Giving Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving! This marks the first time I’ve ever been out of the country for Thanksgiving, but nevertheless I still have so much to be thankful for. This amazing journey that I have been on for the past 4 months has been life changing, and I wanted to use this blog to thank some of the people and things that have made this time in the Philippines so special.

            First of all, I want to thank Yahweh for without Him I am nothing. I have found so much comfort in reading God’s word while I’ve been here. Having little to no TV really gives you a lot of free time, and I’ve tried to fill that time with reading the Bible. Since I’ve been here I’ve read the Bible twice, and I’m almost done with my third time through. Time has been such a blessing to get to better know God’s word, and I find myself very eager to get back into it everyday. My time in the Philippines has also made me become more reliant on God’s will in my life. I see his grace in all things. The good and the bad, God uses it all for His glory.

            I am also thankful for the Sankey boys and girls. They have been such a blessing to me, and have shown me what are really the important things in life. They are joyful in hard times, and really know what it is to trust in the Lord. Their ever-present willingness to have a good time is contagious, and I’ve re-learned that the purpose of sports and games is to have fun. Not just for win at all cost competition. For that re-education I am so grateful! In just 4 months I feel like I have become a new person because of the kids here. They have taught me what it means to be content in Christ. “My grace is sufficient for thee.” 2 Corinthians 12:9. I am so thankful for the boys, and the relationships we have developed. The Bible studies are really starting to sink in and they seemed to actually be enjoying them. Which is something I am also very thankful about.

            I am so thankful for the love from all the staff and workers here at Sankey. Especially the Luchavez family who have made my stay here such a fun filled adventure. They are always there whenever I need anything, and I can’t thank them enough for there hospitality. They really are amazing!

            I am so thankful for Uncle Tom and Aunt Karen for giving me this opportunity to come and share a year of my life with their kids. The amount of love and support by these two warriors for Christ is astounding, and I am so thankful to be able to call them my Uncle and Aunt! I really can’t wait till they get here so I can see the joy that they bring. If you know them you know the energy and enthusiasm that is ever present in their ministry. They are such a blessing, and I’m so glad I could give this year to help them with their mission.

            I am really thankful for technology. A few years ago I never though I would say that, but now knowing first hand what it means to communicate with people on the other side of the world I have to say I now realize how good it can be. Viber, Skype, Email, and even a little bookface they all have been such a blessing in that I can use them to talk to all of you back home. It has been so awesome to stay up to date with the sermons from my home church of Roswell Community Church. The teaching in the sermons has been so refreshing, and every Sunday I truly look forward to hearing what my pastors have to say.

            Finally I am so thankful for each and everyone of you! Thank you for your prayers and support. It’s amazing how loved I feel when I hear from someone back home. My family and friends, Thank you! Your kind words have picked me up when I needed to be, and leveled my head to show me what truly matters in tough times. I thank the Lord for each of you and the amazing blessing you are to me.

            I know this is a little different from my usual posts, but it was on my heart so I decided to follow it. Know that, even though I’m in the Philippines, I still am enjoying what Thanksgiving is really all about. Giving Thanks! God Bless you all!

P.S. To Uncle E……….. Have some turkey and pumpkin pie for me!!!

General Update

Well, a lot has happened since the last time I wrote on here, and for that I’m sorry. I’ve been fighting a little bit of writer’s block, but I figured it’s time to push through it and give you all an update on what’s going on here in the Philippines.

            THE STORM: By now I’m sure all of you have heard all about it. First of all, we were safe during the storm. It was by far the loudest rain/wind I’ve ever heard in my life. It sounded like I was on the beach. I went out one time to see what the wind was like, and was literally blown back. I was amazed at the power of the storm. That said, there was only a little damage done here at Sankey. A few trees were knocked down, a gutter was broken, and a car covering crashed, but thankfully no one was hurt here. So we rode out the storm in safety. One amazing thing about this place is that it’s one of the few places in the Philippines that is usually protected from natural disasters. We are far enough inland, and the mountains that are around us protect us from these storms. The Philippines is the number one country in the world for natural disasters. They have Earthquakes, Typhoons, Mudslides, Volcanoes, and Flooding. You name it, it happens here. World Harvest is sending people and money directly to the places most in need and if you are interested in helping the donations address is World Harvest Ministries, PO Box 613, Manchester, MI 48158. Mark your check with a note saying you would like it to go towards relief and every cent will go where it can best be used.

           Teaching the elementary kids has been a lot of fun. I’m having them read all kinds of books, and I’ve even got my fifth graders hooked on Narnia. At the end of every day we have P.E., which the kids love after being in actual school all day. It’s also my favorite part of the school day because I usually join in and play with them. We’ve been playing indoor soccer because it’s been raining so much lately, but the kids seem to love it.

