Talim Island - Lake Laguna

Greetings to all our family and friends!!

We find ourself back within Baseco Compound in Metro Manila, one of many large squatter communities within Philippines, back with what we would consider family.

The past week we have spent our time with Pastor Joey, a man who has very little and pours his life out daily within the lives of many with needs. His wife is paralysed and he has a family of 5 children and yet still helps families on the island. His unconditional life has impacted us and changed our lives, we have supported his work on Talim island, Lake Laguna for the past 7 years. 

This island is a dormant volcano and homes 33 barangay’s (villages) that are close to the water’s edge around the island. The water is pumped out of the ground from hot water springs...you could almost boil an egg!! We lived within the community amongst some old friends and met many new friends, we had the pleasure to experience their community life. The island is located 6 hours from Metro Manila, our journey consists of motorbike tricycles, jeepneys, bus and boat.

By no means is this a tropical tourist island, many of the families struggle from day to day to provide for their basic essential needs. To live with them and not be messed by the abundance I possess in contrast from their life to mine would be an understatement. The opportunities for work and financial provision are limited, the fresh water lake (Lake Laguna) provides a range of fish and many families have fish pens and work through the night with large nets on their small bancas (boats) to sell for the next day at markets on the main land. Sadly typhoons are a regular event during their cooler months and most fish pens are destroyed yearly and their fish escape. The poorer families walk to the top of the mountains to burn wood and make charcoal (uling) to sell for charcoal fires for cooking or grow sweet potato. We started pig farming as a micro business a few years ago which has been relatively successful. We target poorer families and offer them a no-interest loan which they pay back after 4-5 months when the sell the pig. We purchase piglets of approx 5kg and sell them 4-5 months later around 45-55kg. The family keep all the profits and the initial loan repayed back to us to buy another piglet for another family to start a small business. We really want to begin to grow this opportunity for the families on Talim island as this is a profitable small business for poorer families to provide fresh food and education for their children. If you are interested in purchasing a (few) pig(s) for a family please reply to my email on mattpin@hotmail.com or comment on this post. They are currently costing $60 (2500 peso) for a 5kg piglet. You donation just continues to bless many families because it never ends, it keeps being reused to purchase another piglet.

We were very blessed with all the people and their generosity they have shown us on the island. They might not have much but every night we were always given some food that someone had cooked for us. The children on the island also took Alex and Ashah under their wing, often Alex would be off and I wouldn’t see him for a few hours, and the girls just loved Ashah, holding hands and roaming around playing games.

We really love this place it does hold a special place in our hearts, its very peaceful, no noise of cars, no fumes, but there is a few smells of animals, mostly those that raise the pigs to sell. One of the women that we stayed at on the island came to us while we were out visiting, she was holding a chicken (it was alive!), and told us that this was going to be our lunch the next day, I must say it was quite delicious. Wish we could say more...love you all. Matt, Lisa and kids

Baseco

We have been in Baseco already one week and so much has happened. The people here have been such an encouragement to us, they put up with so much in their day to day, things we would find extremely difficult…but you can see God gives them the strength to do what they need to do with joy!

On Friday we visited another area called Fairview the Baseco church visit their church and preach there, and this time they had planned a big kids crusade. More that 400 kids  came to the crusade, it went for 2 hours, it was really hot but the kids leaders were active and engaging the kids. It was amazing!

Sunday we met most of the people that attend the church, we met many of the mothers whose children are sponsored by many of you. Sponsoring a child here goes such a long way, $90/year provides for all their school fees and needs, but more so it gives then the opportunity that they might not usually get. I have met some of the children and they are all top 5 in their class, classes here have 70 kids, so its amazing to see some of the kids we are sponsoring they are so interested in learning and sit at the front of the class so they can hear and learn. If they can finish their schooling and manage to go to university they can really change the lives of not only themselves but of their family and communities.

The other night, there was a fire in a area close by near the port 5 homes were burnt to the ground, we took some photos. If any one would like to make a donation so that some of these houses can be rebuilt email Matt

mattpin@hotmail.com

We can give you the details on how to go about donating.

We are all well and having a very interesting experience here, the kids are learning and seeing so much. God is teaching us so much, we need to be thankful and grateful for what we have but we also need to do as much as we can for each other, especially those in need. The work that the Christian community here is doing is inspiring. If your interested in finding out more about whats going on in Baseco go to

markpedder.wordpress.com 

(Mark & Christine Pedder are Australian missionaries that live and spend their days in Baseco sharing the love of Christ in spiritual and practical ways). 

