Tanza Projects and not much rain finally!

The last few days we finished working out at Tanza. On Thursday and Friday we actually had some ok weather, thank you to all of you who have prayed for us to have good weather. It only rained a few times for a few short minutes on these days!!
It really makes my heart ache when I see how these people live and how little they have. So many of them are just stuck where they are at, both in their living conditions and financial standings. They live too far away from the city to have a job in the city and all of the business are small little shops run by a family. As Dave, the guy we have been working with at Tanza, puts it “They are just stuck, they have a very small chance of getting out.” It costs to much money for them to get into town and would be hard for them to even get enough money to go into the city to find a job. If they would some how get a job in the city they would not get paid enough money to cover the travel expenses of going into town and back.
We were able to get the tower of the water tower done. They are still looking for a pump for the tower so the tank is not attached yet(in the picture the tank is up but it was only up for some building purposes, it will hopefully be up for good in the next week or two). We were able to basically build a home for a lady and her children. She was getting kicked out of her current home and was moving next door to where the neighbors had been keeping their chickens with just a wall and a half. We put up a few more walls and a roof for her. We also were able to put in a walk way across the stream in the neighborhood. Thanks to Josh, James, and Michael for coming out to help us this week so that we were able to get these projects done. Another project that we got the chance to help with, more financially than anything, was they building of a trench behind the building where a future Medical Clinic will be held. The building had been getting inches of water into it when it rains. The water from up the mountain would run down into the building and it just sits in there. We did not work a lot on this project but because of the money we raised, THANKS TO YOU ALL, we were able to fund the project.
It has been a very trying time for us here. We have gone through struggles with the culture, with the weather, with the people here, with each other, and with our bodies been worn out but more then anything God has done some amazing things. He has worked in us but more importantly He has worked through us! I ask you to pray for the lives that we have touched, whether it was someone that we talked to on a regular basis or just a hello. God has been in control of this trip! Please continue to pray for us as we finish up our trip.
Lastly I would like to take this opportunity to thank a few people but more importantly please pray for these people. The following people are full time missionaries here in the Philippines and they played a major role in out trip here. They set everything up, they cooked for us, they drove us around, they made sure we felt comfortable, they gave us a place to stay, they opened up their families and lives to us, and most importantly they shared their love for these people, God’s children, with us.
PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR THESE PEOPLE:
Josh and Val Manthe and Family
Dave and Michelle Clinton and Family
Daniel and Suzane Bucher and Family
Chris Cordova
Daisy Chell

We finally are able to add some pictures sorry for the long wait!
God bless!!

Still fighting the rain

Hello everyone,
It has been a while since our last update. Last week was spent on the island of Cebu playing basketball around Cebu City. We played two games a day with the first game being in the morning against a college team and the evening game being against a barangay. A barangay is a little community and there were usually more people at these games so the message was geared more towards the fans. During the college games the massage was more for the players. There is a blog at buhaysports.blogspot.com that will give you a day by day account of this trip.
We started this week working out at Tanza again. We found that the cement that we poured before we left had solidified so it was all set for the water tower to be put in the air. We ran into a problem however when it started to rain once again and seeing how it is not safe to weld in the rain we worked on a different project. We started digging on the water trench behind the building out there to help divert water around the house and not though the house. On our way out, we did some planning for a bridge across the creek so that it is passable when the water gets higher during rainy season.
Tuesday we were able to get the welding to the point that it is time to move it outside to location. Once again it decided to rain again today so we worked on the bridge. We were able to position some cement tubes next to some big rocks there were already there and by adding a couple more rock we were able to go the width of the creek. This allows a walk way that is a couple feet above the one prior which will hopefully provide a passage when the water is up. Planning for the future and knowing we will be welding outside and the possibility of rain, we hung a tarp over where the tower is going to be to provide some temporary shelter.
Things are going smooth considering all the rain we have been getting. The three of us are looking forward to our last days here and anxious to see what we can get done if the weather would happen to clear up. It is hard to believe that our five weeks over here is about up. We look forward to seeing you all again when we get back though.

God bless,
Trevor, Devin, Drew

Posted by Trevor

Hey all!

Today was a fairly full day with basketball and traveling. After church at the Arthur Center, where Lee (one of the guys on the USA team preached) we headed out to our first game at two. We played a good game, but came up with a tie (88 to 88). Apparently there is no overtime. From there we ate at KFC and drove to the next game. Our second game was against one of the top college teams in the nation (probably the best team we have seen so far) and had a solid victory. We leave for the airport at 5 AM (4 PM Central Standard Time in the USA).

Here is the Buhay Blog link to see a few pictures of action and interaction so far:
http://www.buhaysports.blogspot.com/

More will be posted on our blog when I get the time to do it!

Here is my take on the trip as a whole. Think of it more as a regurgitation of random thoughts in my mind…perhaps a scary thing to ponder.