            I’m really enjoying hanging out and playing with the older boys. We play chess, ping-pong, and basketball just about everyday. We are going through the life of Moses in our Bible studies, and they seem to be very interested in what we talk about. After we finish I promised the guys we’d watch The Ten Commandments, and to my surprise I found out that none of them had ever seen it. Now to me this is unbelievable because I was raised on the great Charlton Heston. Ben-Hur, The Ten Commandments, and the original Planet of The Apes were constantly playing at our house. So I’m glad I get to show them something that I grew up watching. Speaking of which….

            Tonight we had the all the Guys and girls watch Jaws for the first time. It was hilarious to see their faces! They screaming and jumping and I had so much fun just watching and hearing their reactions to the scary parts. I just found out that Uncle Tom took my Mom and two of my Uncles to see Jaws for their first time. So I think it’s only fitting that I was a part of the first showing of Jaws to his kids.

            I remember the first time I ever saw the movie I was at my Grandparents house, and right before one of the scary parts my Dad told me to come sit in his lap so he could give me a backrub. Now I was about thirteen and I thought it was a little goofy for my to come sit on his lap, but I was not going to miss out on a backrub. So I went over and sat on his lap as he began to rub my back. I turned my attention back to the movie, and a few second later the dead man pops out of the boat underwater and I jumped in fright. My Dad just started laughing, and I saw that he had set me up, but he kept rubbing my back. I thought that was such a good analogy for our Heavenly Father. He knows what is coming up in our lives and even when they are scary and hard He is right there with us. Rubbing our back.

“In you, Lord my God,

I put my trust.” ~Psalm 25

Penance in the Paddies

          Today I got to experience a completely new thing. I helped harvest the rice paddies. This involved about 13 guys, 8 of which went around with little blades and chopped the rice stalks in half. They then leave little piles of half cut rice stalks all over the paddies, and the remaining 5 go slogging through the mud to collect the good half for harvesting. I was one of the 5 going around picking up the little piles and brining them to an enormous pile. After all the stalks are piled up they are then fed through a machine that separates the actual rice from the stalks, and the rice is put into large sacks weighing about a hundred pounds each. To give you an inkling on how much rice we collected, we filled about twenty, 100 pound sacks. It feeds the kids and staff everyday, 2 or 3 meals a day for about a month and a half. So this was a ton of rice!
          I had such a great time! It was so refreshing to do some good old fashion manual labor. We had to walk around picking up this rice in knee high mud. I felt like Charlton Heston making bricks without straw in The Ten Commandments. The paddies are home to tons of animals. I saw tons of toads, snails, and the most spiders I've ever seen in my life. I was also told that sometimes there are snakes and leeches, but I charged ahead and loved every second. With my clothes and body covered in mud (I hope, but doubt that it was all mud!) I was able to internally wrestle about a question of my faith that this time here in the Philippines has made me think about.
          I've struggled a lot with the question of if I truly believe that I am saved by grace alone. It's easy to think about grace when you are sweating, covered in mud, and putting in a some hard hours working with your hands. But I couldn't shake the question. Am I saved by grace? It's funny because I believe Christians are saved by grace, yet I have a hard time believing I am saved by grace. This reminds me of the story about G.K. Chesterton when The Times sent out a question, “What’s wrong with the world today?” and Chesterton responded,
“Dear Sir,I am.

Yours, G.K. Chesterton.”

How can I think that others can be saved by grace, yet I can't. I guess that's the little Catholic in me thinking that I should have to do good things to make up for the sins I have committed. These thoughts can only bring despair because I know I will never be able to make up for my sins, but it is with that thought that I remember Jesus Christ died for me so that I would be dead to sin. I am free from its awful grasp, and for that I am so thankful! 

          While I was out there in the paddies I remembered this story that is told on the Indelible Grace album The Hymn Sing Live in Nashville. Here it is:

