We are in Malaysia right now and I'm going to hopefully have a post up soon about some of what we are doing here but before I get to that I'd like to give a quick roundup of some of the things I learned and enjoyed most about the Philippines. Special thanks to my friend Kaitlyn Ramon for giving me some great questions to think about for each country I visit. (Also I had really sweet photos for each of these but I can't upload them so if you want to check out the photos you'll need to check out my Facebook Album, sorry!)
1. The best thing I ate was chicken and pork Adobo from Barbara's, a restaurant in the Intramuros section of Manila. It was delicious. Adobo is sauce that they marinate different meats in here and it is amazing. While I'm on the topic if anyone tries to offer you bulalo run away. You don't want it, trust me.
2. My favorite moments in this country were getting to play and love the children that we encountered with my team. We spent less than three weeks in the Philippines but being able to build relationships with these kids has been great. I'm going the miss them a ton!
3. I see God at work here through a lot of the children that we encountered. We worked at an orphanage and there was so much joy in the kids despite the circumstances. We had the opportunity to go to different poorer neighborhoods in the city and provide food for the children in the area. One day some of the kids from the orphanage were able to come along with us and it was so great to be able to have these orphans want to serve alongside us. Seeing the way God is working through these kids is amazing. Their willingness to serve others, their joy, the way they would just break out in worship at any moment was so inspiring me to me and another reminder of how good the Lord is and how much he cares for all of us.
4. The same God we worship in Nashville/Auburn is the same God in the Philippines. Something new I learned about Him was that He really is big enough to handle every issue that I may have and that I can really trust Him in every area of my life. I've heard these things my entire life and if you had asked me that at any other time I would probably have answered the same. Something happened in the Philippines though, where these things really became true to me, not just intellectually but in my heart!
5. If a friend travels here they must visit Taal Volcano. It's an active volcano located in Tagatay City. If you visit you have the option to go inside the crater of the volcano or just go to the top and look out. Definitely go to the top and don't try to go into the crater. It's a whole lot cheaper to go to the top, you get a much better view, and it's not that special to go to a hot spring inside the volcano when the country is already incredibly hot, just sayin.
