What a busy week!

This week has been very eventful.  On Thursday, I went to Fontana, a resort in Clark, Philippines, for a youth Sunday school class retreat.  I was a "counselor" though I pretty much just hung out with Allison, one of the leaders.  We went to a water park within the resort, though I didn't play in the water.  Allison and I had to watch the kids and their belongings.  We had a good time talking and taking goofy pictures though.  I spent the night at the resort on Thursday night, and it was so wonderful.  I had my own air-conditioned room with a queen-sized bed and a hot shower!  I left earlier than the kids because I needed to be back to church for the TGIF ministry at McDonald's (for young professionals).  This was the fourth time of the meeting and the attendance was at 70+ people!  It has been growing so much, we're going to have to transfer to a bigger McDonald's.  

On Saturday, I went on a field trip with to La Mesa Ecopark, a beautiful park right outside of Manila.  To get there, I rode a jeepnie, which is the main source of public transportation.  I sat up front with one of the Shelter boys, which was good because the back was packed like sardines.  On the jeepnie, there were the 12 boys, two adult leaders, about 7 Compassion Kids, and myself!  This park is so beautiful.  I didn't know what to expect at all, but I really like it.  There are walking trails, ponds, a big hill with 115 steps built into it (that you can climb to see the view), climbing ropes, a playground, huts that you can rent to have a party, and food stands.  It rained the whole time, but we still had a good time.  Several of the boys, one little girl, and I went walking around with umbrellas.  We eventually went underneath a building because the rain got so hard.  Everyone else was there too, so we ate lunch (which we brought with us).  Then we all went walking some more.  We were at the park from 10 until 2:45.  

When we got back, I attended my first dance practice.   The teacher is a member of SBCC, and I think he just graduated college.  He is really talented, not just as a dancer but as a teacher.  The rest of the class already knew the dance, so I was a bit behind.  By the end, though, I had learned all of it.  I still need to practice it, and I'm forgetting some parts at the end.  The dance is hip hop and it's to a song by Mary Mary.  I like it a lot, because the choreography is really creative.  I was so tired after practice, because it was a really good workout.   

Yesterday morning, I went to the Tagalog worship service, because I wanted to experience this service at least once.  Then I went to the English service, which I enjoyed, especially the music.   After the service, we could buy items made by mothers of the Compassion Children (a creative way for them to earn money).  They make stuff like food and jewelry.  I tried a fish ball and a squid ball, which are both yummy.  Then I went to Chow King, a very popular Chinese fastfood, with some of the youth.  (When I say youth, I'm talking about guys and girls aged 16 to about 30.)   When we came back, we had a youth worship service.  I don't know how often they have those, but I know they aren't every Sunday.  I enjoyed it, but it lasted nearly 3 hours!  I was too tired to sing by the end, especially since I had already gone to two services earlier in the day.  I hung out with the youth for several hours afterwards.  They couldn't go home yet because it was raining and the streets were flooded.  During that time, I tried grilled chicken intestines dipped in vinegar, which was actually tasty.  

Today is the first day of the fiscal year, so the high school boys are at school today.  The rest of the boys will start school in a few days. I've enjoyed eating meals and spending time with them, so I'm already missing them!  I'll be able to see them at night though.  I think they're playing a game of basketball that I can watch when they come home.

Yesterday was an interesting day. I was one of 12 witnesses in a wedding! The wedding was held in Pastor Dave's office, because the groom is from Nigeria and he needs to renew his visa. He has to go back to Nigeria to do this, so first he and his bride (a Filipina) wanted to get married. They'll have a regular ceremony when they get back. I was surprised to see how much it was like an American wedding. All of the vows and other ceremonial things were exactly the same. We ate spaghetti (they attempt to make it "italian" but it is not Italian at all. I think it's made with ketchup and hot dogs, and there's no italian spices-it's good though!), fried chicken, and cake. I felt kind of strange watching the wedding, because I don't know either the bride or the groom. But I enjoyed it and was glad that I could participate. After that, I watched the boys play some basketball. I brought my camera with me and gave it to Ate Wen's son (who is eleven, though he looks younger). He and the other boys had a ball taking pictures. I laughed so hard! I can't wait to put them on Facebook. Did you see the pics I put up last night? I discovered that my laptop had about 45 minutes of juice left, so I was able to upload my pics. Well, after I left the boys, I went to a Bible study. It was good to see some familiar faces, because I went to Bible study last wee. I met some high school girls, who are very giggly and funny. The Bible study was about an hour, then we hung out (they brought the food out again, but I didn't eat any. They were surprised that I didn't want cake for a second time!). I did drink some Coke, so that was good. Well, today I am going to a high school youth retreat. I think it's held at a former US Navy base. We have to travel a couple of hours to get there so I'm leaving in just a few minutes.

