Our trip to Philippines

Our first day in the Philippines was amazing. The people here are so friendly and hospitable. We are accustomed to “Southern Hospitality” in Alabama, but Filipinos take it several steps higher.

Our trip here to Sindangan was very long. All total, about 20 hours of flying, nearly 16 hours of layovers, and a two-hour drive down the beautiful eastern coast of the Philippines island of Mindanao, which is the second largest island in the Philippines, populated by more than 23 million people.

The trip was long, but a very good one. Delta did an outstanding job, as did Philippines Airlines. We met some great people on the plane, including another group of Americans going to a different island on the Philippines to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is their sixth trip.

While waiting in Manila for our connecting flight to Dipolog City, we met some wonderful people. We met Pastor Aries and Bro. Armand, who serve the Lord in the Manila area. Our good friend Micah Lewter of HomegrownHarvesters knows these two brothers and was hoping we would meet them. We did, at 1 a.m. Instead of sleeping, these two brothers traveled about an hour to meet us. We talked and had a good time of prayer. They are great men doing great work for the Lord in a very challenging area. We were also able to give Pastor Aries a study Bible that Micah had mailed us to bring to the Philippines. He was very appreciative. Thanks Micah! And thanks Micah for introducing us to all of these wonderful brothers and sisters in the Lord here in the Philippines.

We then met a woman named Rose. She is a native of the Philippines, but lives in Indiana, near Illinois and Chicago. She was very energetic and kept us going during the early morning hours. She told us a lot about the Philippines and she was amazed at what we were coming here to do. We told her we love our Lord and were just doing His work by the example He gave us. Rose fell in love with Mama like everyone does. She called her “Mamasee.”

Then we met two indigenous missionaries to the Philippines. Anna is a medical missionary and Joy is a missionary who teaches the Word of God to those who do not know Jesus. They were fascinating to talk with and listen to their stories and heart’s desires. We enjoyed several different times of prayer with them.

Then, when we landed in Dipolog City we were greeted by more than 30 men, women and children from the Shiloh Bible Baptist Church family. Wow! That blew us away; more on that in my next blog.

So it was a long trip with hardly any sleep along the way, but it was a good journey and one we are very thankful to have made. Everyone we met was amazed at Mama’s ability to travel that far. They just don’t know my Mama. And for anyone back home wondering, she’s doing great.