August 22, 2023
It was the last morning we had in Surallah before heading out to General Santos International Airport, and flying back to Manila. Of course, I took the opportunity, and I went out to run. Thanks to going back and forth on the trusty abandoned runway (or, unmaintained runway, at least) I was able to hit 5 kilometers in 38 minutes – a little more than 7 minutes per kilometer on flat terrain.
Immediately after the run I walked to Surallah Market with the intention of shooting… and, well, looking for something to match Jolibee coffee for a nice bite to eat. I had a hankering for cassava in Filipino ‘suMan’ form, but I ended up buying similar cassava cakes at the foodcourt. Soon as I walked back to the hotel I saw the rest of the team hanging out at the open cafe. Turns out that the cakes I bought seemed to be filled with some sort of meat cooked asado-style.
Eventually I headed back to my room to take a bath and to finish packing. I had to keep in mind that Pastor Gilbert was coming with lansones and other fruits… and when he finally did I found myself thankful that I had enough space on my carry-on suitcase to fit in 5 kilograms worth of mangosteen. Bags were zipped up eventually, and I finished packing just as the rest of the team was loading up the van.
As I probably talked about before, I am pretty particular about my seat on the plane. I would probably do more than what is conventionally necessary to ensure that my bottom is on a window seat. To that note I spoke to Fraulein, who was in charge of buying our seats online… to find out that I was on an aisle seat. Fortunately she spoke to another member of the team who happened to have a window seat assignment, and she was willing to swap seats with me. That took out some tension as we were heading out to the main General Santos area.
When we finally got there, we took a little side trip to pick up some teammates who went ahead of us, and we all had lunch near the airport; the restaurant we went to served bulalo, while the stall beside it sold fried chicken. We had both. Satisfied, we all drove to the airport, and we said our goodbyes and expressed our gratitude to Pastor Gilbert and Nono, our van driver this entire time.
After a quick check of our belongings, our luggage, and our tickets, we went through airport security, and checked in at the ticket counter. Unfortunately I had to pay fee to cover overweight check-in baggage. The entire ordeal was pretty stressful, but ultimately we got through without a hitch. All that was left to do was to wait until our time to board.
The plane took off, and I was able to take a few shots of what looked like the ‘high’ lands we came from, all under a huge downpour. It was a pretty good perspective. There was some turbulence as we flew in and out of high clouds… and you’d think I was used to all the shaking, but I was praying pretty hard in my mind.
And if the turbulence didn’t cause enough stress, I found out later in the flight that I wasn’t on the side of the place that was facing the sunset. I could only look as the people on the other side enjoyed what seemed to be a really good one. All that was left for me to do was to breathe, and to prepare for possibly shooting some cityscape shots as we landed in NAIA Terminal 2… but even that was a bust, considering that we arrived well past sunset, when everything was dark. I probably pushed my camera to shoot in less negligible ISO settings, and the shots had a lot of motion blur. To this day, even almost a month after the actual trip, I haven’t gone through those shots to edit.
We landed at NAIA Terminal 2 at around 7pm. We said goodbye to the folks who were still staying in Manila as we looked for a ride that would take us to Victory Liner Pasay. We all eventually agreed to pay 200 pesos each for a van to drive us (and all our fruits) to Victory Liner Pasay. The traffic to the bus station was really bad, and it took us almost an hour to traverse, oh, just a couple of kilometers.
When we finally got to Victory Liner Pasay, we ran for a bus that was just about to leave for Baguio. Fare was 630, a huge increase from the 450 I used to pay when I took the Manila bus a whole lot more frequently way back when.
I was bracing myself for an even more arduous, annoying crawl through EDSA… but to my surprise, the bus took the new skyway (or it was new for me at least) through Metro Manila. Just as I was assuming that we were directly above EDSA, I noticed some landmarks that were so familiar to me back in the day. It appears the skyway was built on the sides of the main EDSA area, because it looked like we were passing directly above the Kalentong area. I knew the Lourdes hospital and Shakeys’ nearby looked familiar… I had to look up Google Maps to confirm it.
Anyway. We eventually made our way to the North Luzon Expressway, and the bus took a quick detour in Dau to drop passengers off. We took a quick bathroom break and I had just enough time to buy noodles to warm up (I left my jackets with Pastor Jomar in Mindanao) – I could have hassled some of the bus vendors for some boiled quail eggs but I was happy with the soup.
