Reflections on Manila from my roommate

Dear friends

As I continue in the internship, I find myself often mentally returning to my time in Manila. However, I haven't yet written anything that really summarizes what that time meant for me, or what we experienced as a team.

To give a glimpse of that, I am posting a letter my roommate (both here and in Manila) wrote shortly after returning. My roommate's name is Edith, and here is her story:


A Journey of the Heart in Metro Manila

Eight-year old Jenny Paz sat on my lap and cried as I held her for one last time. She wouldn’t play one last competitive hand clapping game called “Bang”. She luckily didn’t have to go to school for the unfortunate reason that her parents couldn’t pay for that day. She had the whole day to say good-bye to us and she did smile for me. She knew that I loved her smile and laughs.
It was our last day in Manila, Philippines and probably the longest Thursday of our lives. Our 18-hour flight back to Los Angeles made our day seem 41 hours long. How do you say good-bye to a people you began to have a heart for and who left you changed forever?
That morning, after clearing the 8 by 8 by 12 foot apartment, made out of plyboards and broken pieces of wood, I sat at a corner looking out the view of Botocan squatter community from the window. As I stared across, I knew that I wouldn’t miss the cockroaches that crawled all night on our walls, the rats that passed along my sleeping bag from one wall to the next, fighting through the dark (because their lights were dimly lit) to get to the bathroom, or taking cold bucket showers. Sure wasn’t going to miss sleeping on the hard floor. But these people…this is their life. Apart from struggling financially, they live in fear that their homes will one day be demolished because their homes are built as illegal settlements. Sad but true, more than 1 billion people in the world live like this. I looked at my stuffed duffle bag and small bag, everything I took for a 3 week stay, and was reminded of the materialistic world. It was my last day and feeling small, I asked loudly, “God, give me strength coming from Your joy. Help me to spread it to those whom I will never see again.”
He answered. It was probably one of the most joyous days of all the days I had in Manila. I was happy to spend more time with the community; the ladies I’ve gotten to know in the alleys when they hand washed their clothes, the children that always ran to me when I walked down the road, and with my homestay family. I’ll never forget Ate Iris, a 28 year old mother, who stayed home taking care of her children Jimuel (8 years, Jopai (5 years), and Jeeanne (2 years), while her husband, Jim, worked as a painter and stayed home on rainy days. Oh it rained every day!
Daniel, who was a 3-month international intern for Servant Partners, was with us that day. We spent our last moments together playing Uno, Memory, and joking with each other. “So, what are you going to do with your destiny?” asked Ate Iris again with a jovial smile. I rolled my eyes and before I knew it, Daniel immediately grabbed a pillow and pushed her with it saying, “You read too many romantic novels!” We laughed and joked some more, until she shed tears again at my leaving.
Convinced, Ate Iris has a hunch for “destinies.” Two times she found Daniel wear the same brown shirt on the days I’ve wore a brown shirt, unintentionally. For her, Daniel is my destiny. For me, Daniel of the Bible is my hero. One night a cockroach walked on my arm and I became greatly frightened and as I prayed a story came back alive to my mind; of Daniel getting out of the lion’s den with no scratch on him and God was encouraging me that I won’t be touched again. But here, I saw something else being at work. As much as I wished I could have stayed longer and remain in the laid-back life of Botocan, I left with a renewed hope. Yes, I was coming into Servant Partners with a wounded heart. Yes, my heart was broken once and twice. But here, God was healing my heart. Renewing that joy again, with that smile I could look across the wide blue clear sky and know He took me where my heart needed to be.
I walked down the ally and heard Jenny Paz calling me, “Edith!” I turned around with a huge smile for her. She cried back, “I will never forget you!” I waved goodbye with a kiss. My heart sunk. I hope to see her in heaven. I pray she will grow to know Jesus Christ and taste God’s amazing Love for her that took me to meet millions of faces of the Earth…to her and to her people.