 MURDERED
BY A MOSQUITO
In her little blue
uniform with red and white detail, and pink ribbons dangling in her hair,
5 year old Angelica pulled her little brother down from his climbing up
the school flagpole. That was on Friday. On Sunday, the Dotollo family did
not show up for church. Their little girl had a fever. On Monday, we
pulled away the colored sheet from Angelica’s lifeless face in an
open-air morgue.
One of the 39 poor
sponsored children in our kinderschool, Angelica had traveled with her
parents to visit relatives in a distant swampy area. Their pedicycle capsized, and an
aimless mosquito chose this little girl’s arm to bite. Dengue fever was
the result. She died in the hospital, a few hours after midnight.
The flag hung at
half-mast on the school flagpole, and now Angelica’s little brother has
no big sister to keep him from climbing it.
"SUPER PHIL"
Pastor Paul, this is Ate Mona in Manila. Your visa is
about to expire, and we need authorization papers from the USA for its
renewal. We need them in two weeks,
with red documentary ribbons attached!”
As president of Paul
M. Barner Ministries Inc., I quickly contacted many prayer warriors around
the world to pray, and then created all the documents and express mailed
them to my brother Bud in New York. Yet since the consulate there is four
hours away in Manhattan, Bud express mailed them to my brother Phil in
Chicago
.
At the consulate
there, Phil had a lesson in government red tape. With only one week left
until the deadline, the consulate said, “Even though Paul is in the
Philippines, he has to have his signature notarized by a Notary Public in
Missouri. Then the County Clerk has to authorize the Notary’s signature,
and the Secretary of State must approve the authorization of the
notarization...all in one week!
Meanwhile, I visited the barangay captain here in
Davao for my regular clearance letter. The secretary signed the form since
the captain was out of town. Suddenly an idea dawned on me. Why not have
Phil sign?
So I emailed to Phil a revision of the wording of the
papers, listing Phil’s official position as voluntary “Board Member of
International Affairs”.
The paperwork, complete “with red documentary
ribbons attached” arrived a few days later in Manila. It took many
visits to the consulate for Phil, but our “Super God” used “Super
Phil” to go above and beyond the call of duty and accomplish the
impossible. Praise God!
 WALKING ON AIR
Riding the jeepney (Philippine open-air minibus)
downtown to teach my college class in Revelation, perhaps the passengers
were wondering why I had such a happy smile on my face.
Our kinderschool had just received an A+ on our
surprise government inspection. The inspector exclaimed cheerfully, “I’ve
visited many schools in Davao, and your is by far one of the very best!”
This inspection was rescheduled from last year because of the timing for
our ˝ year furlough. Yet word only came the afternoon before as to the
new inspection date.
The teachers were treated to a homemade pizza
dinner to celebrate.
ADULT EDUCATION
“The parents in the school are jealous that their kids know more about
computers that they do. Can we offer classes for them?”
Pastor Bong was concerned, so we had him develop
a curriculum for adults, in the basics of computer. Yet the interest is so
great that we are planning other classes and seminars as well, in Bible,
literature, safety, etc. |
