Erickson’s Philippines Updates

I just couldn’t resist posting these!

 

It appears that Jenn, our chief editor for this blog, and I are on a “blog post roll”, so let’s keep the momentum going with more discipleship in action.

Mark Klyne is a missionary from Canada who has been here serving with the Frontline, specifically with us at FTC, for almost 4 months now. The more I get to know him, the more I like him (not that I didn’t like him at first anyway!). One thing I really appreciate about Mark is his passion for learning. He challenges me to watch Christian education DVDs about love, dinosaurs, creationism and other Christian principles of faith.

Mark is currently doing a class on Sunday nights with the older FTC kids entitled “The Agape Road” (by Bob Mumford). Bob talks about and compares Agape love (God’s love) with other types of love. It’s a great series and I can tell the kids are enjoying it and really learning more about God and His love. Also joining the older FTC kids is Roy and Lhe-Le (a young married couple who just came here to serve recently), and Doug Smith (a 16-year-old who just came with his family from Florida). Great times, great conversation, great fun!

I wanted to show everyone how much fun the playroom has become, thanks to the donations from CCC, Rochelle-area friends, Fem, and probably more people I am forgettin. In the first picture Banjo and Che-Che look over their masterpiece Lego creations. In the second picture, you see the books, games, Play-doh and other fun things to do that are available for the kids. In the third picture, Tinay is making a subdivision of houses with the Legos.

Thanks again to everyone who helped make this playroom possible by donating time, resources, books, games…and of course, to Andrea for her hours of organization, work and supervision of the playroom.

I know I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again unapologetically. I love being a father! When I was a child reading stories in the Bible like Abraham with Isaac, and Hannah (who gave her son, Samuel to the Lord as soon as he was weaned), I could never wrap my mind around the level of sacrifice that was required. How could I? I had not yet experienced the emotions and joy of being a parent myself. The concept that everything is the Lord’s is one that I have been trying to learn as I go. Not only does God want me to realize that all of my resources are His, like time, money and possessions. He also wants me to understand that even my family is His.

Several years ago, some dear friends of mine lost their two-year-old son. I did not have any words of comfort to speak at the time. I did not really know what to say at all. I went to their house to visit before the funeral and realized that just being there was all I could do.

Perhaps one of the most faith building images I ever saw happened at the funeral. Our friends, the parents of this child, sat in the front row. You could see, even through the tears, that they had a confidence in Christ, that strength that the rest of their family so desperately needed. After the Pastor talked about the life of this boy he gave a message of salvation. When he was done he asked if anyone wanted to accept the Lord as their Savior. All at once several people stood up, some from the front row and some scattered throughout the church all the way to the back. I still remember to this day watching the little boy’s mom raise her hands up in the air, praising the Lord for the people who accepted Jesus as their Savior. Even though she was still going through the pain of losing her son, she knew at that moment that “. . .all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose for those who serve Him.” She was able to see with her own eyes how God used that situation to draw others into His Kingdom.

I know that God has a plan for Josiah and all the kids at FTC. My questions are these:

-Will I be willing to trust Him with those plans, even if they are not what I want?

-Will I be strong enough in my faith to hold on to Jesus when the storms of this life overtake my family and me?

Because this post is so emotionally “heavy”, I have added some fun pictures of Josiah, Andrea, and Jennilyn below. No matter what the long term plan is that God has for my life or the life of my family (immediate, distant, and of course, FTC), I am going to live life one day at a time without worrying about the future.

Recently, there were three events that I would like to recognize on this blog and give thanks:

1.        Thanks to Carol Jablonsky, from Community Christian Church in Naperville IL.  When Andrea and I were in the States last year we met Carol for just a few minutes, but we could see that she really had a heart for the kids of FTC.  Recently Carol took on the huge challenge of soliciting and organizing donations for all 27 FTC kids, plus the 6 staff kids!  What was included in the items she and CCC sent?

a.       Shoes (dress shoes, tennis shoes, and sandals)

b.      Clothes (brand new shirts, jeans, polos…)

The donations were VERY timely, as the kids who are attending Frontline Christian Academy needed rubber soled and dress shoes for school.  Once again, thank you Carol and everyone at CCC!

2.       Thanks to Fem Bauersfield for several boxes she has sent over.  These boxes were very uplifting and encouraging for the staff and kids. They contained:

a.       Games

b.      Toys

c.       Clothing

I have personally gotten to know Fem a little better over the last few months and I know that she really has a heart for the children in the Philippines.  Thanks Fem!

