This past week, a group of high school students from Inside Out Browns Bridge Community Church, Atlanta, Georgia stepped out of their comfort zones, security and leisure, traveled across the world to share life, faith and love to people whom they have never met before and a community they have never seen.
The team’s preparation started seven months before their exposure trip. Signed up through Global X, the team wherein some of them never knew each other before was on their way to a country which was very different from theirs. In partnership with Quest Fellowship, the 30-member Inside Out Team, with eight leaders and twenty two students, was set to share the love of Jesus Christ that was very evident and true in their lives to the people of Bantayan Island
Bantayan Island, a small island comprised of three different municipalities was not spared from
the destructive Typhoon Haiyan / Yolanda. Bantayan which was in the path of the typhoon was considered as one of the badly hit areas during those grieving and painful days. Unforgettable. It
happened eight months ago and up until now, rehabilitation, relief and repair is still on-going.
Stage of Tarong Elementary School prior the major repair
Part of the agenda of the team was to head straight up north of Cebu, connect and engage with families and mainly students from Tarong Elementary School. The school which is located in the municipality of Madridejos was one of the schools that left students have their class under the tree with the heat of the sun. Four school classrooms were terribly damaged while other five school rooms along with its stage needed major repairs. Sad to say, there was no help that was received by the school after the tragedy. According to Sir Ricardo Santillan, school’s principal, the school wasn’t able to receive any relief and help from the government. A school teacher added that they only received make-up kits from the department of education. Certainly, this school needed more than that.
Last July 12, the team arrived after a 19-hour long travel just sitting on the plane. Three days later, they headed straight to Bantyan with so much excitement, high hopes and expectations. The trip seemed to be going in the right direction in the early days. So smooth and so calm. But, in all mission exposure trips where the faith of the group will be tested, this the team was not spared from it. One member from Browns Bridge was brought to the hospital for emergency reasons. Just two days in Bantayan, another typhoon delayed the painting work for a day. Although Typhoon Glenda wasn’t that strong compared to Typhoon Haiyan, still its strong winds and rain prevented the team from doing its work. But the team still kept their faith in God knowing that He was going to work in their lives and use them to be a blessing to others.
Despite the challenges and barriers in culture, language, race and color, this did not stop the high school students from fulfilling its mission – to connect and engage with the locals and share love, compassion and comfort of God to them. Undoubtedly, they were able to do so.
Sir Ricardo Santillan, Principal of Tarong Elementary School
The team organized a one-day Sports Fun day for all of the students, from pre-elementary to elementary at Tarong Elementary School. The school which had a number of 350+ students came out to enjoy and have fun under the heat of the sun. The team gave away sacks of rice, bags of groceries and a bicycle for the raffle draw. The kids also enjoyed the games and the special presentation from some of the members of Browns Bridge, Quest Fellowship, the teachers of the school and some of their students. It was a whole lot of fun! But, the highlight of the day was the big surprise where the team distributed school bags with school supplies in it. Not only did the students receive new school materials, but, their stage and four classrooms were also repaired and repainted.
Present during the event were the principal, teachers and even representatives from the Barangay Council of Barangay Tarong, Municipality of Madridejos. The head of the council for Department of Education was also present to grace the event. The program ended with the team thanking Tarong Elementary School for accepting them and giving them an opportunity to serve them.
Smiles were shown. Laughter were shared. Barriers were broken. Friendships were built. Lives were connected. Faith in God was strengthened. Love of Jesus Christ was told.
Cuento Ni Rap 