by Tom Woody

I am happy to be able to give this report on the recent trip that Dan Huff and I made to the Philippines. God was so gracious to us in every way, and we give Him the praise and honor and glory for the good that was accomplished. I also want to express my thanks to all of the brethren who made this trip possible and visibly demonstrated their love for our Filipino brethren. I was greatly strengthened by the Lord knowing your prayers were with us.
On Monday, February 26th, 2001, Dan Huff and I went to our respective airports to check in our baggage and board flights for the Philippines. This would be Dan's first trip to the Islands, and the fourth trip for me. My trip began in St. Louis, and had stops in Detroit, MI, and Nagoya, Japan, before arriving safely in Manila on Tuesday night at around 10:40 p.m. (Philippine time - 14 hours ahead of CST). But Dan's travel plans were changed due to problems with the aircraft he was supposed to fly from Springfield, MO, to Memphis, TN. He eventually made it safely to Manila on Wednesday morning, but his baggage decided to stay in Honolulu, according to one source. We were not able to pick up the missing bags until Saturday night, so Dan had to improvise during the interim. I guess it is best to pack your carry-on luggage as though you are going to lose the luggage you checked-in!
Our faithful brother Roger Wanasen met me at the airport, along with four good brothers from the island of Mindanao; Sonny Tobias, his son, Jun Tobias; Brothers Olympio Lumacad and Brother Maraquit. They travelled by ship to be able to spend time with Dan and I since we would be unable to visit them on their island due to the unrest caused by
Muslim rebels who would like to make Mindanao an independent Muslim
state. We were happy to see these brethren and enjoyed their company for the next few days. We arrived at Roger's home at about midnight where I very much enjoyed 6 or 7 hours of sleep!
Roger left the house at about 4 in the morning to pick up Brother Dan at the airport, and then we all met at the office where Roger's wife, Doris, works. She and about 4 or 5 of her fellow employees have a Bible study during their lunch hour, and Dan and I each gave a brief lesson. From the study, we travelled to the SM Mall where we visited the bank and got some money for the trip. Roger, Dan, and I also took advantage of a computer place there which offers time on the Internet. It was a good way to communicate with our wives and we were thankful for the service which cost about $1.25 per hour, much less than a phone call!
On Thursday, we all took a trip to the province of Batangas, southwest of Manila, where we visited with Serafin Calixto and his family. He would like to begin a congregation in that area and we talked about the possibilities for the work there. We thought we might present some lessons there, but we just spent the time talking with him. The drive to Batangas was a beautiful one, and we stopped along the way to take some pictures with a volcano in the background. I especially enjoyed the clouds, which cooled the temperatures along the way.
The next day we drove to Cavite and had a meeting with the brethren at Julugan Tanga. This was my first visit to this congregation, and they made us feel very welcome. Dan and I presented lessons, then Roger summarized what we taught and added some thoughts of his own. Brother Serafin attended the meeting and also gave a short lesson. In the past, our teaching on these trips has dealt mainly with church government, leadership, maturity, and mutual edification.
But on this trip I observed that we did not need to spend quite as much
time on those subjects as we have in the past. This was encouraging to me, and I took it as an indication that at least some of the brethren are maturing in the faith. I pray that this trend will continue.
On Saturday, March 3rd, we journeyed north from Roger' father who lives somewhere in
the U.S.A. They asked Dan and I to attempt to locate him when we got
back home, so we will do our best to see if we might stir him towards his wife and children, if the Lord wills. We had a happy First Day of the week and went back to Roger's house to rest.
Early the next morning at 4 am, we left for the airport to board a plane for the island of Palawan. We were impressed by the new terminal being used by Philippine Airlines, especially when remembering what the older, more primitive facilities were like. We had a very pleasant flight and I had the privilege of sitting next to a Filipina who works for an Environmental group that is trying to clean up their country. She assured me that she was no "tree-hugger", but if you
have ever been to the Philippines, you know they can use a lot of
cleaning up when it comes to air and water pollution. I have said it before, but I never really appreciated the EPA in our country until I went to the Philippines. Though we have our share of environmental extremists, I am thankful for the care and expense that has been taken to make our environment cleaner.
We arrived safely in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, on Monday morning, and were greeted at the airport by our sweet sister Marites Apiaza, who is attending college in that city to become a teacher. She arranged for our van driver to bring us on the 4-5 hour journey from PPC to Brook's Point, where we would visit with several congregations for the next week. No Filipino Elvis/Bee-Gee's music on the journey this time (not complaining), but a very nice ride to the Taruzan congregation in Bataraza. The road even seemed a bit smoother this time. We spent the night in the home of Sister Marites' grandfather, Alfredo Quino. They prepared beds for Dan and I with mosquito netting which effectively kept the little pests from bothering us during the night.
Thanks to the generosity of brethren here in America, we were able to bring Bibles with us to the various congregations. Bibles were purchased in three different dialects; Cebuano(or Visayan), Ilocano, and the national language of Tagalog. The brethren really appreciated their own copy of the Scriptures, and on this trip we were also able to
distribute reading glasses, which enabled even more brethren to benefit
from their Bibles. Their are still other Filipino brethren who would like to be able to have a pair of reading glasses, which are relatively inexpensive to buy. This is another way we can assist our brethren in the Philippines.
