Mission Trip to the Philippines

by Dr. Lee Roy Martin

During the first week of October 2010, I was privileged to travel to the Philippines to represent Grace Community Church in our mission efforts there and to teach a course on the book of Psalms at the Asian Seminary of Christian Ministries.

I flew into Manila, the capital city of the Philippines, which is an Asian country made up of over 7,000 islands. John Gordy met me in Manila on a warm, sunny Saturday afternoon in order to take me to Angeles City where the Roy Humphrey ministries are located. The traffic in Manila (and all of the Philippines for that matter) is much like that of other large Asian cities—the streets are too narrow; the cars are too numerous; and everyone is in a hurry. John and I were in good hands, however, because our driver was a Jeepney operator, and he had much experience getting around Manila. (Jeepneys are small buses, originally made from WWII surplus Jeeps. They are the most popular form of public transportation in the Philippines.) The hectic trip from Manila northeast to Angeles City took us about two hours.

We stopped by John’s home in Angeles City for a bit of a rest and a visit with John’s wife Menchie.      ( Click Here for Pictures) Menchie is a Filipina and a practicing attorney. John and Menchie were very hospitable and insisted that I stay in their beautiful home instead of paying for a hotel. After they took me out to eat, John and I made contact with Leigh Savard, who directs the Roy Humphrey feeding ministries to the poor and homeless.

We took to the streets about 8 PM in a van loaded down with food that had been cooked by Leigh and her helpers. Our first stop was by the roadside at an encampment of tribal people, the Aeta, who had come down from the mountain jungles to sell the sweet potatoes that they had grown. The homes of these aboriginal people had been destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in June of 1991, the largest volcanic eruption on Earth since 1912. ( Click Here for Pictures) Men, women, and children slept on the ground beside the road. When they have sold all of their produce they return to the jungle until they harvest another crop of potatoes.

Our second stop was even more distressing than the first. At about 10 PM, we located a busy intersection near the bars and clubs, where numerous children were walking the streets selling peanuts, chewing gum, and cigarettes. Many of them live in cardboard boxes in the alleys and in the gutters. ( Click Here for Pictures) Their extreme poverty prevents them from attending school, and their prospects are very dim. It was a joy to see their faces light up when we handed them a bit of food. It was Midnight before we returned the Gordy home.

On Sunday morning I preached at the Clarkview Center,( Click Here for Pictures) which was formerly a Ministry to the Military Center, but is now a thriving Filipino church. ( Click Here for Pictures)The people were very friendly, and they entered into worship with much enthusiasm and joy. The Lord gave us a great service, and afterwards, pastor Bong took us to lunch at the nearby VFW.

On Sunday afternoon we started out with another van load full of food. But before we began distributing the food, we made a stop at the Humphrey Foundation Learning Center. ( Click Here for Pictures) The learning center is a school for children that are too poor to enter the public school system. The public school system requires that students pay a minimal fee of $10-$20 per semester, but many of the children cannot even afford that small amount. The Humphrey Learning Center, of course, offers another advantage over the public school system—children at the Humphrey Center receive a Christian education.

Our first stop for food distribution was a dump site called Madapdap.( Click Here for Pictures) Hundreds of people live beside the dump and make their living by scavenging for recyclable plastic, metal, and any other items that they might be able to sell. The people live in makeshift homes that are constructed out of concrete blocks, pieces of lumber, plywood, cardboard, and plastics. Brother John, pastor of the nearby Church of God, conducted a worship service before we handed out the food. Pastor John and the people from his church are making a powerful impact on this village of impoverished Filipinos.

On the very site where the worship service was held, the Grace Community Church was privileged to drill a well that will provide safe drinking water for approximately 200 people. The well has been drilled, and the water is flowing.

We went from Madapdap to another dumpsite located about 50 miles away on the other side of town. The people were waiting expectantly and were thrilled when we arrived. They lined up, children first, to receive a hot meal. In honor of our appearance, the children were wearing clean clothes. Just as at the other village, these hard-working people went into the dump every day and scavenged for anything that they could collect and sell. ( Click Here for Pictures) There is no safety net in the Philippine economy. There is no welfare; there are no free lunches. Wages are very low, and unemployment is very high. I appreciate the Roy Humphrey ministries, and I sincerely hope that we will be able to fund further projects that will provide food, clothing, and Christian discipleship for the needy people of the Philippines.

In addition to visiting the ministries in Angeles City, I also was able to minister at the Hope and Abundant Life Ministries conference in Manila. Hope and Abundant Life Ministries was begun by and continues to be led by Dr. Ayo Adewuya and his wife Grace. ( Click Here for Pictures) Ayo and Grace served for 18 years as missionaries to the Philippines, during which time they organized 10 churches. They now travel to the Philippines twice a year to oversee the work there. Dr. Adewuya teaches here in Cleveland at the Pentecostal Theological Seminary. Their churches minister to the poor in many ways both spiritual and material. They feed and clothe the poor, and they evangelize the lost. God gave us a wonderful service, and the pastors were greatly encouraged.

Finally, I will comment on my teaching experience at the Asian Seminary of Christian Ministries. The Asian Seminary, located in Manila, serves the educational needs of the Church of God in all of the Far East. ( Click Here for Pictures) Students are able to earn a bachelors degree and Masters degree. Because the Philippine economy is so poor, the seminary depends on support from the Church of God people like you and me. The students are excited about studying the word of God, and the faculty and staff serve the Lord sacrificially. The president of the seminary, Scott Raines, is working very hard to build a quality school with a sound financial base. I hope that I will be able to return there and teach other courses in the future.

The trip to the Philippines is both physically demanding and emotionally draining. The flight to and from the Philippines is a long 24 hours, and is followed by several days of jetlag because of the time change. In spite of the difficulties of the trip, I encourage everyone to join Pastor Kevin when he goes there next year. The rewards are well worth the discomforts. I found a people in the Philippines who, in spite of their suffering and their poverty, enjoy serving and worshiping the Lord. They are an inspiration to us all.