A Typical Masantol Teen

Masantol is home for both teens, Andrew and Michael. The streets of their town are probably typical of many smaller communities in the Philippine Islands. I’ve found them to be busy from pre dawn morning till early evening. On weekends many of the people I’ve observed are of the younger generation. It seems many families are dependent on self initiated businesses to stay alive. Of these storefronts are quite common. These are typically a three sided cinder block structure, with the open end having some sort of makeshift canopy roof extension towards the street. Some are only created of discarded wood planks and corrugated metal. The products may vary but are typically displayed on some sort of counter in the opening. Possibly the most typical would be a snack food product, drink or fruit. Often I’ve observed the youth running the storefronts, or assisting someone else from the family. Another business teens are heavily involved in is transportation. This is provided by tricycles (equipped with rear bench seats) or motor bikes with side-carts. There are hundreds of these along the street everywhere, each with drivers hoping to provide a ride and earn 20 or so pesos. Some youth who are not working, may be found circled with others tossing coins to the ground. With poverty so prevalent even a few pesos can seem like a lot.
Andrew and Michael are also from poor families. Other than this they are probably not typical. Andrew Santiago is fourteen and has one brother and one sister. Michael Lugtu (also fourteen) has two brothers and one sister. What sets their lives apart from the norm is that they both love Jesus. They regularly help out at church gatherings. Setting up before people arrive and cleaning up afterwards is what they do as normal.
Along with more than a dozen other teens they showed up for youth meeting on Friday night. For me this was the highlight of the week. Probably because they were all so hungry for the Word. We talked about David as a teen. We shared how God chose him, based on his heart, to be king. His heart was committed to serve God. Challenged by David’s example several of the teens expressed their desire to surrender more of their heart to serving God. Pray that more Andrews and Michaels will be reached on the streets of Masantol.