Some of my favorites...

I know it's been a while since posting, but so much has happened over the past couple of weeks; experiences I'd still like to share, so here they are!

I was so surprised to see a couple of missionary friends (Philippines - Global Builders), Randle & Joyce Peterson come into my office in Hermitage a couple of weeks ago. They were just passing through the area, and stopped to say hello. Then Jodi and I joined the Petersons, Len & Bette Legestee and Bill Kalp for a small Philippines reunion over dinner and ice cream. It was awesome to see them and to hang out with everyone.

Seeing the Sights in The 'Tidge...

This has been a cool week. I've been traveling with Doug Sayers on his "Speed-The-Light Tour" in Western PA. Monday we left at 8 AM to head to Bentleyville for the Southwest Suburban Section, and then traveled to Dubois, PA for the Northcentral West Section. After arriving in Dubois, we went to dinner at a place called Luigi's, and then to the famed, "Dubois Mall" for something to do.

Tuesday, we did the Dubois area luncheon, but the real fun came Tuesday night. That's when we introduced Randle and Joyce Peterson (Missionaries to the Philippines - Global Builders) to the fine eating establishment known as Quaker Steak & Lube. Most people might see to it that they take the missionary to some fancy-schmancy place to let them think we have some type of culture, but not us. We loves us some wings! Randle and Joyce enjoyed the famous "all-you-can-eat wing Tuesday" and I have the picture to prove it! Great times with great friends!

In case you haven't figured it out yet, the Peterson's are a couple of my favorite people. I can't help but admire the way they have pursued their call to missions, even facing incredible hardship. They're heroes to me. However, thanks to Jamie Cunard, Randle is always afraid that I'm going to pull some kind of "prank" on him, so he is always on edge around me. Kind of funny.

Overall, it was a great week! Hanging with Pastor Doug, and talking missions: a couple of my favorite things.

Day #11 - Monday, September 3rd

Today we go home! Thie picture to the right was taken together in our room at the Biyanehan Hotel in Manilla, as we debriefed the night before we went home. What an adventure we had! There is no doubt that God brought us together to be a small part of the signifigant work He is doing in the Philippines. Our missionaries that lead the trip, Randle and Joyce Peterson, have become a part of our family. Over the last 10 days, we have worked together, SWEATED together, ate together, worshiped together, and if you know the individual member of our team, you KNOW we laughed together! It was awesome! Randle and Joyce...THANK YOU for giving yourselves to us, and to this ministry! You are truly a blessing to us, and to the body of Christ!

Shortly after we went to bed, we had to get up! On the flight to the Philippines, we "lost" 12 hours to the time change, which only means that on the way home, we would have to make those 12 hours up with a 36 hour Labor Day! We had to be packed and downstairs at 3:45 AM to catch our flight. Upon arrival at the airport, pressing through ticketing and security, we finally found ourselves on the flight that would take us 4 hour north, to Nagoya, Japan.

After a brief layover in Japan, we boarded the Jet and began the longest leg of our journey home...14 hours back to Detroit, then connecting for the brief, final leg finishing in Pittsburgh. The adventure came to a closein a homecoming surrounded by family, at the Pittsburgh International Airport.

The trip has ended, but to this day i am so grateful for several things. First, new friends...in the Philippines, having the great privilege of meeting and working with our missionaries, Randle and Joyce Peterson, and Mark and Fredda Alston, and growing closer with the members of our missions team. Secondly, I carry a stronger burden for missions than ever before. God has called us to be His carriers of a message that needs to "go viral" around the world! I want to do my part! And thirdly, I thank God for the miracle of seeing Him provide. He helped each member of this team raise their entire budget for the trip (thanks First Assembly for your help!!!). God also helped us to raise the $7,500 for the building itself in just a couple of weeks. We are so blessed to be a part of a great missions church that is becoming a greater missions church all of the time!

