This is one of our feeding program outreaches at a local mosque. They are still holding Islamic studies classes for the children despite the order against gathering students face to face. We’ve been accepted into their community to serve. The ambulance was placed offline so that we can load it up with volunteers and food.
Wearing PPE
This is what we look like when entering the home of a Covid positive patient to conduct a swab test.
Hope for the Nations Relief Distribution
The following is a post I wrote on our church page on August 29:
Our passion to serve the community, especially those who have been enduring hardship during this pandemic, has only grown stronger even as the crisis has drawn on. Our efforts sped up in that first month of the lockdown and has continued steadily ever since. Jesus told a story about serving others and the moral was simple. “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’”That’s why the members of our congregation are always looking out for the well-being of others. Love. That’s what it’s all about.
But to be loving also means to be smart in delivering the right kind of aid in the safest way possible. So we spoke with the community and with government authorities and concluded that one of the easiest forms of help was to provide staple foods somewhat regularly. And by working with the police and local leader, and with the help of our very own medical staff and NGO volunteers experienced in this kind of stuff, we were able to enforce protocols that would prevent the spread of disease while at the same time allow for people to come to the church.
We look forward to conducting more of these activities. And we encourage all of you to partner with whomever you can to address the needs of your community during the pandemic…and certainly even beyond. Love God, love people. It’s what we do as followers of the Prince of Peace.
Rescue Work and Attending Wakes
The following story was first posted on the Facebook Samson Missions Page on August 31:
Unfortunately, attending wakes is a regular occurrence for us. I was on a double shift, so before the wake, we had eight patients to tend to. Four of them were positive for Covid; official tests we conducted ourselves. And one of those patients went unconscious as he was using the bathroom. He fell hard and fortunately we already had a backup ambulance unit on the way. We don’t understand how he was still responsive with SPO2 levels being low enough for intubation or even rescue breathing. It was one of the harder extrications we’ve had to do because of his weight, the tight maze of corridors we had to snake through, and the rain making the sloped walkway slippery. But at least he made it to the hospital.
The wake pictured here was for another one of our patients. She was the mother of partners who serve with us in a nearby Muslim community. They are Bible translators who also utilize the One Meal nutrient food packs we use for our feeding programs. As volunteers with our group, we drop everything we can to offer assistance to one of our own. The mom suffered a stroke and was not able to be admitted to the hospital because Covid has inundated all facilities putting them at overcapacity. So we facilitated a tele-medical consult with a local doctor who works with our ambulance agency. We also provided oxygen, which is like gold nowadays. She died shortly after the oxygen tank we set up ran out of air (you can’t find a refilled tank in the middle of the night and even if you could, it’s like moving mountains to compete against all the others doing the same thing). We couldn’t make it back to assist because we were with another patient - a patient who was hit by a motorcycle and whom we couldn’t convince four hospitals to admit. It took us nine hours before a doctor even touched her bleeding and deformed leg, splinted as best as possible to prevent further damage to her compound fracture. Again, the affects of Covid.
So we went to this wake to offer our condolences and to pray with the family that had seen us a number of times as we attempted to help their matriarch for the past week. Consoling our partners was difficult because the spouse lost his mother less than 24 hours earlier. She died of Covid too. Now their daughter is sick and needs close monitoring. We often have an opportunity to preach and lead Bible studies at these gatherings, but with the lockdown restrictions, visitors were required to come in small groups. We’re thankful for the opportunity to minister to people suffering through such devastating circumstances, but death…you may get numb to it if you see it all the time, but you never get used to it.
We excused ourselves to get back onto night duty. After making our scheduled rounds through the city, we were called to a household because of an unconscious patient. The short story is that after performing CPR, he died. This also is something that doesn’t get any easier with experience because you know that chest compressions is a shot in the dark when follow-up care at a hospital is horrible or non-existent. When a patient dies we care for the family by helping them figure out the next steps, meaning helping them find a funeral parlor. We also prayed with the grieving family. But this was one of those nights where we didn’t have it in us to stick around and minister.
So now here I am, trying to settle down until our morning outreach to a Muslim community in a few hours. There’s a lot of death these days, and our crew sees too much of it. Please keep us in your prayers. Thanks for being there for us!