Bible study with the boys

I know I already wrote a post this morning, but I want to write another. I attended a Bible study with the Shelter boys, and it was a lot of fun. Ate Gemima led it, though this one was her last Bible study. She's been leading them for many years, but she is stepping down so a young man, who wants to be a pastor, can take over. Ate Gemima is going to her home in Korea tomorrow, so I may not see her again. Well, the Bible study was really good because I got to know all 12 of the boys. They youngest is eleven and the oldest is twenty-one. They have all been in the Shelter for some time now, so the ages are higher than they use to be. Many of them entered the Shelter at age five. They each stood up, introduced their names, told me how old they are, what grade they are in, what are their hobbies, and ended by saying they were very happy to have me in the Philippines. They were all so very nervous! Ate Gemima explained a little bit of their backgrounds after they introduced themselves. Four of them don't know their birthdays. One boy's mother died after giving birth on the street, and her child died after it fell down the stairs. His father was drunk and ran away after that. One boy witnessed his step-father molesting his step-sister. One boy only ate one meal a day before he left for the streets. They are such sad stories, but the boys are very blessed to be where they are now. All 12 of them are Christians, praise God. They all go to school, though now they are on summer vacation until next week. After the introductions, we had a Bible reading in which the oldest read the verses for the day. I was able to close the meeting with prayer before our snack. I brought some Butterfingers from America and shared with them. We watched some TV while we ate. One boy who is seventeen, brought me his Bible and shared his favorite verses with him. We looked them up and I read them in English. I shared some verses with him as well. Then he taught me Tagalog, which I am so bad at. I need to buy a dictionary, so the words will stick in my head. He really wants to know English, and he said he was grateful to practice what he knows with me. We took a group picture, but since I can't use my laptop at the moment, I will have to upload that picture later.

I had a very exciting/semi-adventurous weekend. Let's see . . . Friday night, I went to McDonald's for a ministry that the church has for young professionals. We went into the conference room and listened to Pastor John (not from SBCC) speak about prosperity and why God desires it for us. When he spoke in English, I enjoyed it (he also had an English handout).

I think I'm going on a youth retreat with the high school Sunday school class this weekend. It's going to be at a former US navy base that's been converted to a resort (I think). It's from Thursday through Saturday, maybe. They have so many activities here! But I've really been enjoying them. They've helped me stay busy and not get lonely.

