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| Through the Eye of the Camera
by Lainey S. Cronk
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 Typical
PUC student's Christmas break agenda: drive home, sleep, shop to
the tunes of canned Christmas music, sleep, get together with family
for the holidays, sleep.
Christmas Break agenda for Adel, Paul, and Tim: fly to an island
in the Philippines and spend two weeks among the villagers and missionaries
in the mountains.
These three PUC students and digital video technology instructor
Lars Engeberg set out to capture on film the work being done by
several missionary families on the island of Mindoro. They made
the home of Jim and Moni Webb, of Laymen Ministries, their central
base and traveled extensively by boat or in jeepneys, visiting an
assortment of villages, prison complexes and a three-day missionary
seminar.
The group's main focus was filming the work being done in the small
villages and, through documentary videos, inspiring more people
to become involved in mission work.
Living and working among the native Filipinos, the Tagalog missionary
families start schools and churches, do medical work, teach about
the Bible, and establish agriculture projects that provide the people
with a source of food and enterprise. Their influence in the lives
of the villagers is striking.
"It was incredible to see the difference between the villages
without missionaries and those with," says Adel Arrabito, who
completed her A.S. nursing degree before going on the trip. She
said the people without Christian influence are convinced that there
are spirits in the ground, trees, flowers, etc. They are afraid
to dig in the ground, and thus they have no outhouses. Christianity
not only takes
away a lot of the fear these villagers experience, but it also makes
things far more sanitary! In the villages where missionaries have
taught, Adel was amazed at "how clean [the people] were, and
happy and accepting."
 Tim
De La Torre, sophomore digital video technology major, was also
struck by the contrast between villages. "We must have passed
by hundreds of villages that didn't have missionaries," he
says. "It's so simple - they need help and we can give it."
Regarding interactions with the missionaries, Paul Kim, junior digital
video technology major, speaks of the friendships formed with the
missionaries, even in a few days' time, and even with the cultural
difference. He attributes these friendships to "the Christian
brotherhood that breaks all cultural barriers."
Indeed, looking at the trip as a whole, Paul says that it was one
of those experiences that "remind you again what are the most
important things in life."
Tim also found that the trip gave him some new clarity of vision.
"It's one thing to hear and read the stories," he says.
"But it's another to see it personally." The experience
changed how Tim views missions. "I realize now that my time
means a lot more to the people than my money," he reflects.
"It's the people who care enough to stay and invest their time
that make a lasting difference in the lives of the natives."
The financial cost for the trip was considerable and Jeff Reich
of Laymen Ministries lent the PUC group money for the plane tickets.
The students are now raising funds to pay off the costs of the trip,
but Lars Engeberg isn't worried about his investment. "It's
great to send money, but even better - send a warm body," he
says.
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