A walk through a sea gypsy community
The following video was posted on the Facebook Samson Missions Page on August 18:
Sama Muslim Tribe. This is the people group that has been close to my heart for a very long time. And no matter how far I stray away from focusing on them, we are always placed right back in their midst. I thought we had to move all the way down to Tawi-Tawi, an isolated and infamous island in the southernmost tip of the Philippines. But here we are, just a drive away from a community who migrated many years ago and settled along the coast, a place that our organization has been accepted into, the only non-Muslim group allowed to serve within their mosque. But maybe that’s just because we’re also the only group where 100% of our team members can boast full vaccinations and we carry up to date Covid test results (2 day expiration date) that the local government requires before allowing entrance.
You’ll hear and see more in the future. But check out this video which was taken by Jem today right behind the mosque. He was exploring the stilted homes while our team was meeting with their leaders, tutoring their children, cooking meals for our feeding program, checking blood pressures, and starting a computer fundamentals course. If you remember me saying, the Sama people are divided up into a number of subgroups based on their island of origin. This community hosts the Badjao sea nomads and the more populous Muslim tribe.
And if you didn’t notice or understand Jem’s conversation at the end, he’s asking a child why she’s holding a cigarette. Please pray for these people who have opened their homes to us. And pray for wisdom and strength for our team as we figure out our role in their lives.
It’s low tide and what you’re seeing is trash. Please do not save and share this video.
Praying for a patient...
The following video was first posted on the Facebook Samson Missions page on August 13:
Last night I sent this video to one of you who donated to the ministry recently. Many of you consistently and sacrificially send in support, but this particular instance was notable because this donor was not aware that just the day before, our team had been anxiously praying for God to provide a specific amount to cover a significant need for our ambulance operations. That donation was a direct and speedy answer to our prayer request. There are so many examples of God miraculously providing in this way, but every time it happens we are always blown away. Praise the Lord!
I wanted to share this video to you as a brief glimpse of what it looks like to have a spiritual conversation in the midst of serving. It happened last night. If you can’t understand the Tagalog, this is Nico in the middle of sharing Christ. To be clear, getting to this moment takes a lot of effort and the help of a team, none of which you’re seeing. Nico’s job in this particular clip of him giving spiritual encouragement, prayer, and explaining the Gospel…that’s the easy part that everyone on our team can do in our sleep or in almost any situation. The Bible studies…second nature. The challenging parts of the ministry you don’t see is the running, lifting, sweating, administering first aid, shouting at bystanders getting in the way, pleading with doctors to look at our patient, convincing groups or individuals or family members to shell out lots of money for the patient’s medical supplies, arguing with guards to let us roll our stretcher into the triage tent, pushing our way through the chaos of a 3-alarm fire at a crowded market with our backboard and heavy aid bag, protecting our faces after multiple explosions, jumping out of the way of speeding vehicles not noticing that we’re treating someone in the middle of the street, dragging a patient away from gun wielding and drunk enemies…what you don’t see is all the continuous training, the meetings with government officials or hospital and clinic administrators, the legal and financial paperwork, human resource management, the inventory footwork, the purchasing or repairing of gear, disinfecting of equipment, surviving the heat of wearing full PPE, recruitment of volunteers, the sleepless nights and pushing through the exhaustion to survive the next day, and the things we have to do as a team to cope with all the trauma we experience.
Having a large team allows us to continue our other, non-medical projects like educational classes and feeding programs. But usually we have to prevent our first responders from serving double shifts, doing both types of activities within a 24 hour period. They are excited to serve because what keeps us inspired to wake up day after day, night after night are moments where we get to hold someone in the worst moment of their life and bring comfort, peace, and love through Jesus Christ. It is truly a privilege and we know it, so we take none of what we do with Hope Rescue and the Service Corps lightly. And we know that those of you that generously give your support also sacrifice so that the ministry can thrive. You are also the inspiration that drives us. Thank you all for your partnership in the Gospel!
Street Worship with the EMTs!
The following video was first posted on the Facebook Samson Missions Page on August 6:
It was like Frontline Ministry at New Song Community Church all over again! Actually, I've been getting to do a lot of those activities we used to do when we did street ministry back in the day on the glorious Southern California coast. But it was on this night that I was reminded of my roots. I remember those outreaches, setting up our station with coffee, soup, bread, clothes, and Bibles...walking around and approaching any and everyone to join us, asking them if they needed prayer or if they just wanted to talk or have a snack. Our team back then experienced so much craziness...so much Jesus. It was an amazing season.
