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A big thank you for all your prayers, dear friends! They are very much appreciated.
I have just come home from my latest mission trip to the Philippines, and what an important visit it was! There were so many events and meetings and happenings – every single day was very full. And at the same time we were involved in detailed and longwinded negotiations over buying a piece of land in the centre of Mamburao, where we plan to build a new school for our growing needs. For a long time we have been in desperate need of new and much bigger premises, as there are so many children wanting to attend.
NEW LAND FOR OUR SCHOOL
| We have been seeking a suitable plot for constructing a new school building for a long time but there has been nothing available. After months of desperate searching and many disappointments, there suddenly appeared a new and very promising piece of land quite recently for sale in Mamburao town. It was owned by the Mamburao town bank (“Landbank”), and when I first saw it I felt something moved in my spirit: “This is it!” I thought, “ Here in the centre of the town, a good size for us, with the possibility of building a big school that can be extended later if needs to be. Now we need some real out-of-the-box thinking, so we will trust God and I will fight to get this plot of land for Hosea!” |
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Three of our Mamburao pupils |
The price of this fairly large piece of land was high – we are talking about millions of pesos (1 Euro is about 58 Philippine Pesos) - so we really didn’t want to make any mistakes! My husband Erno was with me on this trip and as he is a building engineer by profession, he was able to draw up draft ground plans and do some calculations for the school building.
So we started the negotiations. The initial asking price from the sellers was horrendously high and we had no hope at all of paying that much. We argued and we negotiated, we took a break, prayed and broke the barriers in the heavenlies and then we went back to the negotiating table again. We felt like we were on a rollercoaster of emotions between hope and despair. But I would not give up. Pastor Sonio said to me at the time: “Oh Anne I’m feeling that that my heart is going to give out with all this excitement and tension of working with you!”
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The negotiations continued day after day, almost for the whole time that we were there in Mamburao. The price came down and went up again, the decision was moved from one board of directors to another, and from one director to the next, until we ended up talking to the bank president himself. Pastor Sonio is an excellent negotiator and he ended up taking the ferry to Batangas to meet with the president in person, while I joined the discussions by phone. |
| Pastor Sonio looks over the plot |
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The bank president couldn’t understand why I kept offering a specific sum of money for the plot. “That would have been a proper price for it several years ago but prices for land have risen substantially every year in this town”, he told me. "Why do you keep offering that same amount of money?” How could I know the answer to that question? Why indeed that certain price? Well, the figure just appeared in my mind in the middle of our hot negotiations. So there I stayed, hanging on to it like a terrier that won’t let go of its prey after fixing its jaws around it. The president of the bank commented to Pastor Sonio after one telephone call: “Oh boy, what a fast talker that lady is! I just don’t seem to be able to get a word in edgeways however much I try!”
During our last telephone call – probably in a moment when I had stopped for a second to take a breath in the middle of my stream of words – the president managed to burst out with a rather important question: “Would you be happy to accept the price that I now offer...?” After all our exhausting negotiations I was really surprised about how good this final offer from the bank president was. Even I was left speechless for a moment or two!
But I quickly recovered from the shock and told the president that I was pleased to accept it. That means that we now have a wonderful piece of land for the school and are able to start the building work right away after the official papers have been properly signed and stamped. The final thing that caused the bank president to make his best and final offer was probably my statement that I would pay the whole sum of money in cash as soon as the agreement was in my hands. I felt that this way we would be able to make use of the money donated to Hosea without any further delay.
FAVOUR FROM THE TOWN Mamburao town council has also shown us favour by promising us free use of some construction equipment and machinery. The town is the only organisation that owns such equipment on this whole island, and they also promised to give us some building materials. I am really grateful to the decision-makers of the town for their generosity and for their much valued support for our school.
| We were also given permission to hold our Foundation and Family Day celebrations in the big festival hall of the town hall. This was something really special! The festival hall was packed with people as all our students from Mamburao and Aroma came with their parents or carers, siblings and other relatives. All in all about 600 people squeezed inside the building! Over and over I heard people saying, “ Can there really be this many of us, really??!! “ The celebrations were quite an event for the whole town – all the townsfolk knew about it and town’s officials and decision-makers could see and appreciate how much input our school is having in so many people’s lives there. |
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Celebration Aroma mums' dance |
We are now on the threshold of something so big in Mamburao that my head is spinning! And things are moving quickly. I have never ever before managed a project as big as this, but faith takes things out of our own hands and places them in the huge and capable hands of our God.
AROMA SCHOOL
We also held a meeting in Aroma school where several mothers came to talk to me, crying out of sheer joy, because now their children had the chance of going to school. One of the ladies said with tears running down her cheeks: “Now our kids even have school uniforms.
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They are like all the other children in the town...” The school has had a tremendous impact on the self image of our pupils who now feel accepted and recognise that they are as important as other kids, even though they live in a slum. |
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Headteacher Nheng |
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The Mamburao & Aroma team |
FISHING BOATS
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For the first time I saw our second fishing boat with my own eyes. Both of our boats were in the harbour when we walked down there at the time of low tide. The new boat looked marvellous as we strolled around there in the gentle sunshine. To my great surprise I was told that we also own a small patrol boat, which is used to seek out the shoals of fish as a guide for the fishermen in the bigger boats. |
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Mrs Onassis! |
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Our two fishing boats are relatively small, carrying only six men as crew. We saw also much bigger ones in the harbour which can take as many as 25 men onboard. Even though our boats can’t boast of their huge size, they are still a very good beginning, and nobody knows what sort of fleet we will have one day! And even owning these small ones has provided work and income for several local fishermen. My motto is: “There might be big hassles on the journey but the loser is the one who gives up.” |
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Pastor Sonio & the patrol boat |
MEETINGS
A lot of people came to our meetings with testimonies about healings that had happened during my previous visit. Many also came over to where I was staying and knocked on the door hoping to receive prayer and help during the short rest intervals between meetings. People brought their sick and others in need of help. At least we didn’t have time to get bored! My husband said to me one day: “I really don’t envy your job! How on earth do you have the energy for all of this?”
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One day we travelled up to the mountains and visited the Mangyans, preaching the Gospel and delivering some food to these dear people. |
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Soon afterwards we had to travel to the southernmost town of the island, San Jose, where several meetings had been arranged for me. The local church had also invited local poor children to come to the church where we preached them about Jesus and gave them food.
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The children are so lovely. They really do get inside the preaching and Bible stories with their whole beings! Maybe my style of preaching is a bit livelier than what they have normally been used to – for example several kids shouted out loud to me in the middle of one sermon, asking whether they could now stop all their waiting and go to heaven immediately! |
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Anne preaching to children |
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I love the Filipinos. They are so real, they feel things so deeply, and they are very receptive people. That is why the ministry proceeds there so fast and why God’s blessings are upon it. More than anything else, Hosea’s team in the Philippines consists of such an amazing group of people who love what they do and who work tirelessly. The teachers wholeheartedly give themselves to their work. I really recognise that it is God Himself who has selected them into their positions, so full of excitement are they in what they do.
Some of them even take care of the children who have problems with their carers, perhaps not having anybody to really look after them or whose parents are very poor. There is a “sister-bed” on the floor of the school on which both children and teachers can sleep side by side. We in the West with our strict boundaries between work and religion could learn a lot from them about love and care for the suffering and rejected.
Once again I feel I just don’t have the words to express my gratitude to all of you who have donated or interceded for this ministry. All this is made possible only because of your help. God will not leave this unnoticed, as the Word says in Mathew 25:40 ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
With love and blessings,
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Anne & Erno with the family of Luis B. Abejuela who was healed last year. |
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