“We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia.” 2 Corinthians 1:8, NIV. Just knowing that hardship in Asia is a biblical concept has brought great comfort to Celina.

We have been in the Philippines now for five days. Joshua our 5 yr. old, who is always excited about any trip by airplane, bus or car, has already told us on several occasions, “I am ready to go home now,” and “are we going home yet?” Poor little Joshua does not really understand that we are in a different country, or why we are here, yet, he has voiced the same concerns which each of us have had at least once during our stay here. Aside from these fleeting doubts, we have had some very interesting but trying days. Either we are still jet lagged or we have developed a long lasting case of fatigue and malaise. We have also learned, to our surprise, that the concept of hot water showers is an alien concept to the Philippines and a hot bath (or even bath tubs) is an unheard-of concept. It has taken a little getting used to, but us spoiled Americans are adjusting.

Manila was a wild ride of cars, traffic and pedestrians; playing a life and death game of chicken. Our stay in Manila was sweltering hot, although the locals said it was unseasonably cool at the time. I had one successful witnessing encounter and several failed attempts to share the gospel of grace, repentance and forgiveness through the Lord Jesus. Law to the proud and grace to the humble, finally struck an honest heart, the morning we were leaving Manila. (More about this later)

We realized in Manila, that English, as our main language of communication, was going to be more of a problem than we first had been led to believe. For a nation which calls itself the third largest English speaking nation in the world, we found many, if not most Filipinos we have had contact with, are not very fluent in English at all.

As we left Manila for our seven hour drive to Baguio ( pronounced Bah-gee-oh), we were struck by the massive size of Manila and by the extreme poverty. It reminded me of some of the worst places I have seen in Mexico, only much poorer. Many people live in houses not as soundly constructed as the chicken coop we had when I was a kid. In a country known for earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, mud slides, typhoons and terrorism, it becomes obvious why the loss of life and destruction is always so extensive. Homes (mere hovels in reality) of tin, cardboard and thatched roofs are no match for the violent elements so prevalent at times in the Philippines.

Once we cleared the outskirts of the city we were engulfed in the beauty of Asia. The translucent, glow in the dark green of rice paddies, the Asian water buffalo plowing in the fields, and wallowing in the mud near houses built on stilts over waterways, and canals, boats with fishermen standing at their tillers. It was like a live action postcard of some of the most beautiful scenes of Asia. We drove past ancient volcanoes with their tops blown off in a picture perfect panorama.

The poverty of the villages, children and people were heart wrenching. In the middle of the beautiful country side there were pockets of squalor wherever people dwelt. A missionary friend had told us to be prepared for massive amounts of need and the overwhelming size of the task that existed in the Philippines. He told us to seek God and to stay focused on what God was calling us to do and not to be distracted by the thousands of other needs which surround us.

As we ascended the 4000 foot cloud covered mountains near Baguio the scenery changed and the temperature (thankfully) cooled. From palms and jungle, we climbed into the hardwood forest and pine forest of the mountain environment. The mountains were sporadically covered by terraced farms perched precariously along the sides of steep mountains. The new vegetable farms replaced the rice farms and fruit trees in the lowlands. Blue rivers and streams now rushed rapidly downward creating white cascading rapids, which contrasted dramatically with the lazy dirty brown river that ambled over the lowlands with a thousand switchbacks, splits and turns. We passed through the clouds and continued to climb up switchback roads with cliffs and ravines on one side and massive mountains of rock, vines and pine trees on the other. We finally arrived in Baguio, the Colorado of the Philippines. We met our YWAM (Youth With A Mission) representative, Eddie Razon, and he transported us to Doane Rest Houses for Missionaries. Our new location was a beautiful oasis of cheer and a small reminder of the civilization we had left behind. We now have free, fresh, filtered drinking water within 25 yards of our living quarters. It is much easier to fill our own drinking bottles instead of purchasing potable water on a daily basis. We even have a small playground for the missionary children.

Here we met veteran missionaries with 16 years experience in the Philippines, who immediately took us under their wings and began to teach us the secrets to survival, sanity, ministry, Filipino psychology and culture, survival language skills and how to stretch our limited resources in this alien land. Today our second day of instruction, included a visit to the meat market in downtown Baguio. The bottom floors were the fish and shrimp markets. The atrocious odors and sites were very different than anything you can imagine. The second floor was the meat and poultry floor. We were warned the floors were slippery from blood, fat and the water which is used in a half hearted attempt to remove the other waste. But the sites and smells were shocking to say the least. Suffice it to say, the only part of a pig that is thrown away in the Philippines is the squeal when it dies. Everything else, and I mean every part of the pig, was on display in various forms of dismemberment. However, the graphic sites were easily surpassed by the ghastly smells. I have butchered many animals in the past including cattle, deer, elk, antelope, chickens and ducks, so I am not easily surprised in a meat market, but as I said it was not so much the blood and flesh of animals, but the incredibly powerful and horrific stench of a thousand foul components all mixed together and delicately aged in a hot humid environment for years. These sites and smells cannot really be explained with mere words. It was equivalent to the ten most putrefied smells you have every smelled, all combined and then multiplied by a factor of ten, this will at least give you an approximate understanding of how horrible it was. As an example of how strong this odor was, one member of our team began to wretch uncontrollably and ran from the building and threw-up. For those of us who stayed behind, dare I say those of us “left behind”, found that after 10 minutes our noses seemed to adjust, get used to the smell, or just shut down completely, but either way it became tolerable.

We watched amazing demonstrations of speed, skill and daring with meat cleavers and knives that left us dazzled by the ability and skill of the local butchers. We purchased fresh (and I mean very fresh), meat, and chicken at very cheap prices. This purchase directly from the meat market reduced the price by two thirds over the local store prices. An important skill for a missionary on a small fixed budget in a foreign land. We also learned how to bargain, which is called “Tawah” with a “Suki” the sales person, in the fruit and vegetable market stalls. All in all, our lesson today was exhausting and exhilarating. Lord, keep us teachable. We had the roast, zucchinis and potatoes we purchased today for dinner and it was the best meal we’ve had during our whole stay in the Philippines.

God bless you and please pray for us. Pray for Celina as it is always harder on the women than the men and boys. This is the consensus of the new and veteran missionary’s wives.