Happy Anniversary!

Let me start this blog by thanking my wife, Deb, for her patience and heart to allow me to participate on this trip. It is our 19th anniversary today (I started to celebrate it 14 hours before she did). You may ask yourself, "What kind of circumstances would cause an otherwise sane, happily married person to put himself on the other side of the world from his wife on their anniversary?" Well, here is the story....I'll leave it to you to question my sanity ;-)

About 4 weeks ago, I was checking in on world news on the internet and specifically checking the Asia-Pacific news as I like to keep up with what is happening in the Philippines and other countries in the region. Much to my surprise and concern I found stories and video footage of a massive typhoon that not only had hit the Philippines (a common occurrence), but had caused massive flooding and destruction in an inland area, in a province called Rizal, in a town called Cainta. The very same province and town that we have been visiting and working in over the last 3 years!

I sent an email to Jeff Long to find out whether this was somehow a case of Internet Sensationalism or if in fact, this destruction was real and affecting them and Filipino neighbors. He responded shortly thereafter to tell me that yes it was -- he told stories of having to abandon his vehicle to wade through waist and chest deep water to reach his home area and the massive need for relief that was needed throughout Cainta. We parted with an agreement to pray and consider ways to support our Filipino brothers, sisters and friends.

A few days later, another email arrived from Jeff. This time, the request for support was less ambiguous....it read something like, "Get your Minnesota team over here Now! We need you at this time more than ever to help with food and medicine distribution and anything else that comes up. This is supposed to be an every year trip -- why are you waiting until 2010?!" Ok, maybe the email was SLIGHTLY more diplomatic, but the urgency came through -- within a few days, various members of our larger team began responding to the call, and 2 weeks later here we are.

We are encountering large crowds of people who have been herded into evacuation camps by their local municipalities, but after that they are pretty much left to their own devices. We spend our day cooking (I guess that could be a post-anniversary benefit if I begin taking on meal duties at home, right? ;-) In between cooking, we go to market to pick up supplies and drive to the relief centers to distribute food. I am the designated driver since I have been found to have the necessary combination of defensive and aggressive driving skills to take a 12 passenger van down the narrow alleys weaving between toddlers, motorcycles, dogs, cats, goats, and any other number of obstacles.

Doing the feedings we are finding people to not only be hungry for food, but also for conversation -- telling us their stories of survival, telling us about the families that mean so much to them and seeking spiritual answers as well. In some cases, they have even shown up not requesting food, but asking for copies of devotional literature they can use. I passed some of this literature out yesterday and found the children huddled in groups of 2 or 3 reading to each other. And as I drove our team van away they called out "Salamat po -- thank you so much for visiting us, thank you for sharing, come back soon!"

So - my real anniversary, not the date on the calendar, but a time for me to spend with my wife remembering 19 years of marriage to the love of my life waits for a few more days.

Thanks for reading these - we'd love to get your comments, and questions, pray for our ongoing safety and that God's will is accomplished through this work.

Kevin (for all of us)