This last weekend was the commemoration and it went by in a blur. Everything we have been helping to prepare for the entire month came and went in a flash. We completed most of the construction on Monday and spent the remainder of the week completing the finishing touches; we painted the typhoon yolanda wall of remembrance, painted a wall dedicated to the first responders and painted basketball lines on the new court.
Saturday morning began with a sunrise service on the beach to get in focus for the day and focus in on typhoon yolanda and the loss that it brought. The rest of the morning was busy, filled with preparing shanghai lumpias (like egg rolls yum), making decorations, folding programs, rolling cutlery, and really just running around doing whatever we could. Once the people started coming, I spent most of the afternoon face painting a long stream of kids, some balloon making, and then spent the evening boxing up meals for the guests. There was a service for the people and a dedication letting them know the Lighthouse is there for them. We ended up serving just over 1000 people — which must mean there were a lot of people.
In the evening they did a lantern lighting, pretty spectacular sight from the house (apparently a little more hectic where they were lighting them haha), and then fireworks yet a little later. The whole day was a big success and as Sir Jeff long said, it opened the door for the people of Tacloban to see and feel welcome at the Lighthouse, knowing it’s a place they can come to for help if they ever need it. I’m glad we could be at the Lighthouse during such a pivotal time, and be a part of building and painting things that will forever bless the future people at the lighthouse. It’s a cool feeling.
And now, as I am writing this, I am lying in bed inside of a rustic little hut ten steps from the ocean on an island called Sambawan. I can hear the waves out the open window and I will probably fall asleep to them. Our contacts brought us here for two nights as a little thank you vacation after all of the construction and chaos of everything. I don’t know how I am so lucky. Today definitely felt like a dream — riding a boat to the island, swimming in clear blue waters on a white sand beach while the sun was setting, watching the stars with my team, and having a bonfire with lightning on the horizon. I feel so blessed
