Hi from Doha!!!!

Hi all.

Jo here, posting from the internet room in the Silver Privilege Club lounge, at Doha Airport, at about 7 am local time (4 am back in the UK, midday in the Philippines). These frequent trips to the Philippines have many advantages, obviously, but the frequent flying and the associated benefits of that are not inconsiderable.

I was absolutely knackered leading up to the flight. As is usual, I tried to cram far too much in, before I left, but Ian and I had a good drive to Heathrow, and it took just a few minutes to check in... Qatar are brilliant!!!! Not only do they really look after you on the flights, but the check-in staff did not bat an eyeleid when they weighed my baggage, and the suitcase containing all the books for Joyland weighed 35 kilos alone!!!!! That is my total luggage allowance as a frequent flyer.... Luckily, I travel light, as I leave so much at Emma's, so my bag only weighed 12 kgs, and we did some shifting around, so it all balanced out.... [It remains to be seen how Cebu Pacific react. I have had no e-mail from them. Please pray for a helpful reaction, when I arrive at their terminal with 47 kilos of luggage (I am allowed only 20!!!!)]

Then into the United Airlines lounge for about 2 and a bit hours of rest and final calls home, then to the gate.... I love Qatar again. They voluntarily upgraded me to Business Class, so I had comfy seat, posh nosh, etc, on the first flight, which was smooth and no problem. I have said a few thank you's to God for the journey so far, which is helping to remove some of the stresses built up by the busyness of the time before departure....

I have a fairly long wait here before my flight on to Manila, but that is no real problem, with free food and drink on tap, and shower facilities, etc....

Much as I appreciate all of this, it is a weird way of preparing though for some of the sights and experiences we will come across in the Philippines. But we will be sharing ourselves, sharing our love for God, sharing our love for the people of this country, and the experiences of travel so far have served to renew me, just a bit, have given me the chance to rest more than I was expecting.

I wish my fellow soon to be far flung travellers a safe journey. It is going to be good!!!!

God bless, all.

Love Jo

(PS - see you soon, Em!)

My first ever blog!!

Hello!
I have just read everyones contribution to this so far & am impressed.
I have been looking forward to this trip ever since I commited to go.
I went to Delhi last summer with the BMS on a church team & the experience changed my outlook on life. It also 'grew' my faith more than I imagined could happen. So I know that things will change for me again, particularly as Glen & Chris are coming too. (I wish Laura was coming but university commitments are important to her at present. Another time maybe.) This time on my return I'll be able to share with people about experiences more easily because it will be shared with family members.
I know God has some new things for me to learn whilst we're away.
This morning I woke early with a great anxiety which I couldn't explain & have not had before. After praying about it the feeling lifted & now I feel a great peace. I can't say what that was about, but I am thankful to God for answered prayer.
Looking forward to seeing you all on Friday.

Three Days That Changed The World.

So its only three days till we set off on our adventure. (Most) bags have been packed, Jo is off this afternoon, final preparations have been set in motion, money has been raised, and emotions are running high. This is an adventure that will challenge us, upset us, and will leave us unable to ever be the same people again. There will be times of excitement, times of anticipation and of course, times of exhaustion; this is not a holiday. Its a chance to change lives, for the better. To have an impact on the world, on the individual worlds of individual people that we will meet and work with. A chance to take Christ to people who don't know where their next meal will come from, or what challenges the next day will bring. And most of all, it will be the chance to experience Christ in a new place, to experience the God that is present amongst suffering and pain, amongst poverty and hunger, and that mourns for those that the world has turned its back against.

Please continue to pray for us all, as we go. There will be lots to do, lots of people to meet, to help and to be helped by. I have no doubt there will be situations when it seems like we are not making a difference, times when we just won't know what to say (well, excluding Jo in that one... ) But there will also many times of sharing, and seeing some fruit of past efforts and work, and continued efforts and work, and moments of complete happiness in the faces of those who notice our love.

This story will continue... so keep watching. And learn with us as we grow, and as we change. Don't be afraid to ask questions, to experience some of that with us. Sometimes we will be ready to share, and sometimes not quite so. But we will work through that, as it comes. As each challenge rises and falls, as the sun dawns and sets. Tomorrow is a new day. The world is changing.

Update on Fund-raising

Hi to anyone who is checking in to this blog...

Well, it is Easter Monday, and all of our fund-raising activities are over.... It has been pretty successful, really.

The team of 10 have all paid for their trip expenses, including flights and living expenses, but on top of that, a trust associated with our church has contributed £1000 to cover the work we will be doing in Manila and Negros.

