I am having such a great time here. It feels so good to be back here with familiar people and in familiar places. I recognized so many kids, parents, pastors and church members in Cebu and Palawan. Our VBSs have been a huge hit. The kids love our stories, songs, and games. We've even picked up a game and a couple songs from the kids that we love. That helps b/c then we don't have to explain new things.
In Cebu we went to the Visayan Wesleyan Bible College and did 2 VBSs there. I think that was our teams' fav place because we really bonded to the kids there. My favs were a little 4 yr old boy and a handful of 5 & 6 yr old boys - Dil John, Icho (Jeircho), Luto, Jeremy, BJ, Fransis (from last year), Ezekiel and Stephen. And then there was Hannah. The next day we painted the administration building there. Eveytime we paint they let us pick the color - we've done red, blue, and this time pink. It was a lot of fun. I am totally a fan of doing some manual work to leave a physical mark after we leave. We took a lunch break ~ district pastors fixed us food. All my fav kids hung around and watched us paint; they just peered throught the windows. They also watched us while we ate, which i hated b/c i knew they were hungry. Joel told me later that the pastors gave them the leftovers, which made me feel better. Then later that night the team went back to play bball against the bible college students (we creamed them both games). I played with my fav little kids the whole time. It was impromptu but a highlight of my trip. When it was time to go i felt really sick. By the time we got back to where we were staying i'd gotten sick twice. I'm blaming the food b/c it was real sketch that day.
Anyways, in Palawan we went to the Underground river. I didn't do that last year because i was sick. It was absolutly amazing. We went 4.3 km through a river in boat that travels through a cave of a mountain. Our tour guide would point to stalagtites and mites and say what they were - like the Holy mother mary, the face of jesus, a shark's fin, a scene from the Lion king (that one was legit!), a sexy lady, two men hanging upside-down, and so forth. In the waiting zone there were lots of wild monkeys and monitor lizzards (huge - like 3 foot long). It was crazy. The next day we went island hopping. It wasn't as pretty as last year - I think the typhoons in September must have done some damage. But i would still rate it as a 10 on a 10 point scale. I just love the water - especially when i'm swimming with Nemo and Dorey! We also went to a private island with a diving board. The water was perfect. It was semi-cloudy that day, which was nice b/c no one really got burnt. But, we still are getting darker! :)
Anyways, my team leaves tomorrow. It is going to be sad - I may consider crying. Joel is really supportive and encouraging to me, and i feel safe with him... so that's great. I am really excited for my internship too, so i will keep busy and probably not be too lonely. Joel got me a phone too so i can text all my friends here. I've made so many good relationships with the youth and young adults here ~ our van driver in Palawan, lots of youth/youth leaders in Manila, and closer to Richard and of course Joel. We will be hanging out with them later today before out last debrief time. Pray that this is a very special time - as a team leader i've felt a lot of responsibility to make sure everything is perfect, especially on the spiritual side of things. There hasn't been team quarreling or major attitude problems, but that doesn't its always been easy to fous 100% on Christ and his call for us here. But, i'm super proud of my team and think they've done great.
I'll get in touch again soon. I'm going back to bed. I woke up to take the first good poop i've had in 3 weeks. I felt so happy i thought i'd reward myself with some internet time :)
Love to everyone at home! I miss you guys!
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