Erickson’s Philippines Updates

I will start this post out with Mike is okay!!! He was in a motorcycle vs. motorcycle accident on Thursday, 11/29 at around 7:00 a.m.  His bike took most of the damage but he is feeling sore and tired.  Please pray that God will touch him physically and that his bike will be repaired quickly and correctly (the other guy is paying for it, praise God!)  The picture is of the accident site.  Mike’s motorcycle is the one on the bottom. . .

 

I will try and feature one child per month, if not more often than that.  Today I want you to meet Roldan A. Salavar (pictured).  In the picture he is actually praying for a sick child at a local hospital; it is not staged.  Roldan is thirteen years old and has been in the orphanage from the beginning.  He is a talented boy who can dance, sing, and do about anything he puts his mind to.  Roldan comes from a broken family and has five siblings, all with the same father and every one of them with a different mother.  His father cannot financially support his Roldan, or the other kids for that matter.  Because of this, he found himself roaming the streets begging for money and sleeping on cardboard boxes.  Two of Roldan’s sisters, Cristina and Anabelle, are also part of the orphanage. You will meet them later. 

Roldan, like most other thirteen-year-olds, still has much to learn.  His attitude, presentation, words, actions and thoughts still need to be surrendered for God to refine, but overall he is a good boy who shows promise of a great future and is learning to love the Lord.  He was the second child from the orphanage to go to Frontline Christian Academy.  He started at a very low grade, but has already advanced through diagnostic testing with high scores.  We are so proud of Roldan and thank the Lord that he is part of what we are doing. 

The one thing I admire the most about Roldan is his sensitive heart.  The first time I had to correct him he cried.  I felt like a “big American bully”!  At first I thought it was a tactic to get me to ease up, but over the last year I have learned that when talking to him I must be sensitive to his past and where he is coming from.   He has seen pain and loneliness and he understands the importance of working hard for the things you want in life

Picture your eight-year-old child here swinging this sharp blade to cut the grass and weeds.  I cannot protest about how dangerous this is though, because I am the one who bought the blade for him to use! J  We have broken the kids up into what we call “family units”.  Our unit includes eight-year-old Fernan (pictured), fourteen-year-old Peter and fourteen-year-old Jennilyn.  Each family unit is responsible for a “family sector”.  On Saturday our family unit tended to our sector. I don’t think I have ever sweated as much as I did that morning. We can take pride in knowing that our area is clean and well-tended. In the future I plan to add plants, flowers and even landscaping.  I consider these pictures “before” photos and in the future I will post some “after” ones. 

  The Japan international airport has ten times the products on display for sale than the Chicago international airport did.  Most of it is VERY glamorous.  I knew I was no longer in America when I got off the plane.  There were white people, black people, and of course, brown people, so that is not why I knew I was in Asia.  It is because as I got off the plane there were three wheelchairs waiting to assist the remaining passengers in the plane.  I do not think I could have comfortably fit in any of the three wheelchairs, as they were quite small.  Almost “Asian-sized”.  In America we accommodate and plan for bigger people like me, but that trend has not caught on here yet.

       As I am typing there is a three-person work crew checking all the sensors and logging everything down.  In one word, efficiency.  The key for Andrea and I to be as effective as possible, reaching and touching as many lives as we can over the next two years, will largely depend on our efficiency.  Sometimes it can be difficult to be efficient in the Philippines because we are so “foreign” to many of the ways they do things here. . .that and the whole “Filipino Time” thing. 

       I paid 320 Yen for a large coffee at the “Excelsior Caffe” here in the international wing terminal of the Narito airport.  I am surprised it tastes like what I would consider “regular coffee”.  On the airplane I “had” to add cream and sugar because the coffee taste a little funny.  But hey, what should you expect?  I mean I pay $1200 for airplane tickets and mediocre coffee, and only 320 Yen for a good tasting coffee (not that I even know now how much that is in dollars).

       I am enjoying the last bit of time when my main concern is getting a good cup of coffee and writing a blurb about my trip.  Soon enough I will board the next plane, land in Manila, and begin to get back into the responsibilities of the Ministries I am a part of at the Frontline.  BY THE WAY, in case anyone is wondering I really miss Andrea and Josiah and I am counting down the days until I see them again (15 to be exact).  In closing I want to talk about…

       Teamwork:  Everything good that happens is usually a result of teamwork. Even Jesus knew that He could not be a Lone Ranger.  He and the disciples were definitely a team.  It is by the grace of God that Andrea and I make it through every day, just like it is for everyone else.  For this trip teamwork is the key.  Not just over here in the Philippines but also from our family and friends State-side.  For example by brother, David, and sister-in-law, Jenn, have agreed to help me maintain the website.  The other day I gave Jennifer permission to “push” me a LITTLE . . .remember that Jenn, a little :-). . .  if I start to slack on the updates and photo galleries.

       Andrea and I know that in order for our family to stay overseas and do what God has called us to do, it is going to take MANY people over in the States to support.  Through prayer support, moral support (For example my brother-in-law’s mother was always sending us encouraging letters last year),  financial support, and word-of-mouth spreading awareness of who we are and what we are doing.  We are excited about  what God is doing and would like to thank everyone for all you have done, and for what our future partnership holds in store.

Blessings. . .

Michael