catch up

It has been a month, a month of so much going on and so little time or energy to communicate.
I will wrap up the past 4 weeks with a string of photos. 

 

We left our home on Boracay for the last time.  

While our time on Boracay was not what we expected, the hurts not anticipated, trust broken, confusion in many areas...we do not regret coming to the Philippines.  The good far outweighs the bad.  

We left the Visayas on the 2Go boat, that is where you can see some of us sleeping in the above pictures.  The trip was about 10 hours.  We landed at Batangas on the island of Luzon.  We were promptly suckered in by a 'fixer' a guy who takes your money and walks away basically.  After a nerve wrecking van trip we did safely arrive in the city of Manila, a city of 12 million people.  

Welcome!

Folks have to sleep someplace.

We see this often in the Philippines, Mom or Dad working, kids playing alongside. 

Man mastered the LRT - light rail system of Manila.

It really was this fun!

Not our hotel.

Wew - not our hotel either.

More to come, this post is getting a bit long and I am hungry.

This week in pictures

Some goodbyes are behind us, others are yet to come.  I am already weary of the fractures.  Our family has had many leave takings in the past few years.  We are looking ahead to putting down roots. 

The Kropps and Russells combined make 18 mouths - enough to overwhelm many restaurants Stateside; this little place in Caticlan did eventually feed us, even with the power going out!

The neighbors brought home a kitty that had been dumped.  While I was upstairs they brought him to our house 'to see if he gets along with your cat.' Yeah right - do I look that dumb?  So we call him NOK, for not our kitty.  We can't take any of these critters back with us....

 A favorite spot to eat, Smoke Resto.  Below is Bicol Express, Man's favorite Filipino meal.  Pork, coconut milk, peppers, green beans...and of course rice.


 

 Olive in a bucket.  Turns out he does play well with NOK - not our kitty.  We hope the neighbors will take care of the cats when we leave. 

Had some of our local friends over for b-que.  This is a Filipino version of a grill; puppy sized.  Man is dreaming about a real grill, and grilled broccoli.

I am looking forward to a grocery store, or even a market that is American clean.  

We do see lots of funny signs.  

Will miss the beach weddings.  

Won't miss the reality of life here, but we won't forget.  The water goes through the school many days; imagine the mosquitoes.  

As the Filipino government plans to build a large airport on Panay and triple tourism in the next 3 years land value has gone way up.  Property disputes are getting ugly; there have been two shooting deaths in the past 6 weeks.  We are on alert from the US Embassy.  My favorite bakery has been threatened so they put up metal walls all around it and have 3 armed guards posted.   

 TGIF

Things we will miss

Living here has been amazing, and it continues to amaze.  We are in the height of summer, it is over 100 most days - that is the 'feels like' temp that factors in our humidity.  It is hot, we sweat crazy amounts.

Iloilo is where Superman and Batman vacation, because it's where the Kropp boys go.

The pool at the Donsol resort man and boys stayed at while whale shark 'hunting'.

Seth holding up the sun.

A replica of a whale shark, it is a shark not a whale.  Man and boys hired a guide and boat to take them out looking for a shark, when they found one they all dropped into the water and were right on top of the shark.  They were so close that man's pictures are just spots; he could not get far enough away to get a good picture.  The shark they swam with was much larger than the replica.  Seth got hit with its tail. 

Mt. Mayon in the distance.  I love the shape.

The boys all took scuba lessons - thanks to Grandpa B for Christmas/Birthday money.  

Nico looking better and better. 

We love to see people's amazing sand sculptures.  

Biz.

Yo

Olive will be missed; we hope our neighbors will take him.

Mrs. Jones.  This kitty walked in one day and sat under the coach, then decided to move on in.  She must have a home on our hill because she is very personable.  She is also pregnant....

knowing when to move on

As we prepare to move on from Boracay there is so much to reflect on.  Not everything needs to be said, some things have been alluded to, others have been spelled right out.

Prior to coming on mission I knew about many of the dangers, the book "Helping Without Hurting" is an excellent read if you are on mission; as Christ followers we are all on mission so now you have homework.

We had intended to stay for two years, or at least I had intended for us to stay two years, so the question asked is why are we leaving after one?  could there have been anything different that would have kept us here longer?  I don't think so.

My family and I are ready to move on and see what God has planned for us.  This is a small island, there is not very much to do here for a family that is used to hiking, camping, fishing, hunting, and enjoying 'city' things - you can only do so much beach.  If we 'go' again it will not be to a tiny island.

There is also a point at which you must look at the money you are spending just to live in a place and the good that money could be doing for those you now love.  Sending money to unknown people is very different from giving to people you have come to know and love - to see you finances used to change lives.  Careful here....this can become a pride issue.  I hope that we have remained humble as we share what God has only lent to us anyway.