Furthermore, we have held a number of fund-raising activities, starting with the filipino meal held in December in the garden (yes, really!!!) of one of the team members - thanks Gordon and Irene for your hard work and generosity in this. Heart of the Father has just sent the £540 raised from that event to Puso Ng Ama, Heart of the Father's partner organisation in the Philippines, as part of a larger donation towards ongoing works at the Youth and Study Centre in Payatas.

A table sale at a coffee morning held at Debbie's work place raised £130. A gig at The Ship Pub in Leigh raised £170, on a very cold Easter Saturday evening, and we are really grateful for all the hard work of team members Debbie, Ian and Josh Chapman (who also opened the gig really well with a set of songs), Dane from Deb's workplace (who sang an interesting and entertaining set of songs with a roots reggae beat), and the 17 year old Sheila Lord, who wowed the crowd with her mature set of songs on acoustic guitar, accompanied by Ryan on keyboards. Sheila is half filipino, which added a lovely touch to the evening, especially as her filipino mum was in the audience....

The car wash this morning raised a further £225, and again, grateful thanks to the hardy bunch of volunteers who donated their sweat equity, to work on some really filthy cars (the owners will know which ones we mean!!!!) The worst of the cold weather held off, and we had fun doing it too. It reminded me a lot of the atmosphere on a team build on a GK site.... Fun and hard work, combined, in a good cause....

There have been a number of other donations and gifts, totalling £325, so we will be taking £850 out to the Philippines on Friday, which has more than met our target of being able to pay for a fishing boat for the village at Dacutan in Negros. Once we get there, the team will consult with Emma and local people, to decide what other projects to spend the balance of the money on.

Hence, overall, this trip has generated £2390 for the work in the Philippines, and hopefully, interest is still growing. To anyone and everyone who has supported the work so far, thanks very much. To anyone who has been inspired to give, then please contact us on our return, or by e-mail to JoCrowe.HeartoftheFather@blueyonder.co.uk

Thanks all, and we will try to keep you posted.

Love and God bless.

Jo

Partners

One of the fantastic things about going to, and working in, the Philippines is the way you find that partnerships spring up. One person talks to another, finds out that they are interested in the same issues, and then a conversation of real passion and mutual excitement begins. And out of those conversations come nation changing ideas, sometimes.... Admittedly, often, one family at a time, or one community at a time, but nation-changing, nonetheless.

As a team, we want to take out one extra suitcase, full of books and equipment, which we can give to the various projects where we will be working. For example, a whole load of books for Joyland.... Last time I travelled out in January, I took one suitcase, but mainly filled with books for the children's home, as I have so many clothes over there already. My suitcase wieghed 29 kgs, which was fine with Qatar Airlines, as I am a frequent flyer, but I had to pay a small extra baggage allowance with Philippines Airlines. They were very kind, gave me a concession, because I explained that the vast majority of the case contained items I was giving away to a charity. PAL were indeed my pal.... When I travelled with a team from my church to Romania last September, with British Airways, they also allowed us to take an extra suitcase full of gifts for an orphanage, free of charge. Good for BA too....

This time, I have approached Malaysia Airlines, with whom the team are travelling, regarding taking an extra suitcase. No way, was their answer.... And in fact, they wanted to charge £36 for every extra kg over weight... No help from MA there!!!!

I can carry up to 35 kgs with Qatar Airlines, due to my frequent flyer status. So, despite the risk to the length of my arms, I am quite willing to do it... Ian is driving me to the airport too, which will help. That gets me as far as Manila. But then, I am flying on to Negros, with Cebu Pacific. I fly with them very regularly. They are usually my "airline of choice" for internal flights in the Philippines. They are friendly, reasonably priced, usually on time, have a good safety record, and as an extra bonus, they play games during the flight!!!

So, last Monday, I sent their Customer Services an e-mail, asking whether they could let me carry the extra suitcase, and take up to 35 kgs in total... So that they can help us help some of the poorest of the poor in their country. No reply... I have sent two subsequent e-mails, but still no reply... I have now asked that the matter be passed on to Mr Lance Gokongwei, their Chief Executive Officer.... I have even suggested that they might like to feature a story about our trip in Smile Magazine, their in-flight magazine.... I will be happy to post the results of my enquiry here.

So come on, Cebu Pacific. Help us help the people of the Philippines....

Jo

Fund-raising

We have held a number of fund-raising activities, and arrangements have already been made for money from a Filipino meal held at Gordon and Irene Lovell’s house in December to be sent over by Heart of the Father. Debbie Chapman hosted a coffee morning at her work place, and the team arranged a gig at The Ship Pub on 22nd March, at which Josh and several of his friends played.