Okay, back to the weekend story. On Sat morning, I woke up at 4:15 and we loaded the van at 5:30, for our trip to the mountains. The trip was seven hours, and it was really nice to see the country side. I saw a volcano, rice fields, mountain ranges, water buffalo, and goats. We passed through several towns that were very crowded with tricycles, or mopeds with a side cart. I also talked to Ate Gemima for a really long time. She's a missionary from Korea and we have made a good connection with each other. She's so sweet and compliments me much, much more than I deserve. Around 9:30 we bought steamed corn, so I ate three heads of corn for breakfast. We got to Ate Josie's house (she works at SBCC, but she has a separate house in the province) before lunch. We ate tupig, which is so far one of my favorites. It's steamed sticky rice mashed with coconut and brown sugar, wrapped in a banana leaf and grilled over a charcoal fire. For lunch, we ate in a bamboo hut (which is their dining room). I tried everything on the table, but I didn't ask what i ate until after I ate it. This is what i had: watermelon, steamed sweet potato greens, okra, eggplant, rice, bananas, shrimp/prawns, goat stew with carrots, goat intestines soup, and a goat intestines and skin mixture. Yes, I ate goat. It wasn't too bad, but the smell is really hard to handle. I didn't have the strength to finish the goat soup. We all took a siesta after lunch. I slept in the hut, because there was a nice breeze. It was so beautiful there, because we were up in the mountains, with God's creation surrounding us. It's so different from the city. Then, we went to the beach, which was only a 15 minute drive from the house. I waded in the water and talked to Ate Gemima. We watched the sun go down, which Pastor Dave took pictures. He's a very talented photographer, and he's won many prizes for his photos. When we got back to the house, we took showers and watched TV. Then we ate dinner on the front porch. I didn't try everything on the table this time. I ate a green papaya and chicken soup (very good), rice, roasted tuna, lemongrass tea, and mango (the best mango I've ever had). After dinner, I interviewed a young man who had previously been in the Shelter Kids Ministry. He has been living and working at Ate Josie's house for 10 years now. I think he's about 25ish. It's hard to tell because he is very small, even shorter than me, which, by the way is not that common here. Ate Gemima helped interpret. It was so wonderful hearing his story, especially since he is now a Christian and wants to serve the Lord. He was very nervous at first, though. I went to bed in a room with four other women. They let me have the single bed. In the morning, we got up early and ate breakfast together on their other front porch. I ate dried squid. We drove to SBCC's daughter church, who was having it's anniversary celebration. There were some familiar English praise songs, which I really enjoyed. They had a band of a guitar, base, and drums. They were very talented players. Pastor Dave gave the sermon, but it was in Tagalog. After the sermon, a group of young girls came up to me and they wanted to shake my hand. I am the first white person they've ever seen. They were so funny. They called me Barbie and touched my hair. I felt like a celebrity! It was very strange, and I didn't really know how to handle the attention. All of us from SBCC ate lunch inside the church while everyone else ate outside. Only guests can eat inside. We left the church at 2:30 and drove back to the church. We got to the church at 7:30. Today, I ate breakfast with the boys, which I really enjoyed. I was able to talk to one boy, who knew some English. He invited me to watch TV with them. I'm going to go to their Bible study at 1 pm. Ate Gemima and Ate Erna will lead that. I'm wanting to spend time with them so they get comfortable around me. They're still very shy. I admit though, I'm shy around them too.

I have had so much fun so far, because I keep getting invited to social activities.  I went to a Bible study/birthday party/welcome party on Wednesday night, and last night, I went to another birthday party.  Filipinos know how to eat well.  They keep trying to feed me all the time!  But I'm enjoying trying all their foods.  I babysat yesterday morning, while the mothers had a Bible study/educational lecture on health.  I'm looking forward to this weekend, because I will be traveling to northern Philippines to SBCC's daughter church, who is celebrating an anniversary.  I will be leaving early tomorrow morning and come back Sunday night.  The daughter church is located in the mountains, and I look forward to seeing the landscape and feeling the cooler weather.  I think I may be going to McDonald's tonight for a young professional's meeting.  This is sort of a ministry that the church has, though I don't really know what the focus is.  So far, I have been kept very busy, but I've enjoyed my stay so much.  My hosts treat me like a princess, and everyone is so sweet and caring.  I've met many people, including many twenty-somethings.  I think I will make a lot of friends this summer.

This is a really neat website that I found.  Check it out and see pictures of some street children in Manila.  This is not completely up to date, but the photography is amazing.  

http://larrymonseratepiojo.multiply.com/photos/album/18/Seeing_Through_A_Child

I'm here!

I'm in Manila!  I left Monday morning and arrived last night at around midnight (Manila time).  Although I traveled for about 24 hours, it was very smooth and pleasant.  I would say that I actually enjoyed it.  It allowed me time to relax (especially on my 15 hour flight to Tokyo) and think.  I met several people on my flights, and they were very nice to me.  I have a little church and bathroom that is in the church building.  It is a very cute set-up, and I'm especially grateful to have internet access in the church building.  I slept in very late today-I almost slept through lunch!  I've unpacked a little, but I need to organize all my belongings.  I've met many people so far and have had a quick orientation.  Tonight, I plan on going to the prayer meeting, which is from 7 to 9:30.  So that's all for now.  I'm sure I'll have a lot more to say later this week.  I may even be traveling to northern Philippines to the mountains!  We'll have to see!  Stay tuned.

In less than a week, I will be on my way to Manila, Philippines.  I'm setting up this blog to keep everyone updated on my internship there.  Right now, I'm trying to get over an awful cold before my brother's wedding on Saturday.  Then, I will be flying out on Monday, the 18th.  I should arrive in Manila Tuesday night.  I think for the first week, I'll just be getting used to the culture, meeting new people, and learning my way around the city.