The following morning (Tuesday, March 6th), we had a Bible study at the Taruzan congregation which went very well. We were able to assist this congregation, as well as 3 or 4 others, with expenses related to their meeting house. The brethren at Taruzan plan to move their meeting house away from the road it now sits next to. We helped them with the meeting that night and also spent the night. Sister Daisy is one of the best cooks in the Philippines, and she put out a delicious meal for us that evening. The meeting afterwards went very well, with Roger once again summarizing the lessons Dan and I presented.
The next morning, we travelled to the Tabod congregation where we were once again given the "coconut treatment". To show their appreciation for their guests, one of the young men climbs a nearby coconut tree and cuts some down to be cut open and drained of its rich nectar. I thought the coconut drink tasted better this time, probably because it was a more ripe fruit this time. We also didn't have to cross a river to get there this time since the road was dry and the
river was about dry, too. It was nice to be with these brethren again,
and after breaking rice with them, we headed over to the congregation at Macagua.
Both of these congregations are out in the jungle, and we got our exercise that day as we walked to each location. We had a beautiful view of the ocean from the Macagua congregation, and there were also abo it came ashore and examined the catch of the day. We cut out the middle man and purchased fresh fish for half-price, then walked back home and bought a fresh papaya that Dario cut out of a tree for us, then enjoyed a delicious breakfast which included the food we just bought. We left the house that Thursday morning for a meeting at the Amas congregation, where we had a good service, followed by 4 baptisms. We helped the brethren there to purchase a blackboard which we got to use right away during the meeting. It rained during the meeting, but the roof made of palm leaves held up very well and we stayed dry as we enjoyed the cooling effects of the tropical shower.
In the afternoon, we attended a Birthday party for a one-year old named Jenna Rose. I was asked to speak and I gave a short talk on raising children and how important they are to us. Afterwards, we went around the corner to the home of brother Luciano Cabansa, the Samariniana congregation where we would spend the night after having another meeting in the evening. The meeting was well-attended, and there were some who wanted it to continue even after the dismissal.
The interest of the brethren there is very encouraging!
The next morning we arose to attend a meeting at the Cabangaan
congregation, after which we went to the dam at the river to witness 4 more baptized. In the afternoon we travelled to the Tamlang congregation for our last meeting before taking the van ride back to Puerto Princesa. Through a misunderstanding, we ended up renting two vans, but this turned out to be a blessing since we had a mechanical problem on the way back.
It was mentioned previously that the roads over there are not exactly smooth. Well, one of the vans broke a tie-rod on the trip, so we were to make the drive to Resurreccion, Roger's home congregation in the province of Pangasinan.
The Lord's Day morning meeting at Resurreccion was very edifying, and I enjoyed seeing these dear brethren again. Brother Hilario and Sister Carmelita Wanasen welcomed us and were happy to see us. Brother Max Damaguig, one of the elders there, was so happy to see me that he gave me one of the warmest greetings I have ever received. First he shook my hand, then he kissed me, then he embraced me, then with a bear hug he picked me up three times! I have never felt quite as welcome as he made me feel. And this is a brother who has suffered a great deal recently; now his dear wife, Gloria, is dealing with a serious health problem which obviously has them concerned. We were able to assist them in their difficult situation, and they were so grateful.
In the afternoon we attended services at San Leon, just a short walk away from Resurreccion. We were edified by the meeting, and enjoyed the fellowship of the brethren there. We were also happy to see Roger's uncle Pedro Wanasen again. He is a beautiful man who is good with English and also a good singer. We had another meeting that night at Resurreccion, and then it was off to bed for our rest.
Early on Monday morning, we arose to travel to the province of Isabela. It was about a 10 hour trip to get there by van, but we arrived safely at the home of Eric & Daisy Barrillo. It was good to see them again, and we left from there to visit the brethren at San Vicente. This congregation was not very far away, but it still took us over two hours to drive there because of the washboard/minefield that is supposed to be a road. But we finally arrived there only to find out that we
were not expected until the next day. We had a nice visit anyway, then
returned to the town of Ilagan where we had a meeting at the Centro Ilagan congregation in the home of Mar & Lydia Bilgera. We had a good service there and could tell that these brethren were developing and maturing in the Lord.
After spending the night at brother Mar's house, we arose the next morning to visit the congregation at Villa Imelda. Brother Eddie Pascua is helping this congregation which, like several o congregation who
plans to work abroad in order to support his family.
We made it back to Roger's safely on Wednesday night, and were thankful to be home. We said good bye that night to a good young brother, JR Diaz, who accompanied us on our travels to Isabela and also translated some of our lessons from English to Tagalog. Very zealous young man who has a lot of promise.
Thursday we prepared for departure the next day as we did some
accounting and evalution of our situation. We checked email one last time before going to the Carabbaccan home for one last Filipino meal - which was delicious. We said our goodbyes, then Roger, Dan, and I went to our second and la your means, or
spiritually by praying for this work. God bless and help us all as we
strive to be pleasing to the Lord in all things.