The Best Thanksgiving Turkey

Posted on November 8, 2021 by Grandma's Ramblings

It’s that time of year – I am making out my menu for Thanksgiving and getting a grocery list made for that special day. As my list grows longer and longer I once again remember the Thanksgiving day I spent as a missionary in the Philippines and the special turkey we were given. Hope this story will help you realize how much we in America have to be thankful for. Even in the midst of the last two years, we are blessed.

Grandma's Ramblings

It was 1991 and my husband and youngest daughter were spending our first Thanksgiving on the mission field. Homesickness was filling my heart as I remembered all the Thanksgivings of the past spent with family and friends. A table loaded with turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, gravy, biscuits and all the other goodies we enjoyed that time of year. Visions of pumpkin pie, pecan pie and my mother’s delicious chocolate pie danced through my head.

But the thing I was missing most was the loved ones that gathered around that table. This year would be the first Thanksgiving for my youngest granddaughter. How I longed to see her taste that pumpkin pie for the first time, to hold her on my lap and rock her to sleep.

At first we thought we would try to duplicate the American thanksgiving dinner. However, it soon became clear that it would be difficult…

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The Day I Was Mad at God

Posted on August 12, 2021 by Grandma's Ramblings

My computer of almost nine years is about to die on me I think. It is getting slower and slower. I purchased it when I retired and never thought it would last this long. Today I began saving files, pictures and other documents on the computer to flash drives so I will not lose everything if and when the computer bites the dust.

Going through my files I found this article I wrote but never posted. The story took place many years ago but reading it today I was reminded of that day I got mad at God. I am so thankful that we can be honest with Him and He does not reject us when we share our deepest thoughts and feelings.

The two grandchildren I mention in this post are now all grown up. Robert has two handsome boys with his wife, Amy, and Barbara is almost though law school. God has blessed my husband and I with many more grandchildren – and great grandchildren.

To be honest there have been a couple more times when I have found myself upset with God. But He has been faithful to me for over 73 years and I am thankful that He loves me – at all times, in all seasons.

So – here is that article I never posted.

I remember the moment I held my daughter in my arms. It was overwhelming to realize I was a mother, personally responsible for this tiny baby. Looking at her, I whispered that we were going to be the best of friends. I shared with her my hopes and dreams of the hours we would spend reading, playing in the park and listening to music. Four years later I once again held another daughter in my arms. How happy I was – two beautiful daughters!

My girls were my world. As a mother, there was nothing I would not do to make them happy. As time passed, my oldest daughter and her husband gave me the joy of being a grandmother. Robert was born and his first year was filled with precious memories watching him beginning to walk and say his first words. One year later a beautiful granddaughter was born. As I walked into the room where my daughter lay holding this new grandchild, my heart skipped a beat when she held the baby out to me and said, “Mother, meet Barbara Rose!” She was named Barbara after me!

In the midst of this joy, my heart was torn. In just a few short weeks I would have the honor of dedicating this little child to God. However, a few days after the dedication I would get on an airplane with my husband and youngest daughter and fly to the other side of the world to serve as a missionary in the Philippines.

Several months before Rebekah had become pregnant with Barbara, God had opened a door for my husband and me to work in the Philippines for a couple of years teaching in a Bible College. At the time I felt everything would be okay because by the time we left Robert would be over a year old and Rebekah and Rob would do fine as new parents with this little boy. While I would miss Robert, I would have had that first year to share and treasure while we were gone. But now my daughter, who had married very young, had not one, but two children less than twelve months apart. She and her husband were both college students.

As I looked at them struggling to keep up with their home, their studies and two little babies, I wondered how can this young couple make it. Holding Barbara Rose on dedication day, my heart ached as I realized I would not be there to see her sit up, take her first steps, and say her first words. When I came back, she and her brother would not know who I was.

Yet, I knew God had called us to go. I thought of the verse in the Bible that speaks of loving God so that in comparison it may seem we hate our family.