There is one last chance to contribute to funds for the work to be done out in the Philippines. On Monday 24th March, from 9.30 to 11.30 am, we are holding a car wash in the car park of Avenue Baptist Church, and refreshments will also be available in the Primary Hall. If you intend to go out for the day, but want your car all sparkly and clean, whilst you sit in a traffic jam, so fellow motorists can admire your shiny motor, or just feel you owe it to your car to give it a wash, perhaps for the first time since last September, when we did a car wash to raise funds for the Romania trip, then come along…

We have been raising money to buy a boat for the fishing village at Dacutan. Sometimes, boats get irreparably damaged in bad weather and that drastically affects a family’s livelihood. We are trying to support this village, having developed an affinity with it on the trip made by the Crowe and Chapman families back in October 2007, although Emma’s association with the village goes back several years, and I have visited several times since last February. So, if you can’t make the car wash, but still wish to contribute in some small way, then please either see me or another member of the team, before we fly. All contributions will be gratefully received.

Jo

Prayer Requests

Please pray for safe journeying for all concerned, both in getting there and during the fortnight, and for health for all, in what is a very different climate and conditions. Also, that we will all gel well as a team, and work together well, as well as with the Filipino people we meet. Pray that our work will be effective, and that we will achieve all that we set out to do, and cope with any flexibility and change which occurs (quite likely, in the Philippines). And that further bridges of friendship and fellowship are built between the people of Avenue Baptist Church and people in a totally different culture. And finally, that we will take Christ with us, that He will be in the midst of us, and that we will meet Him anew in the situations we encounter, in the challenges we face, and in the people we meet and work with.

Itinerary

Our itinerary is as follows:

Day & Date: Team Activity (Overnight)
Sat 29 March: Arrival in Manila/Negros (Eroreco, Negros)
Sun 30 March: Rest, Relax, Church (Eroreco, Negros)
Mon 31 March: Joyland (Eroreco, Negros)
Tues 1 April: Joyland (Eroreco, Negros)
Wed 2 April: Joyland/Dacutan (Eroreco, Negros)
Thurs 3 April: Dacutan (Eroreco, Negros)
Fri 4 April: Travel to Sipalay, Rest and Relax (Sipalay, Negros)
Sat 5 April: Sipalay – Rest and Relax (Sipalay, Negros)
Sun 6 April: Sipalay, then travel back to Bacolod (Eroreco, Negros)
Mon 7 April: Negros (Eroreco, Negros)
Tues 8 April: Travel to Manila, Mall of Asia (Bulacan nr Manila)
Wed 9 April: Payatas Build (Bulacan nr Manila)
Thurs 10 April: Payatas Build (Bulacan nr Manila)
Fri 11 April: Payatas/Tatalon Visit/build/Visit GK Sites (Bulacan nr Manila)
Sat 12 April: Visit Tagaytay (early departure) (Tagaytay nr Manila)
Sun 13 April: Departure from Manila, 4.45 pm (N/a)

The following background information will help to inform you about what we are doing:

Joyland is a Children's Home and School, near the hills of Silay, run by the pastor of Emma’s church and his wife, Rick and Suzet Sutcliffe. Joyland opened its doors to children in December 2007 and is already home to 20 children. Work on the premises is still ongoing and our contribution will be to pay for and build verandahs at the side and back of the school room. This gives the children a covered out-door play area in rain/bad weather. Approximate cost will be £350. The Joyland website (still under development) is at: http://www.www-joyland.org/

Dacutan is a Gawad Kalinga (GK) village by the shore line in Silay, Negros. About 20 of the houses were built by a Heart of the Father (HOF) team in 2004, which began our involvement in that place. Emma is helping to organise and run youth activities in the village, which has a high incidence of school drop outs. All families are dependent on fishing for a living and average family income is just £20 per month. This is below subsistence levels. It is important that we encourage education for all ages in the village, but the floor of one classroom has cracked due to subsidence of the sandy base. By repairing the floor we can accommodate another classroom for skills training. We are hoping that we can organise the older youth to come and help us build - there is no efficient means of transporting materials into the village, so manpower will be essential. Our plan is that half the team can choose to take the smaller children out of the village entirely on each morning. Then we can relax with the older youth in a swimming pool later on. The younger children (SIBOL) have never been taken on an outing before, so a trip to McDonalds is a first for them! The cost of these activities is around £40 per outing and we are still trying to source funds for the building materials from GK. You can see some of my pictures of the party we ran in Dacutan last October at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jocrowe/sets/72157602892572054/ and other pictures of Dacutan at http://www.flickr.com/photos/jocrowe/sets/72157602249111173/

Payatas is the area surrounding the main dumpsite in north Manila. We will be working alongside the young people there to continue working on the Youth Centre funded through HOF by the Spring Harvest Youth Offering in 2005. At present we anticipate that the main project will be landscaping the grounds, but there will be plenty of opportunities for relational activities with the young people there. We will try to build in some flexibility at this point for the team to decide what they would like to do - i.e., take some youth to Yellow Cab Pizza/Swimming/activities in Bulacan. Cost will depend on our final project budget (as yet to be decided - most other activities can be financed from money already paid in for team costs and previously pledged, but obviously the more money raised the more we can afford to do). You can see some of my pictures of Payatas at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jocrowe/sets/72157602245908812/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/jocrowe/sets/72157604020324471/ and the Youth Centre at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jocrowe/sets/72157600401816229/

Hope that helps to give a flavour of what the trip will entail.

