Tracking the Trek 2005
Trekkin in 2005
"I don’t understand how two worlds can coexist within a mile of each other like Antique Row and the liquor store in
Long-Term Questions (Manila A)
"We’ll be asking these questions for a long time, struggling to bring together the images and memories, both joyful and painful, from Manila and allowing God to meld them into something new in us as we continue our lives in the States."
August 29: New Journals from Manila
Our jounal writer, Eugenia Chung, was sick for the last part of the project. Here are her delayed entries.
At Home in the Philippines (07/26) "... Maybe God also brought me here to instill a value in me for family, something I’m used to being independent from, and don’t appreciate enough."
Questions and Answers (07/30) "God loves it when we struggle with him. It only brings us to a place where we seek his true character. Struggling is good. God isn’t afraid of our doubts."
Dear Mom, Please Come Back (07/31) "Jaja and Toto have no idea their mom was supposed to come. I’ve never even met the woman, but I feel so hurt. How can she not come see her children?"
Money Money Money (08/02) "In the states, money replaces love. Too many parents send support checks instead of visits. The Filipinos have an abundance of love. Jesus was right: Blessed are the poor. They value things worth valuing."
How to be Joyful (08/05) "We spent a month with orphans, street children, prostitutes, and lepers. And in doing so, we learned to find joy in the tiniest things. I’m being repetitive, but I’ve really never seen such genuine joy."
Rich American Girl (08/10) "I’m not disgusted by money. I’m just overwhelmed at how blessed I am. There are people who would sell themselves to have the life I have. It’s easy to ignore others’ need especially when you don’t consider yourself well off either. “I have needs, too” becomes a fast justification."
August 18: Sick Hearts (Cairo-Sudanese)
"Scripture says hope deferred makes the heart sick. My refugee brothers and sisters from Southern Sudan have sick hearts. My heart grows sick knowing that I am leaving my Sudanese friends when hope seems so far for them." more ...
August 17: It is Possible (Cairo-Mokattam)
"Our friends have a passion to see Egypt become a Christian light in the darkness of the Middle East. The thing we’ve caught from them is a belief that that’s possible." more ...
August 16: Weaknesses (Manila A)
"Being sick has been hard because it seems so purposeless: we didn’t come here to be sick, we came to experience God working in Manila - and how can we do that while stuck in bed? It’s been hard to see how God is working in our weaknesses." more ...
August 15: Smoky Mountain (Manila A)
"It’s really hard to know that in just a couple of weeks we’ll be back to our lives of luxury, but these kids will still be barefoot, still breathing this polluted air, and their legs will only become more scarred, and they may never know life any other way." more ...
August 12: Leaving them in their trash (Cairo-Mokattam)
"He talked about our presence here being enough. I’m just not sure I buy all that. It’s a far more difficult thing to accept when, with five days to go, that admission involves leaving people I’ve come to know, appreciate and admire - in their trash." more ...
August 11: He Will Never Leave (Cairo-Mokattam)
"After working in this class for only a few days I came to the harsh realization that sorting garbage is the best future these [disabled] kids could hope for." more ...
August 10: Surrender (Manila A)
"He wants me to just let go of my own ambitions, my own desires, wants, and dreams. To possibly forget about going to medical school. Helping the sick is my passion, but there’s an even bigger thing I should be passionate about." more ...
August 9: God's Deep Love (Cairo-Mokattam)
"These flies were ruthless, crafty insects with the sole aim of making life as uncomfortable as possible for any living creature in their vicinity. I give a lot of credit to the guys who live here at the farm and their ability to tolerate something that, for me, seems pretty intolerable." more ...
August 8: But God is Greater (Manila A)
"Many times we are quite overwhelmed by the complexity of poverty, injustice, corruption, etc. Here in the Philippines, we have to surrender this struggle to continually acknowledge that God is still sovereign in this place." more ...
August 5: Making Movies
(Cairo Sudanese)
"How do we possibly develop quick bonds of trust that the interviewees may share with us strangers such personal issues? How do we communicate with those who speak Arabic?" more ...
August 4: Haunting Beauty, Grinding Poverty (Cairo Sudanese)
"I am amazed and shocked by their blessing and faith. These people who have been abandoned by their government and by most long-term volunteers. I cannot understand why God would seem so far from His people. I can’t understand why they live in such conditions ..." more ...
August 3: Sweetie Smart Girl
(Cairo-Sudanese)
"Many of Ashkelon’s children are mentally or physically handicapped. The children are mostly kept indoors, physical and mental retardation being linked to shame and disgrace. " more ...
August 2: Terror Attack (Cairo-Sudanese)
"Ultimately we have no control over our lives ... Can we predict the civil wars in Sudan, the civil strife in Egypt, the fall and rise of economies and government? What makes us think that we can predict our own plans and futures?" more ...
July 29: I Love You (Do I?) (Manila B)
"I might not have all the money in the world, but I have access to God’s love, and the authority to spread it where he takes me. I’ve never taken love that seriously before. I expected to learn about poverty. But I’m grateful God’s teaching me to love." more ...
July 28: Babies Have to Live Here Too (Cairo-Mokattam)
"I don’t know what I would do [if] I had a child I could not honestly afford and a few years later knew I had a child that could help provide for the family. Mokattam throws a lot of canned answers out the window." more ...
