PART TWO of my trip to the Philippines ...

We were in South Cotabato when we finished the first part of this report, and now we move on to the western side of Mindanao with the help of the Lord and our faithful body guards.

Sammy & Shirley Facun, a lovely couple from South Cotabato.  He offered a closing prayer at one of the meetings which provided me with a great deal of comfort.  They also had us over for a meal one evening.

Here Roger is preaching at President Quirino - this picture should have been in part one, but it gives you an idea of what he looks like up in front of the assembly. I would give my lesson first, and then he would follow up with a summary.  He said he enjoyed this style and could go with my ideas and present an edifying lesson.  I prefer this method also as it allows him more freedom to put thoughts into his own words, and I don't have to stop every sentence and wait for a translation.  

After leaving South Cotabato and traveling most of the day, we had a very nice meeting with these brethren in Cagayan de oro.  They loved to sing from the Red Books and asked if we could send them some more.  We spent the night in a motel there before heading to Lantian the next morning.

 Here is the place of Jun Tobias and his wife, Joy, and their three children, Phoebe, Samuel, and Roman Roger.   We are relaxing outside one morning before the children went off to school.  Who can pick out the bodyguards?

On Sunday morning, we had a good meeting at Camanga, a congregation that meets right by the side of the road separated only by a sheet.  It did get a bit noisy from traffic, and then to make sure we didn't go overtime, the place across the street started piping in religious music (I had to ask if it was religious). 

  On Monday we had a morning and afternoon meeting with the Siay congregation.   It was well attended by preachers from the area.  Can anyone pick out Roy Tutterow in this group?

  This is Sis. Pacita Peralta, a faithful sister who we have helped before, and were able to help again with reading glasses.  I think she is a sister or an aunt to Sonny Tobias.

  Here are some of the Tobias men:  Sonny, the patriarch; his son, Jun, with his son, Roman Roger in front of him; Wilson Tobias, and Jason Tobias, both are sons of Sonny, also.  Wilson brought his M-16 to accompany us to Siay, and it was no small comfort.  By the way, Wilson is also looking for an American pen pal. 

 Ahhhh, a Sunday drive on the tricycle with Jun, Samuel and Roman Roger.  Roger is sitting behind Jun on the bike, while Joy is sitting behind me in the side car with daughter, Phoebe.  Seats 7 comfortably, I think.

  Here is Phoebe sandwiched between her cousins - lovely girls but didn't catch the spelling on their names. 

  After our visit in the Tobias area, we headed to the northern areas of Mindanao to Oroquieta City and visits with three churches there.  On the way, we had a lovely study at the place of Joy's parents.  My picture of that meeting came out too dark to show here.  This is the first church we visited outside of Oroquieta.

 The second church we visited was called Bunga, which means 'fruit' in their language.

 Roger enjoys the treats prepared for us by the sisters, while brother Mareno looks deceptively relaxed while he munches away.  The brown thingies were a lot like donut holes, and the other items were variations on a rice theme.  Brother Maraquet ("beautiful") serves from the cooler.

   Some of those in attendance that day, including our van driver on the right.  He did a fine job for us, at a reasonable rate.  He was glad for the work, too.

   Brother Olympio Lumacad ("walk") and his lovely family.  We had an evening meeting there, and afterwards were able to help them buy the cement to get a floor for their meeting house (about $50).

  Leaving Mindanao was not as easy as we thought it would be.  The weather cancelled our flight so we went to Plan B: The SuperFerry from Osamis up to Cebu where we were assured of catching a flight back to Manila.  It delayed us about a day, but we only missed one appointment and had a nice adventure in the process.  Roger is pointing to the lights of Osamis as we steam out of the harbor - too dark to see it clearly.

  The Super Ferry accomodations were very nice - we shared a cabin with four other Filipinos and had a nice comfort room.  This gentleman was a great companion, and we enjoyed his company along with some good religious discussions.  Our voyage took 11 hours to complete, most of the time spent in rest in the comfortable bunk bed.

  When we arrived at Cebu,  we bought tickets and checked on our refund status for the cancelled flight from Mindanao.  We received excellent service and were able to get back to Roger's later that afternoon.

  On the flight to Manila, we met not_tamika's Filipino twin - she was nice to converse with and we were happy to have met her. 

  Coming back to Roger's place we met up with Charles Ross, who arrived after I did but had already been out visiting congregations with Jinny Cris Sarceda and Rolly Abainza.  He handles the Philippines well and serves the brethren faithfully.

   I tried to get a banana leaf and rice plant for muchado, but this is the best I could do because of time and space constraints. 

Speaking of, this will do it for Part Two - One more installment should cover the trip - join us again for more excitement from the Phillipines.

    Maraming Salamat Po!