This trip for Nympha (Mrs. G) and I began with gathering a few persons in the Philippines to meet up with us in Manila. We led our immersion team, met up in Leyte with Gregg’s band, completed our immersion trip in Cebu, returned to Subic while Gregg and his band returned to the U.S. A couple of weeks later Gregg returned with his immersion team. We met them at the airport and traveled with them to Subic, Leyte, Lapu Lapu and after a couple nights at Bethel Bible College in Manila we all returned to the U.S.

 Stories of 2008 Immersion Team / Unnamed Servant Tour / 2008 Interns

Nympha and I left for the Philippines before our 14 person immersion team departed. We stayed at the Mabuhay Manor in Manila awaiting the arrival of Nympha’s neice Lyzel, our friend Rina and G.O.D. student Nate Cameron. I had searched diligently all over Manila for a hotel that would accommodate our transient needs. The Mabuhay Manor (now closed) was near the airport, and had a great breakfast! Nate had spent six months teaching and working at the Asian Center for Biblical Studies. He had left ACBS to help Rina prepare concert venues in Leyte for Gregg’s band (Unnamed Servant), then the three of them (Nate, Rina, and Lyzel) boarded a ship for Manila to join us.

The most unexpected event during this trip was when Nympha located her son Marlon who was born to a Filipino man prior to Michael’s birth. Marlon was 36 years old when he first met his mother; he did not have any memories of her from when he was an infant. When Marlon was born, Nympha was a disillusioned young girl who out of desperation had left him with his aged father. She had worked as a maid for the old man who fathered Marlon.

We had not told anyone about the existence of Marlon except Gregg, and did not tell him until after he had become an adult. I had felt that protecting Nympha from her past was important for her healing and personal dignity. The crushing trauma of her past would eventually overcome her emotions and disrupt her thoughts.

It was quite a surprise for our immersion team to learn that beloved ‘Mrs. G’ had another son other than Gregg and Michael. I remember one student responded to the news saying, “What is happening right now!” We took Marlon with us to FHL Kids Ranch but he had to return to work and was unable to travel with us to Leyte to meet his grandmother and cousins. Although he met Lyzel and Geraldine. Lyzel was traveling with us, she is the youngest daughter of Nympha’s oldest sister Norma. Geraldine (named after my mother) is the daughter of Nympha’s brother Carmelito. Geraldine was living in Pampanga and came to see us all while we stayed in the Subic area.

When our immersion team arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International airport in Manila I put us all in a couple of taxis and headed for the Cubao Victory Liner Bus Depot where we would take a bus to Cabalan and stay with the Dumlao family in their home and church. I had learned not to sleep during these rides on the busses from Manila to Olongapo. The drivers work long hours and tend to close their eyes while driving. On this particular trip I watched the driver’s eyes in the rear view mirror over his head. He began to nod off on the straight stretches of the road with his arms placed in the openings of the steering wheel. I had to sit near him and keep him awake. The driver of the Victory liner dropped us off on the main road and we carried our bags to Tarcela’s property that inculded the church building her home and in the lower rear lot a home for Joven (the pastor of the Aeta).

Tarcela’s husband had passed away before we met the family, he was the founder of their church. After his passing Tarcela ran the ministry. Belinda (Tarcela’s daughter) and Mitos (Tarcela’s daughter in law) worked with Tarcela and prepared our meals for us during our stay.

Visiting Prisoners and Learning History

We walked out from Tarcela’s Bethel Temple Church to the main highway in order to catch a ride on one of the jeepnees headed into the city of Olongapo. When we arrived in Olongapo I brought my students to the local open air market to buys some fish and rice to bring to the prisoners in the holding cells downtown.

We left Cabalan and Olognapo via a Victory Liner to the Cubao Bus Depot in Manila. Once we arrived we collected our bags and carried them to a bus company that made the trip to Brgy. Montecillo, Sariaya where Faith Hope and Love Kids Ranch is located. We had risen early to catch the bus to Manila. I remained standing in the bus on the ride to FHL out of my personal excitement to be on the road again!

At FHL kids ranch my immersion team dug a drainage pit for the new kitchen and a big pit for burning trash on the edge of the property. The males were in one dorm building and the females in the adjacent dorm. One of the immersion team’s males (Chris) was in need of some muscle development so each morning I had him arise at 5:00 am with Marlon to hand pump water and fill the large buckets that served us for showers and flushing toilets. Lorraine and Celine Lamar provided for my students an immersion into the life of a woman and her family that gave themselves fully to helping children in need of a home. Lorraine and Lamar’s story is inspirational (read e-book). The immersion team members danced, performed songs, served, and learned the plight of children captured in poverty and alone. One of their lessons was visible in the body of a boy who was older than he looked for his size. To relieve the pain of being on the street he had been sniffing glue. I pray that his body recovered over time. After our stay at FHL we flew to Tacloban City Leyte.

Rest of the story coming soon!

Band Arrives

Cebu - Band Concerts, Immersion team ministry, band and Immersion team leave

Nympha and I return to Olongapo to help Marlon

Meeting Gregg and his interns at the airport.