In closing the portion of my blog that will focus exclusively on the Philippines trip, I would like to say thank you to The Lord for such a great experience for the members of our team. Also, we thank the seventh member of our team who was unable to attend due to his surgery...Pastor Martin, for having the God-inspired vision to send a church-building team. Lastly, I thank the members of the Philippines '07 trip: Samantha Bertocchi, Jamie Cunard, Bill Kalp, Len Lagestee, Harlod Newton, and Matt Sabella. You guys were awesome to work with!

And now...we present this video detailing the process of our trip. Enjoy!

Day # 10 - Sunday, September 2nd

This morning we awoke excited by the idea of another beautiful day in Tacloban, but today would be the day we would also be departing. Some of our team needed to go into town before service, but as we arrived at the building, we were thrilled to see the scores of people that were already engaged in worship.

We were immediately ushered to the front of the building, and asked to sit in front. It was such an awesome experience to be half-way around the world, and to be worshiping together with our brothers and sisters in Christ. They are so passionate about worshiping the God that we serve. Seriously, if this was just a taste of what heaven will be like, I'm getting pumped!

During the service, we made several gift presentations to the church, Pastor Vadin, and Zion Bible College. The night before, I had spoken with Pastor Martin about the fact that we had money left over that we had anticipated needing on the trip, so I asked him what we should do with it. He said, "Well, we raised the money to spend on missions in the Philippines, so give it away!"

As the service came to a close, Pastor Vadin and the church made presentations to us by giving each of us a plaque as a gift. What an honor! Then, after the service, they gave us a box lunch, and sent us on our way, as we had to get to the airport to catch our flight.

Check out this video of Pastor Cruz Lapura saying thanks to our Pastor and church for coming to help:

After our flight to Manilla, we went back to the Cabayan Hotel. After checking in, and a few minutes of relaxation, we boarded the Jeepney (public transportation) and went to the Mall of Asia for dinner. We had Italian food. I missed Italian food, but Matt REALLY missed Italian food!

Day #9 - Saturday, September 1st

I love these kids. Missionary Mark Alston says he has the most beautiful neighborhood in the world, and I have a hard time disagreeing with him. Of course, he doesn't live in Beverly Hills, so as you can imagine, he's speaking about the people! The kids who lived across from the Alston's house are so full of life, and joy that you can't help but smile just to see them. This picture was taken just as we were about to leave for the job site on Saturday morning...our last full day of work!

As we arrived at the site, there was plenty of welding to be done. Also, we were told that there was to be another load of dirt delivered that we would get to move, and hopefully extend the seating or standing area of the church. We waited until mid-afternoon, but the dirt never came! Bill, having some experience with welding in the past, was able to assist in that area. The rest of us were feeling useless, so we went back to the hotel to be "on call" if the dirt came. The dirt never arrived, but it was no big deal. I loved the attitude of the team because they were willing to work if called upon, no questions asked. If we had nothing to do, that was cool with them, too. They were so flexible, and ready for whatever situation came their way.

For dinner, we went to a nice restaurant on the water, overlooking the island of Samar, and then a couple of the guys went to the job site to see if there was anything to be done. TOMORROW IS SUNDAY!!!

On kind of a different note, check out this video featuring Speed The Light at work in the Philippines. We needed to purchase a generator while we were there to get the job complete on time, and to assist future projects, as well, so good-old Doug Sayers (Penn-Del District Youth Director) came through and bought us one! Check out the video!

STL - Global Church Builders - Thank You Penn Del Youth!

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Day #8 - Friday, August 31st

Friday morning we took the entire team to visit the chapel service at Zion Bible College. Len Lagestee shared his testimony during the service, and Jamie Cunard preached during the service. After the service, we toured the campus with President Cruz Lapura. President Lapura (pictured to the right, along with myself and Jamie) also shared some of the details of the college. They used to run more than 80 students, but due to a foundation that used to sponsor 80 students only being to sponsor 20, many of the students had to leave. Currently, the school is running 57 students. The students who are there are so passionate about their call! I asked one young man what he would do after he finished his final year in the fall, and he said, "I will plant a church!" He said it with such certainty, and conviction that I almost felt stupid for asking the question, but he certainly did not mean it that way! He was just so sure about what he was to do for God! Imagine that there is a college that prepares these young men and women of God to go into the harvest for only $48 / month! Please watch the video I have connected to this post!