Manila Philippines...our second home

We arrived in Manila and probably my second home away from Australia. We have many friends and people we would consider family. It is different being around people you know and within an environment that is a bit more familiar. We are currently staying within Baseco, which is beside the port in Metro Manila. It is Lisa and the kids first time in Baseco and it is a real treat for me to have my family with me in Manila. Alex and Ash are loving playing and hanging out with all the kids.

The last time Lisa travelled to the Philippines was 5 years ago and Alex was 2 years old (this is Ashah's first trip). We spent 2 months here on our first trip 5 years ago although Lisa, Alex and I spent most of that time in Cebu, another island further south of Manila. We will arrive in Cebu the next month too. I have visited Philippines a few times over the past years and have brought family and friends to experience and see what God is doing within the lives of many Filipino's. From a humanitarian perspective the need is great here.

Many people from Australia support some of the work we partner in with filipino nationals and other christian missionaries that feel called to share Christ and help meet felt needs.

For the past 5 years we have provided child education support ($90 per child/1year) to children which would normally not have the opportunity to an education. We are also involved with various small-micro business loans and other support to empower families to make a difference for them to provide for their families future. If any one is interested to learn more and would like to support these things in any way please leave a comment or email me on mattpin@hotmail.com.

The Philippines holds a very special place within our hearts. We love our friends and love to see God provide opportunities where people can be set free and be transformed.

Note: We are living within a squatter community in Manila and the internet is not as accessible and the signal is weak so our blogposts will probably not be as frequent although please email/facebook us because we love hearing from you all!! God Bless.

Ha Long Bay's a true wonder!!

From Hanoi to Ha Long Bay it’s about a 4 hour bus trip. It didn’t feel too long, the kids were great, we were all a little excited and didn’t know what to really expect. It was drizzling and a bit misty…it was a little cold. After about 30 mins we got on a small tender boat that took us to our Chinese Junk (that’s what they call the boats)…not junk by any means!! We arrived on our ‘Junk’ called the Oriental Sails, once we boarded we had refreshments and were shown to our room, it had solid timber floors, walls and ceiling with the timber windows on the port and starboard sides… it really was picture perfect. We were then served lunch which had about 7 courses… too much food, a lot of different seafood, chicken and pork dishes. Soon after we began to cruise slowly through mist, after a short while you could make out the silhouette of the rock mountains coming out of the ocean, they were huge and now appearing everywhere, they were magnificent. The mist lifted and we were amazed…clearly a work of a master craftsman…even Ashah was looking out saying to Lisa, “oh beautiful mum!”  

They anchored the Oriental Sail after a few hours of cruising in amongst the limestone rock islands. We were invited to go kayaking around the islands, which we were all excited to try… we put our life jackets on and Lisa held Ashah in the front and I rowed in the rear seat. Alex went with the guide beside us, I was sure to stay close to him. It was an awesome experience, the kids loved it… we kayaked for a few hours in and out of caves and exploring small beach shores…fantastic.

These limestone rocks come straight out of the ocean, it said that there are well over a 1000 of these rock islands, few with monkeys living on them which we saw on the banks and swinging from the trees suspended out from the rock faces as we kayaked by. Amazing scenery, quite overwhelming, we could not believe what we were seeing and to think that this would be our home for the next 3 days in amongst these islands.

The greatest part was waking up each morning to the amazing scenery, you're on the water and you look out your bedroom window and see the big rocks and all the other boats anchored around, it was a sight to behold. The food and service was fantastic too!

Alex and I were able to fish for squid at night from our boat, we managed to catch and see a few caught which made a fresh meal. We loved the staff on the boats and became good friends with other guests on the boat too. We particularly connected with a Spanish couple that live in Pamplona, Spain where the bull-running fiesta is held in July every year. The bull stories were not really convincing me, but when they began to speak and describe the food at these fiestas I thought I might have to try it. We have been invited to stay with them and become a bull-runner in the fiesta…crazy stuff!!

We would recommend this experience to everyone, it was amazing and not a great expense. It was difficult for us to capture the exact beauty of the place in a photo although Lisa did try.

Vietnam...full of surprises!

Well, it has been awhile since our last post, we have enjoyed the last week of moving north up Vietnam, we have used all forms of travel from train, motorbike, cable car, boat and plane (bike was the preferred consensus by Lisa & the kids)…we have now arrived in Hanoi the capital of Vietnam. Nha Trang was beautiful and for all who know me well, know my love for meat…within the last week I have eaten frogs, ostrich, crocodile, quail, duck, lamb, chicken, pork, beef (I’m sure I’ve forgotten some)…not to mention all seafoods…(I like Nha Trang)…a culinary experience which will not be forgotten.

