Ministerial Synod & Dentist

So Ministerial Synod was surprisingly engaging yesterday morning. It was at Bamber Bridge (it is District Law for it to be within the boundary of what is known as Preston) and i felt it differed from its normal effect of being about as stimulating and engaging as the stats for chuffing mission.( the statistics that the Methodist church keeps to show us all who we are engaging with more info http://www.methodist.org.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=opentogod.newsDetail&newsid=465).

However, there was a sense of engaging with reality for probably the first time in my experience. There were a number of stories that linked to the District Straight jacket for Mission http://www.lancashiremethodist.org.uk/library/TLCPolicyfinalcopy16.8.10.pdf that were actually encouraging and inspiring and when totted up it is clear that there is lots of good stuff going on in the District that is engaging people in different ways so that's good.

After coffee we entered into discussions around abuse of clergy when they seek to be agents of change and how the church needs to respond to this, and then a personal hobby-horse of mine - the issue of how our church deals with baptism, especially now we are have realised and admitted that we are responding to a post-christian age rather than just hope that all those who tick the 'Christian' box on the census form really mean what we mean. Without going into details, for the first time there seemed to be a sense of collegiate - a desire to be 'in this together' - whatever 'this' may be and a desire even to put dogma and theology aside in order to respond to the missionary agenda. Long may it continue.

Despite all this above, my afternoon visit to the dentist (dentist and synod in 1 day - penance or what?) was actually briefer, less stressful and tiring, contained less waffle, and actually rated higher in my experiential rating system for the day. Dentist 7, Synod 6.5.

missionary renewal?

and so today i make my long overdue return to the blogosphere. I have reflected for a few moments this afternoon about why i haven't blogged for so long and wondered whether other bloggers can empathize. Is it because i seem to have so little time in paid ministry to reflect and evaluate? Is it because i want to use a blog as a kind of journal but if i'm honest about stuff people would get offended so it all has to be a little false? is it actually because i kept forgetting? Is it because i am devoid of anything remotely engaging to think/write about? Who knows. What i do know is that somethings have shifted in my understanding of the process of chruch renewal.

We have a new superintendent minister in our circuit, he seems driven, passionate, dedicated, and appears totally consumed with the practice of mission and evangelism. Already just two months into this new connexional year with new staffing our circuit and leaders are altering the way they think about church - its great to see - and of course i am also being challenged and shaped by that wonderful gift a new entrant to a sitiation brings - naievity - false or real - about the current situations we are engaged in.

All of this co-incides with our church exploring what it means to be a church engaged in evangelism. (we have separated 'Mission' into social justice/proclamation gospel not because they are disconnected but because its easy to avoid the responsibility to speak of the Gospel when its bound up with practical caring/sharing). Of course as we have focussed on equipping and resourcing our church to reach and engage new people it can't help but allow us to reflect on what type of church we are. Are we welcoming and friendly? Is our church building attractive? Are our events engaging and inspiring? Are we accessible to people who have no church experience? Are our members equipped and suitably discipled enough to feel confident in the missionary task? What is church about anyway? are all questions that have arised directly from this autumnal focus on evangelism.

Perhaps most of all though is the cutting truth that Jesus is about building His church - we are about disciple-making. I reflect on a programme of church renewal and transition which i have driven and led over the last four years and i painfully ask myself - if we had engaged in mission from the first - caring for people and sharing with them good news about Jesus would we be further on in our process of transition? Would our missiology have driven our ecclesiologoical change much quicker? Am i better to get on with disciple-making and let Jesus build the church? - a hard question for someone who has been consumed with building a 'better' church over the last four years.

I love the headline on Andy Frost's book (pic) 'the church has left the buidling'. Could it be that as we are consumed by leaving the building and engaging in a missionary goal that God shapes and remoulds us on that hourney of mission and that its in the going that we ourselves are made more into Christ-like disciples and consequently Jesus is indeed building His church?

Oh my (actual) life...

