Compassion Trip #4 (Philippines 2013): Child-Sponsor Visit Day at Manila Ocean Park and Jolibees

So finally, Friday came around. If we were all honest, the moment the twelve people who came on this trip were anticipating the most was this day. Today was the long-awaited, much-anticipated sponsor-child visit day here in the Philippines. This week, myself and 13 other adventurous Australians have witnessed incredible and heartbreaking stuff. Such joy, love, gratitude and generosity in the midst of circumstances we can’t even imagine. We talked with mums and dads, and visited the places they call home. We played and sang songs with kids and babies. We witnessed the difference that God and Compassion are making in the lives of so many people.

However, today it got personal. We welcomed our 12 sponsored children (3 of them were mine) plus one parent and Project worker, to Manilafor a day of fun at Manila Ocean Park and Jollibee’s restaurant. For most, if not all the kids, it was their first time on a plane, and their first time in Manila. It was like another universe for them.

I have now visited 29 of my sponsored kids in 11 Compassion countries, and I have to say, it never gets old, predictable or boring. There are always certain feelings and emotions that are ever-present. There is the anticipation and excitement of seeing these kids face-to-face. Finally the investment of letters, money, encouragement, love and prayer will pay off in a meeting where I can hold, touch, talk to and interact with this precious life that God has entrusted to me. There is the anxiety of how they’ll respond to me: will they be affectionate or give me nothing at all? (I’ve had both extremes) How will the language barrier affect our interaction? Will I remember everything I planned to say? (Sometimes even the best-intentioned list of questions goes out the window when you see their home environment and learn more about their circumstances).

For me, this visit was going to be monumentally different to anything I had experienced previously. There would be no visiting their home environment, community, house or Project, which were the areas they felt some sort of comfort and security. By flying my three kids to Manila, I was essentially uprooting them from everything they had ever known. Culture shock on a major scale.

As good as today was, for me it was another occasion God had to teach me a lesson. One that I have had to learn repeatedly. Sometimes things don’t go the way I want them to, and sometimes my expectations will not be met. Mine weren’t today. But for crying out loud, it’s not about me. The kids were experiencing a day where their dreams were coming true, or even beyond that. My oldest Princess Joy said she didn’t even imagine that I would come to visit. It wasn’t even in her sphere of imagination or dreaming. That’s how significant a sponsor visit is.

For me, today was about Cashofia (7), John Dave (8) and Princess Joy (12). The younger two didn’t cope well on the bus, but once we arrived, they were yapping away and warmed to me immediately. I had one sweaty little hand on either side of me the whole time. I gave them a soft toy kangaroo at the start as an ice-breaker, and they took them everywhere for the whole day.

We visited the Oceanarium, the sea-lion show and went on a small glass-bottomed boat looking at sea creatures. Things seemed rushed, and we didn’t really get the chance to enjoy each other, talk to or play with each other much. Lunch was at Jollibee’s restaurant, with spaghetti and rice replacing the usual burger and chips. I was the “centrepiece” on our table of ten, eight of whom were female. Miraculously, I managed not to spill any of the spaghetti, which is my worst food in terms of eating in public. I also got to strut my stuff by teaching the whole group our “theme song” for the week, which was an action song I learned during my time at Camp Tecumseh in 2004 called Baking a Cake. It has now been sung in 13 countries :)

The end came far too soon (though not for my two youngest, who fell asleep on the bus). Our gift-giving, final conversations and family prayers had to be done on the bus, which was not ideal and made things seemed rushed, but the few minutes I had with each mother and child were still special. I never got the opportunity to talk with the mothers in any sort of detail about the positives and challenges they face in their home lives.

In our final minutes, I took each mother, child and Project worker/translator up the front of the bus, and this was their final opportunity to ask any questions, or share anything they wanted me to know, or wanted prayer for. I encouraged them to be honest.

Two of them didn’t give much away, but one of the mothers broke down as she shared about a situation with her husband. They are still together, but he has been accused of committing a terrible crime against one of his employees, and has been forced into hiding due to the vengeance of the alleged victim’s family. His wife knows where he is, and is in contact with him by phone. She and the three children have not seen their husband and father for three years. He is obviously missed, but maybe God has me in there in the meantime as a “stand-in” father? Who knows. I appreciated her honesty and the trust she showed by telling me that story.

Once again, being able to pray with and for the families was humbling and a privilege. These kids have a hard life, but because of Compassion they have dreams (I have two teachers and a policeman) and a realistic opportunity to achieve them.

One thing I appreciated about being on a group tour as opposed to an individual trip was the chance to hear stories about the other sponsors relationships with their sponsored children. As much as I like to think so, I’m not the only sponsor who loves their kids so much that I would sacrifice lots to go and meet them face-to face. I was with 11 other people who thought exactly the same way.

One couple were meeting the 18-year-old girl they had sponsored for 12 years. It was heartbreakingly precious to see the photos of them together on this special day. On this trip they discovered just how significant the letters are to the kids, and pledged to write more often. Another couple had been blessed to visit their child’s home the previous week, and met her again on the child-sponsor visit day.

There were stories of hardship and sacrifice among my fellow sponsors on their journey to visit their sponsored kids, but on this day there was also an overwhelming sense of peace and joy that our God had orchestrated this trip from the very start, details were His specialty and this day of meeting face-to-face was His reward.