I - The Journey
II - Our Building Project Update
III - A Birthday Ride and Afternoon Delight
IV - Homeward Bound
The Journey
It has been a week after week traveling we have been doing for the mission work, Ahlie and I once again have packed our stuff for another one this week. We truly thank the Lord for giving us loving, responsible and very diligent children leaving them at home was never a problem. But there were times they also go with us to let them understand and learn the things we do in the tribes, the life of love, faith and service. Since it's summer vacation once again Cid, Erl and Eanda will stay with us next month in the tribes for three weeks.
After fixing all the thing at home for our kids and the dogs we left for a week of stay again in Mindoro to manage our mission center/orphanage building project which is about 80-85% done. The entire travel from Pasig to Paluan, Occidental Mindoro normally takes 8 to 8 1/2 hours and since it's always more comfortable for us to travel at night we left around 9:30pm so we can make it for the 2:00am Roro (ferry) Trip.
Upon reaching the Buendia Bus Terminal Ahlie dropped by a fast food store to buy a couple of tuna pie for our snack while we wait for our Roro trip schedule at the port terminal.
Upon reaching Batangas Port which was at that moment very clear from the usual jam-packed crowds we proceeded to the ticketing booth to secure for the 2:00am schedule.
A ticket today for a Roro bound to Abra De Ilog is 260 pesos per person plus a mandatory terminal fee of 30 pesos which is reasonable enough since the terminal facilities here in the south had improved a lot from their security system, the passengers lobby, comfort rooms and all the way to the boarding gates and docks.
Around 5:00am we safely docked at the port of Abra De Ilog and with no time wasted we looked for a shuttle service that will take us up north. This time there were no trip bound all the way straight to the town of Paluan, only a trip to Mamburao was available so we were committed to look for a transfer vehicle once we reach the middle town.
In Mamburao it was difficult to find a shuttle service that heads up north since very few people move in and out of the last town in the northern tip. The only way we can get there is to hire a tricycle which is very uncomfortable and a bit more expensive for us, but who had a choice? It was still a blessing there was a tricycle willing to drive us through those mountains and bumpy roads.
After a dusty, jaw-shaking, back-breaking, err... am I getting too excited or exaggerated? Well, to get to the point it was just time for breakfast when we saw ate Marlyn excitedly waiting for us at the front door of the mission center. It was a good trip! Thank you Lord for your travelling mercies! Once again we were headed for the big days ahead.
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Our Building Project Update
There are a lot of times when words are not enough and a Chinese proverb once said "one picture is worth ten thousand words" so as much as possible I will try to let the pictures here do most of the talking. Here's the collection of the most recent pictures of our building construction. The Lord is faithfully providing for our needs.
The roofing for the kitchen at the back of the building was suppose to be made of "pawid" (nipa) but God has intended something more durable. We have upgraded the materials to iron sheets.
Even Ahlie is all-hands on the project, well that's very literal in this picture. We were trying to be handy in every way we can to expedite the process. By using heavy wooden floor tamper we help prepare this last remaining portion of the floor for concreting.
The building is slowly taking its detailed form from the inside. For now what is left to be prayed for are the windows (jalousy), the 2 flush doors for the kitchen and service bathroom door, the bedroom partition walls, some plastering of walls, the electrical service connection and we are good to move in.
We know the rest will be provided by God in His time.
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A Birthday Ride and Afternoon Delight
April 18, I woke up in the middle of my life. It was just yesterday when I was on my 30's but now I have crossed over to another decade ahead. I am really grateful to God for giving me a wonderful life for the past decade, all but memories now and I can say God has been so good to me. Today I celebrate as I enter the next frontier of my life with my Lord, my family and my ministry. As usual my birthday falls in time when I am busy at the tribal mission and the people who will celebrate it with me is no other than my wife, my fellow mission workers and the Mangyan tribes as usual.