Today will be my last post from the Philippines and so i decided to include one of our phrases of the week as a title. This phrase has usually been uttered in shear fear as our driver Lito weaves his way between oncoming traffic, occasionally going the wrong way up the carriageway and generally applies the principle that if he doesn't look at other cars they won't hit him! But also, it somes up some of the exasperation at our experiences here together.

I have been asked time and time again in the last few days whether this trip was what i expected. Its hard to answer because i wasn't really sure what to expect. I wasn't looking forward to coming in the least and having been here, i would be a lot keener to return than i was to come intially. I have had more fun than i expected, despite being the but of many jokes, and i have recieved more from the children and staff than i could ever have hoped for. Their joy is infectious and that will stay with me forever, i think.

Having said all this there were just some things that no-one could be prepared for. Our trip to Smokey Mountain on Day 1 (which seeems a lifetime ago now) was horrific as people lived among the rubbish and sewage and formed a community. Disturbingly Sol, told us happily this week that it "...used to be an awful place, its come on so much in the last few years" (!!!!!!!) The other shanty villages we visited and the street communities lived in horredous conditions with the smell making my stomach do somersalts and it has amazed us that there are not more obvious signs of disease, but the village near Laguna we visited on Tuesday where over 1/2 of the poultry income of the families go to buy clean water leaving them the equivalent of 2pounds fifty pence to live on for the rest of the week left the biggest impression on me. I will never forget the children happily playing and washing in the toxic stream flowing from the pharmaceutical factory just yards away, oblivious to the apparent dangers.

Last tuesday was perhaps the most touching day. I was inspired by Michelle, an ambitious 15 year old with her life ahead of her and full of dreams for her future. Her possible blindness within 5 years was shattering to hear, just minutes after being inspired by her drive and determination. Like so many of the other children that we have met, she may well have suffered incredibly in former circumstances. Many of the children we have met are victims of abuse, not to mention poverty and neglect. The inspirational story of Kanlungan is that out of the incredibly damaged 'raw material' of the children they meet there are so many stories of joy and hope and the children discover humanity again as well as growing in the love that God has for them.

If i'm honest there was a degree of scepticism in me when i came here as to what the ethos of the charity was and how money was used. Kanlungan are an incredibly professional organisation. You can hardly say hello to the administrator without it being noted and a reciept issued!! Everything is above board, everything is managed through case files, everything is monitored with Professional staff who are training other agencies. It is my firm conviction, that no matter what horrors the past may have held, it is a great blessing for these children to pass through Kanlungan's care. Whether its meeting Roel & Wilmar on the streets at night, or popping into the drop in centre, whether its at Benitez House recieving intial alternative education and therapy or whether its living in Laguna or at the Boys Home or Farm receiving schooling to be in Kanlungan's 'system' is to recieve an incredible start to life for i am convinced beyond doubt that this is an organisation that God is using incredibly and it is an honour to be associated with them.

Sistine Chapel takes four years, only two days for Kanlungan Mural

And so it is that the mural is complete! I added nothing to todays efforst as the detail and intricacy was way above my pay grade. The highlight of today's artistry was Stella's free-hand painting of Nemo in the sea, something that was quite amazing to witness and watch, at least so thought little Christian who was squatted motionless in awe of Mrs B's talents!

The mural has been compiled from designs from school children from Wheatley Lane. There was a competition in school to design a mural based on Lancashire and the winning ideas have been merged to make the final design. Sadly i can't post pics yet as we have no way of connecting camera's/phones to the computer in our hotel, but no dobut they will be available soon. The final design consists of familiar Lancashire symbols - Pendle Hill, Wheatley Lane Methodist Church, sheep, a Lancashire Rose, flowers, butterflies, snow, a big sunshine, a lightning cloud suspiciously close to the top of the church and, of course, that famous lancashire fish - nemo??!!!

The centrepiece is a huge rainbow that has on it, 'Joy in the Lord' and it looks fantastic, although i cannot claim much credit - my colleagues doing the lion's share of the work.