Without even thinking about it, that same approach to relationship building and discipleship just kind of started to happen in the streets of the Greater Metro Manila Area, but this time through the initiative of our team, not me. Sure, it might be attributed to spending so much time together, the type of people who gravitate toward our ministry, and maybe even because the need is so obvious, but still, I am proud of these guys for leading the way.
So what you're seeing here is a time of worship singing a Tagalog song called "Mahal na Mahal Kita Panginoon" with Eldrin at the guitar (his wife was our language teacher over 11 years ago and they've been serving as leaders on our team). Jerry conducted a Bible study using an approach he's familiar with that we used when he first became a believer in Catanduanes. I gave my testimony. Our first responder rescue crew was on duty so they had the ambulance parked on the street, but were also a part of the discipleship effort. At night there is always a designated team ready to respond when the city dispatches for an emergency. The other members of our group who help run the ministry were on hand to give out juice and noodles and to fellowship with all those around.
The reason we have this "street fellowship" is because our night volunteers have built relationships with a homeless group some weeks before as they conducted their rounds. You can't get more Frontline Ministry than that! Enjoy the clip and thanks again for your prayers!
Josiah and the Sea Gypsies
The following story was first posted on the Facebook Samsons Missions Page:
Josiah is pictured on the left. Grace is next to him. And then there’s me doing what I’m often told to do by my team - figure out a way to get food to a destination that is never as easy as just dropping it off…meaning I gotta push a tricycle through thick sand and mud that’s only a little wet because it’s low tide. This Muslim community’s Imam is seen here trying to navigate his newly donated load of almost 500 bottles of juice and over a hundred food packs to the mosque, a wood and bamboo structure on stilts.
I’m so glad Josiah was with me today. We’ve been able to do some father-son bonding accomplishing things I love to do, though I know it’s a bit challenging for him. Even as I write this, we’re still in the back of the ambulance and won’t be home until late tonight. We’ve been awake since 2:30am. You’ll notice in the photo that he’s covered up really well. That’s because kids aren’t allowed to be outside due to government pandemic restrictions that have just been implemented again. In fact, we’ve had to wait on Jerry in the rig to get us dinner because Josiah isn’t allowed to eat in any establishment, not even to use the bathroom. But today he was dressed incognito and since he’s already the size of many of the people here, he remained unnoticed as we conducted the outreach.
Since the first day we arrived in the Philippines when Josiah was just several months old, he’s been the center of attention wherever he goes. Even on that fateful plane ride to the mission field. His light complexion and brown hair stand out, whether in a remote island village or an urban slum. The comments, touching, and stares have gotten to him over the years. And now, coming into pre-teen, that sort of attention is especially uncomfortable and makes him self-conscious. He worried the night before and really wanted to make sure people didn’t pay attention to him by hiding his hair and skin. But he was surprised in discovering the hospitality and kindness of the Sama people this morning, even as his cover was blown, and ended up having a pleasant time.
Our second delivery was to our partners whom we help with outreaches to the boatmen and fishermen that live near their dive shop. So naturally, after dropping off the goods we had to take the opportunity to do some scuba diving! You wanna talk about father-son bonding. Josiah is such a natural underwater explorer. The surf was rough, current strong, and visibility low, but we had a lot of fun together. Now we’re finishing up the night riding out the traffic sitting on the stretcher as we watch Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade on my device.
Balance in Ministry: Spiritual and Physical Needs
First posted on the Facebook Samsons Mission Page on August 1:
Balance. We have a team of well over a dozen full time, Filipino national missionaries that ensure our ministry is balanced. On my public FB page, I share mostly of what’s happening with our community development and first-responder activities. I’ve been told it all seems overwhelming, like we’re firing at an unsustainable speed. But the secret to this efficiency and productivity is simple - teamwork. Honestly, we have so much going on simply because our team is capable of doing what we do. And family is always prioritized. I tell our team that there’s no such thing as sick days or earned vacation. They don’t need it because you can take either whenever you need. Self care is a value of ours.
Balance is needed to propel our projects toward spiritual transformation. That’s why the pastor of our home church is on our missionary team (which is called the Hope Team) and has been equipped to be a certified EMT. Our participation at Hope for the Nations Church is non-negotiable. Our team has its own staff Bible study time. And one of our favorite activities that Amy and I hold every week is a discipleship and member care session for each individul unit that we call the Samson’s table because it’s always over food. Mentorship is mandatory. I serve on our church’s leadership team and fulfill preaching duties like the one pictured here. It’s also important for our team to be continuously trained in evangelism, discipleship, starting and facilitating Bible studies, and planting house churches. Our work isn’t all about feeding programs, computer classes, emergency services, and helping patients. There is holistic balance.