I woke up a little bit late that day since I was full handed during the previous days in the construction. I had a quiet time with God and when I got off the bed and headed towards the kitchen there I found Ahlie and ate Marlyn very busy preparing pansit (noodles) for the Mangyans of Agdilao tribe. The plan is to have my birthday party there with them. On the table I also found some party toys and clothes to be given to the Mangyan children once we get there. As we have packed everything in our bike baskets we all suit up and pedaled our way to Agdilao.
When we reached their place at the foot of the mountain nobody was around, not even their dogs. They all went up on the summit of Mt. Calavite to do "kaingin", a slash and burn crude way of farming. So we just went back to the town and came back later in the day for the feeding program. Unfortunately, it was our camera batteries that was out this time so we can't share to you the fun we had with them in the tribes that day.
On our last afternoon in Paluan, just before we head back home to Manila Ahlie and I decided to do a short ride around the place just to unwind a little. Proudly sharing to you again the splendor of this place.
How about a bike and horse race? Ahlie just passed by a lose horse along the road and I was egging her to challenge this native horse for a sprint. Well, of course you know what happened next. The horse refused because he just had enough dust for lunch and he can't afford more from Ahlie's bike tracks and that he can't just stand the shame hahaha!
Before reaching town we passed by an old Mangyan couple from San Pablo who happened to be resting after a day's work in the farm, they are Nanay Lydia and Tatay Carding. We stopped by as they have waved at us and had a very pleasant pep talk with them while being back-dropped by the glimmering sea and the red fading sun.
It was always an awesome sight and encouragement to find souls along the way with so much stories to tell, specially from a Mangyan couple like them who have went trough all the toughness of life in the mountain. Very few people reach that age in their tribes, though no one really had an idea how old they are, not even them but only their Creator. For we have found God's faithfulness in their lives, and we were reminded that there's nothing we should be worried about because what God has done in them why can't He do it for us. As we turned our back and ride our bikes we felt so much blessed by these two wonderful people. The day after that we brought them some clothes and supplies as our way of saying "thank you and God bless you more".
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Homeward Bound
Oh how time flies so fast! A week has once again passed but we can strongly feel how big God was during this week, He was totally awesome! God's glory was in the place and we have just all immersed in it.
After wrapping up all the job accomplished and the things needed to be done we left that night of April 20. Since there was no van available again we just hired a tricycle to take us this time all the way from Paluan to Abra De Ilog. Another tough ride in the darkness of the night. Along the way somehwere in the dusky mountains between Mamburao and Abra De Ilog we suffered a busted tire. It was good the driver was ready with a spare inner tube and tire pump to get it fixed. Ahlie is used to this kind of travel as she always wear around her neck her head lamp in case of emergencies and it came in handy in fixing that tire. It was also a blessing it happened on a paved portion of the road and not on the dirt road where things can get a lot messy.
We were able to reach the port just in time before the Roro left for Batangas, thank God the flat tire did not cause us to miss the 10:30pm trip or else we will be waiting for another 3 1/2 hours for the next trip schedule.
April 21, 2:00am, we were back to mainland in Batangas. Just a bus ride and were back to Manila. From the Roro we walked straight to the bus terminal inside the port and took a ride bound to Cubao. After more than a couple of hours we touched down at Megamall in Mandaluyong City. It was just before dawn and were both tired and hungry so we just had a quick light breakfast before reaching home and seeing our kids and dogs again.
This is just another chapter of a victorious mission trip in Mindoro and we give all the glory to God! Thank you for following our blogs and hope you are enjoying the trips with us as we bike and beyond!
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For more readings in our blog:
Sunny Side Up In Paluan (Part 1)
Sunny Side Up In Paluan (Part 2)
AGDILAO: A New Horizon For Christ
A Ride To The Land Of "Truth and Fulfilled Promises"
A Bike Ride From Pasig To Pagudpud of Ilocos Norte For The Mangyan Tribes
Bike and Beyond in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur
and more...
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