I instead spent my time sticking! First letters for the banner and then people's hand cut-outs and the banner that we have now presented to Kanlungan of hands from Wheatley Lane looks pretty spectacular it has to be said. Kanlungan are sending with us a set of hand cut outs of all their children so as they have a banner from us, we shall hang in our church (not sure where as yet!!) a reciprocal banner with the children's hands - its a nice physical exoression of the link that am sure has grown and will continue to grow over the next few months.

Tomorrow is a shopping day for souvenirs and gifts and then we begin our return on Friday so i expect tomorrow to be the last post until after the weekend. I realise that this week's blogs have been far more light and frothy, and perhaps not as engaging, i will try and paint the whole experience in some sort of balance and context tomorrow when i wrap up my impressions of the whole trip.

a close encounter with ants....

So, first of all, i used the title to capture your attention! We have been painting the mural today under Stella's gentle supervision and encouragement (she is back with avengance!!) and i have to say, it is 90% done and looks pretty good. We all helped but due to the height and situe of the wall it meant squaltting or lying on the floor amid dozens of ants in order to get this done - it actually wasn't as bad as it sounds, but it was nice to feel like we were giving something tangible back to these children and staff who have given us so much.

I was permitted the white and so i have proudly contributed to the mural, general white snow, three sheep and a white house. I am proud of what i have acheived but sad that Stella didn't give me a gold star at the end of the afternoon but not a bad acheievement in 35 degrees all afternoon while fending off exciteable but mischeivous children!

Tomorrow will be finishing off the mural and banner, thursday will be souvenir shopping and friday we will begin our journey home. I cannot belive there are only 3 sleeps left, it means that i will have to begin to think up a way, somehow of communicating our experiences when we get back. We'll chat tomorrow!

"...for the joy of the Lord will be your strength." Nehemiah 8:10

Today we had a slightly later start which was lovely and headed out after breakfast to Benitez House for the staff team meeting for prayer and devotions. I had been asked to share on the way to the meal last night and been told to speak for anything up to 2 hours! (for some reason Kath seemed to think this would be easy for me!)

Now, as i explained to the staff, i have preached hundreds of sermons in doxens of different settings, to 2/3 people or to 1500. In 12 years of preaching, rarely have i felt so unworthy and nervous as i stood to speak this morning. As i have said before i feel so spiritually bankrupt compared to the giants in the Lord that sat around me this morning but
from nowhere really, the scripture above "...for the joy of the Lord will be your strength" came to mind and i spoke briefly on that theme. It seemed so appropriate as i was preparing because the overwhelming gift of Kanlunagn to me has been the joy we have experienced throughout the projects - children and staff alike. We worshipped and prayed together with delightful passion and fervour once again, and without any apology i have to say that this staff meeting put to shame the many i have attended within my own setting.

We headed out next with all the children from Benitez House to dinner at a kind of chinese version of McDonalds - the food was about as pleasant as you can imagine! - and then on to oceanworld with the children. It was great to see the thrill and exitement on their faces as we saw all the differnt kinds of fish and sea life and i have to say, the children were delightful. Here we were with children, most of which have suffered unspeakable horrors at the hands of other people and they were brilliantly behaved, without meaning this at all critically, i expect a group of  UK children would have been rather more chaotic! 

And then we were done for the day. Plenty of space to reflect and share together as a group which was also a great blessing and an encouragement. It has been great to be a part of this small group over the last few days but please pray for us as emotions become more stretched, tiredness takes its toll and we begin to prepare to come home. 

Just a final note on Stella, she had the day off with Esther as cheif nurse today - we were all very jealous! - but news is she is feeling a whole lot better and has sent us strict instructions not to start the mural without her supervision so some signs that she's getting back to normal!

Church, chat and a chuffing good time!

This morning began at some ridiculous hour when we set off for church which started at 8:30am!!!! The church was Union Church, Manila (pictured) which Esther & Frank attend. The service was cool, but for a big church the people were incredibly welcoming. We shared greetings in the service also which was a nice thing to do.

