In the Philippines...

...is where Steve is at the moment. Steve took off last week Sunday with a team of guys from our church to help with some clean-up after the mess made by the typhoon in the Philippines. They went over to help RBI(Resources for the Blind) staff and families with blind children. So much that needs to be mucked out, cleaned up, and rebuilt.

Here is a short story from Randy Weisser about one family they helped... "Lina is a widow living with a blind son, (Jorin), her teenage daughter, and her widowed mother, near a river that flooded in all the rains. One project was to shovel out the mud left behind, but also to replace part of the roof that was lost in the flood. The team was able to accomplish both in one day, which was more that what I expected and I am sure more than what Lina expected." Here is the team from Alaska with Lina and her family...
After their week of relief work in Manila, Steve and my dad stayed an extra week to head down to Palawan to visit missionary friends, Dennis and Jeanie. They live on a remote island in southern Philippines.

Here is part of a letter that Steve sent after their arrival last night...

"Just a quick hello letting you know we made it! It was quite a trip! Not as daunting as I imagined, but it was as long as we've been told. The van ride was fast on the paved spots, but much of it was being worked on and was broken up. So those areas slowed us down. We started driving at 4:30am and got to Rio Tuba at 10:30am.

We ate a delicious lunch and then headed to the boat. The boat was similar to the outriggers we took to Paradise Island in Davao. The boat stopped at a couple islands to let people off.

We arrived in township just as the sun was setting. Dennis dropped us on a little canoe type boat that was about 20 foot long and 2 and 1/2 feet wide! Your dad called it a tippy canoe. We scrunched on the floor and hoped it would not dump us out. Thankfully it was an absolutely beautiful and calm evening.

We spent about an hour in the boat. We went through a school of jumping fish, hoping that one would jump in. We watched the stars come out, and watched the fires start along the beaches. Occasionally we saw motorcycles running parallel with the beach, Dennis was probably one of those lights we saw.

It was totally dark when we arrived, and we could see two lights on the beach that was Dennis and Jeanie. We stepped out before we reached the beach because of the shallow coral. Ahh warm seawater! We beached the boat, and made our way up the airstrip between the carabao. There are so many insects outside as well and inside- no screens on the windows, because of mold that grows on the screens.

We had a dinner of yummy sandwiches, and pinyaram (Molbog donut) for dessert. I am about to take a shower and hit the sack. Hard to believe we are here!"

Please pray for their remaining time in the Philippines and as they travel back to Alaska on Sunday. I'm sure there will be many more stories to come!