Zion Bible College of the Philippines

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After the tour, we ate lunch, and then went to the job site for the day. It was sooo hot, and we did more of the same...moving dirt! We used the "bucket brigade' to move the pile of dirt near the road over to where it could extend the church grounds out to fit more people.

Eventually it began to rain pretty hard, which made it hard to slop around in the mud. Randle took us into town because he needed to purchase a generator to help with the welding for this project, and for the ones in the future. While he was looking for the generator, we went shopping for souveniers in Tacloban City.

After our brief shopping experience, we went back to the job site. Pastor Vadin asked if we could send part of the team to minister at the youth service, so Jamie, Matt, and Samantha went. The rest of us spent the evening at the job, trying to get the welding finished. As we ended our time there, the Filippino guys doing the welding stayed well into the night, to keep us on schedule.

One more thing...before we left for the hotel, we had dinner at the site..from MCDONALD'S!!! We had Quarter-Pounders and McDonald's Fried Chicken. Weird getting Fried Chicken at McD's, but AWESOME at the same time!

Day # 7 - Thursday, August 30th

Thursday was a full day! Randle had to take Pastor Gerald to the airport this morning, and then he and I went to the chapel service, while the rest of the team was keeping busy at the job site. I love being at Zion; the students there have such a passion for God! It is so hard to imagine that these young men and women of God start at age 16, and by age 19 they are ready to plant churches. I don't remember many specifics about when I was 19, but I KNOW I wasn't ready to plant a church!

Anyway, I had the priviledge of speaking at Zion Bible College (see figure 1), and then we went to the site to join the team.

Today was pour-concrete-on-the-floor day. We didn't actually get to pour the concrete, but we did get to carry rediculously heavy bags of sand and rocks for them to be able to mix the concrete. Bill and I raced (see figure 2) while carrying a bag of sand on our shoulders. I won the race, but in all fairness, Bill had carried MANY more bags of sand and rocks that day. Even still, I was cleaning sand out of my ears after my shower that evening for a long time!

Thursday was also SAM BERTOCCHI'S 18TH BIRTHDAY!!! We celebrated by having a nice dinner at a restaurant in the country. The atmosphere at the restaurant was beautiful, the food was amazing, and it only cost about $5 of US currency! I believe that Sam had a good birthday! (See figure 3.)

Day #6 - Wednesday, August 29th

This morning as we took a jeepney to the job site, we met several nice Filippino people. The young dude at the back of the bus is a dishwasher in Tacloban City, the girl next to him is a student, and the older girl is a teacher at a local school. Our conversations on the bus were centered around finding out where they were going, and then sharing that we had come to help build the church in Tacloban. We invited them to come on Sunday, but I don't think they were able to attend. Hey...just scattering some seed!


At the job site, the pieces needed to attach the roof were being connected. We were hopeful that we would be able to start putting the roof on, but we needed to get ready to pour cement first. That means we needed to carry buckets of rocks to cover the entire floor of the building.

Randle and I also went to the chapel services at Zion Bible College. Today, Pastor Johnny & Pastor Gerald came to visit the team and the church building project. They are both leaders within the Bayanihan Project (bayanihan means, "to work together)." The church building projects were birthed out of this Filippino concept. In the past, if a congregation needed a church building, they would ask the missionary to acquire the funds to do so, and it could take years to build, if the money was there at all. With this new approach, churches in the Philippines are required to acquire a piece of land with a clear title. (This may take a church a VERY LONG TIME when the average salary of a worker in the Philippines is only $2.50 per day!) Once the church has invested this much into seeing that the property is purchased, the Bayanihan project finds a church in the USA that will partner with them to give the $7,800.00 it will cost for the building itself. Some churches, like ours did, will also send a team to help build the building, as well. It was awesome to see the "family of God" from two very different cultural backgrounds working together. In my opinion...just a taste of what Heaven will be like!