After coffee we headed to a mall and had breakfast and more coffee, a nice time together and then headed back to Esther & Frank's apartment complex for the afternoon. Today was our day off and it was spent in near luxury. Esther & Frank were amazing hosts as we swam in the pool and spent the afternoon relaxing and chatting. It was great when some of the Kanlungan staff joined us and we were able to share with them also. Before too long Joe Wilson rang from Radio Lancs and we chatted briefly on air about our experiences which if nothing else, perhaps has raised the profile of Kanlungan in Lancashire.

Not long after this we spent the evening courtesy of Frank & Esther at a Filipino restaurant and honestly i can say i had the most fun for a long while. It was great to laugh and share with more of the staff and they have asked me to share at devotions tomorrow - something which is a priviledge but also frightening as they all seem to know and love the Lord far more than i do!! However, just to prove their normality - all the women fled at once from the restaurant to see Derek Ramsay (below) who is a famous film star in the Philippines. Apparently he was more of an attraction than Tony, Frank or i.

Its great to be with the Filipino's, they are so much fun and so compassionate - whcih i wish i could say was the case with our group. After stubbing my toe badly on getting out of the pool, what i recieved from my fellow travellers wasn't sympathy but howling laughter. They could all leanr something from our hosts me thinks!

Finally, for thos reading this at Wheatley Lane, Stella hasn't been very well for the last couple of days, nothing serious just a tummy bug. Please pray for her recovery and revitalisation.

Back to the trip proper tomorrow and feeling really refreshed and positive about the week ahead!

Kanlungan Coffee is better than starbucks

So today we took the journey to the boys farm about 50mins south east of Manila. After the now daily question of 'how far is it?' and the familiar reply 'its about an hour' we got going. It was another really hot day and the views on the drive over Lake Taal were spectacular despite the journey taking a little over 2 hours (we think!).

After  a brief stop to wait for Frank & Esther to join us we headed off to the boys home. This place houses about 18 boys aged 12-20 who go to school but live together here with a teacher and social worker. Now, as i reflect on this i've come to view the accomodation as fairly normal - its a two storey stone building but the sleeping is done on thin mattresses on the concrete floor. The mattresses are stacked upstairs in the daytime to make room for a lounge. The staff have rooms upstairs where they can work and sleep but the rest of the house is pretty basic. There is one tv, one computer which the boys gather round enthusiastically and it is from here that they are to continue their studies! I need to stress as if it hasn't been understood previously - these conditions were near luxurious compared to the way a good deal of people live here in Manila. The most shocking thing about it perhaps was the fact that we were no longer shocked.

A few minutes up the road is the boys farm. This is a working farm where the boys live and work the farm. We were treated first of all to a drink of fresh coconut juice from the coconut, prepared with incredible speed and skill by Lito, our driver. We were then given lunch after the customary introductions from the boys (which today included 2 or 3 with special needs). These were aged 14-20 - they are not at school, they attend some alternative education, vocational courses in woodwork, mechanics and discipleship stuff at the local church but whose skills extend to climbing a coconut tree and picking a bunch of coconuts. We were very impressed.

We continued our tour of the farm looking at the coffee grown, the banana and pepper plants and exploring the land that the farm occupies. From this farm, produce is exported to the other Kanlungan centres and any surplus is sold so the project can benefit. We heard about the diiferent types of coffee and the principle one grown at Kanlungan (the exact name i forget) is widley agreed to be a nicer and richer blend than the one that Starbucks use. So there it is, the Kanlungan coffee is better than Starbucks, and totally fairtrade.

The great thing about Kanlungan is that even though they are a fairly small NGO they are still looking to develop people rather than just help them. So our driver, Lito is employed as a driver after coming through the Kanlungan projects and centres. The vision for the coffee farm is to open a coffee shopm in Manila and give the boys a job selling it and running their coffee shop so that they can earn a wage, become independent and self sufficient and move on to a more stable and full life.

