Mission Accomplished!

With layovers, our trip to General Santos took a total of 25 hours. 

My wife and I had been talking about visiting her family in the Philippines for sometime.  The last time we visited her country was four years ago.  General Santos City is 8522 miles away from Chicago. For this trip we also wanted to impact more people by sharing the Christian gospel with them.  After much prayer and contemplation as to which method would be the best, God answered our prayers with a very doable plan.  The plan would be to make rice packages, pass them out to the poor, and include several bible tracts in the Hiligaynon language, which is one of the main language spoken in Southern Philippines.

Bobby's tricycle he rents from his brother and makes a living transporting passengers.

In preparation we bought a 50 kilo sack of rice, 100 food grade bags, and noodles.  On August 5^th we went ahead to Yusaville and Lanton to deliver 70 gospel rice packages.  The content of each bag had two cups of rice, noodles, and two bible tracts from the World Missionary Press.  To do this successfully we enlisted the help of our family.  Our daughter and niece helped us prepare the packages and kuya Bobby, who is also my brother-in-law, helped us deliver the goods.

We loaded the tricycle with the help of our daughter and niece.

We first rode to Yusaville in Bobby’s tricycle.  Bobby did all the talking because unfortunately, as was the case in Manila, I do not speak the language.  As we rode through the dirt road you could see the small homes made out of palm leaves and bamboo.  Most homes do not even have a livable area of 8X8 square feet.  I thought that we were going to be searching for people to pass the food out, but we didn't   As soon as one person took the food, people started coming out of their homes to get one.  How did they know?  I suspect that many were watching us from inside their homes---when they saw that it was good, as the Good News is, they sprung out!

At first people could not believe rice was being given away for free.

As the people received a bag they expressed great gratitude.  They all had a very big smile on their face.  When the rest of the family members heard the excitement they too came out to see what was happening. They would look at me and say “salamat.”  Others said “thank you” directly as they found out I was from Chicago.  Bobby told me, “They are very poor, they have no food and job.  This little rice is a big help for them.”

Bobby taking rice to an ailing neighbor.

At Lanton, the reception was even greater.  We were going to recruit two other people to help us.  But we didn't need to because as soon the residents heard we were given away some rice with bible tracts they came to us in droves.  Uncle Sadam, whom we met in front of his house, cheerfully repeated to the gathering crowd that the donations were a “Christian service.”  The people told us that they were looking forward to reading the Word of God.

Lastly, we had four remaining bags of rice. I asked Bobby to drive us to a small house church around the corner of Chico St. called the “House of the Lord”.  There we met a young pastor named Nasar.  He told us that our visit was unexpected, but greatly appreciated. I gave him the remaining rice, bible tracts as well as my contact information.  He told me that during their prayer meeting on Wednesday he would ask the church members to pray for our family’s safe return to Chicago. When he said that it really touched my heart.

We got a real warm welcome in Lanton.

This trip was very affirming. The Philippines is a very beautiful country with equally beautiful people. Filipinos are friendly and kind.  They are also very helpful--quick to accept you with a smile. Despite some hardships the country has been experiencing for many years, it has not change their heart. In America for example, people tend to be bitter about their circumstances rather than be thankful to God. I have never seen a Filipino being spiteful or mean. They are also open minded and not critical. This is key for accepting  the Lord. (When I gave a bible tract to a senior citizen, Juanine, she grabbed it and kissed it.)  Filipinos are looking for hope that only God can give.

Fathers taking a bag or two to their families. Uncle Sadam in the background.

There are so many people to thank for helping us on this project---but we would like to especially thank World Missionary Press for the donation of literature. Thank you pastor. To use a very popular phrase often used here in the Philippines, “to God be the glory.”

A young man shares a bag of rice with his next door neighbors.