Well, it is presently just before midnight in the Philippines, and we are all packed up ready to come home. There have been a lot of sappy moments around the roof-deck here at Pastoral Training of Asia! Truly we will miss the staff here, and the great love and support that Pastor Jeff and Jaime Martin have shown us. We have all grown to love them.

I want to take a minute to recap our last ministry day which was yesterday (Saturday). We spent the full day up in Calo, a mountain village nearby, doing a medical outreach. A medical outreach is where we take doctors, nurses, and medicine to a poor village that is in need of health care, and we provide it for free. These villages are comprised of primarily indigent people, that are not able to receive any medical care. It is the "true village living" here in the Philippines.

I am attaching three pictures of just different people I photographed. There is no special reason or rhyme for these pictures, I just like them. The one of the crowd is of the people of Calo starting their registration process. I heard a count of approximately 250 people from this village were seen for medical help that day!

My most impacting story of the day cannot come with pictures, because we didn't take any. You will understand shortly. I predominantly assisted with the tribal/cultural rite called "Tuli". Every boy must have "tuli" by the time he is 14, or he will be ostracized from his people group. "Tuli" is Cebuano for circumcision. And, yes, I said circumcision!

This is not the sterile, surgical procedure you may be accustomed to in the United States. This is a local anesthetic (which I will not explain in detail, but I cringe just thinking about it) and then a series of cuts and stitches. The young boys come in bravely, five at a time, and laid on a wooden table covered with a plastic table cloth. From there I won't go into detail, but I felt much compassion for these young boys. They all ranged from 8-12 years old.

So, one boy who was very young, came to get tuli done, and possibly the pain medicine wore off, or possibly the sight of his friends "tuli process" was too much to see (as they are all laying next to each other at the same time) but he couldn't continue. The problem was, he was already 50 percent into the process. What was left was stitching only (did I just say stitching only???) but he didn't want to continue. I had to physically hold him down while he screamed out to his mother, but it was for his own good. He needed to be stitched. Just the same, it was very difficult.

I learned a little bit about how it must be for God to allow us to suffer through things that we need. The love God must feel as we struggle in pain! I hated seeing this young man hurt, but he had to endure it so that he could heal properly.

Well, that is it for me. I hope to get a couple hours of sleep, and then on a plane to Manilla.

I love you all, and thank you for your prayers. I will ask the team to begin emailing me stories after we get home. That way they can add stories and pictures of their own. Also, that will allow anyone reading to continue on for a while.

Blessings,
Jeff Ludington