6/12/15

5/12/15

Blue team here! Sorry for the late blog, but the day was packed full of stuff, and it has only been now that we’ve gotten a chance to write.

We woke up around 7 and grabbed breakfast, meanwhile, a list was going around of electives of what people could do that day: construction, feeding or the children’s home. The feeding took place at an area called Angona, and the construction consisted of sanding/varnishing the newly made bunk beds and shovelling sand around to different places. This continued till noon, where we had lunch and had a short relax time. Then the real work began.

Miss Smoker split the team into groups of 5 or 6 and gave the different groups money to catch trikes and jeepneys to a local shopping centre where the team was given a different set of items to buy. These items were shampoo, soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, combs and brushes, and deodorant. The team had to buy 70 of each at the cheapest they could find them. Then the team bought spaghetti, zip lock bags, coffee and brown sugar. Then we came home and started packing the first set of items into 70 bags which we would then give to the Journey for Hope kids later that evening. Due to a miscounting, Smoker, Jos and Tyler had to go out and grab some extra items, along with buckets and rice. Meanwhile the rest of the team went back out to the children’s home and construction. The new items that were bought, was then packed into 17 different buckets that was going to to delivered to the families of the Journey kids personally by the team. Then after all the packing was done, the team loaded up in the cars and headed out to Journey for a movie and hang out night. The leaders on the way, bought pizza and roast chicken for dinner for the kids and the team. The room was absolutely packed with people – about 70 Journey kids plus our team of 34. We were all sitting on the floor watching ‘Gnomeo and Juliet’. The movie finished then out broke a massive dance party with the kids, and Miss Smoker throwing little jelly cups into the crowd for dessert. Then we gave the bags of cleaning products to the kids and left the building.

As we were heading home, lots of the team were pretty broken up because many of the goodbyes that were said that night were final. The car rides were the quietest they’ve ever been with such an active team, including one car who spent the trip home praying. On arrival to YMC, the leaders of Journey, Coach Jeff and Myles, along with some of the boys, brought over authentic Filipino street food for us to try. Some of the lovely food that they brought us was cooked chicken head, fried pork blood, pig liver. The strangest food we ate was balut and fried baby chicks. Then we finished and made the Journey guys eat Australia’s most disgusting and awful food… Tim Tam’s. After that horrific experience the team headed out to the pool and just hung out with the small group of Journey guys, and then had a debrief session and went to bed after midnight.

Simon: Hey muva, hope you’re doing well and I cant wait to get back and see you again. Try and keep the cuz’ awake for when I get back thanks J love you

Beth: Hey family! Enjoying and savouring every last moment I have here before I leave on Monday L But I’m looking forward to seeing you all again! Love you heaps.

P.S Give Chloe, Adam, Louie and Eliza huge hugs, kisses and love from me!

Today the whole team started off the morning with the opportunity for a sleep in! Our day started at 9 with a feeding at Tent City. Some of the boys from journey for hope such as Lester, Gelo, Nano, Erikson and Noriel came to join us. The journey to Tent City was about an hour a half but it gave us all a chance to get to know each other a little better and to spend a little extra time with the Journey for Hope boys.

We arrived at Tent City where we served lugaw, gave out balloons and bracelets that we had made out of pipe cleaners. Most of us walked around Tent city with the kids and saw the poor living conditions which were an eye opener. Not one of them complained, but instead had the biggest smiles on their faces, in a way they accepted it, while we complain about the small things. Some of us also got the chance to see Mary Jane – the little girl with a cleft pallet – whom Kids International Ministries have been trying to help recently. It was really quite interesting to be able to see -in person this beautiful little girl that we had already heard stories about back at home from last years’ team.

After finishing up in Tent City we hopped back on the road for another hour or so, off to Daranak Falls. The waterfall was beautiful, and everyone had a tonne of fun climbing and jumping off various rocks and taking in the view. While the more adventurous of us explored the various outcrops, others sat in the shallows, enjoying cooling off from the heat. After a couple of hours of bliss, we hopped back onto the bus and headed back to the Ministry Centre.

Once we arrived back, Green and Blue teams headed up to the Children’s Home to give a devotion, while the other two teams had a short rest. The eight leader team members (Cassia, Tyler, Joslin, Jayden, Enoch, Kirsten and Rachel) were taken out by Miss Smoker for a quick Starbucks trip to thank them for their help throughout the planning and organizing of the trip. They also bought three surprise cakes for Sonia’s birthday, and each person was able to choose between mocha, rocky road or mango slices. Tonight we were also visited by the Jazz girls, who were once again able to bring such excitement and energy to the group.

Many of the team have really begun to realise that the end of our trip is fast approaching, and although we miss home terribly, the thought of leaving all of the people we have met and created such a connection with is getting increasingly more difficult. The joy of every single person we come into contact to over here never ceases to amaze us, and each day has brought new names and faces that have impacted our lives, and hopefully have been impacted in turn.

From the Yellow Team

Shout-outs:

Josiah – Hey mum, Jamaica and Natalia, missing you guys heaps; like my sleep-ins and coffee

Hey! It’s the Red Team.

We woke up this morning with a choice to attend an early chapel service at the school next door. For those of us who went, we joined in on praise and worship and listened to a devotion given by Joslin. After returning to the ministry centre and having breakfast, we went to a slum called Angona with two big tubs of hot Lugaw. Some of us made balloon animals for the kids and a couple of us sat in on a women’s bible study given in Tagalog. After lunch back at the ministry centre and a 2 hour break, we went up to the orphanage to help shovel concrete with the local Filipino men onto a house to form the floor for a second level. We also shovelled gravel and fine sand off the road onto the verge where it is stored. At about 4:30 we finished working and went back to the ministry to have a shower and get ready for dinner. For devotions and worship, the blue and green teams went to Journey for Hope and the yellow and red teams went to the Children’s Home. It was also an exciting day as a few of us had the opportunity to go to the local pregnancy clinic and witness a birth.

Shoutout:

Hey mum, dad and fam! Missing you! Hope you all are having fun without your favourite sibling and daughter! Hope you’re having as great of a time as I am! –Rochelle

Hey Family and Friends! I’m safe and having lots of fun and working hard. I miss all of you and even though I don’t ever want to leave the Philippines, I’m looking forward to seeing you soon. Xx Cass

Hey family!!! I hoper you guys are all great and enjoying yourselves. I’m good and I miss you guys.  See you soon. Eliza

Hello relatives and other extended family!! ;) Aside from the humidity and hard work, I love being here and meeting new people and getting to experience new things. It’s been a challenging past week without you all but the trip is almost over and I’ll see you soon. I’ll be back so we can properly celebrate my bday ;) Hanisiof and love you xx
- Soni