Mindanao is paradise, no really it is. From the minute we got of the plane all 12 of us were thrilled. The air is cool and fresh (Manila is a sweatbox an oily face sweatbox) and there were these fabulous huge green mountains everywhere. In fact I am so in my happy place with the amount of green there is on this island. GREEN EVERYWHERE. It’s breathtaking how beautiful Mindanao is. What kills me are the shacks that line the streets. In order to see the beauty of the land you have to look past the shacks. It’s easy to do which is sad, and I need to look in order to remember the reason we are here.
We have helped with the construction of a children’s home. The vision behind this project is beautiful. They hope to house 100 orphans and have volunteers come and mentor small groups I am totally digging construction. I mean it is such a fulfilling job. You pour sweat, have achy muscles, get filthy, and then sleep like a baby. It’s excellent. The building is in its early stages and we have spent 2 days shoveling and moving dirt and cement blocks. I intend to have some seriously defined arms when I leave!
Sunday was incredible. We went to a Filipino church, and surprisingly the sermon was in English. It was about the joy of serving together in harmony; a perfect message for us to hear. Also a little boy sang at the end, and I about died at how cute he was. He was a terrible singer and yet still adorable! Loved it! After church we toured the countryside, and then went to these springs in the mountains to swim. When it started to pour down rain a few of us went out to do cartwheels in the rain, which turned, into a slippery wild game of tag with some local kids who thought we were interesting. We played all sorts of games with the kids for like an hour. I was in heaven! ☺
My team is just blessing my heart. We continue to pray together every morning and debrief every night. Kyla, Dan. Patrick, Sarah, and Helen are starting to occupy a sweet place in my heart, and the more I get to know them the more I consider them family. We seek the spirit together and laugh constantly and really are striving to figure out this community thing. So far it’s golden.
Ephesians is still my favorite book. I can’t stop reading it, and taking it to heart. Honestly, all the secrets to the good life are contained in it.
Random facts: We eat rice and bananas with every meal. We take some SERIOUSLY cold showers, you cant help but scream. (But Hersson sometimes I take 2 a day, you would be so proud!)The Filipinos are the most hospitable sweet people I have ever met. There are 2 ladies that wash our clothes every day (I know, spoiled). You can’t flush toilet paper, so that’s fun. After dinner on Sunday a HUGE rat fell from the ceiling right near our table (oh yeah mom, I thought of you).
It’s tooo painfully slow to post pictures, I’ll add some if we ever get a little bit speedier internet!
