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Volunteer
Stories:
Tim's
Take
Volunteer Timothy Gott shares about his visit to a new village
for the poor
 Just came back
from Montalban, Rizal for the third time. This time and the last time I
stayed in the boy's home for 2 days and 1 night. I also had a 3-hour visit
to Sub-Urban in Erap City which is a project set up by the government to
remove hundreds of families from the squatters areas and give them "homes"
to live in instead of the temporary shelters that they have made in the city
using anything they could find. I use "homes" in quotations because what
they were given is a 15 ft x 15 ft box made out of cement blocks with one
light switch and a couple of outlets. Families of 4 to 6 will live in each
of these homes.
 God seems to choose those that are willing to follow Jesus' example. Bro Joe
Dean and his wife, the boys and the caregivers at the boys home, and many
others involved with He Cares Foundation are being used as they are willing.
He Cares foundation and others have accepted some of the work that God is
doing in helping about 35 of these families in Erap City.
If I spoke Tagalog I would ask the women and men of Erap City where they
used to live. I would ask them what they have seen God do in their lives. I
would ask the women and the men of Erap City all sorts of questions to
scratch beyond the surface and find out more of what I think I can see that
God is doing in their lives.
 Because I hardly speak enough Tagalog to even mention, I don't have a deep
pool of information to draw from. I would like to know more about what God
is doing in the lives of the people of Erap City. If I spoke the language I
would talk to the mothers, the children and the fathers to hear what they
see God is doing in their lives.However,
without that I can still tell you what I see and what I might have picked up
from stories I have overheard 'about' these men, women and children. From
what I can see, I know that God gives so much to each and every one of us
every day. The mothers, fathers, and children in Erap City are no exception.
In fact, I believe that the mothers, fathers, and children of Erap City are
more blessed than many of us that might think that our material wealth is a
blessing. "Blessed are you who are poor,for yours is the kingdom of God."
Luke 6:20
These families in Erap City used to be squatters. In the US the term
squatter means something completely different than it does in the
Philippines. Most people from the U.S. would find this kind of living
horrendous. I just think that it's survival. I imagine that if you worked
hard at it you could probably have a somewhat comfortable home even in a
squatters area. After all, what really matters is that a home is clean and
dry. There is the problem with most squatters areas though. Most are neither
clean or dry. However my thoughts aren't very typical for someone from the
U.S.
I sense God's
lead in going to He Cares Foundation next week and begin working with them
in their a 4-month beautification project to make these homes more livable.
We will be adding an extension onto the front of these homes and painting
them. Don't get me wrong, I am very happy for the families that only pay
about $10US/month for their homes. From what I've researched this is about
1/8th of the average wage for an individual. But it is still nice to be able
to help them feel the love that strangers might have for them as they in
turn learn to share that love with others.
Note: In roughly March of 2006 the beautification project was completed
except for a few loose ends. Today you can see what the homes now look like.
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