Prayer Request

Hello Everyone, I just wanted to as everyone to keep all of the people effected by the fires in Southern California in your prayers. I just spoke with my family today and they are doing well and very positive, but they have said that these fires are worse than the ones that raged in 2003. The mix of dry land and relentless Santa Ana winds is making the fires hard to contain and many homes have burned including those of friends. Please pray for a quick end, protection of all involved, and peace in the hearts of those that face great loss. If you are a friend from home reading this please keep me posted on how you and your family are doing. Thank you for all of your love and support. God Bless.

NEWS FLASH!

In light of recent events in Manila my mom asked me to inform all via blog that we are all alive and well and very busy. The past week all of us have been back in Manila working hard to prepare for the GK Expo taking place this weekend. It is a huge event designed to present the many programs of GK, their vision, the many accomplishments, and inspire all involved to greater action. I also wanted to share some old news that I didn't include in my last post.... I helped deliver a baby!!! It was incredible and absolutely nothing like the deliveries I experienced in the hospital. Patrick and I were on our way after celebrating mass with the village when just as our bus was about to pull up one of the villagers came running over the hill yelling to us. She was speaking in the local dialect so I had no idea what she was saying, but the woman next to me did. She grabbed my hand and ran with me back into the village. They pulled me into the house where there were 6-10 other women and mom on the floor. The baby was laying on the floor, but the delivery was not complete and the cord needed to be cut. I got to do the honors. My heart was beating at a 1000 beats per minute, but all went well. The whole experience was an amazing blessing. I guess I really am a nurse. Oh..for those that are curious...I did have gloves, alcohol, and betadine, but that is about it. Good times. To top it off...the parents decided to name the handsome young man Patrick Llamado Mediavillo. Thats right...Patrick ( : Pleas keep the family in your prayers.

Stepping In

"Whatever town you enter and they welcome you,

eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.’” Luke 10: 1-9

A few weeks back I found myself feeling disconnected. Active, but not totally engaged. It was like I was wading in the shallow end of a pool too timid to dive into the deep end. Well.... I wouldn't say I have let myself be fully submerged, but I have had the incredible blessing of allowing myself to be engaged and float in the grace of a community that knows love and generosity. When I began my work at Gk Libmanan I stayed with a host family an hour away from the village and would visit for the work hours of 9-5. I approached it almost like a job...minus income, a boss, and a real job description. As the work continued and the my scheduled time with them was drawing to an end I realized I wanted to be with them. I wanted to know them more than what I had allowed myself. So I stayed. I packed my bag and stayed the night. Spending the night is nothing momentous, but in that time our relationship changed. I was welcomed into their homes to share with and be a part of their families. We broke bread...ok well ate rice...shared stories of our families, joked, and prayed. It was beautiful expression of faith lived in its purest form. We have become a part of each others lives and the impact of our time together has changed our lives in both small ways and big ways. It has been incredible. I have grown attached and I hate to leave not knowing when I might be able to return..at least to visit. I fear being assigned to a new place where I will hopefully foster the same type of relationships grow attached again and leave them. They hold a piece of my heart and have shown me that the kingdom is indeed at hand.

GK Bonot (pronounced " BOHT' - note " )

