Making Friends

The brown ones are tamarinds. Don't judge them by their shell. I was nervous getting them so i only got one, which i shared with Michael. But, i went up and got 2nds and 3rds later. You crack the shell and the fruit is inside. It still looks kinda gross - but its so good! It kinda has the texture of a raisen - only its like a bunch of raisens connected in a string, and they have pits inside. I'm hoping to bring some home with me (don't worry, i've got my tactics to avoid customs!)

You can see the coorful array of fruit looks similar to home (watermelon, bananas, oranges, and apples) but they're much better here - perfectly ripe :) Also, you can see above the watermelon are lychi. You peel them and inside its kinda like a big grape with a big pit inside. Its so so so good!

Hey! Today was an awesome day. It was really laid back, which is perfect for me since i'm still fighting a growing head cold. Its okay though :) Joel and I were at the airport very late last nigt picking up Jim Lo and Joe Ruder. They were over 1 hour late b/c one of them lost their paperwork...

We went out for pancakes at Jollibee this morning and then went to church. It was the team's first Jeepney experience - they enjoyed it! Then we went to Joel's church and had a graduation ceremony for the VBS kids. We gave them certificates (and more snacks) and then they sang the songs and did a story summary for their parents. Not many parents were there because the kids were Jeepnied (idk if that's a word, haha) in. At the end my fav little boy Joshua just cried & cried b/c it was the last VBS and he probably won't see us again. He was a tough cookie so it meant a lot that he cried. Then during the service 2 team members shared their testimonies. Lots of the church members remember me from last year but i don't know their names. That's been happening a lot, haha.

This afternoon Joel's church had a missions awareness festival. They had lots of fresh fruit & vegetables. My favorites are tamarinds and lychi =D All the local churches were invited and i think about 7-9 came and there were around 100 ppl. It also served as a fundraiser for the church b/c everyone paid 150 pesos (around $3.25). I got to meet a lot of friends that i have been talking to on facebook - Mark Pappey and Francis Lumahan. I sat down and talked with them and another pastor Mark for almost 2 hours. It was awesome. They taught me some tagalog phrases and we talked a lot about our ministries, families, and my impressions of the Philippines. I just love building relationships and i'm thankful for facebook so those friendships can last. I also met Pastor Aldean and youth from his church. They are a fun group of people and I can't wait to get to know them more! My team has really connected with the youth. They had a great time of playing games and learning dances (ocho ocho and spaghetti).

Tomorow we are going to the mall to hang out with the local church youth that we have been partnering with. The NCD youth leaders have become special people to me: Aldean, Micah, Ronald, and others... Leah, Grace, MJ, Marc, Robin, and Denis. I am excited to go to my favorite restaraunt in the mall - Holy Cow :) It will be a good time of fellowship with friends. Tomorrow is also the election (presidential and the first automated election).

Puga puga! The youth played a little trick on us and this was the outcome... Pastora MJ also got in on the action since it'd never been done to her before. I'd tell you about it but then i wouldn't be able to pull it on you later ;) Pastor Tony, we'll have to do this at the next youth activity!

Keep praying for us. I'll try to keep everyone updated!