After Two days of travel which entitles;
A 6 hour drive (including a flat tired detour)
A 4 hour flight to Singapore (with a 2 hour time change -back)
A 2 hour delay in-between flights
A 45 minute flight to Malaysia
Another 3 hour wait (which was our sleep time 3am-6am)
Then a 4 hour flight to Philippines
and a 3 hour drive to Manila.
We arrived to our final destination in the Philippines!!!! (This
is where we stay for the rest of the month)
I am absolutely thrilled
to be here. As soon as we got here, I felt something different, my spirit is
Happy! I cannot explain the feeling but everything about the Philippians I
love. I love the culture and the people already and it has only been a few
days. When we got here to YunJin Ministry Center the person in charge said you will fall in love with this place, but
you have to finish the race first, you cannot stay here. I thought he was reading my mind or something;
it is like an instant love for this place, community and culture.
Through the next month we will be
staying with three other teams (from N squad) and the entire other squad (M).
My team and I feel so blessed to be here. We each get a bed (which after two
months of no beds is huge), showers, purified water and meals prepared for us
(so a little break from the food preparation for me) it feels like we are in a
palace. We also have washer machines, a shelf of board games, rocking chairs,
couches and a bamboo bungalow (which is probably my favourite place to sit in (it
feels as if I am on the beach with a cool drink in hand).
We are on our last day of debrief
(which is a time for our whole squad to be rejuvenated and filled up, a time
for rest). We will soon split up and others will be sent out into other parts
of the Philippines.
The ministries we could be doing here
at the Ministry Center include:
24 hour prayer-rotating
throughout the time we are here
Planting
churches
Starting small groups within
the local churches
Roofing OR flooring in
homes
Working in jails
A
Feeding program in flood zone areas
Student tutoring
Children’s devotionals at
homes
Children’s nursery at
homes
Dental Clinic
Discipleship
Orphanage working
and also a variety of other ministries that have just been planted and need
assistance.
We live in the center and right
outside is an orphanage and a church, meaning kids are always running around
and wanting to know you and be loved.
Please be praying for us as we start are
ministries and continue to act in obedience to God.
Random thoughts:
-$1 US is 46 Pesos (which you can
buy a meal for 150P, real pearl earrings 80P, 7P to ride the bus and an hour massage is $100 P- just
to give you an example of how it works here)
– Emily Gilchrist (Squad N)got baptised today(2.26.10) which was her declaring freedom
from past struggles- it was a day of huge rejoicing- Please be praying for her
and praising God for a new season in her life.
– Also random thought from Australia (I forgot to mention), on our last day we
got to go to Beswick Falls and swim with the Crocodiles (do not worry it was
safe) and some of us cliff jumped- it was a day the Lord blessed us with.
Well many blessings and thank you
all for your prayers.