Day #5 - Tuesday, August 28th

MERRIENDA = delicious mid-morning snack provided each day at the job site. Today, the team enjoyed a traditional Filippino meal...spaghetti and meatballs. The Italians must have stolen the recipe from them years ago...that's my guess.

Today I went with Randle to visit Zion Bible College. located in Tacloban. Randle spoke at the chapel service, and I was able to present the college some books for the library. The President of the college, Rev. Cruz Lapura expressed great appreciation to our church for the donation. We were also able to present a special gift, in the form of a devotional journal to President Lapura.

After the chapel service, Randle and I went back to the site to join the team in working the job. The morning had been spent moving more dirt for backfill around the foundation, as well as seeing some of the framing for the roof attached to the cement pillars.

For lunch, we went back to the missionary's house where they had prepared a wonderful lunch of freshly caught tuna steaks, and fresh pineapple! DELICIOUS!!! This was also the day that we learned that Matt really liked pineapple. (Actually, 5 pieces fell off the dish that was being passed, and then onto Matt's plate, but really...he didn't complain!)

Day #4 - Monday, August 27th

This is our first opportunity to see the job site. It looks WAY DIFFERENT than we expected. The plans that most teams work with include steel columns, not ones made of cement. This project is quite different, however, because they plan to make it two, or possibly three stories high.

We were at breakfast at 5:30 AM, followed by team devotions. We needed to start early because we want to get as much done before it gets too hot, but already, it's so humid, we begin sweating the moment we leave our roms. Now, off to the site!

We begin by meeting the construction team. The forman informs us that we will be "doing backfill around the foundation." I'm a construction newbie, so that sounds like fun. Backfill around the foundation means we get to shovel mounds of dirt into wheelbarrels...I mean old beat-up buckets, and then carry them to the area around the cement foundation. The dirt is then compacted around the foundation. Did I mention that we're doing all of this while standing in the middle of an oven? Well, that's what it felt like! We began work early, so that we could be finished before the hottest part of the day begins. At the end of day one, we have an incredible appreciation for how hard Philippino people work to earn their $2.50 / day wages!

Day #3 - Sunday, August 26th

We're still not there! Sunday was spent by taking a trip to the largest mall in all of Asia, the SMS Mall of Asia to change US money to Philippino Pesos and to have lunch. Food? We ate at Sbarro's Pizza in the aforementioned mall. So far, not much of a multicultural experience. BUT, today we travel by plane to the island that will become our home for the next week, the island of Leyte. After finally landing at the Tacloban airport, we checked-in to our hotel rooms. Tomorrow will be our first day on the job site.

One more thing...see that car on the right? That's the Alston's Speed-The-Light vehicle. It not only serves them well, but it served us all week getting to and from the job site, and running supplies. Later we'll hear from Mark & Fredda Alston about what the car means to them!

Day #2 - Saturday, August 25th

Randle met us at the airport on Saturday night (as you can see in the picture) and welcomed us to what is the hustle and bustle of Manilla. We finally were in our rooms around Midnight, after a CRAZY shuttle van ride from the airport. The roads were packed with cars, Jeepneys, and motorcycles. Every vehicle travels as fast as it can between red lights, and you risk your life with every ride. But no one seems to care. Seriously, if you go to the Philippines, it's not terrorists or Muslim extremists you should worry about. Worry about the cab ride!

Day #1 - Friday, August 24, 2007

Today was a travel day. We left for the airport at about 9:15 AM. We finally arrived in our hotel in Manilla at around Midnight on early Saturday morning. LONG flight!

Tomorrow...the adventure BEGINS!

There's this church in the Philippines I know...

I'm Still getting over the jet lag. It's after 4:00 AM and I can't sleep, but that isn't really anything new for me!

This past Sunday was one of the best I've ever spent in church. We saw a congregation of about 300 people in a city cluttered with the signs of poverty rejoicing in the richness of God. A week ago - no church. This week a modest dwelling, but the beginning of a building that will house the people who share the love of Christ with the people of Tacloban City in the Philippines. Thanks to everyone in Hermitage who made it all possible!

I will attempt in the next few days to give you a step-by-step look at our team's trip to the Philippines.