Rebekah and Rob went with us in the airport as far as they could go before security barred their way. The last look I had was the two of them standing there, each with a baby in their arms, and the saddest, forlorn look on their faces. I felt my heart would break. I was deserting them when they really needed me.

We settled in the Philippines and while my heart still ached, I became busy in the work and prayed the time would pass fast for them. A couple of months later, we had a call from my daughter. Our little granddaughter was having digestive issues and it looked as if she might have to have surgery. How I longed to go home, but we had just arrived and our budget did not really include money to make a trip home. Rebekah assured me they would be fine and did not need us, but I could hear in her voice the longing for her mother.

Hanging up the phone, I went into my bedroom, laid on the bed and told God how mad I was at Him. I said, “I sold everything I had, gave up my time with my grandchildren to obey You. The least you could do is take care of them. I feel as if I am turning my back on my daughter.” God did not strike me with lightning for speaking that way. He understood the love of a mother for her children. But quietly I felt that “still small voice” of God speaking to me. He said, “I turned my back on my Son for you.”

For the first time in my life I got a little idea of how much God really loved me when He sent His Son to die on that cross. John 3:16 took on new meaning for me.

And the end of the story – Robert and Barbara quickly developed a love for Grandma and our relationship is very close. God also has given me many more grandchildren and I believe the example we set putting God first in our lives has had a tremendous influence on my children. Putting God first is sometimes hard, but always in the end, brings great blessings.

Seeing the World of Rabbi Jesus with New Eyes

Posted on January 26, 2020 by Grandma's Ramblings

Do you ever read something in the Bible and think “what in the world does that mean”?

Do you ever read something in the Bible and think “that doesn’t sound right?”

Do you ever read something in the Bible and wonder “how does that fit in today’s society?”

Well – I have done all of the above.

Recently I read a book that really help shed light on why I do not always “get it” when I read God’s Word.

The book is called Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus. Written by Lois Tverberg, I highly recommend it if you want to gain a better understanding of what you read in the Bible. After earning a Ph.D in biology and teaching in college she started learning Hebrew and Greek, studying in the land of Israel and searching for more knowledge of the first-century Jewish world in which Jesus lived, died and rose again.

What she discovered was that not only are we thousands of years from the time the Bible was written but an even greater obstacle to our understanding is we are from a different culture.

She listed a few of the differences in our culture which I found very interesting and eye-opening. (The following is copied from her book.)

Our world: Thin is beautiful Biblical world: Fat is blessing, wealth

Our world: Youth is attractive Biblical world: Age is wisdom

Our world: Does God exist? Biblical world: Whose god is greatness?

Our world: Me – personal goals Biblical world: We – family legacy

Our world: Sunshine – happiness Biblical world: Rain – utter joy

Our world: Logic and reason Biblical world: Parable and prophecy

She pointed out that Bible translators have found that many cultures today have less difficulty understanding the Bible when it is translated into their language than we in the Western world do.

often the cultural issues we have with the Bible are not a problem for people elsewhere in the world. They’ve struggled with the Christian message as they’ve heard it filtered through the perspective of Western missionaries, but when it’s explained in its original non-Western setting, it makes much more sense to them.”

Perhaps the problem is not the number of years between us and the writers of the Bible as it is the number of miles between our Western culture and the Middle East culture.

I found a lot of her points in the list above to be true when I spent some time in the Philippines. Over and over people I met would say “you are fat.” (I am actually fat now but at the time no one in the USA would have considered me overweight.) Until I understood their culture I felt insulted and that they were the rudest people I had ever met. Only after living there a few months did I understand they meant that as a compliment. Clearly by not being very thin I obviously had plenty of money to buy food and was therefore a successful person.

Tverberg also explains how many Jewish words have so much depth and multiple meanings than our English words. Recognizing that really helps when we read things that tell us to “fear” God or when we forgive we must “forget.”

After reading this book, I am ready to do more studying on the Hebrews meaning of words and delving more into the Mid-Eastern culture.

