Day 6 & 7

Day 6 –Wednesday

Team 2- Erin, Leon, Phoebe and Chelsea

After another beautiful long sleep we kicked off the day with a community basketball game, (Australia vs the Philippines) at the ministry school court. Our team (consisting of all the boys and a couple of girls from Southern Hills and Rehoboth) won, but the game was very evenly matched. For those who didn’t play the game, the 200+ children of the school came to watch and we got to spend time talking and taking pictures with them. Cameras were very popular and the children were very exited, cheering for every single goal no matter which team scored it. The constant happiness and joy of the kids in the community never stops blessing us.

We headed back to the Yun Jin centre and had merriander, cinnamon cake that was incredibly delicious!  The ladies that provide us with food, are amazing cooks!
Right after we indulged in mouth-watering cake, we headed to the building site from yesterday with Southern Hills to take a group photo of our very proud slab of concrete that we all worked incredibly hard on, pouring our sweat and strength to accomplish it. Immediately after a few pictures, we walked to the children’s home, but we didn’t end up able to play with the children as they were either at school or having a nap. So instead we spent the time helping Nanna Yoli and Veronica clean and tidy the centre.

We then headed back to the ministry centre for some lunch and met up with Daisy. She offered to show us around her ministry area at the natal clinic. Hannah, Katie, Sarah and Erin put up their hands. We were given a tour of the centre then able to pack some Christmas gift packs for Fridays Christmas party that will be held there for the women on Friday. The whole group met up at the construction site for a building rotation together. We smashed out 65 buckets of blue metal and 200 (and something) bricks before slogging it on hoisting a few 100 buckets of dirt up a “Filippino style” scaffolding to the third floor of the new school building. In the last 5 mins we gave the southern hills guys a run for their money by carrying 102 buckets of dirt up the scaffolding. There were a few injuries with Sarah getting gazed by a flying brick and Hannah coming out with a war wound after a fight with the scaffolding.

We came back to the ministry centre to have a quick shower, and have an awesome dindins of pork on a spit (head and all!). After dinner we went to the children’s home for devotions. It was Southern Hills last night in the Philippines (hence the feasting) so their were plenty of tears on their part :( Team three was on devotions and did a skit on Luke 11:9.

For the night activity we road on trikes and walked through the streets to a supermarket. We were given some monies and told we could buy random food that we wanted to try. Which consisted of… Hershey’s ice-cream, kisses, wafer sticks, yellow watermelon, milo in-a-can, purple cake etc. Mr price chose dried dilis fish for everyone to try. We passed them around the group and while some gagged other found them tasty, and ate 22 at once (YUK). We all headed off to bed early after saying goodbye to the southern hill’s kids. It’s been great getting to know and experiencing the past week alongside them.

PS. All those who were wondering if we were affected by the typhoon; it passed by us in the south and all we got was a little drizzle and overcast weather (which just made construction a whole lot easier).

PPS. So far, Erin has recovered from gastro. However, Courtney is currently sick with it. Apart from minor colds and lime burns from concrete, every one is well.

Day 7 –Thursday

Team 2 again:)

Today we woke up at an all time record of 4:30. We dragged ourselves out of bed and on to the beautiful coach for a trip Pansangan Falls (that may not be correct but we are tired!). The 2 hour trip was mostly spent sleeping and shivering in the cold air-con but when we arrived we immediately got into our life jackets and helmets for a two hour canoe up the picturesque river. We were split into groups of three and had two Filipino men ninja-ing us up the river! It was an excellent experience seeing the high sky tropical plantations and the natural waterfalls trickle down from the heavens. And we were all in awe at how great our God is!

After our adventure up the river, we finally reached our destination, which was going under a massive waterfall and swimming in a cave. We then had lunch midway back to the coach and also took a quick boat ride. The ride home was a swift two hour drive, where most of us spent catching up on sleep, and arrived at the ministry centre to have an hour and a half free time.

Then we went on a feeding, where we not only feed them hot food but also played basketball, made balloon animals and created bracelets, and skipped with the children. Immediately after that, we had dinner and went to the children’s home. Many of us felt sad that we will be leaving in three days, as we will definitely miss the children.

Our night activity was karaoke, where everyone belted out their favourite classics and was accompanied by a epic view of the city of Manila.

Thanks for all the prayers and encouragements, sorry that we haven’t been able to reply to many of the comments as we haven’t had time.