We continue to be overwhelmed by the dedication of the staff, not just to the project, but to the children also. the more we see, the more I am impressed with Kanlungan on a number of levels not least in their dedication and fervour in worship, again displayed today as we prayed and sang together. It was a welcome reminder that once again, those who have so little are full of gratitude and thanks to God for the little they have. It is a challenge to say the least to us who have so much and are so often lacking in such gratitude and thanks.

PS Buy Kanlugan coffee - i will bring back loads!!!!

PPS we've tried some and it actually tastes well nice!

Jose Rizal is my hero

And so today was our tourism day - a day of historical indulgence. We visited the Cathedral of Manila, very nice and cool, with beautiful stained glass, even if they do seem to love Mary just a bit too much for my theology. Following this we visited the memorial to Jose Rizal. (Pictured)

I have to confess that my knowledge of Jose Rizal before today was limited to my lonely planet guidebook's explanatory paragraph and the Kanlungan staff telling me that Rizal was a hero very passionately. I have to say i am convinced. Rizal was a peaceful revolutionary in an age when such was unusual to say the least. While others were taking up arms against the Spanish imperialists here, he was writing essays and poetry espressing his distaste for the Catholic church (or at least its Philipino expression in the 1890's) and its corruption and suppressive nature. He calls people to follow the teachings of Jesus over and above the ritual and mythology that the priests espoused (bring it on!) and wrote passionately about his love for the Philippines and his desire to see them freed and independent. His language is incredible and uses great phrasiology, no more so is this obvious in his farewell address to the Philipino people, written on a peace of paper smuggled out of his prison cell the day before he was executed in Lunetta Park. Even his academic writings are filled with poetic sentences that make it a joy to read and enables the imagination to run wild in reflecting upon his speeches when they were first delivered. In essene Rizal was the leader of the Filipino revolution and freed them from a particularly nasty brand of Catholic oppression. He is my hero too, not just the staff's!

We moved on to Jollibee's - the Filipino competitor to McDonalds for today's lunch and then to the Mall of Asia, i believe it is the third largest mall in the world and the biggest in Asia. I found starbucks fairly quickly and was then set for the afternoon.

The mall is great, very much like the Trafford Centre or Meadowhall in appearance and atmosphere but it seems to have escaped everyone's notice that within 1 mile of here there are people living in the most horrific of conditions, children selling themselves to the highest bidder in order to earn food for the family and disease as well as horrific poverty. I'm as guilty as everyone else, btw, with my very nice starbucks breakfast every day, but i guess the only way to cope with the poverty that is apparent everywhere is either to escape into another world - like the Mall of Asia, or to look the other way. I am all too aware that i am susceptible to both these options. Praise God, the staff of Kanlungan seemed to not be. Tomorrow, we're back to the proper work that we're here for, viisiting a boys home which is a working farm. Am sure there will be stories to tell.

oww.....

So today for the first time i have slept through the night a full 7 1/2 hours - woo! In fact i slept so much ironically that i held everyone up for breakfast at Starbucks - they were gracious as usual!

The day has turned out to be a fairly light one actually. It's 4:45pm here and we're finished apart from having dinner somewhere and the worse thing that i've experienced is toothache - bad and nasty toothache, but seriously if that was the worst on the other days this week i would have been dancing.

This morning we visited a child protection unit and met the director of it. They are a multi-disciplinary unit seeking to treat and rehabilitate children who have suffered from abuse. They are government funded but their annual budget is 75,000 pounds and not only do they have to work from that but pay the salaries of some 20 staff also. Once again the woman we met seemed pleased that we were here and seemed touched that someone was taking an interest in their work and encouraging her to continue. It is a mark of Kanlungan's respect here that everyone we meet from children and street families to senior politicians and government agencies all work in partnership with Kanlungan and seem to hold them in high esteem.