Interested in learning more too? I highly recommend this book and follow her on FB at Our Rabbi Jesus (Lois Tverberg) where she breaks down the meaning of many Hebrew words to help us get a better understanding of exactly what the Bible means.

Check it out!

Five Things I Like About Myself

Posted on January 22, 2020 by Grandma's Ramblings

Recently I began following another blogger whose posts I have enjoyed. Her post that caught my eye was listing five things she liked about herself. Check it out here:

http://cyranny.com/2020/01/15/5-more-things-i-like-about-myself/

The whole point is that we are quick to find things about our self we do not like, things we want to change, things that make us feel less than satisfied about who we are.

Why do we never look at our self in a positive light? So she encouraged her followers to take a look and see the good qualities they possess.

Here goes my list:

Five Things I Like About Myself

I am a good musician and use my talent to help others. Since age ten I have been playing the piano. Over the years I have played for worship in church, played for weddings and funerals and written and performed Christmas programs. For the last 35 years I have been a volunteer at local nursing homes and assisted living facilities providing musical programs for the residents.
I am a good cook. While I have never mastered the skill of making cookies, my pies and cakes are always welcome at a pot luck. My husband will testify that my meals are not only delicious but usually healthy. (Although I do probably cook too much pasta.)
I am adventurous always taking the road not well traveled. When my husband suggested we do a two-year commitment teaching in a Bible college in the Philippines, I said “why not.” Sold everything we had and headed off on an adventure. In our 70’s when our youngest daughter took a position as pastor in a new state and moved with her family and my husband suggested we sell and move too, I said “why not.” On our road trips we always get off the interstate and follow the local roads just to see where they go. Our trips are always more interesting than following the well-marked roads.
I am a positive person. While I have had my times of depression and discouragement, basically I see the glass half-full rather than half-empty. Life to me is a blessing from God to be enjoyed even when difficulty comes because my faith tells me that He will never leave me.
I love to teach the Bible. Teaching Bible classes both in church, in homes and in the Philippines, my students tell me that I make the Word of God simple to understand and show them how it applies to the “here and now.”

So there – I challenge you to take a positive look and share five things you like about yourself. Then share them with me and/or on Cyranny’s blog. We’d love to know you better.

Check out her website at https://cyranny.com/ for more great articles.

I Wonder Where Rosalie Is Today?

Posted on September 19, 2019 by Grandma's Ramblings

She was such a cute little girl. A little afraid, but very curious, of the Americans who had moved into her neighborhood.

She began by peeping around the corner of the wall of our compound, trying to sneak a look at us while remaining hidden herself.

Slowly she came out of hiding and let us see her pretty face.

For several days she played this peek-a-boo game with us until finally she came with a friend and sat down outside our gate.

My husband, our youngest daughter and I had moved into her neighborhood where we lived as we taught in a local Bible school and also in local churches throughout Iloilo City on the island of Panay in the Philippines.

Having white Americans as neighbors was quite a novelty. Children in the neighborhood came to the gate every day to get a look at us. We began talking to them and before long we developed friendships with all the children on our street.

At first when we walked down our street, the little boys would call out to my husband, “Hello GI Joe.” After repeating each day that his name was Paul, they finally called him by his name – but it came out with two syllables – Pa -ul.

Our daughter started a Kids Klub for the neighborhood children. Saturday mornings our living room would turn into a classroom. Jessica taught them songs, Bible stories and always had games and snacks for them. They called her “Tita” or aunt and followed her each time she left our home.

Rosalie was the youngest of five siblings. Their mother was a widow and made her living by selling food in a makeshift hut on the side of the road.

While we fell in love with all the children, we took a special interest in this family.

When it was time for us to return home, Rosalie’s mother wanted us to take Rosalie with us. She envisioned a much better life for her youngest if she came to the United States with us.

We struggled with what would be the right decision. It sounded good to provide this little girl with all the luxuries she would never have in Iloilo City. Things like clean water, plenty of food, shoes and the many things we take for granted but would not be available to her in the Philippines.

