundational role of God’s Word in the heart language. He did not, however, stop there – rather, he reminded us that until God’s Word has done its work in the life of a believer and is manifesting itself in obedience, the translation is incomplete.

Interesting that he chose this topic on a day set aside for practical demonstrations of the love which Christ has for the people of Palawan province. Sa Bawa Wika’s leadership along with Filipino pastors and church leaders from Palawan prepared and lead six different events. Each of us who came to Puerto Princesa City for the Kagayanen dedication had the opportunity to choose one of these ventures and join in the fun.

The Kagayanen speaking community in PPC through a medical mission made possible because of a number of volunteer doctors and nurses, the donation of medicines and medical supplies from a variety of drug companies in the Philippines, and a host of volunteers. Guests were among those volunteers.

Another group was joined by nearly 200 youth of the area and, together, they planted cashew and jack fruit trees. Besides that, under the conviction that God desires to do a new thing in this area, they prayed that God would break the curse of the bole weevil that is infecting the mango trees here, making that crop impossible to export.

Children at two different day care facilities that serve the fishermen of Palawan were visited by a fourth group who prayed for children and parents and teachers, brought many appropriate gifts for the facility, and shared together in a simple program.

Another ministry to children that benefitted from a visit was one serving special needs children who are picked up at their homes, cared for and taught, and returned home again by a group of faithful volunteers. Some from our group joined then for the morning and connected with them through song, puppets, story and lots of hugs.

The final group who ministered to children joined women from a local church and served the children of prison staff and prisoners from a local penal colony. They shared games, story, craft, song and many giggles. I loved participating in this activity. The children – as I have found any group of healthy, happy children, were engaging and creative and delightful.

Also at the prison, a group helped disassemble a bamboo wall, participated in the ceremony to turn over soil and hand over a water filtration system to the prison authorities and then toured the prison and met many of the minimum and medium security inmates.

These two groups who served at the prison and the tree planters gathered at the prison for a lunch prepared by a pastor in that prison community where families live with the inmates (this was started early last century by the US as an experiment – turned over the Filipino government and which continues to run with good success. Our lunch included small crabs, coconut milk through a straw stuck into the coconuts freshly picked, and a salad made from a large flower-bud like “heart” of banana. And rice, there is always rice.

There were a few free hours in the afternoon – different people took naps, explored the crocodile center, shopped at a cultural craft fair at a local church and sat in the lobby and drank coffee.

The day had been HOT and full of energy-draining activity which was also energizing – so most of us needed some kind of rest in the afternoon before the evening banquet where celebrated the day with testimonies and photos and a great meal (as they all have been).

The Celebration has Continued

Nearly one month ago, the Kagayanen-speaking Filipinos began celebrating the fact that God's Word (New Testament + Genesis) has been translated into their mother tongue -- the language they understand best.

The language they use at home -- with family and beloved friends.

Not only does this mean that God's Word is more intellectually accessible to them, it means that God connects with them like their most intimate family -- at the heart.

The celebrations began on Cagancillo island -- a place where Kagayaen is spoken by all of the 6500 residents. The celebrations have moved, week by week, to cities where many Kagayan-speakers live on the island of Palawan. This weekend will be the final official celebration.

The festivities began with an event tonight, but really began as family, friends, colleagues, prayer and financial partners and the translation team began to gather in this place. People have come from around the world to be here.

Tonight we dined together (the buffet included a deliciou tofu dish, a meatball in cream sauce dish, and a Vietnamese style chili squig dish along with rice and for dessert: FRESH FRUIT) and then enjoyed a program presented by the Kagayanen translation team that told the story of God's working through them to do this work.

Dinner was delayed as we waited for the last plane to arrive with passangers from Manila (including some who had been traveling for more than 36 hours already from as far away as Orlando). Everyone easily agreed that it was more important to have everyone present than to start on time.

Tonight I am tired, but filled with gratitude for the ways that God engages people in the building of his Kingdom.

Tomorrow is a ministry day. I'm going to prison....but that is a story for another day.

Working

I may not catch up on my work today, but I am working at it. Mozart is playing from iTunes on my laptop and I've been working through email. The sound of Manila traffic in the background is...un-ignorable.

Most recently I have been filling out my registration form for Leadership Rising (a course I'll be taking in August) which is requiring me to update my resume and then describe what aspects of each of my jobs I found most satisfying. I've chosen to only highlight those jobs I've had beginning with teaching in 1986 or I'd need another day to fill in the details of all those short-term, part-time employment challenges.

I've got a "meeting" scheduled for this afternoon to talk about multi-cultural/diversity stuff, about Facebook and Blogging, and whatever else we decide is critical.

Even later this afternoon, I have an "appointment" for a manicure & pedicure. I'm splurging and having this done at the hotel in my room rather than wandering the streets looking for something. That means it will cost $10 total instead of $6 or $7.

I am Celebrating...

One of the things I've added to the Wycliffe website pages that are promoting the Kagayanen Trip and Celebration is a collection of statements from people who are somehow connected to this deal. They all begin, "I am celebrating..." You might enjoy seeing some of the people I work with and especially some with whom I am working on this project. What a joy it is!

Jeepnees

Have you ever asked yourself the question "If Jesus...what would he...?

Ever since those WWJD? bracelets were all the rage, I'm sure most of us have at least considered it. Well, I think that if Jesus lived in the Philippines today, he would ride in jeepnees.

I spent just over a week in the Philippines (Manila and Bagabag) a couple of years ago and I can give witness to the fact that jeepnees were everywhere I went. They are a kind of jeep looking vehicle -- long -- with room for more passengers than you'd probably imagine. Each one sports custom decor and, if I remember correctly, custom "horn" songs. They look like a party on four wheels. They are a fairly cheap form of reliable transportation.

They are one of the sights and sounds I'm looking forward to encountering once again when I return to the Philippines in April. Wycliffe is hosting a Vision Trip to Manila and Puerto Princesa where we will attend a huge celebration with the Kagayanen-speaking community as they receive the New Testament and Genesis. But that is a story for a different day.