Kuya Erwin's Blog: Hope Angeles

http://hopeangeles.com

Hope Angeles

Kuya Erwin is back again on the web. Sorry guys if I haven't been posting on here. This will be the blog site for Hope Angeles. It is a church planting project in cooperation with Converge Worldwide, Baptist General Conference and United International Christian Church in Detroit, MI.

I'll post more information soon.

Back in the Day!!!

TO ALL PINOY KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE 50's, 60's, 70's and early 80's!

First, some of us survived being born to mothers who did not have an OB-Gyne, smoked and/or drank San Miguel Beer or Syoktong, while they carried us. Themanghihilot was the cheapest way to deliver babies. Dinala ka ba ng nanay mo sa pediatrician for DPT? While pregnant, they took cold or cough medicine, cortal or medicol, ate isaw, and didn't worry about diabetes or cervical cancer.

Then after all that trauma, our baby cribs were made of hard wood covered with lead-based paints, pati na yung walker (andador)natin, matigas na kahoy or rattan at wala pang gulong.

We had no soft cushy cribs that play music, no disposable diapers (lampin lang), ( noon cloth or rattan duyan lang tied to the posts or ceiling, babies fell asleep sa sobrang hilo )and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, no kneepads, sometimes wala pang preno yung bisikleta.

Take-out food was limited to Ongpin's pansit or Aling Toyangs pre-cooked ulam in kalderos. No pizza shops, McDonalds, KFC, Subway, Jollibee; and, coffee was just kape hinde ga-mahal as in Starbucks.
As children, we would ride in jeepneys libre pag kandong,hot un-airconditioned buses with wooden seats(yung JD bus na pula), or cars with no airconditioning & no seat belts (ngayon lahat may aircon na)

Riding on the back of a carabao on a breezy summer day was considered a treat. (ngayon hindi na nakakakita ng kalabaw ang mga bata) Did you make your own saranggola and pasted bubog on the strings?

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle purchased from 711(minsan straight from the faucet or poso)walang 711 noon, sari-sari store ni Mang Akong to buy sarsi, suntan, RC cola or choco-vim.

We shared one soft drink bottle with four of our friends, and NO ONE actually died from this or contracted hepatitis.

We ate rice with star margarine, pampatangkad daw, took raw eggs straight from the shell, and drank softdrinks with real sugar in it (hindi diet coke), but we weren't sick or overweight kasi nga......

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, and get back when the streetlights came on. Sarap mag patintero, tumbang preso, habulan at taguan.Tandaan mo ba PIKO, step-no-step- yes, trumpo, garter & mala-ahas sa haba na goma? Kung naulan, jackstones, pick-up sticks or sungka, bahay-bahayan, tinda-tindahan, titser-teacher- an or swimming sa baha or kangkungan.

No one was able to reach us all day (di uso ang cellphone, walang beepers). And yes, we were O.K.. Sipol lang ni tatay ang meron noon!

We would spend hours building our wooden trolleys (yung bearing ang gulong) or plywood slides out of scraps and then ride down thestreet, only to find out we forgot the brakes! After hitting the sidewalk or falling into a canal (sewage channel) a few times, we learned to solve the problem ourselves with our bare & dirty hands.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 100 channels on cable, no DVD movies, no surround stereo, no IPOD's, no cellphones, no computers, no Internet, no chat rooms, and no Friendsters, Facebook. MSN etc. ....... ...WE HAD REAL FRIENDS and we went outside to actually talk and play with them!TV viewing was a treat, kilala mo ba si Popeye, Gumby, Betty Boop & followed the bouncing ball in Melody Tunes? That was karaoke then, LOL!

We climbed walls and trees (to get aratiles and catch salagubang & tutubi - tied them on the neck with a string), fell out of trees, got cut or "bukol", broke bones and teeth and there were no stupid lawsuits from these accidents. The only rubbing we get is from our friends with the words..masakit ba ? pero pag galit yung kalaro mo,,,,ang sasabihin sa iyo..beh buti nga !

We played marbles (jolens) in the dirt , washed our hands just a little and ate dirty ice cream, fish balls & inihaw na baga. We were not afraid of getting sick or germs in our stomachs.

We had to live with homemade guns, gawa sa kahoy, tinali ng rubberband , sumpit , tirador at kung ano ano pa na puedeng makasakitan, pero masaya pa rin ang lahat. We made up games with sticks (syatong), and cans (tumbang preso) and although we were told they were dangerous, wala naman tayong binulag o napatay... paminsan minsan may nabubukulan lang.