But what would it do to her emotionally to be ripped from her home, her siblings and especially her mother?

Was it arrogance on our part to think that all the material things we could give her was worth more than family?

Yet how could we say no to giving her a life that would be much easier than the life she would have here in Iloilo City?

In the end, the legal requirements and the cost of adopting her and all the red tape involved proved more than we could do.

The day we left our neighborhood was very traumatic. The children gathered early at our home and hung on to the jeepney as we drove slowly away. They cried out, “Don’t go, don’t go.”

As I reflect back on that time, I do believe it would have been wrong to take her from her family – but I still wonder.

Did we do the right thing?

I wonder where she is today?

With today’s technological advances of Facebook and the internet we might have been able to maintain some contact. But that was not possible then.

Still, I think of her and wonder if she remembers us.

Christmas Past – Maligayang Pasko

Posted on December 22, 2018 by Grandma's Ramblings

Well it seems I am on a roll – memories of Christmas past just continue to occupy my mind – especially at bedtime. Maybe it’s just that I am getting old. Maybe it’s spending this Christmas in a new home in a new state far from what was familiar.

The memories are for the most part happy ones although the last post I made did include one Christmas that was sad and lonely.

Christmas Past – Laughing Through the Tears

Still, I’m thankful that the happy times far outweigh the sad ones.

For a girl growing up in the Midwest Christmas has always meant:

Christmas trees and decorations

Caroling

cold temps

sometimes snow

But I will never forget the one Christmas I spent without all the trees and decorations, without caroling, no cold temps and certainly no chance of snow.

I spent Christmas of 1991 at the beach on the island of Panay in the Philippines.

My husband and I had gone to the Philippines with our youngest daughter to teach in a Bible school. While there we also spoke and often gave classes to the ministerial staff at local churches. Our daughter began a Kids Klub with the local neighbor hood children.

I wrote about her experience there in:

The Piped Piper of Iloilo City

It never really felt like Christmas there. The temperature was much too warm. It was lonely thousands of miles from our family. There were few bright lights. In the gated community where many of the other missionaries lived there were trees and lights. But in our neighborhood no one could afford such luxuries. Many of our neighbors did not even have electricity for any lights. Most struggled to provide food for their families and there would be few, if any, presents and certainly no Christmas tree.

There were decorations in the stores downtown, but none like we were used to. The mall downtown had some beautiful ones made from bamboo.

The only Christmas decoration we had was a nativity set we found at a local store. It was amazing to us that even in the Philippines, the nativity set portrayed Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus as white. Clearly Jesus would have been dark-skinned like those from the Middle East but somehow we have made Him into an image totally foreign to what He would have been.

We held a birthday party for Jesus with the kids in the neighborhood. We had a birthday cake, played games and had so much fun with the kids. It was a joy to also share with them the story of the true meaning of Christmas.

Christmas day we shared a picnic at the beach with another missionary couple from Norway. Like us, it seemed strange to have no snow or cold temperatures. As you can see, from the pictures, we really dressed up for the day. NOT!

As I look at these pictures today I wonder where those children are now. How many had the privilege of completing school? How many even survived to adulthood? It is my prayer that we did make a difference in their lives while we were there.

This year as we feel the cold temperatures, I do think how nice it was that year to enjoy sunshine and the ocean. But I still am glad to be here with my family. Wherever you are, whatever your Christmas is –

Maligayang Pasko – or Merry Christmas!

The Joy of Being Number 2

Posted on May 14, 2018 by Grandma's Ramblings

We all love a winner!

We hold parades, parties, all kinds of celebrations when our team becomes state champion. Coming in second in a state-wide contest leaves people feeling so dejected. They seem to forget that being second means they have beat out many other teams.

#1 team

In the Olympics, athletics say they are going for the gold. You don’t win silver, you lose gold.

This desire to be number 1 is not necessarily a bad thing. To try to do your best, to succeed, to take pride in what you achieve, to have a healthy self-esteem are all good qualities.

