10 May Filipino Smiles

Everywhere we go in the Philippines we are met with smiles. This morning Pastor Prudencio Lim, superintendent of the Philippine Conference, took Pastor Mike Brown and me to visit pastors and churches around the greater Manila area.

Our day ended in Sucat Paranaque, a Manila slum area where Pastor Noel Bartolata, his wife and six children have been serving for 19 years. The church, along with all other homes and shelters, is built on squatter’s land. The neighborhood is a maze of alley ways and stairways. Cooking is done over small fires and families sleep together in the same bed or on floors. Yet Pastor Noel and his family wouldn’t think of leaving their community.

If you saw these smiles each day, you may not want to leave either.