Mission Made Possible

I’ve been in the Philippines for one month already. Time is literally flying by here! Please bear with me when I write these blogs. I feel like I am in need of an English 101 class on how to write papers/complete sentences again.

The past month I’ve been able to relax and enjoy some time with the kids and my friends here. Kariza, one of my closest friends here, had her 18^th birthday party. We were able to celebrate by going to a river resort in the town of Laguna and it was so beautiful! There were bungalows lined the river side and it was packed with people by the end of the day. The water was about knee deep and then there was a cliff you could jump off into deeper water to swim. With some convincing I jumped off the cliff… about 5 times. Haha! Kariza was really surprised and thankful that God provided for her to have a birthday party.

Today I just arrived in Baguio from 4 relaxing days in Zambales. My friends, Kenneth, Anne , Cj, and I traveled to Zambales and stayed with Nanay Nep, one of the cooks at the orphanage. While staying with Nanay Nep, were able to go see their farm where in the rainy season they harvest rice. At their farm they had water buffalo, chicken, geese, and pigs. Tatay Domingo said they also have snakes occasionally. We got to hook up their trailer to the water buffalo and ride around in the trailer over the land they own. I got to ride on the water buffalo and drive the trailer! The main reason we went to their farm was to get a goose to eat for dinner that night. This was my first experience getting an animal, watching it die, and then cooking it for dinner, so I was a little sad for the goose. While the slaughtering of the goose was happening, I made sure to busy myself by pumping water for the day out of their well. They had a well set up so the water that was pumped would drain into a cement holding area that would feed the animals and water the plants.

The next day the boys were on a hunting rampage and shot 3 chickens to make chicken soup (again, I did not partake in the killing of the chickens, I’m too much of an animal lover).

Holy week in Zambales is definitely different then holy week in America. On our bus ride from Manila we were able to get a little taste of what the rest of the week was going to be like. In Zambales people reenact the crucification of Jesus. First they start in the church and have shirts that cover their faces so people won’t know who they are and they take blades and cut their backs until they are bleeding. Then they walk around town with sticks that look like numb-chucks, hitting themselves in the back to represent the beating that Jesus endured. Lastly there are people who have cuts on their backs and walk around town dragging crosses that are about 15 feet long. This is like a parade setting so people gather in town to watch the people walk with shirts covering their faces, bleeding backs, and carrying crosses. In one part of town they actually had a REAL cruicification of nailing someone to a cross, we planned to attend that but the timing in our schedule didn’t work out. It was really disturbing to see people with their backs bleeding and pulling these huge crosses around and just having to stand there and watch it. For me it really put into perspective what Jesus did for us. I can’t count how many times I’ve heard that Jesus has died for our sins but often times we forget the procedure of HOW he died. I can’t imagine in Jesus’ time that people were actually cheering and chanting for him to be crucified—and for no reason. Having Easter in the Philippines really made me miss my family and our traditions of having cream potatoes and corn and ham! The Easter here was definitely different then back in the States but it was really worthwhile to see.

The Monday after Easter we went to the beach for some bonding time. It cost 500 pesos to go out to an island I’ve wanted to go to for the past 6 years and this time we finally went! So seven of us (Anne, Kenneth, Cj, Chuck, Dan, Jr and I) crammed into a little boat and took a 15 minute ride to an island and had a picnic on the beach. Words can not describe how relaxing and fun our trip to the island was. It was full of food, sun tanning, sand mermaid building, and having photo shoots.  I think it was a much needed trip and a celebration of some of us finishing school, about to start school, and just needing time to bond and have a nice fellowship together.

Now I’m up in Baguio and vacation time is over. Now that I have cleared my head and I’m relaxed I need to focus on why I am here in the first place, and see if mission work is what I’m called to do.  I’m getting anxious for YWAM - DTS to start. I have been talking about wanting to do it for the past six months and now the time is here! I have some preparing I need to do before school starts so that’s what I’ll be doing in the next 5 days! I pray that the school teaches me what I need to know to become stronger in my faith and to help me grow as a person. Psalm 25:4-5 “Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your path; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior and my hope is in you all day long”.

I miss you all a lot. I think the reality that I won’t be home for another 5 months is setting in now and I’m starting to crave the food that I know I won’t be able to have until I get back (Deep Dish Cookie from Broadway Pizza)!!!! In the mean time please pray for me to remain clear minded and to have an open heart to the things I’ll be learning at my school, also the patience and knowledge of living in a different culture.

Hope you enjoyed J

Ashley