My God is so big, so strong and so mighty

My first out of town trip this year was to snorkel with whale sharks.  They are only in the Philippines in the summer so since I missed the boat (pun intended) last year, I decided I had to make my way there this summer.  It was a little bit of an ordeal getting down there.  My transportation consisted of 1 car, 3 busses, followed by a van and then a tricycle all amounting to a total of 19 hours.  But once I got in the water and swam right up next to one of those things, it was all worth it.  The water is a bit merky so you have to be real close to get a good look.  They are so massive that you can’t even see the front and end at the same time.  As I did not have an underwater camera, I have no photographic proof to provide, but here’s a random picture of a whale shark to give you an idea.  At one point I was having trouble finding it so I looked up and noticed a whole group of snorkelers were swimming right toward me.  I figured I must be close.  I looked back down and I was literally one meter away from it.  I may have screamed slightly, which is a hard feat when you are under water and your mouth is full of snorkel gear. 

I love the spots.

Photo credit goes to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fishgirl7/459882281/sizes/z/in/photostream/

We finished off the night by taking another boat at sunset and looking for fireflies in mangrove plants along the waterline. 

The plan was to fly back and save ourselves the other bus ride.  Unfortunately our flight was cancelled so land travel was our only option.  Still.totally.worth.it.  Great time in creation with great company.

A Provincial Morning

In an effort to remember the sounds of living here in the province… 

A frog jumps out of our trash bin as I try to bring the trash to the curb.  I hear the birds as I sit on the patio.  One makes a clicking noise.  The bee buzzes past me.  Yes, I do mean “the” bee.  I am sitting near the entrance to its home: the wooden patio table.  It’s huge.  The bee, not the table. 

A trike drives down the road.  Its engine sputters as the driver waits for the passenger to alight and pay the fare: 8 pesos each for 3 passengers, 10 pesos each for 2 passengers, 20 pesos for a single passenger.  Clean laundry hangs inside out on the line in the neighbor’s yard. 

It’s a cool morning considering that it’s summer.  It’s breezy and all the leaves dance on the trees in our backyard.  Ah, I’m so thankful to have grass.  The ants scurry…everywhere…across the patio, the kitchen counters, the bathrooms sinks.  I’ve found a few on my toothbrush.  I think we live on one big ant hill. 

The trash truck arrives.  It’s a motorcycle but its side car is a wire crate now filled with colorful bags of trash from the neighborhood. 

I have a fresh mosquito bite.  That’s nothing new. 

A stray cat slips through one of the gate polls, but changes its course once it sees me.  Construction sounds in the distance.  A pair of dogs bark.  I think a fight may have started. 

My shoes have flour dusted over them from tortilla making last night.  Malangay waves in the breeze.  I should pick some and cook with it sometime this week. 

A spider web shimmers in the sunlight, strung between two trees.  I try to get comfortable on the bench.  The construction of the table is such that my legs don’t quite fit underneath the table. 

A rooster crows.  Then another.  A chorus has started. 

The creeks of an old bicycle sound as an elderly man peddles down the street.  Two children laugh as they run down the street.  One is still in his pajamas. 

What a beautiful morning.

Friends

So a couple friends pointed out that while I had mentioned other co-interns in my blog, I had not mentioned them. So, being the thoughtful friend that I am, I would like to recognize my other fellow colleagues…three months later.

J, you remind me of my little brother. I miss hanging out with you. I also miss your curry and your picnic shirt.

S, thanks for booking our trip to China. I pretty much never would have committed if you hadn’t bought our tickets without telling me.

K, we can miss Chick-fil-a together. You should consider Mang Inisal as your replacement, even though chicken is pretty much the only thing they have in common.

A, my apartment looks so much better with you in it. And I can’t believe when we were both living there we were able to have the smallest electricity bill of my whole year.

T, I’m sorry I deceived you about Dumb and Dumber. I’ll try to make it up to you in baked goods.

A Trip to the Rice Terraces

I was recently able to visit some towns north of Manila known for their rice terraces.  The rice terraces are said to be 2,000 years old and constructed by the indigenous people of the Philippine mountains.  The sight is quite breathtaking.  The terraces are still used to farm rice to this day.  We are in the rainy season right now, so it was not the best time for the trip, but I was trying to take advantage of a long weekend since it is a pretty far trip.  It took about 9 hours to get to Banaue, the first town on our list.  They have tons of houses on stilts looking over amazing views.  Here is where we ate breakfast the morning we arrived.

Our next stop was Batad.  For this destination we had to take an hour jeep ride, then hike 1 hour uphill, and then another hour downhill.  With it raining most of the time it made for a rather slippery trek.

But once we were there, we saw that it was worth every step.  Our accommodations for the night were on the side of a hill overlooking some of the terraces.  We woke up to this view.

