CHRISTINA: Who in the world (in their right mind) would sign up for a two-week sleepless-night adventure that included nighttime jungle treks over muddy trails, grueling hours of work with delirium-inducing polyurethane sealant, primitive foods, early mornings, late nights, skipping meals, midnight serenades from chickens, surprise visits from stinging centipedes and giant scorpions, cold showers in stinky bathrooms, and the added fun of numerous cuts and bruises from slips and falls while carrying heavy lumber over mountainous terrain? The Palawan Adventist Construction Team (PACT 2009) found nine courageous, mission-minded, nearly-insane individuals who not only agreed to an adventure like this but were actually excited about it. By God’s grace, our late-August trip to the Philippines to finish building the much-needed clinic for AFM’s Palawano Project turned out to be packed with answered prayers, divine interventions and character-building adventures. As Johann von Goethe once said, “A man can stand anything except a succession of ordinary days.” As our team can vouch, our two-week stint in Kemantian had few ordinary days.

BECKY: Many days in Kemantian, we ate lunch at school with the students. It was a wonderful opportunity to interact and make friends. Our faithful cooks talked about the work happening on the new clinic. Each day, they watched our men hike back and forth on the trail from the lumber pile to the clinic. With the help of some local boys, the men had the difficult task of carrying heavy boards on their shoulders while trying to stay vertical on the steep, slippery jungle trails. “I saw the guys working so hard. They were sweating and very dirty,” the cooks commented. We laughed as they described several of them wearing more jungle dirt than usual.
Pondering the hard work, Mumul, one of the more outspoken cooks, made a humbling comparison. “All of you are working hard to build a clinic for us. You don’t get paid. You do it for free to help us. That’s like the sacrifice Jesus made for us when He died on the cross. It was all for us, and He did it for free.”

I was amazed. Yes, we had given two weeks of our lives and spent some money, but what was that compared to what Jesus did? Somehow, Mumul and her fellow cooks saw the analogy, and it made Jesus’ love and sacrifice come to life for all of us. Having our meager efforts compared to the ultimate sacrifice was a very humbling experience I will never forget.

CASEY: The words bombarding my ears made little sense. I had no way of knowing what the Palawanos were saying until someone interpreted for me. The language barrier made church a confusing ordeal. I struggled to stay focused, but I soon lost all hope of paying attention, because a pair of big, brown eyes were looking up at me. A little boy tugged at my arm, smiling. This was my second trip to Kemantian, and I had met some of the people before. This little boy begging for my attention was a friend. Nubim had been my faithful church buddy a year ago when I had come to visit for the first time. Now he was back—or I guess I was back. Every Sabbath for the next three weeks, Nubim and I sat and played together through church. I loved hanging out with this little guy. His smiles and loving eyes broke any language barrier.

Later, I learned that I had been an answer to prayer. When I left Kemantian a year ago, Nubim missed me so much that he had been praying to Jesus that I would come back. How powerful is the faith of a child? Nubim’s prayers were answered, and we got to hang out again. Now that I’m back in the States, I’m sure Nubim is back to praying. When my next visit comes around, my church buddy will be waiting to see me again.

STEPHANIE: Being able to take my friends to the Philippines for a mission trip was an exciting experience. I was able to show them where I had grown up, introduce them to friends they had heard of but never met, and let them see for themselves the amazing beauty of our rugged mountains. The Palawano people quickly warmed to these newcomers and befriended them. Palawanos are usually very distrustful and fearful of foreigners, but, knowing these Americans were my friends, they opened up and accepted them warmly. When it was time to go, it was sad to watch the Palawanos cry as they said goodbye to these new friends to whom they had become so attached. They sensed the heartfelt care of each worker, and they were very grateful. I hope I will be able to take my American friends back to Kemantian soon so they can see the clinic open and be reunited with the Palawano brothers and sisters they left behind.

CHRISTINA: I grew up on the Palawano Project, but previous to PACT 2009, I had been on only one short-term mission trip, and I had never led one. What an experience! Being the one to answer for how things turned out, I think I appreciated God’s little miracles so much more.

