Continuing on...

Let's see where were we...

Oh yeah---sleeping all night...lol. There are sure some strange noises when you sleep in the middle of the jungle in a bamboo house. Many of the things I didn't even ask about because I really didn't want to know! There was a few wonderful roosters that crowed EVERY night from about 3-6 a.m. That is no exaggeration. I remember when Marlon went two years ago and told me about the roosters. I believed him of course, but there was a part of me that thought he might be exaggerating just a little. I found out this time that no, he certainly was not...lol. Brother Bob lives on a school compound. There is the orphanage, school, homes of people involved in the school some way and a few other homes as well. Aside of all of the prison ministry that Brother Bob does there...he helps out the school financially when able. Here is a picture of the room we slept in and Brother Bob's main living/kitchen room.



Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were spent visiting prisons with some of the full time missionaries that serve in BBO-Philippines. Bro. Bob's main focus and prayer for this trip was that Marlon and I would get to experience a real slice of ministry life in the Philippines. Thus, we were fully exposed to the rough travel and vigorous schedule that the 4 full time women there experience each week. The 45 prisons are located on 4 islands throughout the Philippines. The travel there of course always involves a boat ride (one taking overnight to get to) and then anywhere from one to three hours of travel to the actual prison.
There is the extreme weather to contend with (they go rain, shine or storm), substandard vehicles--the jeepneys and tricycle as well as a tricycab--which is a bicycle with a side car and of course the conditions in the prisons. Often there is 15-25 men/women in one 10x12 cell. No facilities, just a hole in the ground in the corner. There is usually only 5 or so beds and so they need to take turns. The prisons are not sanitary and occasionally they may go a day or even a few days with nothing to eat but a small portion of rice. Yet you see Jesus there. You hear Him in their worship, you see Him in their smiles, you feel His presence as you hug them afterwards. One nice thing is that time is not quite as strict there and so we can linger longer to chat and encourage. Here are a few pictures of some of the prisons.




Here is how the ministry works. There are four full time workers. Due to the travel and distance of the other islands, three of the four are assigned to one of the islands. They travel either Sunday evening or early Monday morning to their location and then stay the week. On Friday afternoon/evening they return home to their families. After three weeks of doing this they each have a week off. The fourth full time staff fills in for each of the three on their week off. The average worker in the Philippines makes $2 per day. $2. While things there are of course considerable cheaper to our standards, nothing is easily obtainable for a family when you make $2 per day. The ministry, however, pays these women a much higher wage and also covers there travel expenses as well as the boarding house they must stay in for the weeks they are gone. Two of the four have children at home still, but with the help of family and neighbors they are able to make it work. Esther, Neen, Arlene, Ling (as they are shown below...and actually we found out Ling resigned just since we've been back) I have the upmost respect and love for these ladies. It was an honor spending time with them and their love of the Lord was both refreshing and wonderful. I am honored to have them as friends and sisters in Christ.




Well, I got through Friday. Saturday was probably one of the most special days for me as I got to spend it at the orphanage with about 100 kids! That is another whole story...lol...so I will again take a break and be back later with more. Thanks for reading!!