I must also look at what our 'leadership' here tasked me with, could it be done by a native Filipino? am I taking someone's job?  Some of what I did needed a native English speaker to be done well, much of what I started out doing at the school should have been done by a Filipino.

It quickly became obvious that the mission and vision for the school did not line up with our beliefs about serving.  That is not to say that the school isn't doing good things - they are and many kids will get a good education from an amazing, obedient, diverse group of beautiful people.  I came with hopes of empowering people, not replacing them.   Fortunately we have been able to serve in a variety of ways; I don't feel like we have done damage.  We came thinking that the school served the poor on Boracay who would otherwise not be in school; it is a good school and some 'poor' kids go there, but there is tuition, book fees, uniforms, misc. fees that all add up to a cost more than many of the island's poor can afford. 

But now it is time to move on.  Advice to anyone planning to go on mission?  Get references from people who have served with the organization.  Find out if the organization has ever sent anyone home, 'fired them' so to speak, and if yes why?  and talk to those people.  Know if you will be serving, empowering, or replacing.  We came self funded, but if the organization is controlling your funding you need to know what happens to that money if you are sent home. Ask how your family will be treated.  Will you be included in outings? outreaches? short term team events?  Seems like a given that a family would be included in all of these things - do not assume anything.  Does the leadership you are under actually live in the area? 

And have a plan B.  If you are tied to an organization because of funding, you are stuck for the most part.  It may be possible to change groups after you arrive in a location, I know of one family in Haiti who did just that.  If you are self funded decide ahead of time what events or beliefs would cause you to leave an organization.  Can you just be in an area, serve unrelated to a 'group'?  That is what we would do if we were to do this again.  We would pick a spot on the map, learn about it, and go.  Then we would connect with community, schools, church, hospitals/clinics - wherever we could serve we would do so. 

This experience is not over for us, we will leave Boracay and go to a different island.  This summer we will return to the States, and settle in St. Louis where we have family, and we can afford a house!  Our boys have had amazing experiences.  As a family our time has been so blessed.  We would do it all over again, even the hurting icky parts - it has been worth it.  Time to have my Man home, time to be a family in ways most will never enjoy.  If you can go, GO.

Our goodbyes begin this weekend as people leave for the summer and return after we have gone.  Pray for our boys' hearts to be strong in the goodbyes.

Anyway

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.
 Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. 
 Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. 
  Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.  
Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.
 Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. 
 Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. 
Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.  
Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God.  
It was never between you and them anyway.    
 – Found on Mother Teresa’s wall

 

I copied the above from the blog of a family who left Boracay the month we arrived.  It says it all so well.

Broken Pots

When you pour your heart into a broken vessel it can hurt. 

I have learned that I set different standards for different people pots.  Some people I give much of myself to and I expect very little, a smile will do.  Other people I pour out for and am hurt to the core when I get back next to nothing.  I don't know why my expectations are different, but they are. 

Much of what we do here involves the broken - families, people, animals, shelters....But I did expected that the umbrella we came to work under would not be broken.  We expected strong, firm, support; mentoring, encouragement, love and guidance.  I will not go into the details because most of you would not fathom the depth of the cracks in this organization.  When I look at the hurts caused by those in 'our' ministry I am amazed; if anyone had told me beforehand I would not have believed that a Christian organization could be so damaging... Naive, I know. 

So what have we done in response?  I confess that I have been angry, sad, hurt.  I gave more weight to the approval of some people than I did to others.  In just these past few days I have realized that the people we came here to serve have been amazing!  Every Filipino teacher at school has taken time to thank me specifically for help that I gave to them over the year.  While our 'leadership' has never bothered to know us, we have been known by those we serve.  The families at our outreach site are always so kind.  Our community knows us, they see our hearts.  I have had to let go and know that the people who invited us here will never know us, they are indifferent to us.  But that is their loss.  Our gains are so great.

Ethan going sailing with some of the school staff.  My grade 4 teaching partner is the first guy.

 

 C with very large pizza on her head.  C and I went to pick up the 30 inch pizzas for our staff party, there was no way we could carry them back to the J house.  A Caldo's Pizza employee offered to deliver the pizzas for us, 4  30 inch pizzas!  on his scooter!

Once the kind scooter pizza guy got the pizza to Angol road, Man carried 3 up the walk to the house, C and the scooter guy delivered the other one to our children.  

Pizza and Karaoke at the J house.

The following Saturday my co teacher and I had a bit of a party on the beach for the grade 4 kiddos.

 Paradise, sort of.

Kids on our beach - they always have smiles for us.