But when that desire to be number 1 becomes so important that it leads us to step on others to reach the top, to despair when we do not achieve first place or to be overly prideful when we do, it has become a negative influence in our life.

For years I struggled with being number 2. As a pastor’s wife, I worked right alongside my husband. I visited women who were in the hospital, counseled those who were struggling with issues of life. I taught Bible classes, played the piano and led the Christian Education department in the churches where my husband was pastor. My youngest daughter and I went to the Philippines with my husband as missionaries. While there we also taught classes and worked with churches. Many Sundays, we each went to a different church to speak. My daughter conducted a Kids Klub and the children in the neighborhood called her “Tita” or “aunt.” I conducted a Bible class for a group of professional women and taught leadership classes to one church’s leadership board.

Yet when we returned to the states and visited the churches who had supported us to give a report of our work, they always introduced my husband and talked about the work he had done there. It was usually

We are glad to have Pastor Paul and his family with us today. Pastor Paul recently returned from the Philippines where he……..

A few times my daughter asked me “Were we there too? Did we do anything?”

But slowly God helped me to see that my motive in working for God must always be to do His will and not to expect or even desire recognition for my efforts.

And it was through reading about Barnabas “the Encourager” in the Bible that I found my role model for all I do.

We first meet Barnabas in Acts 4 where we are told his real name is Joses. But the apostles nicknamed him Barnabas “Son of Encouragement.”

Barnabas

And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus, having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

I love that thought. To be a person that so encourages others that he becomes known not by his real name but by the nickname of “The Encourager.” That has been my prayer – that I would be someone who encourages, builds up, strengthens others.

The next time we meet Barnabas the gospel has been received in Antioch. When news of the new group of Christians there reached the church in Jerusalem, they sent Barnabas to meet with the Christians there. And there again he encouraged.

News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

We see Barnabas having success in the work at Antioch. So what did he do? He headed off to Tarsus to find Saul (who became known as Paul, the writer of much of the New Testament).

Barnabas had been Saul’s friend when he first became a Christian. The church at Jerusalem was afraid of Saul because they knew how he had persecuted the Christians. But Barnabas, stepped in and told them Saul was a new man.

When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus.

Barnabas brought Paul back to Antioch where the two of them worked together sharing the gospel with the new church there. As you read the story in the book of Acts, you see for quite a while it is “Barnabas and Paul.” Later in the story it becomes “Paul and Barnabas.”

This is the joy of being willing to be number 2. Barnabas brought Paul from basically exile in Tarsus and encouraged him to become a main leader in the early church.

Barnabas and Paul

The church writes, speaks, quotes Paul a lot. There are churches all over the world named after him.

But it was Barnabas, “the Encourager” who no doubt encouraged Paul to follow the calling of God on his life. We know God had called Paul to the work of bringing the gospel to the Gentiles so he would obviously do that because God is in control. But I like to think that God used Barnabas to help Paul step up and fulfill the call of God on his life.

Finally we see the heart of Barnabas when later in his ministry with Paul, the young man John Mark wanted to go with them on their second missionary journey. Paul refused to take John Mark with them because he had left them halfway through their first missionary journey. Paul was not willing to give him a second chance. But Barnabas’ heart was that of an encourager. He insisted John Mark be given a second chance.

Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left,

Most Bible scholars believe this John Mark was the one who wrote the Gospel of Mark. So again Barnabas was instrumental in helping another young man fulfill the work of God in his life.

That’s what I have asked God to help me be. That one that encourages others to follow the call of God on their life.

barbabas

When we get to heaven, I imagine the lines will be long for those wanting to speak to Paul. That’s okay. But I’m going to look up Barnabas and tell him how he was my role model in life.

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11

The Best Thanksgiving Turkey

Posted on November 23, 2017 by Grandma's Ramblings

At first we thought we would try to duplicate the American thanksgiving dinner. However, it soon became clear that it would be difficult to find many of the ingredients for that meal on the island of Panay. That did not mean our Thanksgiving meal would not be good – just not the usual menu.