A good friend of mine reminded me this morning that our friends and family members are reading this blog, and that they hadn't seen a new post from me or Heather in a while. So, here's what I've been meaning to write for two weeks ;-) - - - - - Heather and I are finishing up our frist stay here in Bicol. On Tuesday evening we will again brave the adventurous overnight bus ride back to Manila to help with the GK 1-World expo, being held in two weeks in the famous Mall of Asia, in downtown Manila (which reminds me, I ned to go buy our bus tickets as soon as I'm done here). --- So despite our adventures with the Feast of Our Lady of Pena Francia, wake-boarding at CWC (home of next summer's ESPN International Wake-Boarding Championship) and spending lazy Sunday's with our host family in heavenly natural spring pools, we have actually been quite busy with our GK villages. Heather and I decided to stay in the villages for most of the nights of these last two weeks (part of the reason we haven't blogged in a while). I have been working at GK Bonot, which is a fairly new site in the municipality of Calabanga. This beautiful 4-Hectare site is less than 1 kilometer from San Miguel Bay. The ocean can be seen from the top of the hill that marks the center of the site. This pic is from the top of the hill: Most of the future residents are fishermen by trade. Incredibly, the typical family size here is larger than most that I've encountered. 5 Children per family is the statistical GK average, and most families that we've met have 4 -7 children. At Bonot, however, most of the families that I've been able to talk with have 9-11 children!!! It's pretty awesome when you start to hear their stories. Anyway... Bonot is a problematic site, which is part of the reason I was assigned there. The site officially began building last March, and in 6 months has started 27 houses, but not completed a single one. Most GK villages build at an average rate of 10 homes / month. In the middle of the building, there was a significant change in leadership which ground everything to a halt. I was asked to go there, assess the situation, assist the new Project Director, and to get things rolling again. After only 3 weeks, I hope that we got enough coals glowing the fire will grow, and not again be extinguished. I was able to focus the work force on 10 priority houses, hoping that before i left we would be able to turn them over to the first residents. Unfortunately, not all of the residents were able or ambitious enough to begin working again right away, so the work progressed slowly. I do think that in another 1-2 weeks, the first batch of 10 will be complete and turned over, which will hopefully re-inspire the rest of the future residents to come and help with the build, and to engage the community. Unfortunately, I will not be there to see it. I have been impressed, however, by two young men, maybe in their 30's; Rommel (yellow hat), who is working for his mother, and Abelardo(orange hat), who is working for his own family. The 2 men are at the site almost everyday, without pay, and do the most rigorous of all the work to be done. Sometimes that means digging up huge rocks, sometimes hauling 25 80lbs bags of concrete on their head, sometimes mixing concrete. Whatever it is, they will do it so that they can have the pride of moving their families into a new home. These two men also helped to provide the inspiration for some of the other beneficiaries to come back to work, to build and move into their own homes. I guess this is what it takes to build a community from the ground up. GK has built it's success on relationship, just as Jesus built his ministry on relationship. At GK Bonot, new relationships are being forged, and new leaders are emerging. In that fire I pray that a new community will grow in hope for their own future, and love for themselves and one another. At the end of my stay, as one last push to ensure the flame would glow, we organized a half-day build, which will hopefully be repeated every Saturday. These pictures are from that build. If anyone is interested in partnering with a village and really building a relationship that can foster this community, GK Bonot has no other partners. The 40 Houses that are being built have been donated by the federal government. The money is for houses only. Outside partners are needed to provide the funding for the pre-school, the medical center, the office, the hill-top chapel, and all the other facilities that will be a part of this beautiful place. In addition to that, the 4 hectares can hold a total of 100-150 families. 40 Homes is only the beginning. Anyway, enjoy the pics, and if you want to build a partnering relationship with these folks, just let me know. As always, thank you for your endless prayers and support of us and our work. Pray that God will use our presence to transform each of us - volunteers, full-time workers, GK residents, everyone - into saints working for his Kingdom. A little sweat can go a long way ;-)

The Service of Presence

October 8, 2007 Hello all,...... I was recently given a reflection that had the basic question of “do you love the poor?” This made me laugh because this has been my prayer since I arrived here back in August. I was excited to begin finding the answer to this question. But as I struggled through the first 6 weeks trying to be affective in a particular job, I still felt that the answer to that question for myself was only sometimes. I was growing a bit frustrated because I came here to serve and learn how to love the poor but some of the cultural differences have made this transition very slow for me to get involved......................... But on one of my last nights in Bukidnon in Mindinao, I stayed at GK Natidasan, a beautiful village on the edge of a little mountain. Even though I had not done any work at this village, they treated me with incredible kindness and generosity. After playing run game with the children for a hour… this game consists of me saying “run” and then all 70 + children (plus me) run for 50 yards + screaming and laughing.. I had to figure out where to eat dinner because multiple families invited me into their homes. After dinner, the residents in the village came in front of the coffee shop for a bonfire and sing along. The members of the Village leadership sang a song that they wrote that thanked GK for bringing honor and dignity to their lives. As I sat and watched, I reached a moment of ultimate peace that I still draw from by reflecting on it because the song came from a place of restored dignity. It was as if their song was sung as a prayer of thanksgiving… After their song, I got up and spoke to the residents to thank them for their kindness that I didn’t think I deserved because I hadn’t done anything for them. But they responded by sharing that my presence there honored them. It turned out that I was the first guest that had ever had at their village........................ It was after reflecting on this moment that I realized that I didn’t need to be working in order to serve the poor. I would like to be, but it only requires me being present to the different forms of poverty, and that is a product of the heart. I am now working full steam ahead, but as times get slow, I hope to reflect on this moment, know that my willingness and presence is service in itself, and then allow God to lead my service so I am doing his work and not what I think He wants me to be doing...................... In a sense, this is also the work of GK. There is a saying here that “no one here is extraordinary.. we are just ordinary people doing extraordinary things.” GK is a spirit lead movement that works by being present to the poor and learning what they need.. not by dictating what they need from a distance. So.. I guess I am learning quite a bit here...................... Alright… attached is a picture from the sing along and maybe one from the children. If you’d like to look at more pictures.. please click below.. Thank you for taking the time to read this. It honors me. http://luc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2081381&l=0e750&id=20001885 Also In the Photo Links as 'Jonathan's Pics 2'