Dental Mission

I'm a little behind on my blogging. I had hoped to finish my blog while I was traveling last week but never had the wifi to be able to do it. So here is what has been going on in Boracay, and then as soon as I get all my pictures up, I can get you caught up on my trip last week.
We had a team of dentists from San Fransisco come to Boracay through our ministry to do a dental clinic. There were probably about 30 of them on the team and they are students, teachers, and alumni from a dental school in SF. They had a couple different stops in the Philippines and luckily we were one of them.
They hosted a dental clinic on a Saturday afternoon in our church building. We had 150 people from the island come to the clinic, and there were probably over 300 teeth pulled. We had people from all over the island, but mostly people that had heard from our church, feeding sites, and school. Even though it was obviously a painful thing to watch it was such an amazing blessing to people because so many of them were living with pain for so long because they couldn't do anything about the tooth or teeth they needed removed. A lot of people had one tooth pulled, but a lot of people had more than that, 2, 3 and there were even some people who had 6 teeth pulled. The clinic was a huge blessing to help people in pain and with infections, but I think the best part of their ministry was the feeding sites they went to throughout the week. They were in Boracay for 4 more days after the clinic and they went to our feeding sites with toothpaste and toothbrushes and handed them out to all of the kids They also showed all the kids how to brush properly and use the toothpaste. I think that is such a huge thing here because the biggest problem, and reason there were so many extractions, is because people don't know how, choose to, or have the financial ability to take care of there teeth. Teaching kids how to do it is a huge step for them to actually do it. Providing them with a toothbrush and toothpaste might be temporary but it is still great for these kids.

Most of the missionaries were at the clinic helping in whatever ways we could. We did a lot of setting up and talking to the kids we knew from school or our feedings. Sometimes we even were the ones to go with them to get their teeth pulled. One of my second graders wouldn't go with her dad but for some reason was ok with me going with her. She was not a happy camper and it was so hard to sit there and watch her be so sad.

The dentists were amazing. Walking around and helping them out I got to watch them interact with the people and the kids and they are the nicest people ever.

Also with most things we do here, our ministry is very evangelical. We had our pastor as well as the pastor from the other island at the clinic to talk to people as they waited. They went around throughout the whole clinic and talked to people and families. It's amazing to see how different people respond here. In the US people would complain about their rights being infringed, or people shoving their views down their throats. People here are so receptive of what people have to share and have open minds to things. The picture above is Pastor Rolando, the pastor of our church, and the picture below is Pastor Peter from the other island, who also works with the Ati villages.

This guy had six teeth pulled, and had a smile the whole time.

A picture from our graduation ceremony, the kinders up front with the grade 6 behind them.

With school being out I've been able to spend time at some of the other feeding sites on the island. I went to the Diniwid feeding with one of the missionary families. We replaced the roof on the Diniwid shelter a while ago and we loved the kids there so I decided to go to the feeding to hang out with them again. Diniwid is on the north end of the island and is out of the way from most of the resorts and tourists. All the kids at our feeding sites are friendly and fun but the kids at Diniwid are definitely a lot of fun to hang out with and play with.

A picture of our trip to Antique last month, walking through the jungle.

At the end of the school year we had a staff party, and the only thing that's a given at a Filipino party is karaoke. It is so huge here and it was fun to see some of the super shy Filipino teachers totally come out during karaoke. The Filipino staff pretty much ruled the karaoke most of the night, but we got up and did a couple songs. The picture above is us doing a full airband and singing Bohemian Rhapsody. The picture below is me going solo, the lyrics at this point just happen to be about taking a picture, which is why I have the aircamera going.

 These are some pictures that were taken by another missionary here of my Cagban feeding site.

 Me giving the message to the kids.

 Dr. Anderson

Giving out vitamins before they eat.


This last week I was able to go on a vacation through some other parts of the Philippines and I'll write all about it in my next post. Other than that I have been staying really busy here on Boracay. I am about to start summer school and so I've had to organize that and get everything ready for my kids. I've also been making a MAPEH book for next year which includes music, art, PE, and health. The most exciting thing I've been doing is planning the trip for the college group from Escalon that's coming to Boracay in July. I have been busy communicating between the Beaver's and my sister to get things set up and things are going great. I've also been planning Bible studies for the group as they prepare for the trip as well as when they are here. There is a lot of work to be done for the trip and they have done a lot of work so far to be able to get things going. They have such a passion for coming here and serving in this ministry and I am so excited for them. It is so awesome to see kid's that I ministered to through youth group grow up and still hold on to what God wants to do with them, and to have them interested in coming to see me and serve next to me here on Boracay is an amazing feeling. I am so excited for them to see everything that is happening here, as well as them being able to bring different perspectives and experiences form the ministry back to you at home to see everything from more than just my perspective. Please pray for our group as they continue to plan and raise the funds to be able to come out here. There is so much for them to do as a small group to help our ministry and they are going to bring me so much inspiration as well. Mission trips can be life changing events and it's so awesome that are hoping for that experience.