Thursday, May 31, 2018—Subic Bay Children’s Home, Patmos Island Baptist Mission
Acts 1:8, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
Everyone woke up this morning with great anticipation of heading out by boat to a very remote part of the island to minister with Pastor Jolan at the Patmos Island Baptist Mission. Pastor Jolan has been traveling by boat to this location (60 minutes each way) for the last three years faithfully ministering to a group of about 200 people that live in the region.
As we headed into Olongapo City to the Manga Beach parking area, we were met by another Pastor and his sons as we loaded our ministry and lunch supplies onto his Filipino banca boat and began the 60 minute journey across Subic Bay toward the South China Sea toward Sampaloc Point. As we rode out, we could almost picture what it was like for the disciples or the Apostle Paul to journey by boat as it was both simplistic and surreal.
Upon arriving to our destination at a remote part of the island, all of a sudden we could see a few other banca boats, some people on the shoreline, and grass huts weaving in and out of view along the shore along with the standard fare of dogs and chickens running around—it was something you would picture in National Geographic.
As we got closer to shore, we could tell that they knew something exciting was about to happen as people and children began to come out from their shaded areas. Upon safely embarking from the boat and putting our supplies on the church concrete floor, we divided into two groups and began to invite people to our 11:00 am church service. Come to find out that the church, which is a 15 x 20 foot building with a thatched roof and white strips of siding, is right in the middle of a war zone, well, not exactly, but sort of. Evidently, because of a land dispute, one side doesn’t like the other side and won’t speak to each other. In essence, if one side of the village comes to church, the other side doesn’t come—and vice versa. So, the goal was to invite both sides trusting that they would both come. Of course, pulling out and blowing up some animal balloons always attracts a crowd and before we knew it, we had about 20-30 children in attendance and then the adults eventually came.
There were probably about 50 in attendance as we introduced ourselves, sang some songs, and then split up with Tim preaching to the adults and Rachel taking the children, singing some songs, and Sami giving the Bible story. During the service, our faithful driver Russell cooked us some chicken over charcoal and even climbed the coconut tree to get a few coconuts for the team. After chopping several pieces off the side, eventually it would open up to where one could drink the coconut milk. The guys played basketball on the village’s makeshift basketball court while others chatted with the folks. Just before we left, the children dove in the inlet and brought about 15 blue starfish up out of the water for all to see. 
As we loaded our supplies back into the boat and took up anchor, we waved as some of the people waved reminding us of what it must have been like when Paul left Ephesus.
Arriving back to the Children’s Home later that afternoon not before stopping at Pastor Odek’s favorite Filipino banana lumpia spot, it was decided that we were going to eat out this evening. Pastor suggested Texas Joe’s—a Texas-style restaurant complete with Southwest decorum and Texas barbeque food which was quite a treat! Upon arriving back home to the Children’s Home around 9:30 pm and eventually getting to bed around 10:00 pm, it was quite the full day—but a day of beautiful memories knowing that even people in the “uttermost part of the earth” need to hear the Gospel and experience God’s love and to know that we were a part of His Great Commission in this manner was quite memorable.
Sending Our Love,
Team Philippines