“Oh Love That Will Not Let Me Go…this hymn was written by George Matheson who began to lose his sight in seminary…ended up eventually going blind.  He was engaged to a woman who left him – said that she didn’t want to be married to a blind man.  And he wrote this hymn on the night of his sister’s wedding.  His sister had lived with him and taken care of the house but now she was gone – off to her own life and he was home alone and he said that something of incredible sadness passed between him and the Lord and he said that this hymn came to him almost like it was dictated in the matter of about 15 minutes.   But I wanted you to notice there’s a particular line we’re going to get to in verse 3 where it says, I trace the rainbow through the rain.  And that image of the rainbow there in Genesis in the Noah story…it’s not like the little bow that you’d wear in your hair, it’s the word for battle bow.  And the picture that God gives us that he’ll never destroy the world again by flood is the picture of a battle bow cocked and aimed at Himself.  And what the cross is is that that battle bow has been loosed but not on us. So when trials come we don’t just try and keep our head up.  We grab hold of the covenant promise – the proof that God loves us – is that all the promises of the Bible are yea and amen in Christ, right?  Including that one – that he would never destroy the world because he destroyed his Son.  Therefore, as one of the Puritans used to say if you don’t understand justification by faith it makes every trial a double trial.  Because not are you only enduring the trial, you’re having to wonder if God hates me.  But if Jesus died in your place you know that his wrath has been fully poured out on his Son, right? So we have a love that will never let us go because we have a love that let his Son go in our place.”

He Giveth More Grace, and I will rest in that!

Scouting

On Tuesday morning Jake and I left Lucena to go meet with the Captains of different villages to set up the upcoming basketball evangelism tour at the end of Dec-Jan. It was quite an adventure! The day started off early when we caught a public transportation bus that would take us to the area we were going. The bus was jammed packed when we first got on. The seats were very hard, but I had such a great time looking out the windows getting a peek into a different part of the Philippines. We were headed into a very poor area, where the houses are made of bamboo. The trip on the bus lasted for about 4 hours, and by the end of it I was definitely ready to get off that bus and start meeting the Captains to set up some of the games.

We met Pastor Dan, who only spoke Tagalog, and he took us on his tricycle (motorcycle with sidecar) to the small town where we were going to make our base camp for the next couple nights. The ride was hilarious. Jake was in the sidecar like an Emperor, while I was on the back of the bike hunched over because the roof was made for someone that was 5 ft 6 in. I got some more rural sightseeing in, and about 45 minutes later we arrived at our temporary home. The place was a home connected to a church, and we were able to get out and stretch a little before heading out to meet some of the Captains. The Captains, as far as I can tell, are like mayors in the U.S. So after a short rest we climbed back into the tricycle and headed out to set up some games.

The travel from place to place was quite an experience! Everywhere you look is green. We were traveling through jungle areas. It was like something out of a movie. I felt like I was in Rambo or Platoon. The people love seeing an American and I got a lot of “Hey Joe” from the villagers as we rode past. The roads are rarely paved, so most of the tie we travelled on gravel/mud roads. It was so cool to look out and see the surrounding area. There were all kinds of trees, rice patties, animals, and little huts. I saw pigs, goats, stray dogs and cats, carabow, and even a few monkeys. Most of the houses we saw were little one-room houses made of bamboo. Only the Captains had bigger houses, and that tells you a little about some of the shady characters we had to meet with. Not to say all of them were bad people, far from it, but you can also see which ones are in their position to help others and which ones are in their position to help themselves.

The second day we unhooked the sidecar and Jake and I were on one bike while the two pastors that we were with were on the other. I wish I had a picture of our bike with us on it, but if you need a visual it was very reminiscent of the bike trip in Dumb and Dumber.  The two of us could barely fit on the bike, and though it wasn’t comfortable it was something I’ll never ever forget. We rode all over the surrounding area setting up games. The views are amazing, and it will be such a blessing to get to play and talk about Christ to the people in those areas. The people in most of the villages are dirt poor, and it really is such an eye opening experience to see people truly just getting by. The people work for food, and nothing more. It’s heart wrenching to see how these people live. Maybe it’s just because I’m from America and don’t see this everyday. It puts a whole new perspective on third world poor for me.

 The kids are so awesome. They seem oblivious to their situation, running around in the street in tattered clothes and even sometimes with no clothes. I had such a great time making funny faces and getting them to smile. This was also very easy because they never really see Americans riding on the backs of motorcycles through their villages. It was great to see all the double takes, and smiles as the realized I wasn’t from around there.

The third day was just as great, even though as we started it began to rain. We pushed through though and finished setting up the games for the upcoming trip.  Thursday night I was asked by Pastor Dan if I could speak to his church, and with the help of Jake as translator I was able to talk about keeping the faith during hard times. I found out I was going to speak on Thursday morning, so I had a few nerve racking hours of figuring out what I was going to say. One of my favorite musicians, Jack White, has a quote that I found very fitting for this occasion “Nothing breeds creativity like necessity.” I had to come up with something and with the grace of God I was able to put together a fifteen-minute talk that involved Hebrew 11, Lord of the Rings, Noah’s ark, and most importantly how Jesus kept the faith. A couple of years ago if someone told me that I would have to talk in front of a group I would be terrified. Now, though I still get nervous, I’m not as fearful to get up and talk especially if I have a chance to talk about Christ. So praise the Lord, and hopefully that continues to get better!            

