Another Update!

Hi all! We unexpectedly got the opportunity today to come to SM Mall in Cebu City, which is a good distance from the orphanage, so we don't come here unless we need to. They have free internet here in the mall, so we are at Starbucks once again utiliting the free wifi! Arnell needed the driver to go to his office, which is not far from SM, so he said we should join him since our plans for after washing clothes this morning didn't work out. To update, Colleen arrived from San Antonio, TX, yesterday morning, just in time for our trip to Camotes Island! We weren't supposed to go to Camotes until today, but Arnell's friend who owns the ferry we rode called yesterday and said we could ride yesterday. Arnell told us we should leave in 15 minutes, but none of us had showered, brushed our teeth, or packed for an overnight stay! It was rather crazy. When we finally got to the boat, it was almost an hour since the time they were supposed to depart! Oops. We packed as fast as we could! Yesterday on Camotes, we visited the property Arnell owns there that is a possible new location of the orphanage, since the owner is selling the property we are renting now on Cebu Island. It would be great to buy the property from him, but it is very expensive. He is asking about $200,000 in American dollars, which the Rescue Ministries does not have, so if anyone wants to donate, send it on! :) But after we visited that site, Arnell took us to his friend's resort (I know, staying at a resort in a third world country is pretty crazy), where we got to swim awhile in the ocean. It was fun and very relaxing! And the ferry ride over was absolutely beautiful, but I forgot my camera (and my pesos!) :/ Oh well!

I am really glad Colleen is here now. She was a Journeyman in Manila for two years several years ago, at the same time Dustin was a Journeyman in Cebu. She is very familiar with the culture and is confident about going places and getting things we need. She is also a lot of fun to be around, so that is a good thing! :) I know she will add a lot to our small group and that our faithful God will continue to use her in amazing ways as He already has!

On Tuesday (the day before Colleen got here), we had a "courtesy call" (i.e., meeting) with the principal of the high school where our older kids attend. We told her a little bit about Wesley Home for Youth, and she told us about their school. It is very poor. She shared with us that each month, each student is asked to pay 45 pesos to help with the costs of the school, since the goverenment does not give much help. 45 pesos equals one American dollar. It costs a dollar a month for a child to attend school. But many cannot afford it, so many do not get an education. It costs a dollar a month for a child to stay in school so they can have a better job in the future. So...I'm thinking we need to do some fundraising or something to help those who cannot afford it. I can afford a dollar a month, no problem! There is a PTA meeting at the high school Sunday morning that the principal invited us to, so we may attend that.

Today, after we returned from Camotes (the ferry left at 5:30 AM this morning!), we got to go back to the high school because little Michelle's music class was doing a little presentation. I think it was supposed to be just for their class, but when she told me about it, I wanted to go! So the four of us went, and we were the only ones there to watch! The class (which is about 85 students..the teacher-student ratio is about 1/85 or so..crazy!) was divided into four groups, and each group presented a song with motions. It was fun to watch! And the kids acted like we were celebrities when we arrived. They all looked at us and waved and wanted to say hello! We get a lot of that here. It's not everyday that Filipinos see an American, especially at a high school, so they get excited when they see one..or four.

This is the class performing for us outside...

Today is Mrs. Pam's birthday! It is Filipino tradition that on your birthday, you give gifts and buy dinner for your friends, rather than them doing it for you. That's a fun thought :) But I hope she has a great birthday. We'll have to sneak off to buy her a cake as a surprise ;) This morning, after Michelle's presentation, Linda, the ya-ya (nanny) made Mrs. Pam chicken adobo, rice, and pancit (pronounced pon-sit) for her birthday. It is also Filipino tradition to eat pancit (long, tiny noodles) on your birthday for long life. We try to be cultural :)

This is a picture of her birthday breakfast...

Tomorrow we plan to eat lunch with Ben and Bayon from Project Mercy in Mandaue City and perhaps visit Prayer Mountain with Pastora Salve from Zion Prayer Garden, the church we attend here and are trying to partner with. She lives near the orphanage and has a mountain that she calls her Prayer Mountain. She has asked us to visit it, so maybe we can do that after we visit Project Mercy tomorrow. Then Saturday, we are planning to go to the dumpsite and hand out snacks and school supplies for the kids who cannot afford them. There, we will (hopefully) pick out 2 more kids to bring to the orphanage. So please pray for us as we do that, that there may be opportunities to make good relationships with these people, which is a big part of Filipino culture (close relationships), and that we may know whom God would have at Wesley.

These people are the poorest of the poor, the lowest of the low, those Jesus came to save, and those He has called us to. Pray that doors may be opened for the Gospel and that we may be prepared to share it. Please pray that we will be filled with the Spirit every moment we are here, that we will make the most of every opportunity, and that we will not miss anything God has for us to do. Please pray that the people here will be open to talk about the Lord and His Gospel, because it is very common for them to agree with a missionary and accept whatever he/she says because of their generosity and kindness without fully understanding. While we want to be generous and kind, we also want them to fully understand and not just say they do to please us. Pray that they may come to know God and love and serve Him faithfully. Pray that we will be obedient to make disciples of all nations, and not just church-goers or people who are willing to pray one prayer and never think about God again. We bought 30 Bibles in the Cebuano language, since most of them are uneducated and cannot speak English, so pray that as they are given God's Word that they will begin to love it and seek Him. Pray that doors may be open and that hearts will be tender to the Spirit's call.

Please also be in prayer for our team, as we are over the halfway point in our trip. Pray that we will be filled with the Spirit and be sensitive to what He would have us do. It seems that because Arnell has been so good about taking care of us and making sure we have a driver to take us where we need to go and because Mrs. Pam has been needing to rest because of her leg, that we have not gotten out into the community as much as we would like. It is absolutely wonderful to have our personal driver to take us places in the orphanage's Tamaraw, but we want to be careful to not seclude ourselves from the people. Please pray for boldness and opportunitites to engage in people's lives here, to get to know them and show God's love. Please pray that we will make good use of the time God has given us and that we will be on His agenda and not our own. Pray that we may be encouraged and unified, patient with one another, and patient with God. God always works on His time table and not ours, so pray for us to wait on the Lord, yet to not waste time. Pray that we will have the Spirit's strength to do the things we need to do, to go where we need to go, and to share where we need to share. Jonathan has gotten several opportunities to have deep conversations with Glenn, the oldest boy at the orphanage, the one all the other kids look up to for guidance and wisdom. He has been asking many questions about the Bible and has said that he knows very little about it, but he wants to know more so that he can lead the other kids in the right way for their lives. He shared with Jonathan the other night some things about his home life that were terrible situations to be in, so he is very thankful to be at Wesley. And we are thankful for him being there!

I know I've said it over and over, but please just be in prayer for us. Lift us up, for encouragement, guidance, wisdom, sensitivity to the Spirit, discipline to grow and rely on the Lord, opportunities, and everything we need. God is God of His mission field, and we are simply His workers. But please pray that we may be the faithful workers the Creator of the Universe desires and deserves. God bless you all!