July 27: Even As We're Sick (Manila A)
"God asked me, “Do you trust that I have good things for you, and that I’m bigger and in control with or without doctors and the best medical hospitals?” Most of the time, I fought to try to say “yes” to that question." more ...
July 26: Jellyfish Attack! (Cairo-Mokattam)
"Those who were hurt were not joked about but were helped to shore and later marked with bravery by the others. It was in those moments that their true character shone through for all to see" more ...
July 23-24: Pictures from Manila!
The Manila teams have been sending pictures - see the photo galleries: Manila A - Manila B
July 22: Flies make their home (Manila A)
"It can be depressing being here. But, in many ways, while it really hurts to have my heart and eyes opened to the plight of the poor, I am grateful that I am seeing more of how God loves them and is working among them." more ...
July 21: Bittersweet End (Bangkok)
"There is so much to process now that we’re back in the U.S. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by all the emotions, jet lag, culture shock and thoughts about the future." more ...
July 20: Hosts for a Few Days (Cairo-Mokattam)
"While fielding questions about their daily routine, living conditions, and cultural values, I found myself feeling more and more like their advocate. I’m not proud of many aspects of the village, but I am proud of their work ethic, their skills, their faith, their hospitality. " more ...
July 19: No Words (Cairo-Sudanese)
"They cannot travel home because their homes have been destroyed and they cannot call Egypt home because they are unwelcome here. I have no words for this feeling; this feeling of confusion, and of abandonment. I have no words." more ...
Between Brutal and Blissful (Cairo-Mokattam)
"They don’t know what it’s like to take a real vacation and get away from the smells of garbage for a few days and that they suffer from illnesses that will rob them of years of their lives." more ...
July 18: Hot Tea in Hot Weather (Cairo-Sudanese)
"Will we praise God for our lives and livelihood as much as the Sudanese? Will we be as hospitable and honest as they are? I am shamed by their joy." more ...
"We are not Beautiful"
(Cairo-Sudanese)
"This woman was telling me that we looked more beautiful than she ever would. We fit the manufactured ideal of femininity. Is this is why the young girls stare at us? Do they think we were unapproachably beautiful because of our blue eyes? If so, how did they think of themselves? " more ...
Female Bonding (Cairo-Sudanese)
"I wonder if Christ ever felt impatient like we do or if our impatience is part of our American culture, or even a product of our distance from God. The limitations of our abilities, our language skills, and our understanding seem overwhelming." more ...
July 17: I Don't Know (Manila B)
"How can these kids be so faithful to God when everyone in their lives have been so unfaithful to them? How is God faithful to us when we repeatedly betray him?" more ...
July 16: Why Am I Here? (Manila A)
"I can’t fully describe how beautiful they were. They took junk and hand-crafted something useful and beautiful out of it. And this is exactly what God does with us." more ...
July 15: It's a Mime's World (Mexico City)
"I have been overwhelmed with both sadness and joy in the past six weeks. I felt completely helpless around poor and handicapped children who don’t know when they will eat again. I didn’t give any money to the street girl playing her accordion on the metro" more ...
July 14: Welcome to Sesame Street (Manila B)
"Nobody at orientation gave a talk on fighting drool and surviving sleepless nights filled with the shrieks of a coughing infant." more ...
July 13: Moving into Affluence (Mexico)
"On Sunday, after we were pulled over by a cop looking for a quick peso, we hugged goodbye at the metro station, promising to keep in touch and pray for each other." more ...
Sights and Smells (Cairo-Sudanese)
"This morning we met the family who live under our stairs. We ate our lunch there and Mina served us tea with sugar. She was so hospitable, and gave us so much of her time. We set up both dinner and tea for tomorrow. Perhaps we can get to know her story." more ...
Game of Millimeters (Manila A)
"An ethnically diverse group of Americans garners a lot of attention in the Philippines. It is different sticking out and being in the minority as a white person and getting stared at." more ...
July 12: The Same God (Cairo-Mokattam)
"I was a bit discouraged as I left the service and walked past the host of fine cars, standing in stark contrast to the poverty of the slum they had to drive through to get here." more ...
Loving Gong (Bangkok)
"Gong behaves so much better then in the beginning and he’s gotten less violent. Guess what else I also realized: by God’s love and grace I have learned to love Gong. It’s been so cool to see how he’s changed through the weeks…truly an answer to prayer." more ...
July 11: Village (Cairo-Mokattam)
"Mokattam is bigger than I expected and I’m not big enough to solve the problem. As an engineer, I find it frustrating not to be able to define the problem conveniently or concisely." more ...
Have I Done Anything? (Mexico City)
"We came here to learn about poverty and to build relationships with the people in the community. But I still worry that I have no results, or that I didn’t do enough for these people." more ...
July 8: Bangkok Photo Gallery
Pictures are in! See the Bangkok Photo Gallery!
July 7: Stepping Around (Mexico City)
"As we walked, laughing hysterically, I stepped around a homeless man sleeping on the street, and then continued my conversation." more...
Celebration and Sadness (Mexico City)
"Living here has helped me understand intractable poverty among all of the celebration. Although a family may have a television, DVD player, stereo and plenty of food, there is no conceivable way for the children to continue their education." more...
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