Jo

Not Quite A Far Flung Traveller... Yet...

Hello! Least experienced traveller here! So the countdown is down to single figures now - just over 9 days before we travel. Am I excited? YES!!! Am I scared? YES! But do I know that our God is an awesome Provider and Protector? Absolutely!

I know that God is going to do some awesome things on this trip, both in our hearts, as volunteers, missionaries, far flung travellers, and in the hearts of the dear people who are going to accept and welcome us, teach us new things, share with us in the experiences we are going to experience. Am I looking forward to this trip? More than anything ever before. To be given the chance to do this, to have this experience, time to love, time to grow and time to learn from the people I will meet, is a great gift from God, and I cannot wait.

I definately have the smiles on this week. :D

Health Warning

This is not to make you worry, but I'm adding this as I'm researching about Tuberculosis.

On Tuesday I took about 20 children from Joyland and Dacutan to the health clinic, as we are trying to set up medical records for them so that we can monitor their health. Today we have had the results back for the TB tests and many are positive. This is not actually surprising as many of the kids at Joyland have lost parents to this disease - but what is surprising us is the fact that TB is now endemic here - and many of the people we work with in the villages are carrying it. I've just discovered that a teacher friend of mine has tested positive as well, which has really saddened me.

Please, please, please ensure that you have had your BCG vaccinations (and if you are not sure, get a HEAF test to find out). You will be exposed to tuberculosis when you are here. It's normally not a problem for healthy adults, and is fairly easily treatable with antibiotics - if medicine is available, which it is not for so many people in the Philippines. The BCG will give you an immunity so that you don't need to worry about picking up such an infectious disease - that way you'll be able to simply enjoy these children.

Thank you!!

And here, on the other side of the world .....

... plans and preparations are fully underway for your arrival.

We are busy adding detail to the itinerary.... Ian will be pleased to know that on Monday April 1, we will have a date with the 'Handmaids of the Lord' - dinner at my house, with some of the older single ladies of the community. They are real characters....

I've also been working out if we'll want a jeepney or two minivans whilst in Manila and friends in Bulacan province have been working out costings for our accommodation and food there (which reminds me, I need to email our itinerary and needs). People are getting excited. When teams come it means extra work for a lot of people (drivers, cooks and housekeepers) and the team funds provide much needed income for many, as well as the opportunity to get close to foreigners. Far from being disgruntled about the extra work, they are delighted that we would bother to come so far to the Philippines and will really want to engage. Nothing will be too much trouble!

I'm excited, too. Your arrival means that very disadvantaged children in Joyland Children's Home will get new covered play areas; children in Dacutan, an obscure fishing village, will be treated to McDonalds and Swimming and will begin to feel special, as if someone sees them and actually cares about the way they live. Youth in Payatas will be able to interact with you, sing, dance and build together, learning as they go as we build on a partnership that is now 5 years old. In Payatas, so many promises are made and broken, as politicians try to gain votes - these kids have seldom seen a work that keeps on growing and developing over years. Your presence alone means so much to them - and I can guarantee that they will come to mean a lot to you as well. It is very hard to forget their faces, their stories.

Thank you for your participation in this. I will look forward to meeting you at the new Bacolod/Silay airport on the 29th....

Emma (aka Green Frog).

The clock is ticking down....

So, the clock is ticking down....

Flights are booked. The team leaves in just over three weeks time.... March 28th is flight day. Flying to Manila, via Kuala Lumpur, on Malaysia Airlines, then to Negros Occidental via Philippine Airlines.

Arms are jabbed..... the team are inoculated against a few things.... How are the arms, Ami?

Bags are probably not quite being packed yet, but suitcase contents are probably being planned.... (Well, not by me, I usually pack the night before I fly!!!!)

Itinerary is being finalised, to sort out in which places and with which people we will be working.

And the team are gradually getting excited about the trip....

And well they might, as it will be a really good time away. Challenging, encouraging, heart warming.... and life-changing....

The far flung travellers - Alison, Glen, Chris, Debbie, Ian, Josh, Ami, Gordon, Reg and Jo - are about to depart soon.... ready to share, to give, to learn.....