While we were there we went for one more hike: 1 hour each way.  This time we got to walk through the steps of the terraces and eventually came to a really beautiful waterfall.  It was getting dark at this point so the pictures didn’t really turn out very well, so you’ll just have to take my word for it.  The hike back to the Inn was interesting in the dark.  It was harder to avoid puddles.

Our next stop was Sagada.  For this we had to trek again 1 hour uphill.  Luckily there was a jeep that could take us the remaining 4 hours to Sagada.  I needed to take a rest after making it to the top of the hill.

Once in Sagada we were a little disappointed that many of the things we wanted to do were not available because of the heavy rain.  But we made the best of it and saw what we could.  We had wonderful accommodations again, this time staying at a private residence with a little “house” off to the side.  We even had a fire in the fireplace that night.  This trip was only the second time I have ever been cold outdoors in the Philippines.  We also visited a museum with the sweetest curator.  She told us all about the collection she had worked so hard to accumulate.  This was a dish that had a place for soup, sauces, and sweet potatoes.  I thought it was pretty efficient.

All in all, it was a really wonderful trip spending time with coworkers, getting to see new and amazing parts of the Philippines, and just getting away from the concrete of Manila!

Thankfulness

I’m thankful for…

~ my job…

~ new friends…

~ the road less traveled…

~ fruit: both recognized and unfamiliar

~ the magnificence of God’s creation…

 

 

Lessons from Nehemiah

God put Nehemiah on my heart earlier this week.  Here is what He has been teaching me.

Chapter 1 – Nehemiah weeps, mourns, fasts and prays as he hears that the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates have been destroyed by fire.

Chapter 2 – Nehemiah travels to Jerusalem, surveys the damage and approaches the Jews.

“Then I said to them, ‘You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned?  Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem,…And they said, ‘Let us rise up and build.’  So they strengthened their hands for the good work.” (Neh. 2:17, 18)

Truth – sometimes a great mission starts with one…one who chooses to look at this world through God’s eyes, and who’s heart breaks for the things that break God’s heart…one who inspires others to action.

Obstacles arise, but they press on, each family taking a section of the wall to rebuild.

Truth – God’s mission is not accomplished through the one, but through the Body of Christ working together, everyone doing their part.

More obstacles arise, people stand in their way, and yet they persevere.  Why?

Because “Our God will fight for us.”  (Neh. 4:20)

Truth – It was always His battle to begin with.

More opposition.

“For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will drop from the work and it will not be done.”  But now, O God, strengthen my hands.” (Neh. 6:9)

Truth – extraordinary things are only accomplished through God’s supernatural strength.

As I reflect on these truths, it resounds so clearly with my year here in the Philippines.  The work can seem so tedious.  Sometimes it feels like you are not accomplishing anything when you see a whole broken down wall, and you’re rebuilding a 3 foot portion.  But a wall is built brick by brick.  And so you seek the Lord and His strength, acknowledge the battle as His, and you press on.

My fellow interns have been gone a month now, and it has been a blessing to see how God has provided for me this last month…with new friends, and some I already knew but now have more time to spend with.  Here is one of them that I am super thankful for.  I have also really enjoyed being able to get to know my co-workers more as the weeks and months go by.

And this is a picture of a beautiful portion of Rizal.  I wish this was my view from my apartment.

Here are a couple things that have happened this month…

My first taste of balut -  here in the Philippines, they eat something called balut, which is a fertilized, partially developed, boiled duck egg.  I told myself when I came here that even if something sounded gross, I at least wanted to try it.  And so I did.  It was actually during a game which was timed, which I think was a blessing because I just didn’t think about it and scarfed it down.  I found out afterwards that mine was actually more developed than most and would have probably hatched within a few days.  There were feathers already.  I’ll leave it at that.

Switchfoot Concert – Switchfoot came to Manila the end of April and I was able to go to the concert with a couple co-workers.  Much fun was had by all.  Unfortunately I didn’t bring my camera so I have no pictures to show.

Local Interns – Our office has had a handful of local legal interns this summer (March-May) from law schools here in Manila.  The first batch finished up their hours a couple weeks ago, and as is customary here, each gave a presentation on their time in the office.  I was very busy that day, and almost opted to sit out.  I’m so glad I didn’t.  Each intern spoke about how they grew in their knowledge of the law, and of anti-trafficking work, but more importantly, each also noted how their time in the office affected them spiritually.  Two in particular said they were very moved by our staff devotionals and prayer times.  One commented that she had been encouraged to spend more time in the Word and that even her family had noticed a change in her.  It’s so encouraging to see future lawyers get excited about their faith and about being a voice for the poor of their country.  Our prayer is that as they finish up their degrees, they will be inspired to use their careers to really serve their communities and take pride in helping those who don’t have a voice.  One intern finished his presentation with the following statement.  “I will fight for justice, but not out of anger or hatred, but out of love and fear of God.”  Amen.