Let's talk about sequels for a moment. They have a bad rap. Almost everyone would agree that the second in a series is usually worse than the first. It's just the nature of things. And I am willing to concede that there are some real stinkers out there. But not all sequels have to be bad. There's
Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The Dark Knight. Umm... I'm sure there are others.
Look, the point is not to talk about movies. It's to say that this is part two of my trip to the Philippines. (Yes, the one way back in February. What's your point?) And I'm sure this will be even more entertaining than the first part. Even if we are changing the format entirely.
I'm not going to go day by day. Honestly, I've forgotten what happened on which day, and my expression
rarely
changes.
I know. I look thrilled to be there. I promise you, I was. But I have really bad resting face. I don't understand those people who just naturally smile all the time. I don't trust them. It's not normal.
So every day, we would start with worship.
Our worship leader was a well-known Filipino radio personality and pastor. He lost everything in the typhoon a few years ago. His journey to joining the team in the Philippines showed great faith.
Technically, the photo in the middle is of the after lunch stretch time in which we did the weirdest rendition of "Father Abraham" I have ever heard. But the limbs moved, so mission accomplished, I guess.
I think I mentioned that we had a lot of people representing many countries. And to pay homage to this, the worship leader would have someone read the verse of the day in their native language. Do you know how long it takes to read 5-6 verses in some of these languages? We had Korean, Hindi, Spanish, Tagalog, English, Haitian Creole, and one I can't mention. I felt it was a good representation of what I go through in trying to fit languages of varying length into the same four inches of space.
Then we seminar-ed. The look of this varied with each session. First, since it was a Train & Multiply workshop, we had to make sure everyone had access to T&M Online. That was a chore and a half.
And can I just say that hotspots are your friend? They are beautiful things. Especially when you need forty people to be online in the middle of the Philippines.
Part of why we were there was to share some best practices in working with T&M. So we heard how it's being used in the Philippines, in Colombia, Spain, on short-term teams, among children, with deaf communities, in prison, and adapting it to a university context. There were some incredible stories of faithful people. It was worth the trip just to hear how God has taken this small tool and done amazing things in communities and individuals!
At one point, I actually got up front to talk about my job and why it takes so long to take the translated text and turn it into something usable. I think the message got across. People really don't realize just how much work goes into making these booklets great.
We transitioned then to talk about some challenges and opportunities facing T&M. Based on a survey we took on the bus ride, we were divided into teams. My first team tackled the challenge of working with oral learners. T&M is a text-based program. I create the booklets, for crying out loud. I know that it's an obstacle with non-literate people and oral cultures. We looked into ways that T&M could be adapted to reach more people.
That's my team. And here's what I loved about it: we all came at T&M from a different context. Yes, there were four Americans. But all of us work in different areas. And every team member could think of several examples of situations in which T&M doesn't work as text. We had to think outside the box. And you can't present solutions to non-literate learning via text.
So we got creative. And yeah, some of these solutions are quite a way down the road. But I would love to hear T&M as a radio drama. And hey, it was out of this discussion that "T&M: The Musical" was conceived. But more on that later.
My second team was looking at the opportunities (and challenges) in using T&M in Europe.
Europe is often seen as the place where Christianity went to die. One of the most poignant descriptions of Europe that I use often is that they have forgotten that they've forgotten God. And yes, there are tremendous barriers. But there are also amazing opportunities! Don't dismiss Europe as a mission field just because it's hard. That's like saying God is incapable of changing hearts. And if you believe that, then what's the point of anything?
On the last day, we divided into regions. There's no point talking about best practices if you don't have a plan to implement them in your ministry. So each region got some time to come up with action plans for the next few months. And don't assume that the office staff was exempt from this. We made our own action plan for how we were going to take what we'd learned and incorporate it into the future of T&M.
