Well we are in our last day now, and the girls have said it several times “Where did the three weeks go!?!”  As we have debriefed our experiences and done our best to prepare for our trips home, it is easy to say that we are sad to see that this trip is almost over.  There is hope in knowing, however, that the mission field is not only in the Philippines, it is on our soil as well. Last night we talked with the girls about the impact that they can have on their friends and families by simply telling the many stories that they have from this trip.  We strongly encourage...

Here are a few pictures from ministry and our Filipino adventures…..enjoy! Scroll over the picture for a short caption.

On Sunday we traveled to Lorega as a team, and I knew that it would be an impacting time for all of our students.  Lorega is a place like no other.  There really are no words to describe it.  There is no place like this in America, nor do I ever see one being there. Lorega is life built around death.  Lorega is homes built atop burial tombs and goats sleeping on gravesites.  Lorega is a city built upon a cemetary.  It is a place that often carrys a heavy spirit.  Because of drug activity, prostitution, gangs, and other forms of criminal activity that often...

My first week of ministry in Cebu Philippines has been really eye-opening. We went to three different ministry sites and ministered mostly to the children. The kids are absolutely adorable, but they live in poverty like I’ve never seen. They all wear tattered and stained clothing and some even run around naked. Their teeth are already rotting and many have skin rashes. Simple products like toothpaste and lotion that we take for granted just aren’t present in these places. Trash, mud and stray animals like cats, dogs and sometimes goats surround the walkways and houses. The houses...

The past couple of weeks have been nothing short of life changing. I have survived a 14 and ½ hour flight, slept in the Seoul, South Korea Airport, bought groceries at Fooda (and no, that’s not a spelling error =) ), had Filipino spaghetti at Jollibee (it’s not quite the same as back in the States), and taken countless jeepney rides (where you are shoved a little closer to the people around you than you may have wished.) And on a more serious note: I have witnessed material poverty like never before. It was a couple of days ago when I was surrounded by dirt, trash, and pollution,...

A couple of days ago we went to Lorega. Lorega is a place where the homeless live among the dead in a cemetary. Part of me doesn’t even know where to start. They live among the dead. Their home is literally on top of and surrounded by tombs. And it’s not an old burying site either, we saw tombs marked 2004 and these people have been making their home there for well over twenty years. The first church service we went to we had the oppurtunity to teach the children Sunday School off to the side. I taught the songs, and then after the story was taught one of my other team...