Praise and Prayer Items

Thank God the construction workers next door completed thier re-roofing job and we haven't seen them in a couple of days! Maybe Christine and Jojo can finally get some sleep.

Pray for Christine's health as the air pollution is really starting to get to her. Yeah, it's really bad in here. Especially in certain parts of the city near major roads. The crazy thing is that I sufferred from "the perpetual sniffles" for 10 years in LA. They even put me on this nasal spray thing just so I could breathe easily. Then I move back to the polluted city I grew up in and, wonder of wonders, no more sniffles! Weird. I guess my system's used to this kind of air pollution, but not the kind in LA.

Pray for Jojo, since he's still got swollen lymph nodes and now he's fighting a cold. He slept well last night, but the night before that was really bad. He didn't sleep at all. I'm worried for him.

The health issues are another sacrifice of the missionary life, I guess. Especially for Christine. And well, Jojo's just a little boy along for the ride. But I guess this is part of God's plan for him, too, since he was born into a missionary family. I'd like to think I could put with a lot for myself, but it's just harder to see the family suffering.

Rant: Noisy Neighbors

Pray for Jojo and Christine because they are not getting the sleep they need. For the past two weeks, construction workers have been re-roofing a home at ungodly hours of the day, sometime starting noisy work at 6:30AM! They are literally banging, cutting metal, dropping galvanized metal sheets off the roof, drilling, etc... etc.. 2 meters from our bedroom window!

There are some not-nice Filipino words that come to mind to describe them, but "walang paki sa kapwa" is the nicest term (i.e. "They have no care for their neighbors/ fellowmen"). I let them know it was waking Christine and Jojo and I even called the landlady's secretary to let them know how we felt, but it's folly to think that would change anything. Pray they finish this up soon.

It seems like instead of re-roofing it right the first time, they simply covered the old roof with new galvanized sheets of metal. Maybe someone called them on it and so they had to take it off, take off the old sheets of metal, and replace rotting wood with new wood to support the structure. There's a bit of a cultural thing called "puede na" ("It's not the best, but it will do") which seems to be responsible for a lot of the shoddy work and unreliable services.

Do keep Christine and Jojo in your prayers. It's really taking a toll on them.

Tales of Weird

I have a confession to make: Since I grew up here, I've probably left out about 75% of what more traditional missionaries share with their partners during their first few months. And it's all the strange cultural stuff a lot of supporters want to hear! So, I'm calling this little installment, "Tales of Weird." Enjoy!

OK, how many times have you turned on the lights in your kitchen to find tiny lizards, roaches and leeches hanging out by the dishes? None, you say? Well, I've counted three leeches so far that have crawled out of the sink. I've fought a small war with roaches recently and we now keep our silverware in a covered container, measuring cups and such in tupperware and so on. The lizards are our friends 'cause they eat mosquitos, so we leave them alone.

This one's not so werid, but it shows how normal stuff is done differently around here: Our stove didn't come with the house. We bought one at the store and have to subscribe to a propane service that hooks up a big tank so we can cook with gas. Oh, and when I do the dishes I have to boil water on the stove (just as if we were camping or something) since there is no hot water. We do have a water heater that's an external device hooked up to the shower so we don't have to take cold ones (although sometimes a lukewarm one is refreshing!).


I tied for best costume with John in a costume contest at youth group

Did you know they celebrate Halloween here? Our church did a bit of a Halloween alternative thing where we had a costume party. I just wore my Ren Faire costume. People asked, "What are you?" I said, "I'm a medieval mystic." "What's that?" "It's someone who seeks out visions of God." "Oh, OK...." They apparently liked the outfit anyway!

Oh, our van is banned on the streets for most of the day on Tuesday. It's something they've done to promote carpooling and reduce traffic. Then there's "counterflow," which is when the police stop traffic, take all the eastbound lanes down to one lane, for example, and temporarily let vehicles heading west drive on the wrong side of the road. Lanes are really small and public transportation vehicles like busses and taxis drive really aggressively. I've often said taxi's should have a bumper sticker that says, "Warning: Vehicle does not yeild."


Care for some chicken? Check out the menu! :-)

Finally, there is the food. Christine and Jojo and I like a lot of Filipino food. But of course, there are the strange things you just have to tell people about. Check out the photo above and decide what you would have...If you were here with us, I'd suggest the pork chops. But if you wanted to be adventurous, there's chicken feet, chicken a..hem! Yeah.

Pray for me, 'cause tomorrow I'm heading to another island for a series of meetings until Tuesday. I'll be back with the family Tuesday night.

Stay tuned for the next time I share more "Tales of Weird!"