Day 13, February 21st

San Jose, CA

We are home! We arrived safely last night- a bit worse for the wear with a flu bug that attacked the whole team and a nice skin parasite that made our first day home a bit itchy. But we are home!

We had a lovely time visiting with David and Naomi and their sweet baby girl. We also got to meet David's mom- Mommy Linda, who has been a missionary in the Philippines for 30+ years. It was a great reunion for Jeff and La Ne'- and provided some shopping time at the Mall of Asia for the rest of the team.

Thank you again to all of you who supported us in prayer and with gifts of letters, supplies, and money for the projects at and around Sankey. We were able to give and love generously because of your support! May our God keep you and bless you.

Signing off- The Philippines Team Fabulous Five

Day 12, February 19th

 Rizal Recreation Center

We wrapped up our trip with time at the Rizal sports camp with the kids and staff. We started the morning with a devotion on discipleship, led by Jeff, along with worship, lead by Junior, Heidi, La Ne' and some of the other talented Sankey girls. We followed this time of fellowship with playing, swimming, a water balloon fight, and more ice cream.

It was bittersweet saying good-bye to the kids and staff and sending them home in the jeepneys. We love them all so much! We are all praying that God allows us to return again next year to serve here with our Sankey Family again.

We have one more visit planned with our dear friends and missionaries David and Naomi tomorrow, and then we head off to the airport.

Please pray for traveling mercies and for all of the sick team members. Pastor Steve was able to say good bye to the kids and staff this afternoon, but was in bed again most of today. Please pray for strength!

Day 11, February 18th

 
Doc Arjel's Community

Today we traveled several hours over a mountain and over a river in canoes to serve in Doc Arjel's community. This was an answer to both his prayers and ours- after he served with the team a year and a half ago on his first medical mission. He had a deep desire to bring medical help and the gospel to his hometown.

We started the day with a time of incredible worship and prayer at his home church with the team of volunteers. Doc Arjel has a beautiful voice and a heart for worship, and our time together helped us start our day with the right heart and attitude.

To get to the community school where we were serving, we rode six people at a time in long canoes across a wide river. With all of our supplies, the canoes sat so low on the water that our hands resting on the side of the canoes touched the water. We all laughed and giggled as each person embarked into the wobbly canoes and there were many squeals from the staff ladies as they crossed the river with their eyes squeezed shut.

After a short hike into the school, we set up the clinic in a covered area outside. We had many volunteers from the church and local community to help us, so seeing the 200+ patients went smoothly. We even had an ophthalmologist there to fit folks for glasses.

It was a happy and sad day for our team. We were so grateful to be able to serve alongside Doc Arjel's friends and church family, but a bit sad to be wrapping up our last day of medical missions.

Thank you to all of you who have been praying for us on this adventure!

Please pray for Pastor Steve, as he has been very sick with the flu, and has not been able to join us the past few days on the medical trips. The rest of the team and the staff are all fighting colds and flu symptoms. Please pray for strength of body and hearts!

Day 10, February 17th

The Green Beach Church

It was good to be back at Pastor Lito's church serving the fishing community that surrounds his church. It was a slow and steady day,  and we were able to see all of the patients by early afternoon.

Our pus buster, Kurt, and his team of helpers assisted Doc Arjel in the third minor surgery of the trip. The team removed a strawberry sized cyst from a very brave young lady- who let 30+ people watch the procedure. The cyst from her knee was successfully removed and the patient was sent home with strong antibiotics to fight off any infection.

Several of the kids have come with us almost everyday of the medical mission. Mac Mac and Randy have been amazingly helpful and are assisting in everything from translation, to cleaning ears, to assisting in any surgical procedures. Both boys even came to the medical mission the morning after their all night senior prom. What dedication! We are so grateful for the incredible dedication and many hours that the kids and staff are putting in!

We ended the night by sending several of the high schoolers off to prom and then celebrating with a birthday party for all the kids with February birthdays. We ate in the rain, showed a sideshow of the trip, and had an ice cream party and card and dice games (as many of the kids memorized our church verse Jude 24-25). Super fun!