(I need to take a moment to talk about a truly profound moment I had in the Philippines. I experienced a moment of zen, people. And it's all about a pen. Yes, a common writing instrument to you. But to me, it was a thing of beauty. It wrote beautifully, it was comfortable to hold - I could compose sonnets to this pen. I asked Lois and Dez to find me a dozen more. I think they thought I was joking because they never showed up. But I'm not joking, guys. I'm a huge nerd about this stuff. I'd show you a picture, but it's become my church pen, and I don't want to remove it from its spot in case I lose it. That is all.)
Okay, so let's switch gears for a minute. We've spent a lot of time indoors, and to be honest, that's how we spent most of our time in the Philippines. I didn't get many chances to explore. But I did find a bit of the flora and fauna to share with you.
These cats were just about the only animals I saw in the country.
There were far more of these.
One reason we didn't spend a lot of time outside is that they were constantly burning the fields. I have no idea why. We mostly saw sugar cane. But I could definitely smell it in the air. Sometimes I could taste it.
And of course, nights are beautiful. (I think there was a super moon while we were there. Very big and bright.)
We did go out one night to a coffee shop. It was really nice, though I don't like coffee. So I had some kind of flavored drink that reminded me of moscato (but without alcohol) and tasted amazing.
Which brings us to food. I didn't take a lot of food photos, because how many times can you really take pictures of rice? It's no joke that every meal in the Philippines is served with rice. Because it is. Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner. And the thing that got me was that the Filipinos didn't seem to want to put anything on the rice. There was stuff on the side. But the rice was on its own most of the time. Very odd for someone who usually accompanies rice with and. Rice and...
Feed me, Seymour!
Lots of pork. The adobo flakes were interesting, though not my favorite. Lots of soup, too. Reminded me of Poland, though no potatoes.
Those skewered pork things were amazing. I would eat them all day every day.
That is fish on my plate. I tried it because I told Deb that I would. She failed to convince me that fish is worth eating. That sweet drink in the glass, though? BRILLIANT.
These little fish showed up for breakfast a couple of times. If there's one thing I don't need upon waking, it's beady eyes staring up at me from my plate.
Now let's talk about Sunday. It was a standout day because we didn't do any of the normal seminar stuff. They split us up in small groups so we could visit as many of the local churches as possible. And we finally got to ride in a Jeepney!
If you know anything about the Philippines, you probably know about Jeepneys. They are crowded, they are kitchsy, they are at times terrifying, and they are sadly disappearing in the Philippines. We were told that there's a movement to get rid of them. I can sort of understand. But they are also a lot of fun.
I went to the Faith Fellowship Tarlac church. This is the denominational church in Tarlac City. It was lovely. Great worship, great people, and plenty of fans on the white people.
Did I mention great food? We ate an excellent lunch after the service with the pastor's family. Let me tell you something - I may hate cooking (though I'm warming up to it), but I love cooking shows. Especially "Parts Unknown" with Anthony Bourdain. Because food is so tied up in the culture of a place. People eat things they know and can find easily. And I love seeing how that plays out all over the world. Something exotic to you or I is extremely commonplace somewhere. We used to host Russian students at our house. They were flabbergasted by casseroles.
Try everything once. You really never know.
We met up with everyone else at Pastor Mar's house, which also happens to be where a house church is meeting. Before that, though, we picked up another group that was having church under a tree. They also happened to have avocado ice cream. Now, I can't eat ice cream. Bad things happen. But it was just too intriguing. And I can honestly attest that avocado ice cream is worth just about any bad thing that could result. It is the stuff of legends. I'm drooling just remembering it.
Eventually, we all ended up at Mar's home. His wife has a roadside restaurant, too.
And it is there that I encountered another great Filipino tradition.
Halo-halo.
Literally, mix-mix. As in, mix up whatever you have and stick it in ice cream. The picture above is someone else's halo-halo (pronounced hollow hollow) because as I mentioned before, I can't eat ice cream. So they made me a special batch without it. And I have to say, you really miss out when there's no ice cream in it. It's just crushed ice and coconut and corn and jellied fruit - nothing to hold it together.
