April 2009
This letter is several weeks overdue! Forgive me for taking so long to thank you for your support of my recent trip to the Philippines. So let me say it plainly: THANK YOU.
Without your financial and prayerful support, I would not have been able to be a part of this team at the Sankey Samaritan Mission in the Philippines this past February.
I began this trip motivated by a desire to say, “YES.” My main goal was to be a “YES” man on this trip. To fight against my natural “NO” instincts and to allow God’s Spirit to make me aware of the needs of those around me. And then to work to meet those needs. My other goal was to remember everyone’s name. Daunting.
Let me try and summarize my 14-day adventure.
* TRAVELING TO MANILA AND LUCENA:During our team’s 16-hour flight I pressed the button to turn on my reading light. I noticed that a light in the row in front of me went on instead of mine. This caused me to nervously reflect upon the quality of the electrical wiring of our plane’s cockpit.
Upon arriving in Manila, we began our two-hour drive to Lucena, swerving in and around mini busses and motorbike taxis. We whizzed past several basketball courts and cock-fighting arenas. Making a brief gas station pit stop Amanda
opened our van door revealing a security guard brandishing a rifle. She slowly closed the van door.
Armed security guards are everywhere in this country. Tensions and mall bombings have been in the news lately. In fact, as we passed a stalled bus in the road, an angry man got out of his car, brandishing an Uzi. I quickly developed a new found respect for the daily tensions in the Philippines.
* SANKEY SAMARITAN MISSION:Along the side road leading up to the mission is an irrigation canal. Many families have built their shanty homes along the sides of this canal – using it to bathe, wash, and drink.
When we arrived at the Sankey Samaritan Mission gates, the armed guards were there to greet us.
This Mission is, in reality, a “Children’s Home for Future Missionaries” and not an orphanage. Sankey was begun about eight years ago through the efforts, vision, and coordination of Tom Randall and World Harvest Ministries. The first priority was helping children who have been abused, orphaned, and neglected to have a home, a family, and a future in Jesus.
About forty kids live here and they are indeed being raised to have missionary hearts. Some are truly orphans whose parents are deceased. Some have had family members who abused them. Others neglected and left to find food on the streets.
As we toured the Sankey Mission we saw dorms, a mission house, a rice field, administration offices, a gymnasium, and a school building.
The school, Cugley Christian Academy, uses a Christian home-schooling curriculum which allows the kids to learn scripture in every subject and to go at their own pace as they work towards high school. Last year the Westgate church team was instrumental in completing this school building. Morning Flag Salute and stretching
Looking to the future, Sankey is hoping to register forty more students into their school from the surrounding community. They are also praying for people who can financially support individual Sankey kids to continue their education at a local private high school. They are also looking to build other dorms in order to give the Sankey kids who enter college a place to work and live on site.
* WORKING AS A TEAM:BUILDING THE WALL – My team came to Sankey primarily to help them construct a wall along one side of their mission. Because of safety issues they wanted to complete the fence all along the perimeter of the grounds. This involved cinder blocks, cement, muscles, and sweat. Working alongside the locals, and wisely using a carabao (water buffalo), we were able to complete the wall faster than planned!
ADMINISTERING MEDICINE - Jeff Powers, a doctor on our team, brought along antibiotics and supplies. He worked tirelessly training the Sankey staff to administer check-ups, medicine, and shots to the kids. Our team joined the Sankey Mission in going out to the surrounding neighborhoods bringing bags of food, administering check-ups, and giving vitamins and iron to the children. On one day our team encountered kids with severe skin rashes that required our women to bathe and rub ointment on the afflicted children. Needless to say, we all reflected on the poverty-like conditions that exist here where families have to wash and bathe in the same irrigation canals where animals defecate upstream.
STYLING THE HAIR – One of our team members, Jen DeFiglio, is a hair-stylist and she spent the better part of a day washing and cutting the hair of the girls at the mission. She told the kids about “Locks of Love” and, of course, several of the girls wanted Jen to cut off their long hair and donate it to that ministry.
SERVING THE COMMUNITY – We joined the Sankey staff and several of the Sankey kids as they went out to a couple of nearby public schools and communities. We participated with them in sharing a gospel message, giving our testimonies, and handing out food. This is something that is ongoing with Sankey as they work to reach out to the people around them by meeting needs and giving the children opportunities to put their faith into action!
* CONNECTING WITH THE SANKEY KIDS:As the week progressed, we found lots of times to spend with the kids. This was indeed the highlight for many of us. We played with them. We rode horses with them. We exchanged notes with them. We worshipped the Lord with them. We got to know each of them by name and personality.
While many of them have troubled backgrounds, this ministry doesn’t simply rescue them out of horrific and painful pasts. They aren’t merely fed and clothed. And they certainly aren’t at Sankey just to receive a Christian education.
Heizel practices to lead worship
No, these kids are being given so much more. They are receiving: a purpose, a hope, a faith, and a heart to serve others. And we saw it firsthand!
From the depths of their pain I saw young hearts ready to give love. I watched them go into the surrounding communities bringing food, songs, and the gospel. Some of the Sankey kids gave their personal testimonies. Others helped alongside our mission work. They encouraged each other and supported one another. And they encouraged us with verses, smiles, notes, and their love.
Giovanni poses with his craft
I believe that the true mission of Sankey can be summed up by this verse:
“Even though you planned evil against me, God planned good to come out of it…”
Genesis 50:20
For me personally, I want to stay connected to Sankey. I am sponsoring two kids so they can continue their education through high school. Also, I am hoping to return in the next couple of years to check up on their progress and work alongside the students in reaching out to their neighbors. I am staying in correspondence with them via snail mail and email. And, of course, I am praying for the kids and the ministry.
Thank YOU for partnering with me!