Day 9, February 16th

5^th Day of Medical Mission Sinag Kalinga (Home of the Aged)

Today was a much needed change of pace. We were extremely blessed to meet some precious orphans. The Home of the Aged is a home for the elderly who have no family and no money to take care of themselves.We heard the amazing story of Cindy whose heart was broken after meeting an elderly man who was homeless with no one to take care of him. As a result, she gave her life to taking care of the elderly that are orphaned. We spent time interacting with them while Dr. Jeff and Dr. Argel gave each one a check-up.  Because of Bernal’s generosity, we were able to give a monetary gift to the home as we left.

We then headed to the floating restaurant where we feasted on ox and pig face which included ground up brains, ears, and snout. For those who were a little less adventuress there was plenty of fish and chicken. After being serenaded by a Filipino mariachi band we headed home for several hours of siesta.

Our evening included Nanette sharing her testimony after making bead jewelry and free time in the gym. We also spent time listening to the kids recite Jude 24 & 25. Pastor Steve had challenged each child at Sankey to memorize this passage with an ice cream sundae party in our dorm for those that do. We ended the night with lots of hugs from the children and great expectations of what God will do tomorrow.

Day 8, February 15th

Third day of Medical Mission- Cotta with Pastor Lito

Today’s medical mission was outdoors in a little community near the railroad station. Most of the people that we treated today were squatters, and many of the children came on their own or towing their little brothers and sisters with them to see the doctors. A huge blessing today was that for the first time since we arrived, the rain held off until we returned home to Sankey in the evening. Rain would have made a muddy mess of the little clearing we were in and would have made it almost impossible to see the patients. We did have large tents to keep all of the patients and staff in the shade- and even a little room off to the side to do the prenatal exams and breathing treatments.

Most of the 166 patients seen today were small children and brand new babies. We saw many families with skin diseases and scabies, as well as many colds and some pneumonia. All the families received large portions of soup provided by the church during the feeding program- and there were many smiling kiddos after their bellies were filled! Many of these families are malnourished and we connected those who needed extra food or formula for their babies with Pastor Lito at the church, so that they can get the continued help that they need in the days to come.

Many of the kids from the community stayed and played with us today. All of us had gaggles of kids surrounding us most of the day- touching our very pink and freckly skin and wanting to know if we had Facebook accounts that they could write to us on later. It was great fun handing out stickers and Mentos and just laughing with these precious little ones.

Day 7, February 14th

Third day of Medical Mission- Lord of Harvest Church

Note from Nanette: Thank you so much for all your prayers and support! We really appreciate you sending us to serve God in this way. It’s been a great Valentine’s Day. We hope you had a terrific day also!

Note From La Né: Happy Valentine’s Day! We spent our Valentine’s Day at Lord of Harvest Church with Pastor Bernard and his congregation. The new remodeled sanctuary gave us lots of extra room to see patients and move them through quickly, and were able to see all the patients by 3 PM.

We had some really tough cases again today. One of our first patients was a lady that the docs diagnosed with breast cancer. The church ladies immediately took her into see an oncologist at the hospital, but the cost of long term treatment or surgery are astronomical for most of the folks here. Please pray for this sweet lady and her family- as well as for the church and Sankey who are trying to find the best ways to help these very sick patients. We also got an update on the little girl that was admitted to the hospital on Saturday for malnutrition. She is doing much better- and the staff at Sankey have been doing regular check-ins with the mom and providing the medicines and breathing treatments needed to help in her recovery. We are praying that she gets to come home in a few days!

Note From Kurt: Happy Valentine’s Day! Thank you for your prayers. Because of you we have been able to heal the sick. Love those who would otherwise be unlovable and touch those others would not touch.

Note from Pastor Steve: Greetings my church family!  What a blessing and encouragement to know you all have been praying for us.  I greatly look forward to sharing with you the many stories of what God has done!  Be encouraged and know that our great and mighty God is moving  because of your gifts and prayers. Continue to read God’s Word and as he reveals his truths to you please pray them over our team.  What a joy it is for me to shepherd a church that is so eager to send!