Maayong Buntag!

Good morning!  It's morning here in Albuquerque and I actually woke up when I was supposed to.  Adjusting to the time change has been harder then I thought it would.  I went to sleep around 9:30 pm, was awake from 1:00 am to 3:00 am, back to sleep, and then awake again at 7:00 am.  Hopefully my internal clock is back on track.

Incheon International Airport, Seoul

Now comes the challenge of what to do next.  Although I am home, and glad to be home, my mind keeps returning to the Philippines and the wonderful people of Bohol.  I can't deny that I feel convicted to return to the communities that I visited and to do what ever I can to support the students there.  In order to do that, I need to meet several requirements.

Firstly, I need an income source here in Albuquerque that will provide for my personal financial needs -- I need to get a job.  The difficult qualification for the job is that I still have the flexibility to go to the Philippines a couple of times each year.  Going back into teaching is an option worth considering -- I would have the summers free to travel; that would allow one trip per year, but only one.

Another option is to raise support much like any other full-time missionary would do.  That would require that my work in the Philippines be some how more then just a few visits per year.  I would still need to be involved in some supportive activity in between visits.  I'm not sure what that activity would be.

A real globe for Ms. Maribel's classroom

Along those same lines comes the second requirement: raising support for my travel expenses.  Unless I come into a job that provides a substantial personal income that would allow me to pay for these expenses out of my own pocket, I will need some type of financial assistance from people and organizations who support my goals.  This, in turn, requires the development of a campaign plan -- something I have never done, nor do I honestly know what such a plan looks like.  I will need some outside guidance on that idea.

Thirdly, I need to define my purpose.  I have two separate "projects" that I have identified there in Bohol: supporting the students of the Christian churches and supporting the students and staff of the Icthus Christian Academy.  The question is, do I pick just one?  Or can I do both?

The first project requires raising support for purchasing school supplies for the children who attend the Christian churches there in Bohol.  (There are other churches outside of Bohol who are interested in receiving help, but I need to draw a line, at least for now, on whom I would be supporting.)  I insist on the requirement that the students be actively involved in church. While the school supplies are something that will attract people to come to the church, I don't want that to be the only reason they are coming.  They need to be sincere about their faith.  That doesn't mean that providing school supplies can't be a form of evangelism . . . but there needs to be some follow through.

The second part of the project is the distribution of funds/supplies.  This is a little more "sticky" then it might appear. One of the down-sides to working with money is the accountability aspect.  I need to address a reality:  people who don't regularly have money to deal with also don't have the skills to deal with money.  It takes some discipline and self-control to not use funds for other then their intended purpose.  Now let me qualify my statement here.  I believe that each of the pastors at the churches I would be working with are sincere, honest people, and I do not think for one minute that they would intentionally misuse funds earmarked for buying school supplies.  It's their lack of money management skills that concerns me.  I have raised this concern with some of the other missionaries who have worked in the Philippines for many years, and they agree full-heartily that this is a valid concern.

Distributing supplies at Pastor Jul's church

I think there are two options for addressing this concern: that I personally become involved in the purchasing and distribution of the supplies, or that one individual (or possibly a group of people) who lives in the Philippines full time be given that responsibility.  The later would require some initial visits on my part to ensure that individual has the "logistics" worked out on how to manage the money, purchase the supplies, and distribute the supplies to the churches.

I think if the second option were in place, then my role would be essentially to raise funds here in the US and then to occasionally visit my contact person in the Philippines to ensure that things are going as planned.  It would be the best way for me to be involved in the process without requiring my regular presence in the Philippines.  It would also allow me to maintain a regular job here in the US.

I'm open to suggestions.  If any of you has some other ideas about how I might manage this first "purpose", I would like to hear them.  Don't be shy!

Tomorrow, the second "purpose": the Icthus Christian Academy of Ubay -- more then meets the eye!