As the holiday grew near one of the members of a Bible class my husband taught every week excitedly told us he had a turkey for us for Thanksgiving. He knew it was an American tradition and he was so happy to surprise us with this gift.

How exciting for us! A real turkey for our Thanksgiving. The day before the holiday he arrived with our turkey. For us crazy Americans we had expected a nice fat frozen turkey. Imagine our surprise when we opened the gate and there he stood with a real, live turkey!

Questions immediately went through my mind:

how would we kill this thing?
who would kill this thing?

When I was a little girl my mother had raised chickens. She would chop their heads off and then my sister and I would help pluck the feathers. Mother would then cut the birds up and our freezer would be stocked with chicken for the winter. However, I was not about to chop that turkey’s head off and one look at my husband told me he was not going to do it either.

how would we fix it if we even were able to kill it?

We had no oven, certainly no deep fryer. Our kitchen consisted of two burners on a small stove with a propane tank for fuel.

Finally, the turkey looked like it had been on a strict diet. It was the skinniest bird I had ever seen. Even if we somehow managed to kill it and find a way to fix it I was certain it would be a tough old bird.

What to do? We could not refuse the gift that this man was so clearly excited about giving us. To do so would have not only been rude and hurtful, but would damage our relationship with the community.

We took the bird and said thank you. After he left we held a family council. What do you do with a turkey you can’t use?

Our daughter leading the kids on our street in a song

Then the problem was solved. The kids on our street were always in and out of our house. That morning one of the young boys came by and when he saw our turkey, his eyes lit up. You could tell he thought we were so lucky to have a turkey. His family’s meal would consist of a small bowl of rice – just like they had every day. To him this skinny old turkey looked like a gift from heaven. So we asked his mother if she would like a turkey for Thanksgiving.

How excited she was! I have no idea how she cooked the turkey but she assured me she could do it.

So we gave her the turkey and we fixed tuna fish steaks with rice topped off with mangoes and the most delicious watermelon I ever tasted.

I have often thought back to that Thanksgiving as I once again enjoy a table loaded with all the goodies we associate with this holiday. I think of that family that rejoiced and enjoyed a turkey that we as Americans felt was not good enough for us. Although I have had many delicious meals with turkey before and since then, I realize that was the best turkey I ever had. Because it was given to us out of love and gratitude from a man who had so little to give. Given to us who in comparison had so much.

My prayer this holiday is:

Lord, forgive me for taking my blessings at being born in this country for granted. Forgive me for thinking more of myself and spending so much money on me while others in the world go to bed hungry every night. Help me to reach out and help the homeless here in my own country and reach out to help the hungry around the world. I cannot do much – but I can do something. I cannot save every hungry child, but I can help one or two. Help me to be truly thankful!

My “Compassion” Girls from the Philippines

Posted on March 21, 2015 by Grandma's Ramblings

It started with Claudine. Claudine was a young high school student living in Cebu City, Philippines. Through Compassion’s program to help release children from poverty, I began sending a monthly contribution to help meet Claudine’s educational and physical needs. While in high school Claudine attended the Cornerstone Student Center. Through the Center – in cooperation with Compassion – Claudine enjoyed good and helpful medical check-ups, help with school work, learned life skills such as cooking and baking and assistance in job applications.

With their help, she filled out her “My Plan for Tomorrow” workbook helping her to plan her future and set goals. Extra-curricular activities were provided that helped her explore her God-given talents.

We enjoyed years of letters and pictures sent back and forth. It was a bitter-sweet day when I received her last letter. She had graduated from school, had a job and was now moving out of the Compassion program. She was making plans to pursue a college degree.

She thanked me for the monthly sponsorship, for the birthday, Christmas and family gifts, but when she told me what she was most thankful for, tears came to my eyes.

What I will miss the most are your letters where you tell me about your life and what’s happening.

She said she hoped I would still sponsor another needy child like her.