Again, another different experience in Hanoi, we love the city and have enjoyed discovering the sights down alley ways, over bridges and around beautiful lakes which are set within the city. The food, architecture and culture is different from Saigon, it seems to have been influenced very much by  the French which can be seen in the architecture which adds to the atmosphere. Today we visited a 1000 year old ancient university which had great historical architecture and gardens. We have enjoyed hiring a scooter and finding cheap eat outs and I have had to adjust my motorbike riding skills back to my teenage years of riding my dirtbike (KX125) illegally through the streets of East Keilor where I grew up…note; to conform and become an effective rider you must learn the skill of weaving through traffic and expect that every bike, car, truck is wanting to cut you off  or ride into you…you must prepare yourself for any surprises. You MUST think Vietnamese and ride with confidence and a bit of aggression…and you will do fine!

We have met new people in Hanoi and our children attract and compel people to talk to us…we have enjoyed our conversations and learnt a lot from the Hanoi culture and changes the West is having on the nation to become more global, particularly with the next generation with education preparing them to interact within the world stage.

Tomorrow morning we leave by bus on a 3 hour trip to Halong Bay where the ‘Oriental Sails’ a Chinese boat will become our home for the next 3 days. Halong Bay has over 1200 islands that are an amazing wonder and sight to see within Vietnam. We return back to Hanoi for another 3 days until our time in Vietnam ends and we leave for Manila Philippines.

Thanks to all for following the post and your much enjoyed comments. We will send another post when we return from Halong Bay. God Bless from us all and you are in our prayers 

Nha Trang

After that last adventure regarding the train everything else has run quite smoothly…maybe apart from my dad getting attacked by a monkey! (more about that later).

To all the lovely people who have been leaving comments thank you we get so excited (if you are choosing the anonymous option, if you would like us to know who you are just sign off with your name at the end of the comment).

On the first day here in Nha Trang Matt hired a motorbike…so all 4 of us squash onto the bike and go cruising, it’s the best! You feel independent, the wind in your hair exploring the sights its fantastic…the kids absolutely love it. We’ve been going from one end to the other, past towns, cruising along their tiny streets. You wisk past and you get little glimpses of their way of life. Everyone is outside and the front of their houses are open, so you get to see everything…from ladies lazing on their hammocks, men playing cards outside drinking coffee to the local barber cleaning some man’s ears!

When you book a tour here, you really don’t always know what it will entail…we all decided to go with a private car which actually worked out cheaper, the guide would take us to monkey Island and to the most beautiful beach, with white sand and a seafood market! Sounded really good so we booked it for the following day. The car with guide (which is actually the man that was in the office the previous day that sold us the package, he is also driving and he is our guide…it’s a one man show…which is cool) picks us up at 9am. We first arrive at Monkey Island, my mum is already on edge because we have to get a wooden boat to the Island and is reminded of a bad experience in Hoi Anh, where she nearly tipped the small boat over! And in the car on the way the guide starts to tell us how careful we need to be with the monkeys, don’t go near them and make sure you have no food with you, especially the kids, they like small children. Well…mum and I are having a heart attack in the back seat and nearly refuse to go…but we all get on the boat and arrive. There are monkeys everywhere, I grab Ashah and Matt keeps Alex close. We have to run because the monkey circus has already started and we are late, so we have to run through the grass area and dodge the wild monkeys. When we arrive at the circus show… the monkeys in the show break our hearts, they are cute and do amazing tricks but not good to see animals in a circus like that.

The guide takes us for a walk towards the most disgusting smell…and in the way my dad decides to pull out a plastic bag with his unfinished roll…well, what can  I say one monkey in an instant jumps on him rips the bag and takes the roll and runs off, but the rest of us have jumped a mile, all the monkeys  began to encircle us looking and smelling for food, I was packing my pants… the guide pressed on…was I glad to get off that island!

The adventure continued… the beautiful white beach he spoke of, was not so beautiful, and the seafood market was not what we expected, we were the first customers in 2 months, it was their low season, it was raining so we were swarmed by about 20 ladies almost jumping in our car when we arrived…and we are not sure why… we were told that they were all trying to sell us their seafood…Although we were a bit thrown we did laugh about it later, and made some genuine friends along the way.

We caught up with Matt’s first cousin Tony, he’s working here managing a few restaurants we had a meal it was really good quality food. It’s always nice to see a familiar face.

Alexander would also like to say a special hello to Luca his school friend, and thank you very much for all your messages, Alex loves reading them.