Return to Starbucks and then next door to flapjacks for lunch and then off this afternoon to see a detention centre for young people. Thankfully we were spared the worst of this (with a threatening prospect of returning next week) but we could see enough to notice children leaning out of small rooms enclosed by prison bars. Its hard to describe the environment but it kept reminding me of the old eastern European institutions that held orphans or mentally ill children. The place was grotty and tatty and wouldn't be fit for animals in the UK, yet here in some of these filthy rooms over a 100 children are crammed in. As we were leaving we met the Cabinet Secretary for Justice & Welfare for the local government - so we have been hob-nobbing with dignitaries!

Then on to meet a local councillor and meet some of his staff, who were very friendly to say the least, and yet again a high-ranking city official spoke warmly of Kanlungan and the work they are doing. Not much else to add really, except that between 8:30 - 9:00am UK time on Sunday i will be live on Radio Lancashire on Joe Wilson's Sunday breakfast show. They are doing a live link up and have been following some of the blogs and have given us an opportunity to share a bit more personally to the county of Lancashire. Hope you'll tune in.

Begin and end the day with...starbucks

This post is dedicated to one of the finest exiled yorkshiremen there ever has been - Geoffrey Boycot. (No really, it's frank!)

He will know from Esther that I have discovered a new found love for Starbucks. In Robinson's Mall in Manila, there is a beautiful Starbucks with beautiful coffee. And so it was with some relief that we decided not only to breakfast there today but wrap up the day their also. Once again, the experiences in between the two visits are beyond my level of vocabulary really.

We shared in devotions at the drop-in centre we visited on Monday. I spoke to the children - slightly amused that this would be my normal practice on a Wednesday morning at Wheatley Lane School. My brief message based on Philippians 4:13:"i can do all things through Christ who strengthens me..." went down seemingly well and was greeted by spontaneous applause after almost every sentence - something we should introduce at church i think...

In all honesty, i felt something as a fraud, because i have become aware time and time again in these last four days of my own spiritual poverty and have wondered at the depth of love for God some of these kids have. i can learn more from them i'm sure than they ever could from me.

What followed was once again joyous and passionate praise and worship from the children who and then the real fun began as (on the spot) Stella led us all in a few action songs. Now, normally i hate such things (unless i'm the one enforcing them on others!) but the spontaneity of the moment and the sense of laughter and enthusiasm from the children was too much to resist. I have to be honest, when a similar amount of enthusiasm and excitement was shown by the Korean Methodist Church Sunday School in our corridor at 5:20am onwards (yes 5:20am!!!!!) i wasn't so ready to respond with words of blessing.

We then headed out to lunch - a lovely spot in the week so far, good food, a lovely warm breeze and chatting for a couple of hours before heading off to visit a new born baby in hospital. For some reason, certain members of my church feel i need the practice at holding babies (why?!) so i duly took my turn at holding 7 day old Angelo who now weighs 2lb. I didn't drop him, neither did he cry. Result!

Next we went to visit a street community, this was another makeshift shanty town in the suburbs of manila, and the smell was pungent to say the least. We had been saying that each day we hit a new low in terms of the things we witness and the conditions we are viewing are getting worse not better. We moved on to two other communities in abject poverty and yet again were greeted with a warm welcome and bubbling delight from the multitudes of young children.

Finally we headed to a local park, again a home for many families where we were entertained to a wonderful display of hip-hop dancing. If you've seen Diversity on Britain's got talent, then you have an idea of the type of style we witnessed but i would dare to suggest that the Lunetta Dance Crew would be better.

So a really upbeat end to the day. Words fail me when i think of some of the things i've witnessed and though it seems unbelievable there is, for me, a real danger of not taking all this in. All i can do is wonder at the dedication of the Kanlungan staff, instant celebrities in each community we visit it seems, and trust God, for as we shared this morning, it is Him who gives us strength to endure, and unreal so it seems to say, Him who appears to be strengthening the children we meet and giving them a hope and a future.

Sweet and Sour...

