Travel home

So we made it back from DaanBantayan and after a nice hot shower (cold-only showers in DB) and a good nap I felt almost human again. 

Currently we are sitting in the Cebu Int Airport waiting to board our first leg flight home. 

I owe lots of travel updates and photos, but that's just gonna have to wait. 

Tomorrow we visit Seoul for the day while in a 10 hour layover. 

Tim

Absence

We have been on the road traveling through the island of Leyte and haven't had service to post any updates. 

Right now I'm laying in bed at Skip's Beach Resort getting ready for sleep. Tomorrow we start rebuilding part of a church here in DaanBantayan (N. Cebu) with Pastor Randy. We will be mixing concrete and stacking cinder block (called hollow block here). 

We will be traveling to and from the church via motorbike. Pray for favor on the roads. Here in DaanBantayan 99.9% of vehicles are motorbike. I'm not that worried. It's NOT like anywhere else on the Philippines. Besides the occasional bus or sugarcane truck all the traffic (which isn't much) is motorbike. 

Possibly tomorrow afternoon Papa Edgar has setup a time for us to meet his brother who lives here in the area. 

We have witnessed so much devastation, so much loss of life, loss of possessions, so much loss of hope it is difficult to put into words. It's been three months and people still wander the streets or stand at street corners staring at nothing. 

I only have enough cell service to post this. Sorry no photos until next week when we return to Cebu. 

-T

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If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.

 If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing.

 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere.

 So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

-1 Cor 13:1-3

Sunday D-Day

Well I survived. I haven't preached in a long time. I haven't preached outside my home church in even longer.  I guess in this arena you might call me a control freak (Oh come on as if you've all relaxed talking in front of crowds ). 

Me preaching with my translator in the first meeting. 

Me preaching in the second meeting (English speaking). 

Edgar speaking to the audience just before praying over me. 

I'm thinking I might upload my sermon notes on here. Post a comment to let me know if you're interested in reading what I taught. 

After church services Pastor Edgar and Pastora Edna invited us to their home for fellowship and lunch - traditional Philippino style. On the table was white rice, fish head soup, pork, chicken, cooked veggies and sodas.  I didn't try the fish soup. :)

Packing Up for Leyte

After lunch we came back to our hotel and quickly packed our luggage leaving out that which we are bringing to Leyte with us. Giovanni and his wife waited for us to pack our luggage and they took them back to Edgar's house for safe keeping. 

At 5 pm we will be leaving for Leyte island where to massive destruction of Super Typhoon Yolanda. We will be deep inside the destruction zone visiting villages that haven't had much or ANY outside assistance. We will be there for three days. We won't have Wifi while we are there so it's gonna be quiet on the blog until we return to Cebu Island. 

T

 

Saturday Radisson Blu

Saturday was a quiet day. We spent the entire day at the hotel. I was studying for ministering on Sunday and Nate paced back and forth like a caged animal all day. Poor guy.

Eventually Johnathan came and picked us up to take us to dinner. Low and behold we weren't the only passengers in the car. A couple from Australia  who are good friends of the Bantigues was in town and coming with us.

The senior elder at CCC is a businessman in Cebu and invited the Bantigue family and guests to enjoy a buffet dinner at the Radisson Blu, a 5 star hotel in Cebu City. 

Johnathan and Nate with Chana in the background. 

Our friends from Austrailia with Edna on our right. 

What is left of my desert (actually I finished it later)

Praying for favor. I'm preaching twice tomorrow and I'm nervous to say the least!!!!

T

Friday - Mactan Island

Friday we were escorted by Johnathan and his wife Charna. We toured the island of Mactan. Johnathan has the hookups and he got us a tour of Plantation Bay Resort. Wow!  The resort is built over a reef and it's centerpiece is a pool powered by the in/out flow from the ocean. 

We had to stop by the coconut cantina and have ourselves a fresh coconut milk. 

There is a local horse-drawn carriage that you can rent. The operator was kind enough to let us climb in for an authentic picture. 

We then travelled through the local subdivisions to the historic site where Magellan and King Lapu-Lapu fought.  I was equally excited to see the mangrove trees. 

We finished the evening sharing dinner at Moon Cafe Mexican Restaurant in Cebu. 

Today (Saturday) we will be visiting the CFF orphanage. 

Then the fun begins....STAY TUNED!!

Yesterday, today and tomorrow

Giovanni and Johnathan have been our tour guides and body guards these first couple days. 

Body guards you say?  No not really, not here in Cebu but here's why it feels that way:

Meet Giovanni

And his brother-in-law Johnathan (on the left). The other two are Edna and Edgar. 

Yeah, when walking around with them one can't help but feel, well, small?

It was Papa's (Edgar) declaration to them to drive us around, show us the city and to "make sure they get good rest". To Gio and Johnathan this looks like driving us through the city, taking us to the SM City Mall and keeping us out until 11 pm local time. Of course as gracious a host as Gio is he wasn't done with us yet so he bought tickets to see Robocop.  Now earlier in the day, we were having a conversation about food and balut came up. Johnathan proceeds to try to convince me for 15 minutes how good they are and healthy for our bodies (I don't care).  So anyways flash forward, headed towards the movie theater Jonathan looks over at me and asks if I'm tired. I say yes and he declares if either Nate or I fall asleep in the movies we have to eat balut.  Have you seen balut?

Wow and no thank you. I stayed awake through the movie.  Phew. 

Here's Nate drinking a frap from Starbucks. Yum. 

So yesterday, today and tomorrow are days of rest, and exploring the city with our brothers in Cebu. 

Sunday we will be ministering at CCC at both services 7:30 and 9:30. No no that's not a typo.  That says 7:30.   After, the CCC family has a big fellowship time and then we head to the island of Leyte. We will be there for a few days with Edgar, Gio, and Johnathan delivering supplies and serving a few churches there. 

I'm excited we get to go with them on this journey.  

Tim

Morning breakfast with the Bantigues

This morning we were blessed to have breakfast with Edgar, Edna, Giovanni and Johnathan. 

Nate had eggs, pancakes, potatoes, sticky rice and these little weenies recommended by Edgar. 

I had coffee, pancakes, potatoes, and sticky rice. 

In hindsight, Nate won't listen to Edgar about "good food". 

Edgar and Edna ate fish heads and omletes amongst other items. Particularly noting the fact that they were eating fish heads. 

Needless to say the Bantigue family are great hosts and wonderful people dedicated to serving The Lord. It will be an honor to serve them during this trip. 

NEWS FLASH

Edgar changed our plans...a lot. 

See our new schedule below:

Essentially we will be traveling with Edgar and the boys to deliver food and supplies to the hardest hit islands. This will reduce our days working at Daan but will add a great deal of depth to the trip. 

As you can see from the schedule we are playing in Cebu for the next few days. Any recommended places to visit here?  Our guides for the next few days will be Giovanni and Johnathan. 

Nate waiting for me to finish my blog updates....