3.       Thanks to New Life Foursquare Church, and to Dani and Roxann (you know who you are J).  Over the past several months, this Foursquare church, our home church in the States, has been collecting change offerings so we could take the kids for a special outing.  On Sunday, all the staff and kids, except for Mark who guarded the camp like a warrior (Thanks Mark!), went to McDonalds and had a blast!  They feasted on any item from the menu they wanted, and even a sundae for dessert!  There was even some money left over for the girls to go and get their haircuts afterward (which they had been consistently reminding us about their desire for!).  Thanks again! Below are a few pictures from the McDonald’s outing.

WOW! That is all I can say about our wonderful time at the lake on Monday!  It was a National Holiday, so the kids got a day off school.  We couldn’t think of a better way to spend the morning than to go to the lake together.  We had a quick encouraging word and prayer, rented bikes and rode them around the lake and had a great time together!  You could feel the emotional restoration and the “we really love you guys and are committed to you” love in the air.  I am not going to explain every picture this time; they explain themselves. 

On Sunday, I joined a local bikers’ group from San Pablo City on an adventurous ride around and through the mountains to the ocean. I was accompanied by other missionaries, Doug, Mark and Douglass.  Jaron is a Filipino pastor who is also a fellow teacher at Frontline Christian Academy.  He informed us of an upcoming ride and asked us to join him so we could witness to the guys on the ride.  What a great time we had!  The ride was simply beautiful, but had a very high level of difficulty as the roads wound around the mountains and contained sharp turns.  Pictured above on the left, we are waiting for the other riders to arrive before take-off.  In the second picture ”Altoy”, a fellow Christ-follower is giving the “rules of the road” to the guys (which you can read about in the last paragraph).   In the third picture, Jaron is all dressed up in protective gear and ready for the ride; my bike is the orange one on the right.

Shortly after we arrived at the beach, I was given the opportunity to share something.  I shared about why I was in the Philippines and how God has called me to the Philippines to share about His love and to help raise up the next generation of Godly leaders.  I was able to do my introduction sentences in Tagalog, thanks to our new Tagalog instructor, Noime (Salamat Po!).  After I shared, Altoy shared his testimony from his childhood.  After Altoy shared, Jaron gave a 15 minute exhortation about friendship and how Jesus wants to be our best friend.  Overall, I believe that great relationships were formed, and that someday soon we will see many of those faces in Frontline Worship Center on Sunday mornings.

What did I learn during the ride?  I learned once again that communication is everything.  There is one marshal (they ride in the front and are responsible for giving the go signs, stopping traffic at turns so all the bikes can make it through, and giving the first signs for dangers ahead), two sweepers (they roam back and forth through the lines and make sure everyone is ok, also staying behind with a rider who might have a problem, like no gas or a flat tire), and two medics (I was oneJ).  There are signs for overtaking, speeding up, slowing down, coming to a stop, turning left, turning right, pot hole on the left, pot hole on the right, and pot holes on both sides.  The marshal is to make the first sign and every rider thereafter is responsible for passing that sign to the rider behind them.  When we first started, the riders in front of me were not yet used to the signs (but I will not mention any names…MARK AND DOUGLASS! . . .although I, too missed some signs, so I should apologize to Anthony, who was the rider behind me).  So when a sign was missed, I was sure to hit a bump or almost run in to a dog…COMMUNICATION IS EVERYTHING, AND WE WERE/ARE ALL RESPONSIBLE FOR IT, that is a good life lesson.

A couple of days ago my wife, Andrea had an idea to take several hundred books out of storage (where they were to help keep them in one piece and from getting lost) and into the play room. She then converted that room into a play room/library/school room. J  If you know my wife then you know a couple things about her already:

1.       She is determined.  When she puts her mind to something she cannot really rest until it is done.  It is not uncommon for her to be up until 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. just to finish a project that she started.  As a guy, I do not understand this kind of committed determination. We men figure “eh, it will still be there tomorrow!”  I must also admit that I do not have nearly the same percentage rate of finished projects as she does.

2.       She is thorough.  Pictured above is Lanie, Jennilyn, Annabelle and Che-che helping Andrea glue holders in the back of every book that will hold the “check-out” card the kids must fill out each time before they borrow a book.  As they were going through the books, some of the girls really wanted to borrow a book right away, but Andrea informed them that they must wait until the accountability system is set up so they can properly check one out.

It is great to know that the kids have such an interest in reading books, and we have a variety of books that they can choose from!  It is equally as cool to see Andrea continuing to teach the kids about responsibility and accountability.  “You must fill out the card correctly if you want to borrow the book.  That way if a book goes missing, or gets damaged, then we know who should be accountable for it.”  I am excited to see all the books finished and the kids walking around the camp holding and reading them.  This is also a great way to continue to improve their English reading comprehension and speaking abilities.