And so the day begins with breakfast, Filipino style. Orange juice and toast preceded by corned beef hash and sweet and sour pork! After having felt my stomach turn at these options on Monday morning, today i took the plunge, keen to not be outdone by Tony.

In the style of excruciating tenuous links and metaphors - my cross-stitched church was a great one - the day has turned out to be a mix of sweet and sour. (Joe Knight, i thought you'd like this paragraph!)

Firstly the sweet...

We had a lovely time of praying together as a team and with Esther before setting off to view another project. Its strange that we're all here for seemingly different reasons but ultimately keen to let God shape our heart out of what we see, hear and feel.

It was Stella's birthday today, surely 12months ago she didn't expect to spend the next celebration in Manila. As you can imagine, everywhere we went children and staff members a like qued up to sing happy birthday and in the first community visit of the day she was presented with a small cutting of flowers proudly from the children of the community. This was followed up by a lovely looking chocolate cake, but by the time Esther and i had returned from the dentist, it had disappeared!

Once again i was startled by the incredible devotion of the staff. They work incredible hours and seem so full of joy and hope, unceasing in their positive attitude and servant heart, i feel humbled and privileged to be among them.

We headed next to a school of 650 pupils aged 6-15 where we were almost carried across the playground in the excitement from the pupils and had the privilege of praying with the headmistress - quite formidable woman.

Then on to what was for me, the most moving bit of the day. We went to another residential centre where the children had returned home from school. Once again we were sung to, a deeply touching moment for me and we were danced to, also great and played with and danced with and prayed for and worshipped with. There we so many stories of hope and joy here. One stood out for me. A young girl of 15 proudly dressed in her school uniform was so strong in faith and ambition. She is doing really well in high school, is almost the best in the school in English - seriously she spoke it better than me - and wants to be a computer scientist. She has so much drive and desire to achieve despite the circumstances she finds herself in. Her trust in God is unswerving despite something i will mention below.

...and the sour...

An hours journey took us to another shanty town built on an old rubbish dump. The poverty here and obvious malnourishment is astounding and probably not helped by the fact that the whole community washes in a toxic stream flowing out from a pharmaceutical factory. This stream feeds into a huge lake of stagnant, stinky water and the stream also serves as the village lavatory or 'comfort room' as the Filipino's call it. Again words fail me to paint a picture, one hopes that photos and video footage when we return home will somehow help.

Toothache was another sour point but here's trusting in anti-bio tics and God and the sleep monitor is only At 5 1/2 hours as of last night - lets see is we make any progress tonight but the appearance of a lizard may leave me a little on edge!

That's all really apart from the girl with so much ambition that i mentioned above. She wanted me to pray with her because she is trusting God. She will need to. She has an inoperable glaucoma that will leave her blind in 5years time unless God steps in with a miracle and that will most likely be the end of her dreams and ambition. Great.

Emotional rollercoaster

For those of you who read this morning's blog you will be pleased to know that i did get some sleep! Hallelujah. The problem was i slept through my alarm and suffered the humiliation of Kath knocking on my door and asking if i was OK because i was 30mins late for breakfast. After breakfast (i went for toast rather than corned beef hash - for breakfast??!!) we set off to see a drop in centre. This is run by Roel a truly inspirational guy. He is 50 but seems to have the youth of a student or twenty-something and its clear by the way the children relate to him that they are totally comfortable around him and respect and love him. The day centre is a drop in for children of all ages - most of them are not at school because they are out to work - begging or selling something on the main streets - so the drop in centre is a haven where the children can play, learn and be safe. We were treated to a dance which was great and had the privilege of chatting with Roel before praying for him and the project.

We moved swiftly on to Benitez House, the main centre for Kanlungan. This was also a lovely experience with the 20 or so boys and girls fighting over Tony's awful hat and my sunglasses! They introduced themselves one by one in English, and then we watched two dances the second of which performed by three teenage girls was profoundly moving. I'm sure the children loved performing but there was the sense of staged-ness about it which prompted some questions and reflections in our discussions later.

