Typhoons and Visas
The last 48 hours has provided as much adventure in one punch as I think we have had all year. As many of you know we should be back in the States by now however a mistake in the handling of our 9G visa has resulted in the pushing back of flight dates. To make a long long story really short for the real meat of this entry I will simply say we need a miracle to happen next Monday allowing us to finalize our 9G visas and to receive our iCards (travel document) in one business day. This process can take months. This will allow us to fly out Tuesday. If we can not leave Tuesday we will miss flights Stateside beginning our deputation service schedule AND it may invalidate our tickets which are supposed to used within 365 days (Oct. 3rd, happy birthday dad). Can you hear the stress in my typing 
To make things even more interesting Manila was hit by the largest typhoon in 10 years yesterday, Typhoon Milenyo (Xangsane). The eye of the storm traveled directly over Metro Manila from about 11:00 am – 1:00 pm Sept 28th. We had just moved into the new house our mission had available for us the day before and with our flights being pushed back our cupboards we bare and the fridge was empty. Plus, being in a new house we were offline for the previous 24 hours so we had no idea the extent of the rain weather we were having all morning.
I was sent by Melissa in our little Mazda to stop at work to do email and then to the grocery store for some supplies. As I arrived on the APNTS campus I could tell there was a lot of excitement in the air and as I began to talk to people milling about I learned the extent of the storm and that the eye was due to hit Manila in about 30 minutes. When it hit, it hit hard. I have been in a few hurricanes before, but nothing compared to this. In a matter of minutes it sounded like a train hit our building and continued to rage for 2 hours. We watched sheets of rain peel, branches fall, trees get toppled over, and roofs get blown loose. The creeks and low lying areas turned into raging rivers and lakes. Buildings began to take in water and the APNTS crew were bustling about attending to a variety of disasters.
As the eye of the storm passed on and the rain began to subside and I took my chance to dash to the store and try and get home to Melissa and the kids who were stuck in a house with no electricity, no food, and everything still in boxes from the move.
I made it to the store with not problem and was pleased to find it up and running. I got my groceries and headed back out. It did not take long however to realize traveling the short 2 km to our house would be an adventure.
A little down the road I came to a spot where most of the cars going my same direction were making a u-turn and going back where they came from. When I got to the front of the line I saw why. There was a flood over the road about 75 meters long the looked to be about 2 feet deep. A delivery truck a couple of spots in front of me trudged though without any problems but I was worried about our Mazda 323. I decided to give it a shot and with white knuckles and a steam of prayers going up I blasted through. The water was spilling up onto the hood of the car at times as I pushed a wall of water. The car never hesitated however and I came out with little brakes and squealing belts. The car coughed and sputtered for a few minutes but recovered well. About 1 km further down the road, however, a greater challenge waited.
Another flood was filling over 150 meters of road and the water on the side I needed to go though was as high as the concrete barriers down the middle lane (about 3 feet). I knew I would never make it so I pulled into a perfectly positioned gas station on high ground to wait, pray, and decide what to do. Over the next hour and a half I witnessed so many incredible things I could not list them. And did I mention I forgot my camera!? I could kick myself. The water finally pushed a section of the cement barriers a couple of feet over allowing the dammed up flood to start to spill over. Commuters began abandoning their jeepneys and taxis and waded through the waist deep flood to resume their journey home. One group of guys (and a girl) pulled their pants and shoes off holding them in raised up hands to try and keep them dry…it didn’t work. Finally a flat bed semi chose to brave the flood. It made it fairly easily and as it passed me there were easily 200 people who had climbed aboard and clung to its sides to get a lift through the flood. The waters were receding slowing and more and more vehicles attempted the crossing. Buses and Jeepneys began with mixed success. One jeepney only made it half way though before getting bogged down and stalling. Without a moments hesitation its load of 16 passengers climbed out into thigh deep water and pushed it the rest of the way through. Once it reached the other side it was unable to start so the crew proceeded to push start this large vahicle. When it finally coughed back to life they all climbed back aboard to continue home. I wonder if the driver refunded their fare?
Finally the water had come down to about the level of the previous flood I had made it through so I decided to give it a shot. I waited for one of the large charter buses which run on Ortigas to come though and I snuck in right behind him and drafted my way through. At one point he slowed down almost to a stop and the water spilled up onto my hood, but we started rolling again and with my heart pounding and my ice cream melting I made it through.
As I pulled into our neighborhood a little way down the road a hugh tree had been blown over smashing the entrance guard house and blocking the road. A line of cars waited as water flowed and the soaked guards sawed away at branches to create a path for vehicles to pass. As I drove though our neighborh hood the businesses, homes, and venders with torn off roofs, shattered glass, and broken store fronts were many and yet people were everywhere, running, splashing, laughing, and lending a hand to move debris. It almost felt like a party. Kids were swimming, men were making themselves useful, and everyone was smilling. They say Filipino culture deals with disaster, conflict, and sorrow with laughter and I saw this demonstrated on a wide scale that day. Filipinos really are amazing.
Please continue to pray for the Philippines as they dig out and recover from this disaster. Please also continue to pray for our travel situation. We know God is in control and will get us where he needs us when he needs us there. Thank you all so much for your love and support.
[...] Finally, I do know that God is good and his timing is perfect. If we had left last September 28th we would not have been here during the recent typhoons and we would not have been able to help our dear friends in their time of need. We would also not be here participating in the new Young Professionals ministry at our church. We miss you all, especially those we had plans to visit, but we know God is in control and our timing and schedule is his to adjust as he sees fit. [...]
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