I will never forget you and I will always love you and your will be forever in my heart.

So – in honor of Claudine and her hard work and faithfulness to God and her family, I chose another little girl from the Philippines.

Now comes Rachell Ann

This time I decided to pick a little girl much younger than Claudine had been when our sponsorship started. This would give me more years to develop a relationship with her and help her from the very start of life. It is also nice that Rachell Ann is only 5 months older than my youngest granddaughter, Zoe.

Rachell Ann lives just east of Quezon City. Because she is so young her mother writes to me for Rachell Ann. Very interesting to see that the place she would like to visit is the same as many kids in the USA – Disneyland. But the chances that she will ever be able to do that are pretty small. While I can’t help her with that dream, I’m grateful that I can help see that this little girl has a better chance of growing up healthy and educated – and know the love of God.

I’m not posting this story to “brag” about what I’m doing. I’m hoping you will read and decide that you, too, can help bring a child out of poverty. It costs us so little – it means so much to others.

Check out the Compassion, Inc. site. See what you can to do to help a child – and therefore a family, be lifted up from poverty.

The Piped Piper of Iloilo City

Posted on December 1, 2014 by Grandma's Ramblings

What happens when you take an American teenager away from her comfortable home and set her down in a totally unfamiliar environment? That was the question my husband and I faced when our youngest daughter was 15. We had a chance to move to the Philippines and teach at a local Bible school in Iloilo City. While we were excited about the opportunity, we had worries about the effect this would have on our daughter. At the age when most teenagers are looking forward to receiving their driver’s license, having their first date and going to the prom, she would have to crowd all her personal effects into two suitcases and say goodbye to friends and the comfortable life she had known. While she never complained, it was a scary and difficult move for her.

The first few weeks were rough for her as she adjusted to no TV, no hot running water, no soft comfortable bed, and especially no friends. Adjusting to the public transportation was also a big hurdle for her. As Americans we don’t like our own personal space to be invaded, yet riding the public transportation system gave a new meaning to the concept of closeness.

When the children in our neighborhood realized there was an American girl living at our house, they began showing up at our gate every morning. At first communication consisted mostly of smiles and giggles as the children would come to the gate and then run away when Jessica approached – only to come back and repeat it over and over.

Slowly they stopped running away and Jessica began to try to talk to them. The younger children only spoke the local dialect, Ilonggo, but the older children knew English and soon she was able to communicate with them. Quickly she fell in love with these children with their bright smiles and beautiful eyes. She no longer was lonely for whenever she stepped outside our gate into the dirt street in front of our house, she was quickly surrounded by all the neighborhood children who followed her wherever she went. She taught them English and they, in turn, taught her Ilonggo.

It became very obvious that she had a gift for reaching out to children even though they were different in culture, language and even skin color. She began a “Kids Klub” on Saturday mornings. Our home was filled with children as she taught them a song she had learned as a small child.

While Saturday was the “official” day for the kids, every day some would show up at our front gate calling, “Tia, Tia!” Tia was the name for “Aunt” and Aunt she became to all the neighborhood children. The other missionary children never left their home without a chaperone and their parents could not believe we let our daughter ride the public transportation by herself. But she was never really alone, because everywhere she went, the children went also. She was safer than the other missionary children because she was not considered an outsider, but one of the community.

When the time came to return to the United States, our daughter did not want to come home. Her heart was with the children. The time spent in the Philippines opened her heart to the children, especially those who were less fortunate than she was. Organizing and running a weekly Kids Klub gave her experience that she began to use when she returned home. Years later, she continues to work with children, and continues to love them without regard to their culture, language or skin color.

Uprooting my teenage daughter from her comfortable life and setting her down in a totally unfamiliar environment – far from being a traumatic and unsettling experience was perhaps one of the best experiences she has had in life.

I wish every American teenager could spend a month in a country less fortunate than the USA – could see how much we have here – how little others have. In fact, I wish every American – adult as well as teenager – could experience life without all the luxuries we have.