After a lovely lunch we headed out to the notorious smokey mountain. There i met the Pastor of Hesed Baptist church who proudly welcomed us to a building which if i called it a tin shack would have been talking it up. This was his church, one of the more stable and better of all the buildings around because his church and a shanty town of 8,000 people live on compressed rubbish, because we were standing in the middle of a rubbish dump.

Smokey mountain has been a rubbish dump for years, it is on Manila Bay next to the docks and the government have helped the community there to build and grow on the rubbish dump gradually reclaiming the land. I cannot express in words what the physical scene was like there, suffice to say we navigated our way through open sewage and rubbish everywhere, stray dogs, chickens, and children all over the place. This was still very much a rubbish dump with cardboard, tarpaulin and tin shacks built on it. The families scavenge on the garbage selling anything they can to make a living.

I contrasted my emotions with those outwardly expressed by the Pastor, our host. I felt anger and frustration at the sheer hopelessness of it all. It is said that if a child is born on smokey mountain he/she will never ever leave and die there as an adult such is the unending cycle of poverty. our host on the other hand was a man full of passion and devotion, full of godly wisdom and a love for the people. He explained to me his plans for church growth with enthusiasm and optimism and it was a deeply moving experience. Even now, hours later, i'm not sure i've processed fully the day's experiences.

Within minute we were back in Metro Manila among 5* hotels, international embassy's and huge malls that make the Trafford Centre look like the Fence Village Store. The contrast of it all is perhaps most shocking. We ate here, visited starbucks where i bought my first souvenir - a starbucks Philippines mug and headed back to the hotel so we could sleep (hopefully) and so i could blog. There will be much to ponder and reflect on if this evening is another sleepless night.

and so the eagles have landed...

And so i find my self at 5:03am in the morning after sleeping for about a total of 3 hrs in the last 36 sat at a computer because i'm jet lagged and can't sleep.

We've arrived safely at our hotel which seems quite nice on initial inspection and the air-con works so frankly what else do you need. I'm sat here in t-shirt, shorts and flip fops at 5 in the morning and am already hot!

Miraculously we managed to navigate 3 airports without getting lost, arrested or on the wrong plane and we were greeted like long lost friends by Sol, some other Kanlungan staff and Frank & Esther when we arrived at Manila Airport (pictured). Just the brief drive through Manila proved to us that this is a vibrant, cosmopolitan city with loads of culture about it. It proves to be an interesting time just being here among a totally different culture let alone having the experiences of Kanlungan's work.

The last thing to say was that it was such a joy to be greeted at the airport by Sol. She is the manager of Kanlungan and i had met her briefly a couple of years ago after a short stay in Lancashire. I had forgotten how much of Jesus radiates from Sol. She was such a bundle of love and joy as we arrived and am certain that we will end up being greatly blessed just by being around her and the team. With any luck, i will post tomorrow after having some sleep!

Fly away....

So, after weeks and months of frankly trying to ignore and forget the fact that i'm off to the Philippines, in about an hour's time a taxi will pick me up and away we shall go. For those who don't know, i'm off to Manila, Philippines to view a project that my church, Wheatley Lane Methodist Church supports financially etc. The project is called Kanlungan sa-Erma and is a charity that works with disadvantaged children in Manila, educating, rehabilitating and supporting them and their families from their standpoint as a Christian ministry. I'm going with four other people to see what the project does on a day to day basis, to see where the money we have sent is being spent and to bring greetings and encouragement from our church to the project.

As i type now, apprehension rather than excitement is the driving emotion. I've never flown this far before, the furthest i've been is Poland or Kosova, i'm with people i've never travelled with before (and am never likely to travel again with), lovely though they are all by the way, i'm leaving Laura behind, this is the longest we've been apart since we've been married and i'm expecting the trip to be quite harrowing in places, certainly deeply challenging if nothing else.

My intention is to blog each day, we'll see whether that's actually possible and it will surely be interesting to read this post in hindsight of the next two weeks! Happy fortnight everyone!