12th Street

We came to help on Children's Ministry day. They have 2 groups:in the morning the older kids meet (7 - 11)and in the afternoon the younger (4 - 6).The pictures are of the older kids, what a wonderful group of kids. The program has grown so much. Sonny and Leslie used to do everything and now the people of 12th street have stepped up and taken over.Leslie and Sonny now oversee and have more time to devote to the other ministries in Project Life like the men and womens' bible studies, livelihood and jail ministry.What an amazing God we serve! They start with prayer, some worship, games and a lesson. My prayer is that God reach more of the parents through their children.
The children that come some are in the sponsorship program. I have been collecting report cards and going to the schools for those we don't get turned in.The school year is ending so I will be going house to house to learn more about the families to prepare and send out sponsorship letters for the next school year.Project Life has a great quote from Ezra Taft Benson
"The Lord works from the inside out.
The world works from the outside in.
The world would take people out of the slums.
Christ takes the slums out of people, then they take themselves out of the slums."

We also had a chance to visit the jail in Olongapo. What a different system they have.You can sit in there for quite awhile before they even charge you with anything...The men's side has been on lock down for a couple weeks, since they had a small riot.So we did get a chance to go in and teach the women. Leanne taught on UTI's and the importance of hygiene. After the lesson we had a time for worship which was incredible. The women then asked if we would share so leanne and I both gave short testimonies of how God has worked in our lives.We then heard a couple of their testimonies as well. All in all it was an incredibly blessed day.

Y.W.A.M. Subic

When I arrived at YWAM Subic they had another visitor from Australia. Leanne Gill (so you have leslie, leanne and lee!!)She is a nurse midwife and came here to give Sonny and Leslie some relief. She also visited many clinics and taught on womens health both on 12th street and in the jail.Leslie took us both around and showed us the sights of Subic. We visited Club Morroco, White Rock and the Wild Orchid.(shown above in that order)From this viewpoint who would'nt want to live here eh? The water is beautiful as well as the beaches. However there is another side as well, there always is is'nt there?

Mass Transit Philippines Style

Getting around in Olongapo and Subic is done mostly by Trike and Jeepney. I just posted some pictures of the trikes on the road and the side of a jeepney that serviced Subic. The jeepney's are color coded for where they serve. I take a blue jeepney from Santa Monica to Victory liner and then get on a yellow jeepney to the church or a trike to 12th street.I am not so sure still so I don't travel alone.Sonny and Leslie have a van and use it mostly unless they need to be in two different places.

Alook at Olongapo, Subic and Beretto

The trip to Olongapo

So I left San Francisco at 9:00 pm on Feb. 10 and with a quick refueling in Guam made it to Manila in just 17 hours!(6:00 am Feb. 12) WOW! Met Esther in the airport going to her 50th year school reunion nice woman and then I sat next to a woman named Milo, however she was headed home for the funeral of her sister in-law.Anyway,after we landed I then made my way through the Immigration line (funny the line next to me is going 3 times as fast as this one! oh well) then on to collect my bags (an adventure to say the least) I kind of just stood back and watched people push their way to the luggage turnstile and waited till I saw my bags. A very kind man grabbed them for me and as I was getting them together here comes Esther to guide me out of the airport. (thank you Lord) We went through customs (I thought this would be more intense but the guard just checked my passport and on we went)So out the door we go only to get in another line checking to make sure we left with our own baggage(good idea) so Esther and I parted ways here as I found a metered taxi to take me to the Victory Liner bus station in Passay, what a drive! I guess it is just a free for all on the roads, you play this little game and if you hesitate well???I have to say my taxi driver was quite amazing and I was completely at peace in the cab.(for those of you that know me and driving with others you will be amazed)So here we are at the Victory Liner and before I can get out of the cab someone has my bags and is directing me, how nice,)I bought my ticket to Olongapo and payed the guy for helping me with my bags. Now I am on a greyhound type bus for a 3 hour drive to Olongapo. Funny they had some Steven Segal shoot em up movie playing for the whole ride! We pulled into the Ologapo City bus station and there is Leslie waiting for me to get off the bus(Praise God!)we practically had to tear my bags away (no no salamat, means thank you but no)finally in the car and they whisked me away to a pancake place for a meal and then to the base for a nap.They are feeding the children on 12th street at 4pm so I said" wake me and I will go." What a treat, such warm and friendly people, living in mostly squatter housing, malnourished both physically and spiritually. But God, one of my most favorite beginings in the bible, but God has used Project Life along with Sonny and Leslie to bring nourishment both to body and soul for these people.So this is a taste of my first day in the Philippines.

Prayed away

What an invigorating and emotional day! Three services of prayer and encouragement from the church family and friends. I am so very blessed to belong to such a warm and loving group of people! I still can't believe that God has blessed me with this outreach. Can you imagine getting to go and love people from a different culture, I am sure I will be more ministered to then they! Then a chance to go to YWAM on Kona and spend my days in Gods word,heaven on earth? Thank you so much to those who have been praying for me I am in such wonderful hands,His! Thank you also to those of you who can financially support me, my trust in Him has grown tremendously through this, it is amazing to depend solely on Him for everything. The days are going by fast I will be leaving on February 10th at 7:00 am from Fresno to SF, my flight in SF leaves at 9:00 pm non stop to Manilla. From there I will take a taxi to the bus station and a bus down to Olongapo where Leslie will be meeting me. Unti then "May you be covered by the dust of your rabbi"
In His hands
lee

Visa day in San Francisco

Many thanks to Kat who was my incredible navigator, encourager and friend! We had a wonderful trip starting out in the early am to miss the traffic of SF. (I prefer the mountains for driving thank you) We had our first stop in Los Banos (of course) we found a Jamba Juice for our $1 oatmeal fix. (great deal) We continued on and all went well until I turned onto the first street off the freeway realizing that I would not be able to reverse my directions after seeing that wonderful ONE WAY street sign! (gotta love those one way streets oyy!) We decided to worry about that one when we were ready to leave. We found a parking garage (how do people own cars in this town?)$11.25 for 1 and 1/2 hours!!! They even park them for you so they can get as many cars in there as possible. Out to the street for a very nice walk (just a few blocks) to the Consulate. What friendly and caring people. I was very surprised how fast everything went. They said I could pick my Visa up after 4:30..uh can you mail it to me?(that whole traffic thing at 5pm I don't think so!)sure they can express it but you need to go to Walgreens and purchase stamps we don't have them and then bring it back. OK another nice walk up a couple blocks to get some stamps and cashews.(snack time)We also hit a Starbucks on the way back(Zen green tea, that will help with the traffic!lol) and happen to see a street cop who kindly gave us directions out of the city and back on to the freeway. However we missed that very tiny exit 80E that looks like it is for maintenance workers only! So we turned around after going about 10 miles out of the way!!! What an adventure going to the city can be. I loved walking on the street and checking out all the store fronts but they can have the traffic.