My whole purpose for signing up for this trip to the Philippines was to recharge my own spiritual battery. Yes, I would be helping others – but frankly, my initial purpose was rather self-serving. I just needed to do something good for others in order to help myself. Yeah, well God has a way of poking his big finger in the pot and stirring things up.
I’ve been a teacher for many years – as a graduate teaching assistant, as a trainer in the retail industry, as adjunct faculty at a community college, as an instructor in an Upward Bound program, and as a special education teacher in the public schools. I’ve also taught Sunday school classes and vacation Bible school. Anyway, so it seemed natural to ask about the schools there in Bohol – what are they like? How are they doing? Do they have enough resources? And so on. The folks at World Mission Builders suggested that I look at some Christian schools as well. These schools had developed at a couple of the churches that WMB had been involved with. I also thought that would be a good idea, as long as it didn’t interfere with the building project (as that was the whole reason for going there). So, I now have a trip to Ubay added to my schedule, as well as a short visit to one of the local public schools in Sierra Bullones . . . where we will be working on the church building project.
I was doing some snooping around on the internet, when I happened upon an organization out of Cebu city in the Philippines. A Filipino woman had come to the US years ago and started attending a Christian Church/Churches of Christ congregation in California. She was baptized there, and then started thinking about how she would serve Christ. She thought of her home country and decided to return there to work with children who were living in poverty, single moms, and others. She started a “foundation” (which I am assuming approximates a 501(c)(3) organization here in the US) to help meet these needs. I also found out that she had an outreach center in Bohol, so I contacted here to find out more about what they were doing. I made the “mistake” of mentioning that I was a special education teacher. The next day, I had two email responses from her and another from the president of the foundation (who happens to be an American who attended a Christian college in Dallas). Both were very interested in having me visit their Bohol facility in Mabini, which is not far from the Ubay Christian school.
One of the problems they have encountered at the Restored Heritage Foundation is how to deal with special needs children. Although the Philippines department of education has put together some very nice looking programs for special education, most of it is on paper only – with little or no funding. While the teachers there do their best, many have minimal knowledge of how to work with special needs students. They often don’t have access to the professionals needed to diagnose learning disabilities, autism and so on, as well as the various specialists such as occupational, physical, and speech therapists needed to work with these children. Even the culture in the Philippines (especially in poverty stricken areas) is uncertain how to serve the special needs child. I was told of one young girl who was confined to a squatter’s shack with her family – essentially hidden from the world – because no one knew what to do with her. So to have a certified special education teacher come to their facility, even for just a day, was a wonderful opportunity (they wanted me for three days, but I just don’t have that much time). My assignment is to give them some ideas on developing programs to serve special needs children in their community. Unfortunately, I am neither an educational diagnostician nor a therapy specialist – I can only do so much.
One of the pastors, Jul Castellones, who will be working at our side on the building project happens to be a pastor/missionary who is supported by my home church. I didn’t realize that he was going to be working with us, so I sent him a quick email introducing myself and mentioning that I would be nearby – just in case we had an opportunity to meet. He wrote back and told me that we would indeed be meeting each other. He also asked if I would speak to his church on Sunday in Tubigon. After conferring with Bro. Ed from WMB, I agreed. Jul has been working in the central islands of the Philippines for many years. In fact, the church at Sierra Bullones was one of the congregations he started. When he learned that I was a teacher and that I had an interest in helping children, he also invited me to visit a children’s outreach ministry that he and his wife are doing in nearby Panaytayon. According to Jul, the families there are very poor. He is hoping that I might bring some “belated” Christmas gifts for the children or to offer a meal – I’m not yet sure what I will do with that situation. I have also been asked to give a 10-15 minute Bible story to the children, and then to talk to some of the parents for a few moments.
Did I tell you that my purpose in going was to help build a church? Seems that God has some other things in store for me.
Tomorrow . . . Tagalog, Cebuano, Boholano or Bisayan?
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