It’s so cool to think about how many of these people we are going to be able to share Christ with. Uncle Tom has an amazing gift for evangelism, and if you haven’t met him you need to. I think of him as a modern day Paul, and to be able to help set up his upcoming trip has been such an honor. To take part in his great ministry has been such a blessing. His love for Christ and his desire to reach out and share the Gospel is an inspiration beyond words. This upcoming trip is going to be full of adventures, and I’m so glad I got a sneak preview of it as a scout for Christ. 

Romano

This Saturday I went with some of the workers and kids to a Catholic orphanage where they take in people with special needs. It was an amazing experience, and I’m so glad I was able to go. One of the kids who used to live at Sankey, Ramano, is now living there. I’m not exactly sure what kind of disability he has. He is able to work at the orphanage, and help out by doing jobs around the place. He is very self-sufficient, and the orphanage has really helped him out. He also has a sister, Mary Ann, who still lives here at Sankey.

            So myself along with 3 of the boys, Mary Ann, and three of the workers woke up at 4:30 to make the 3-hour trek through the Pilipino traffic to spend the day with Romano. Now the people here haven’t seen Romano in 4 years, and that includes Mary Ann. It’s hard to imagine the feelings of her, but she was able to keep her emotions in check and greet her brother for the first time in a long time. Romano still remembered all their names. One of the first things he said was he wanted to come back to Sankey. Which breaks your heart, but we know he is in a good place where they take care of him.

            One of the Catholic orphanages goals is to help these kids become more self -sufficient. They teach them labor jobs that they will be able to do and to keep them busy.  They work on the farm, learn cleaning jobs, etc. It really is a great set-up where they all are looked after and properly fed.

            Growing up in our family we have always had a special place in our hearts for kids with special needs. My Uncle who has Downs Syndrome is one of the joys of my life, and becomes that for anyone who meets him. He is a loving soul, and is a living example of how we are supposed to love our neighbors as ourselves. Though I think loving people right is one of the inherit traits of people with special needs, I also think it is ingrained by how they are brought up. My Papa and Grandmother have been an amazing example how to treat someone with special needs. LIKE REAL PEOPLE! They constantly give him jobs, and shower him with love. Though it’s obvious my Uncle is different we have never treated him like he was different. We treat him like the equal that he is in our family, and I think that is part of why he is so loving to others.

Whenever I meet another person with special needs I’ve always thought of how treasured they are in God’s eyes. I couldn’t help but think that as I was privileged enough to meet Romano and some of the others that live in the Catholic orphanage. It was also an eye opening experience to think of all the people around the world who have special needs. They are so precious, and they needed to be treated as gifts not tossed aside and ignored.

 Michael, the special needs boy who is still at Sankey, came with us on the trip because in a year or so he will have to join Romano at the Catholic orphanage. He was so happy to be reunited with Romano. I’ve been told that when they were both here growing up at Sankey they were constantly together, and since Romano had to move out Michael constantly says his name. Whenever Michael is given food he sets aside part of it and says this is for Mano, or when he is given clothes he asks if there are any extras for Mano. It’s a valuable example of how we are supposed to act as Christians.

Ok this isn’t a Philippines story, but it goes along with the point I want to make in this post.

My Uncle Eugene is quite famous for referring to everyone he meets as either Brother, Pal, or Angel. One of my favorite Uncle E stories is when our Kvam family was out at a restaurant and had a male waiter who was a very flamboyant gay man. None of our family paid the man much mind, and they ate their dinner without really speaking much to the guy. Uncle E, who loves to pay the tip, asked Papa if he could give the waiter some money. So instead of leaving the money on the table, as most people do, he went and found the waiter in the restaurant. He went up to him handed the waiter the money and gave him a big hug. He then walked away with his famous “all eyes on me” strut, and told everyone it was time to split. As my Grandmother was walking out of the restaurant the waiter came up to her with tears in his eyes, and said he just wanted to thank her for her son. He had been having a really hard time, and told her how much Uncle E’s hug meant.

 My Uncle Eugene is a perfect example of loving people the way we are called to love. Not by the outward appearance, but to love as Jesus loves, us with all our ugliness and faults. I feel so privileged to be able to say that Eugene Kvam is my Uncle! He is one of my heroes, and truly a needed example on how to love people well. 

