Patrick & Sherry Bailey
Medical
Two day of the week we supply the medicines, two filipino nurses, and a young woman who graduated from an American run Bible school here in the Philippines to a Medical Clinic in the area of Davao. The nurses conduct door-to-door visits in the Bajao area two days of the week.
We conduct medical outreaches every two months in villages about 5hrs outside of Davao.
Bajao
The Bajao are a unique tribe in the Philippines. they are known as “sea gypsies” due to their recent past of living on boats on the ocean and traveling from place to place in those boats. They are considered social lepers. No one wants them and very few local churches want to help them. They live on the margin of society in bamboo huts over the edge of the ocean or back bay of most of the major cities in the islands in the middle and south of the philippine archipelago, which has 900 islands with people living on them. The water belo is their bathroom and trash barrel. The men try to sell pearls and the women try to sell used clothing.
In addition to the nurses conductin door-to-door medical visits, Shari and I conduct weekly discipleship training for the Bajao pastor and his wife. One of our staff started a preschool in the Bajao village, which has 65 kids in two locations. Twenty-one Bajao kids are now in the public school system in grades 1 through 3. This year we may graduate up to 22 kids into the 1st grade.
Our staff started, conducted and now have turned over the youth fellowship in the Bajao community. The Bajao who is taking over the youth is the Bajao pastor’s son. He and his wife graduated from our Oral Bible school and are now running the youth fellowship with our staff observing and coaching.
Oral Bible School
Many tribal members cannot read or write but want to study the Bible, learn how to share the Gospel, and plant churches. The Bible school instructor uses “Simply The Story” oral inductive Bible storytelling technique to teach the Bible. The students learn the Bible and how to teach it through stories for oral learners. Some classes are taught in lecture form and an oral test is given at the end of each week. Nine students graduated from the Oral Bible School in January 2010.
Because we feel it is so important for pastors to be able to support themselves, without being financially dependent on foreigners, we are teaching all students in the Oral Bible School to Do FAITH (Food Always In The Home) gardening to feed themselves and their families. We are also teaching them livelihood skills, like construction and welding, so that they can provide for their families. when they graduate.
Future Plans
We found a piece of property that we could move the entire ministry onto, so we could stop paying rent and make much of the ministry self-supporting. It has a river, to provide water for irrigation and enough land to grow rice and vegtables to feed the staff. there is enough land for chickens and goats, so the money from the sale of eggs and goat meat should help offset the cost of most of the groceries. WE ARE PRAYING THAT GOD PROVIDES THE MONEY FOR THIS LAND.
Thank you for keeping us in your prayers!!!