We made our way to the next stop at Sison, where I had goto (beef tripe and rice porridge) and yema (milk confections) at Sison… and we made our way to Baguio, arriving at around 2:30am. I took a cab home right away, and I quickly unloaded all the fruits for my Mom to appreciate, before hitting the hay.
It’s been almost a whole month since our trip. What’s remained and stays with me up until this moment is that thought that we trust in God the same way we trust in a pilot – we don’t know him personally but we trust in him to fly us (and a whole lot of others), on a huge hunk of metal so many thousands of meters above sea level, from one part of the earth to another. Consequently we trust in the God the same way we trust in a motorcycle driver – hanging on to him for dear life as he navigates through asphalt and mud, all while we’re all so much more exposed to the elements.
We trust in God, knowing at any moment the plane could crash, or at any moment, the motorcycle slips and we hit our (un-helmeted) heads on an express trip to heaven. But that’s the thing – we know we’re ‘headed’ to heaven because of Christ. I put ‘headed’ in quotes because the way I see it, our union with Christ is also a union with Heaven, and a union with Eternity. The more I think about it, we don’t ‘leave’ this reality to go to heaven, but through Christ it’s Heaven – timeless eternity, borderless infinity – that came to us, just as we were already ‘brought’ to heaven. When Christ ascended to heaven, I believe He brought us with Him, and He proved that He ‘brought’ Himself to us when the Holy Spirit descended in what we call Pentecost.
I don’t know man, people call me a Pastor but I know there could be flaws in this reasoning. All the more that I trust in God. All the more that we ought to trust in God, because we realize that we don’t and can’t have everything possibly figured out. But we trust in God precisely because He who made everything DOES have everything figured out…
…And it’s this trust – more than any doctrine we have – that I believe our brethren in Mindanao need, just as much as we do. I was telling people ever since I got back from there, that they need our help; But MORE than the financial and material blessings we can give them, what I propose as ‘help’ to them is an exchange in perspective (how they appreciate Christ versus how we appreciate Christ). On that note, I probably shouldn’t be surprised if we come to the same conclusion – that we trust in God, because He gave us Jesus.
I come to thinking, back in the days that we had a lot more in our wallets, and we would sponsor them to come to Baguio: What insights did they pick up as they came to us? Was there anything they saw and experienced here that reinforced their own trust in the Lord? Some of them hailed from what they called Little Baguio – what did they have in mind as they rode into the real Baguio?
I suppose that’s what I want. An exchange. Not merely a ‘lifeline’ of resources for our friends in Mindanao, but an exchange. We’ve been giving for the longest time – sure, it hasn’t been consistent, but I would like to think that we gave without any expectation of return. Now, could it just be possible that we honor them more – not necessarily by demanding reciprocation (definitely not taking that route), but by challenging them to give what they have in excess?
And here’s the thing – it doesn’t have to be purely about material blessings. In fact, I would prefer that we would exchange more dialogue. I’d love to tell them how we appreciate Christ here in Luzon, if only to hear them talk about how they appreciate Christ in Mindanao.
I probably end with this, as it comes to mind… Acts 2:41-47:
So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
I could imagine folks setting their eyes on how our brethren were selling their stuff and sharing all the proceeds… But for some reason I’m going to concentrate on those four items on that first set of verses. I see a need for us to devote ourselves to the apostle’s teachings, to fellowship, to communion (breaking of bread, and not necessarily how we ‘celebrate’ Holy Communion), and to prayer. For our brothers from other places, not just Mindanao – We’ll share our teachings with each other, have all things in common with each other, break bread with each other, and pray for one another.
And as I’m writing all that, I’m thinking of my own congregation – and I think what we don’t have as much of is having all things in common with each other, perhaps sharing more than just teaching and doctrine with each other.
Sorry, I’ve gone all over the place on this one. You can tell that there was a lot to gather, and a way for me to quantify just how much, is in how deep we can go in what we’ve been blessed with.
I’m excited to see my brothers and sisters in Mindanao again. Just as I am excited to see my biological brothers soon. Just as I am excited to travel. Again. In the name of teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer – in celebration of Christ.
Until the next post, God bless us all.
JB's Personal Brain Defragmenter 
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