I am proud that the team can do all those things. And they are passionate about it. They are always thinking about how to connect with Muslims. They are creative at bridging the love of Christ with the message of HOPE. One moment a team member is cooking porridge and the next she’s telling kids a story about Jesus as they eat. Sometimes after a trauma call in our ambulance and we’re trying to wind down, we buy some bread and pass it out to the homeless during our night shift. Then we pray for people on the street and share the Good News.
We have a phenomenal group of servants who love God and love people. Please pray for us as we enter a new strategic phase for mobilizing our guys to start more Bible studies. Thank you all for your support. Enjoy the pictures and think about the blessing we all experience as partners in the Gospel.
Acceptance into a new Muslim Community
Posted on the Facebook Samson Missions Page on July 23:
So a pretty incredible outreach happened.
Before we moved to Manila three years ago I put together a feasibility study for our prospective ministry to Muslims. Though we felt the unshakeable draw to Filipino Muslim ministry and we had already been exposed to it even while still serving in Catanduanes, I didn't quite know what direction to take. In that report, I was able to determine the particular groups I believed our ministry should focus on. The Maranao Tribe residing in Quiapo, The Sama Tribe of the Sulu Archipelago, The tribal Muslim migrants and converts of Antipolo, and the Badjao Tribe dispersed in the southern part of Luzon.
I admit that it seemed (still seems) like a tall order. But our ministry strategy is to open the doors and shine the light of Christ to people groups where the church does not yet exist because they are difficult to access. We go in first, serve with all of our might, build the relationships, and then make the need known to churches, giving them the opportunity to reach out to Muslims through the same love we'd been extending. We build bridges. It's up to the churches themselves to decide whether or not they want to take that opportunity. So until a church adopts that community, our unconditional service as children of God does not cease.
I have an excellent track record with fulfilling whatever vision I'm pushing our team to reach. But this last community on my radar was so elusive, that it became somewhat of a discouragement to me. The failure that hung over me. I implemented all the steps, including the building of our dive ministry in order to make it happen. And what I thought would be the first community we would enter into in this new ministry of ours became a closed door... until a couple of days ago.
Would you believe that I needed to build the ministries in the other locations in order for this last goal to be reached? Our ministry in Quiapo, in Tawi-Tawi, and in Antipolo...they were all needed for the door to open among the Badjao sea gypsies, like some sort of puzzle scheme to decode in one of Josiah's video games.
That outreach required mobilizing some relevant partners. The principal of the Islamic school we've been teaching computer courses was key. He endorsed us and set up the outreach while his non-profit organization provided cows to give away. Our partners at the local dive shop that hosts our Muslim outreaches for introductory scuba dives or reef awareness excursions were needed because they live close to this sea gypsy community. They did all the hard work of buying relief goods and repackaging them for distribution. Additionally, the fact that we had done work in the South among their people group already helped us gain access to the leader and made discussions for continued work there possible. And our community medical work among the Muslims in Antipolo through Hope Rescue was allowed to be replicated at the outreach. It is in the wellness checks that we are literally able to touch the people we're reaching and gain intimate access into their lives within their own homes.
So we gained access with spectacular fashion! I have to tell you, this community is a very difficult and challenging one to serve. The two tribes share common lineage, but there is still some conflict between them. They are utterly poor as well. You've probably seen documentaries or video clips of their people group in other areas. They live in stilt homes because they can't part from the sea. That's why they're called Sea Gypsies. Their sewage and garbage system exists below them, in the very ocean they fish from and the waters we wade through to get to the mosque. They do not have an educational or healthcare system set in place. Most don't speak the national language of Tagalog and the majority cannot read or write. So our computer training program, supplemental educational tutorials, health and wellness offerings, and plainly, our presence was well received.
We even connected with the SWAT team who provided security for us. Unnecessary I would say especially that one guy carrying the grenade launcher, but the city insisted. And get this, those police officers all want to scuba and free-dive. Naturally I referred them to our partner dive shop since both entities will be joining us regularly as we plan our future at this location.
Answers to prayer! God is good! I haven't been as patient as I should be, but I think I know better now that God's timing is best. He moves all the pieces of the puzzle to make it all work out for His glory. Pray for these Muslim tribes. Pray that our team would be Jesus to them and that they would experience a relationship with the Father. And thank you all for always supporting the ministry!