All too frequently I get caught up in the mission and forget the reason. We serve a big God, one who chose to degrade Himself into human form; not for the life of luxury, but to be mocked, beat, kicked, spit on and nailed to a cross. What for?

The Christian faith is meaningless without the personal realization of what Jesus’ mission was (is). God knew us before we were created (Psalm 139). He knew me before anyone who ever lived on this planet existed. He knew every sin I will ever commit, he knew every time I will turn my back on him. And still he came to be mocked, beat, kicked, spit on and nailed to a cross…for that; for a sinner, for love. (2 Corinthians 8:9) Jesus had a mission…a huge mission, one that no mere man could ever accomplish; to give a FREE gift of eternal salvation for the entire human race. By definition: Grace.

So what is the purpose of our mission…to be mocked, beat, kicked, spit on and nailed to a cross?

I hope not…I didn’t sign up for that.

If honesty is the point, I get annoyed at the constant heat and humidity; the inescapable smells and noises of a poverty stricken city (My American nature). If I have trouble putting up with that then where does humility and torture play a roll?

Many faithful servants give their lives for what they believe in. Does God, the being of ultimate love call people to die for him? I don’t believe so. I believe only one death was required for all of humanity.

I believe we live in a fallen world where bad things happen to good people because God gave bad people free will; the same as good people. He gave everyone the same chance to love him when Jesus’ blood ran down the cross.

Bad people do bad things too good people.


Our purpose on this trip is to glorify our God, the One who gave us the choice to come here. Could bad things happen to us? Of course.

Will I meet the modern day Saul? What then? Will my immature faith be strong and wise enough to lead me in the way of everlasting? Will God really supernaturally give me strength in my moment of potential weakness? (Luke 12:11) (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17)

I pray for that. I have confidence in that. But do I truly, wholly believe it?

I pray for the chance to be tested even though my flesh wants exactly the opposite.
Its not what I want...but what He wants that I wish to seek.

Comfort, being rich, ignorance…are these the qualities God looks for in modern societies? I think not. (Matthew 19:29-30) (Luke 12:22-23) But that is what my flesh wants.



Perhaps this trip was designated for reinforcement.

Too often we leave seed along the path, in rocky soil or in the thorns to be quickly dismissed by the enemy. Seeds in our environment are numerous. Perhaps we are here to make sure the seeds end up in good soil (Matthew 13:3-9).

Will we be called to spread new seeds? I hope so!

Where will the seeds need to be planted? In the places that require our lives to be given? I hope not. But what if? I realize I can keep myself up all night thinking about “what if’s”, but concerning biblical history and our current situation, perhaps it’s an appropriate “what if”. Don’t worry…I don’t have any weird feelings about this trip turning martyrdom; I just like to let my brain run and see where it ends up. I have no idea if any of this makes any sense, but its getting late rather quickly and 5 am isn’t getting any further away.

All in all, this trip has made me think a great deal about biblical missionaries, the Apostles and how they lived (and died). It keeps my mind on the single purpose we are here; the reason behind spending thousands of your dollars we didn't earn...all for the deliverance or reinforcement of an eternal message; the gift of Jesus Christ.

Keeping all of you in our prayers!
DSR

Thanks for the prayers and support! - God is in control

First off I want to thank all of you for your prayers and support! It has been great to hear from some of you!
The last few weeks have been an amazing experience. I have been blessed in so many ways and know that God is working inside of me! I know that all 3 of us have been challenged in many different ways in all sorts of areas of life! We have been pushed to the limits physically, emotionally, and spiritually!
I have seen what it means to really put your life in the hands of God, I have seen people willing to give up the comforts that you and I enjoy in the States to give God their life. I have seen people living on the garbage of others and people who have to get water out of a stream to make it through the day. I have seen people with sicknesses and injuries that you and I would have been at the doctor weeks ago but they can not even imagine seeing a doctor. I have seen people that live in “houses” smaller than my bedroom and they have water and sewage just running into their house. I have seen people who have nothing in their material life. I have seen children that have never seen a parent and probably never will. I have seen people that have given up careers in the States to give these kids some sort of support. I have seen kids call a 20 something girl "mom," she has stepped into their life and cared for them, given them a chance. I have seen kids that just want a parent figure in their life, hoping that someone will step up in someone way...either by just giving them some time and love or hoping to be adopted. I have seen people give others a chance to live again and people that are alive because someone that did not know stepped into their life to make a difference. I have seen people give without ceasing knowing that they are not ever going to get anything back. I have seen people just longing to be loved and longing for something more in their life.
This has been a time for me to realize once again how blessed and fortunate we are in the States. It has been a time of growing and turning to God for help. I know that amongst all of the chaos and problems that we have ran into that God has had His hand in all of it! I have learned once again what it means to lay if down for the glory of God.