Miracle 1: We arrived in Manila airport—tired, rumpled, stinky and raring to go. We collected our menagerie of luggage—mostly boxes with everything from construction equipment to medical supplies. Carrying more than a dozen boxes, our group blithely invaded the customs counter. The customs agent took one look at us and called the manager over. Uh-oh. An official in a suit came over and started questioning us about the boxes and our purpose in the country. I tried the standard line: “Oh, it’s just personal effects.” He practically laughed at us. He ordered us to take down box after box to verify our story and started a litany of how we needed permission to bring this stuff in, how we must have a formal invitation, and how the stuff will now be subject to certain fines, etc. In between my explanations in broken Tagalog, I motion to the group: pray!
Somewhere along the line, I lost all sense of propriety and started telling him everything—how we were on a mission trip to build a clinic for a church and had medical supplies for under-served people. Suddenly, everything changed. “Oh, it’s for the church! Well, okay, but next time make sure to . . .” I was already praising God for getting us through our first potential catastrophe.

Miracle 2: Rewind to a couple days before our scheduled departure. My dad called to say, “Hey, they canceled your connecting flight to Palawan.” His attitude was, “No big deal. This happens all the time.” Yeah, I remember those days, but this is a mission trip! Everything needs to go right. Please, Lord! We got to the terminal the morning of our flight and got a complete run-around. The agent told us, “Go talk to the standby people.” Standby said, “Go talk to the manager.” Great. Realizing we were in for more than we bargained, I alerted the group that we needed prayers while Casey and I headed off to the manager’s office to make friends. Long story short, she broke every rule in the book, absolved us of $900 in fees for overweight baggage, got three of our group on a morning flight with another airline, and put the rest of us on the remaining flight to Palawan that afternoon. Free breakfast included. Providential.

Yeah, up close and personal, God’s miracles are amazing.

SHANE: One of the things I looked forward to most at the end of the long jungle work days was the food. Fortunately, there was no short supply of delicious meals, thanks to the ladies in the group. There was always some sort of new native fruit, root or plant to go along with every meal. One morning, we had a delicious fruit known locally as atis-atis. Out of habit, I crunched down the seeds, too. They looked harmless enough, sort of like watermelon seeds but quite bitter. Not long after breakfast, my stomach started aching, and I broke out in a cold sweat. Soon my breakfast and I parted ways. I had to lie in bed for some time before I regained the strength to get back to work. Later, talking with one of the missionaries, I learned that atis-atis seeds are quite toxic and are even used to make insecticide. Fortunately, this experience hasn’t permanently affected my love for exotic foods.

CHRISTINA: Praise God, we can honestly say we almost finished the entire clinic! With the help of Palawanos, my parents and other missionaries, we left a nearly-finished structure awaiting a few finishing touches before it begins to service the Palawano people’s medical needs.
On our return home, I was curious to hear from my group about whether they would like to attempt something like PACT again. The vote was unanimous: “I want to come next year!” So we’re already planning PACT 2010 which, God-willing, will tackle another project next summer. If you’re up for a less-than-ordinary succession of days, you might consider joining us.

P.S. As I was talking with my dad recently, he proudly announced that the first surgery has already taken place in the new clinic.

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Stephanie George is an EMT and firefighter in Collegedale, Tennessee where she recently graduated from Southern Adventist University with a degree in outdoor education. She loves tiny animals and insects and enjoys spending time with her family wherever they are in the world.
 
Shane Grossenbacher is a home-maintenance man who lives in Stafford, Virginia with his brother and several roommates. He loves growing his own food and fixing almost anything.
 
Casey Walter is soon to graduate from Southern Adventist University with a degree in outdoor education. He is also a volunteer firefighter and has a passion for youth ministry.
 
Christina George is an emergency-room physician assistant in Fredericksburg, Virginia. She loves to travel and to stitch up big wounds.
 
Becky Yates is a registered nurse in Hershey, Pennsylvania where she enjoys spending time with friends and visiting her boyfriend whenever possible.

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