We also had these. They reminded me of tamales since they are wrapped up, but it's more desserty. I was not a fan. I can't remember what is in them now. Oh, and there was also flan. Because why not?
I wish I could show you the evolution of this picture. We started out with a few. Then we added another. Then two more. Then we pulled Let in on her phone. It was hilarious.
And it apparently started a trend.
Like I said, there were a lot of people there. And somehow that became this:
Aww. Don't we look great?
After dessert, we split up again. Some people wanted to go back to the hotel. Some people wanted to go to the mall. Some people wanted to see an open air market.
I would normally do the market. But seeing as I hadn't exchanged any money and I was feeling peopled-out, I should have just gone back to the hotel and had a lie down. But no. I picked the mall.
It's huge. And it's crowded. I think there were at least five floors. Dozens of stores. And not mom and pop shops. High-end designer places. I had a hard time reconciling the mall with the church I'd been to that morning.
This is the thing about the Philippines that constantly perplexed me. Parts of it are incredibly modern. There are luxury stores, luxury hotels, a vast network of highways, beautiful buildings, the occasional park, and just really neat architecture. And then right next to it - not down the street or around the block -
next door would be a shack or a street vendor with no shoes. Extreme luxury right next to extreme poverty. And there are no apologies or explanations. It just is. Like there's no reason to find it odd. I'm used to very segmented living. You have your nice neighborhoods, you have your slums, you have your mansions - none of which are found anywhere near each other. At least not where I'm from. The dichotomy of it kept throwing me for a loop.
Here's the thing that makes it all worth it, though. Wherever I go, there's one constant.
The people are incredible.
Whether you're meeting for the first time or you only spend time together in other countries, the people you encounter are the best part of any trip. They all have a unique perspective on life, and for a few brief (or not so brief) moments, you can connect in ways you never imagined. These are people I will never forget, and when we see each other again, whether in this life or in heaven, we will reminisce fondly about these experiences.
Just a few more random moments to talk about.
First, my hair does this in humidity. This was very early. Before it got even bigger. This was fascinating to the Filipinos. They have very flat, straight hair. Mine is neither of those. So I kept it down a couple of days to provide entertainment.
I'm not 100% certain of this next thing. But this might have been the day they were playing the Super Bowl. See, it was happening Monday morning for us. And we were very carefully instructed to not be watching it while we were in meetings. And I adhered to that. But I may have been tracking the score in real time. I look diligent, right? And I was. I was diligently tracking the plays as a team I don't care about beat the pants off a team I loathe. It was truly beautiful. (Oh hey! That's the pen. Isn't it pretty?)
Now, imagine this is a Marvel movie. The credits are rolling, but you know better than to leave because this is a Marvel movie, for crying out loud! There are always post-credits scenes. And it's time for me to talk about the thing that I've alluded to but never fully explained.
So, I talked about the challenge of reaching oral learners, right? Well, for the trip, all the participants were connected on WhatsApp. It's a great tool, and it really helped us keep organized. But it did so much more than that. Because after our presentation, a little message went out across the wire. And I never pass up an opportunity like this.
I don't think anyone took it seriously at first. It's one of those things you laugh at and then move on. Except I can't move on. So I started writing lyrics. And then Dean came up with categories of entries in a talent contest. And it really just ballooned from there. So from Friday afternoon until Monday evening, we formed our own little underground groups. We rehearsed. We wrote and rewrote. We composed power point presentations.
And then it was time.
Pictures really don't do it justice.
Which is why there is video.
I can now present to you the exclusive playlist of entries in the world premier of T&M: The Musical. There are seven videos. I really hope you enjoy them. (There was dual translation for our Spanish speakers.)
(Please don't share these outside your immediate sphere of influence.)
And that's pretty much it. I could only begin to tell you everything I experienced on this trip. If you want to know more or see more photos (I have hundreds), I'd be happy to to share.
We left Tarlac at 1:30 pm on February 6 Philippines time. That's 12:30 AM February 6 in Greenwood.
Remember that. It's important. Because this is about to become...
...a THREEQUEL.