Week at Tanza

Hello all,

I hope that everything is going good for all of you. Things are going good over here. This past week has been an adventurous one for us. We didn’t get as much done as we had planned or hoped due to the weather but that is how things go. We were with Dave all week out at Tanza where he focuses his money and effort. Tanza is about ten miles away but it takes about 30 minutes to get there because it is in the mountains. Being in the mountains with all the rain that we have been getting, makes things interesting to get projects finished.

Monday we walked around the community and interacted with the locals and scoped out the projects that we will be doing when we are working out there. We talked with this little old lady who’s house is at the bottom of the hill so is the last stop for sewage before the drainage ditch so that doesn’t make for a good living area. Her boards are rotting out and she has holes in her wall so we are going to replace her boards and patch the holes. It was amazing seeing her face when we told her that we wanted to help her. It made all of our days just to see her reaction. We then went at looked at another lady’s house. She has eight kids but only five live with her in a house that is eight foot by sixteen feet. Everything from sleeping to cooking to everyday living is done in this one room house. Her house is situated in such a way that when it rains, she has a river running through her house. We are going to help her with this problem and therefore help with her children being sick all the time. These two projects are in addition to building a water tower so that the church will actually have running water out there. After getting a feel for what we would be doing and what we would need we set out to buy the materials so that we could get started on the water tower the next day.

Tuesday came and it brought challenges of its own. We left for Tanza early because we had to pick up some extra metal and the tank from a place here in town on our way out. We also had to pick up some gas for the torch when we got out there from a guy that we were borrowing them from. Our other material was delivered before we got there and we got a couple of local guys to help with the carrying of carrying down the path and across the river to the church. After this we found out that the torch that we borrowed was not going to work because it had a seal out of it and leaked all the gas out before it reached the tip. With not being able to cut any metal we decided that we were going to dig our holes and pour a concrete base to set the tower on so that it could cure and we could hopefully get the thing in the air the next day. It was hard to get this accomplished because of the rocky soil and the locals always wanting to help. About the time we were ready to pour concrete, Mother Nature decided that we had done enough for the day and it started to rain. It didn’t stop raining till after we went to bed that night.

Wednesday started off better because we were able to find a torch attachment that would actually work so we were able to get the cuts made that we wanted to finish up the day before. While one of us was cutting, the others cleared the water out of the holes because they were full of water and then started mixing concrete. Once again this proved to be a challenge because the locals were there willing to lend us a hand again. We poured the concrete in trash bags in the holes because of the ground being so wet and the rain in hope that it would actually cure. We managed to get this accomplished before the rain started in again for the day. Once the rain started and we got the holes covered up and finished the cuts, we went to another piece of land that they just bought to plant a church on to clear out the house that is currently on it. They wanted to leave the structure and use that for the church but we needed to do away with the platform that was in it so that it was an open area. Once again it rained the rest of the evening.

Thursday we woke up to even more rain and decided to still go out to Tanza and tear down a concrete out house that they have right outside the church there. No one uses it and it is really ugly so they wanted it destroyed. We had a sludge hammer but without the handle so we tied a rope on it and used it that way. Those of us not running the hammer were throwing large rocks at it to break the cement blocks. Once we got down a little ways, Dave and Drew took some of the blocks that were not broke and made steps coming down the hill that everyone slips on when it is muddy. These were projects that needed done but weren’t all the pressing but since it was raining we had a chance to get it done. After lunch, we went and bough some cots for the lady whose house is rotting away so that she didn’t have to sleep in water and she could get off the ground. Once again it made our day to see the look on her face when we helped her out. It made me tear up when I saw how happy she was to get such a simple gift and knowing that she wasn’t going to have to sleep in water that evening.

Friday was completely different than the rest of the week. Today we had orientation for our basketball part of the trip because most of the guys have gotten in and we had our first game tonight against some local all stars. This was a good experience seeing everyone show up to watch the Americans play basketball. At half time we all said where we were from and the local pastor gave a short testimony and then during the third quarter the ones not playing handed out tracks. It was fun getting to interact with some of the local people and get to show them God’s love.

Tomorrow we start our span of two games a day for seven days. Monday we will fly to another island and play over half our games there.

The trip is going good for me up to this point. It has been a struggle having to get used to the way of living here and the laid back culture. It has been tough dealing with people who deliver things when they get to it and have no sense of rush to anything when I am used to having things now and doing things quickly. I have leaned that I really need to work on being more patient and not worry so much about things that I don’t have control over. Like all three of us were expecting, there has been times that we have gotten annoyed with each other and especially since we all three like to be leaders and we are all working on one project. It has been tough for me to not be the one making the decisions and not being a leader. That was not something that I was planning on having to work on but I know now that it will help in the future and that God wanted to use this trip and the other two guys to help me with this. Even with us getting annoyed with each other at times I know that we have grown closer as a group and closer to the lord though those times of annoyance.

Take Care and God Bless,

Trevor