Though I’ve only been in the Philippines for a short time I’ve really developed some strong relationships here. God has been so good with providing anything and everything I need. Through the ups and downs I’ve really been able to learn to truly trust God with all things. I’ve always said that I’m just not good at prayer, but I was really challenged by a sermon I heard from my home church, which basically said prayer takes practice. I think of how many hours I’ve spent shooting the basketball compared to how many hours I’ve spent in prayer, and I can’t help but feel ashamed. I now realize that just like anything, practice is all I need. To stop talking about how “I’m just not good at prayer” and actually praying has made such a difference! The Lord listens to all, and I’m finding renewed reassurances all the time. To be convicted to pray my way through the day has really opened my relationship with God to new heights. To trust Him in all things and to have a true conversation with the Lord puts my heart at rest.

I thank God for what He has done for me here, and for all the relationships I’ve been able to establish. This week I was pretty sick. I’ve only been sick a couple times in my life, so this is still a new thing for me. I had about a 106 degree fever, sore throat, headache, and I was dizzy whenever I stood up. The people here were amazing! They helped me through it, and now thanks to God and their help I’m back to normal. I can’t explain how much their love and care for me has meant. They really were there whenever I needed anything. It’s so comforting to know that I have people in my corner that truly care.

Friday the 13^th in the year 2013 we celebrated the 13^th anniversary of the Sankey Samaritan Home. We had a big dinner with all the boys and girls as well as the staff. We had a fun time just hanging out and talking about various things. Afterward we watched Raiders of the Lost Ark, which no matter how many times I see it, it still is a perfect adventure movie.

Quick little story from the anniversary party: The youngest kid here at Sankey, John Paul, is a big Hulk fan. I wear a hulk shirt ever once in a while with a picture of the Hulk on the front, and every time I wear it he asks me the question, Who would win the Hulk vs. (some superhero)? The Hulk always wins, and he loves it. Then he asked, “what about Hulk vs. Samson?” I said Samson cause he has God with him. There was a twinkle in his eyes and he started to smile. Then he said, “What about the Hulk vs. me?” Before I could even answer he said, “I win because God on my side.” I just smiled and said “your right! You would beat the Hulk cause you have God.” He got the biggest smile, and puffed out his chest a little. It was so cute to see him realize with God on your side nothing is impossible. 

Well it’s been awhile since I last posted, so this is a general update on how things are going. I’ve only been here for about a month and a half, but I’ve already learned so much from the people here at Sankey. I’m constantly amazed at what God has done here. It’s a true testament to the leadership here. The workers here are so genuine. They truly care about everyone, and it is so inspiring.

I’ve got my own little routine here, but everyday there are new adventures to be had. My Mom used to say when we were little “only boring people get bored”, and lets just say that goes double for life in the Philippines. Life is constantly going here, and with so many people it’s always easy to find someone and have a good time. I’ve been playing a lot of chess, ping-pong, guitar, and just having fun with the boys and girls here.

In school the speech classes are going okay. I still feel a little inadequate teaching an actual class, but I’m learning how to prepare lessons and even getting better at talking in front of a group of people. My favorite part of school is definitely Fridays when at the end of the day we have P.E. It’s so much fun just to play with the kids it’s amazing! I’ve taught them a few new games including red rover, stuck in the mud (freeze tag), and capture the flag. We’ve had such a fun time running around, and the kids seem to love it almost as much as I do.

The devotions with the boys have been going well. We are almost finished with The Measure of The Man book. It’s been a good intro book to get to know the boys better, and I’m really looking forward to going through the Bible with them. Once we finish this book we are going to start going through stories in the Old Testament and showing how everything points to Jesus. The first story we will be doing  is Joseph’s, and I can’t wait to get it going!

I’m starting to understand little bit of Tagalog, but I still a long way to go. The boys and girls have been great in helping teach me words, and hopefully I’ll be able to speak a little soon. I’m still so thankful that they all know a various degree of English!

God has been so good here! I have been so blessed by all the people here it truly is amazing.

I was asked a question by one of the girls here that really has stretched me. It’s not something I have ever even thought about before, but now I can’t get it out of my mind. The question she asked was, “If you were famous what would you want to be famous for?” When she asked the question multiple answers flew into my head: writer, movies, basketball, etc… But my New England side kicked in, and I didn’t open up completely. Instead I fired the question right back at her, and she said without any hesitation. “If I had to be famous I would want to be famous for bringing people to Christ. Maybe be a famous missionary.” She said it without a hint of self-righteousness. It was so genuine and pure, that I couldn’t help but crave for the exact same desire to overtake my heart. 

See I’ve truly come to realize that sharing the Gospel and what it preaches is really the most important thing I can do. I just hope and pray that I will always be ready for whatever God has planned for my life.

Love you

God Bless!