We walked a lot, rode bikes, or took tricycles to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them to jump out the window!

Mini basketball teams had tryouts and not everyone made to the team. Those who didn't pass had to learn to deal with the disappointment.Wala iyang mga childhood depression at damaged self esteem ek-ek na yan. Ang pikon, talo.

Ang magulang ay nandoon lang para tingnan kung ayos lang ang mga bata, hindi para makialam at makipag-away sa ibang parents.

That generation of ours has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers, creative thinkers and successful professionals ever! They are the CEO's, Engineers, Doctors and Military Generals of today.

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had failure, success, and responsibility. We learned from our mistakes the hard way.

You might want to share this with others who've had the luck to grow up as real kids. We were lucky indeed.

And if you like, forward it to your kids too, so they will know how brave their parents were.

PS - The big letters are because your eyes may not be able to read this if they were typed any smaller (at your age!)

While I'm Waiting

Every Thursday my wife and I go to a growth group at GCF. One particular Thursday was different. Pastor Arnold and Tita Flordz showed us a movie called "Fireproof" which stars Kirk Cameron (Growing Pains). Quite honestly when they told us they were going to show us a Christian movie, I was a bit skeptical because 99% of them (with the exception of "Facing the Giants") is not very well made and B-Rated. As soon as the movie started, I was hooked. I highly recommend this movie.

One song they played in the movie made me teary eyed. Its lyrics (not the premise of the movie he he) reflect where my wife and I are at. We are waiting on the Lord...for direction, for my sister's healing and for my parents' financial freedom. 

I want to share this song with you guys.

My wife, the movie actress

So I'm sitting at home putting Zoe to sleep and I'm channel surfing. Right on cue I see my wife Blessing on Cinema One in a movie called "Labs Kita: Okey Ka Lang" with Jolina.

Everytime I ask her about her short lived modeling and movie career she avoids the subject and changes the topic. Finally I can put it to rest as I watch my beautiful wife on tv.

It's just funny how I always wanted to date a movie actress (a billion men out there most likely dreams this too). God does give you the desires of your heart, including the silly ones he he he.

Finally back in cyber space

Sorry guys. Kuya Erwin has been crazy busy with Zoe, getting the radio show together and helping GCF Baguio with their youth group. But I'm back and will write once again with the same Kuya Erwin passion.

Thank God for hi-tech phones he he he.

Back from Boracay and lessons learned

Right after the Life Changers event in Baguio, Blessing, Zoe and I decided we needed to get out of the city and head towards sunny Boracay for a well-earned and overdue vacation. For my American friends, Boracay is an island off the coast of Aklan which is right in the middle of the Philippines. 

The trip from Baguio City was a six (6) hour bus ride to Manila. Then, another hour from Manila towards the airport. An hour by plane to Aklan. And finally, about 30 minutes from Aklan to Boracay by boat. YES! It was one long journey but we made it.

When we arrived (around 4pm), my buddy Peter (homie from Los Angeles) met us there. He's been living in Boracay since December 24 and has been bumming around the beach ever since. We dropped our bags at the hotel, changed to beach clothes and hit the ocean right away (we mountain people don't see the ocean often he he).

Here are a few things I learned from being in Boracay:

1. You can get "ALL YOU CAN EAT LOBSTER DINNERS" for 200php each.

2. You don't have to stay in a nice hotel to have a blast in Boracay. You're barely in your room anyway.

3. Sunblock doesn't really work for me. I have a tan 24/7 and my color did not change with or without sunblock.

4. You can easily spot a tourist in Boracay...look in the mirror.

5. If you're a tourist from another country and want to learn Philippine culture, DO NOT GO TO BORACAY! It's definitely the wrong place to get some culture. 

On a more serious note, while we were there, God painted the most awesome sunsets for us. I know what He was doing. My God, Savior, Lord and Creator of all the worlds was showing off His glory and splendor and telling me, "Erwin, look at the things that you can do. Now look at what I can do. You can merely do things that are insignificant by yourself. Yet, I can turn that insignificant thing into a magnificent work of art if you stick with Me." Looking at those sunsets and seeing how insignificant I am made me realize whatever talents and skills I possess, they do not mean squat. It is God who uses my skills and talents not for my glory, but for His glory and that an insignificant guy like me can be used in an awesome way by a God who sees me as significant.