Reflections

I find reading Jo’s latest blog very challenging, it takes me back to the first day we were on Negros without any perception of what Joyland was but listening to Rick Sutcliffe preaching about being prepared for the spiritual battle we are in. Three day later, I could equate to exactly where he was coming from and the latest challenge alluded to in Jo’s blog only strengthens my conviction of how important the work of Joyland will be in the future. Please pray for the work there, I believe it can make such a difference.

Having been back in the UK now for a few days, I have had time to reflect and consider the impact of the last two weeks. Having left for the trip deliberately with no pre-conception or expectation, I return encouraged by how the four strands of work that we were involved in all seemed to come together and a clear vision of the future and how this interlinking will continue emerged.

Our objective for this trip was to make a difference, in this respect I believe the object has been fulfilled.

In Dacutan, the money given to the village will enable the sustenance of fishing to be maintained and enhanced, hence nutrition should increase and poverty ultimately decrease in time. The children have had leisure opportunities as a result of the visit.

The work of Joyland has already, and will in the future, relieve the social burden of families in the village and increase the educational opportunities for the children. The enhancement of the facilities there will add to the quality of life of the children.

The work of the Youth Centre in Payatas is growing and aims to change the culture and outlook of youth away from drugs and violence to “hope” through knowledge of Jesus Christ, a faith already displayed in the PYFC members that was very humbling.

There has already been a willingness of Payatas Youth For Christ volunteers to go to Negros and work with the youth of Dacutan, some of the surplus funds from this project will help support them in their work in the short term.

And finally, the ongoing commitment of Gawad Kalinga to improve housing stock in Dacutan and Payatas will all contribute towards making that difference count in the future. Our contribution to a Gawad Kalinga building project in Tatalon was purely manual labour, transporting sand and shale 500m from the road to the construction site, yet the interest and help we witnessed from the community that afternoon is what the charity is all about – I should add that we were also assisted by 20 Payatas YFC members, having worked with us on their own youth centre over the previous two days.

It has challenged me very much to look at how I perceive mission and the importance we collectively place upon it. It is very easy to get carried away with localised projects, but we must remember that as important these are, the wider overseas mission we are called to support is also important, and perhaps the time has come where overseas mission has to take a higher priority in all our church’s outlook.

I am grateful for the opportunity to serve in this way, the video I have posted below hopefully shows the difference our limited and small presence made to the external appearance of the centre, compared to the historic photo above.

Stage 1 complete - On to stage 2

It's Tuesday and we're passing through Manila on our way to our next base outside the city. Yesterday we finally finished the verandas at Joyland. Needless to say like all building projects it overran and had the usually problems of the wrong size materials and sufferred other minor practical difficulties - nevertheless, we still managed to complete 2 structures along the sides of the buildings and the shell and roof of the extension on the back. Joyland is an amazing project and we all look forward to sharing more on our return.

In Dacutan, we were (fortunately) unable to do any work, I say fortunately as it involved breaking up a cracked concrete floor with only hand tools. Although part had sunk, the rest looked remarkably firm and not something that could have been done in the two days, instead we were able to redeploy the time to Joyland as mentioned above. Anyway, the Chinese who built the school room and youth centre in the first place are to return to fix it.

So on to Payatas and a landscaping project in the youth centre, and all that it may bring. It has been great so far using time and effort to help make a difference with the work here - more will follow in due course I'm sure.

Glen