!llusion: Mission Trip in Philippines ♬

On early 2011, the very year I became 20, I travelled to Philippines as a Mission Trip for 3 days with a few members of church of the time. It was the first and only time I have been to foreign country, until now. I spent 5 hours in the airplane where I felt a bit cold, and then, at the moment I opened the door of the airport, I could felt the muggy air covering my whole body.

After we sustained ourselves in McDonald’s, we went to San Jose village (I don’t remember exact name) together.

ㅡBright sunshine, cute houses, fresh green grass… beautiful.

There we met our missionary friends, though I had never met them before. Our destination was one of the slums in Philippines(I don’t remember the name of that slum, either…). Next day, we prepared to start our mission. One of the things we did was making the small packages of cookies, sweets, and chocolates, which were for the children of the slum.

ㅡWe made the small packages. The man standing at the center is a pastor of the church.

ㅡSomehow similar to ‘POLO’. It’s called ‘WhisOring’. Yes. You can whistle through them. J

Everything was done, so we went to the slum. On arriving there, I was shocked. All I could see was muddy and stinky narrow streets between the dirty old houses which have no lights inside. Some children were lying on the shabby billiard table as if they were on the bed. But they were smiling. They didn’t look sad at all. Pastor of the church explained me their smile. He said,

“They are all Catholic. They believe in God but they are lazy. Though they are poor, they don’t try hard to earn much money. They are looking satisfied because they are always smiling, but sometimes it is not that good for them.”

I was confused. I couldn’t understand them completely, but simply I liked their smile. Anyway, we began to do our job. We prayed for them, disinfected the streets, and handed out the small packages to children. Children came in flocks shouting “one more!”, though we couldn’t give them anymore.

ㅡI liked their smile.

ㅡSome children were lying on the shabby billiard table as if they are on the bed.

The rest of the days were free. Until we got on the airplane, we enjoyed our time eating fruits, looking around the stores, and playing soccer. All of them were the happy moments of my life.