Mission Made Possible

Wow. My first week in the Philippines has been awesome. My parents and I have been on a one week mission trip, traveling from Zambales to Baguio to Manila. We spent a lot of time on the road but it was definitely worth it. In all three locations we did a summary of 4 years of confirmation in about two hours. My dad worked really hard to put together work sheets and slide shows with all the important information, and then he lead the lessons into first communion. In all three sites we also have been gathering information on the kids for a sponsorship program that could allow the kids to come to the united states and travel while singing and performing. This program could possibly end up paying for all the kids schooling education.

In Zambales we attempted to do a puppet show for the kids, I think they might have liked it. It was hard to tell, doing a puppet show is a lot more work than one would think. We also did some crafts from a previous vacation bible school. We got plain visors and had the kids decorate them with stickers. Another activity we did was continuing to build a wall surrounding the outside of the orphanage. I think the kids get a kick out of seeing us Americans do manual labor. On the last day we spent the day at the beach singing some worship songs and playing games. We played a game where they would place six flags in the sand, blindfold you, and the kids would direct you where to get the flags. Then we played a game of volleyball in the scolding hot sand. After diving in the sand I thought I was going to have third degree burns on my knees! My team lost, my dads team won. The last night in Zambales the kids put on an incredible performance for us. Each house had a dance/song to perform and it was unbelievable. The older teen boys had a dance performance that was so good! I think they are good enough to be on America’s Best Dance Crew. On the 26^th they have a dance competition in town that I’m going to go watch! We left Zambales which is always hard because those kids are so precious and loving. It is so hard to explain until you experience it. The love there is unconditional.

In Baguio we did first communion and a movie night with the teens. The Baguio kids are really gifted artistically. They have pictures of their art work framed all over the house. While up in Baguio we did a lot of housekeeping items like; looking at the YWAM school I’m going to be attending in April, looking at the land Shepherd of the Hills wants to purchase, and resting up in the hotel. And on Sunday we watched the famous Manny Pacquiao fight against Joshua Clottey. The Filipinos are so proud of Pacquiao, he is one of their greatest icons, and on almost every one of their commercials.

Now we are in Manila on the last leg of our mission trip. This morning we went to the Smokey Mountain dump in Tondo to hand out Feed My Starving Children food and some of the donations we raised money for. Inside the dump seemed to be improving a little. There were more shops on the slides selling fruits and veggies and some new buildings were put up also. We did a few vacation bible school songs and actions with the kids and then handed out FMSC food. They were all eager to get the food and the servers Filipino-ized by adding ginger, onions, pepper, and shredded chicken. Being able to pack the food in Minnesota with your family and friends and then bringing it half way across the world and serving it to people who truly need it, is an amazing experience.

I’ve been practicing the guitar a lot, and my new hobby – doing laundry … with my hands. Who would have known it is such a simple task everyone should know how to do but we are so spoiled with our laundry machines --  takes so much skill to do!

One week done and many more to look forward to.

Love Ash