Hello from the Phillippines!

first off.. I am alive :)

I arrived in the Philippines exactly a week ago today and have not had internet until now :) we are at our 3rd location since arriving. The heat here is next to unbearable and i doubt i will ever get used to it :) none the less its not so bad when EVERYONE is soaked in sweat.. the sun is bright and the humidity is very high..i think its like 98% haha and like 98 degrees out :) The people here are so sweet though and such servants, always wanting to do this for you and bless you with the best even if it means sleeping on the floor so that they can have a bed. The first 3 days we were here we stayed in Manila with a sweet lady named Kit :) Her house was so cute and so tiny! I seriously feel like a giant in this culture haha our group barely fit in the kitchen. We did some shopping for things we needed like shampoo and stuff. kit also gave us some orientation on the culture and history of the Island. At night we went to Manila National Park and walked around and had a picnic. Saturday morning then we went to the slums and did a bible story skit and sang songs with the kids and then fed them lunch. This "kids club" is one of the many ministries Kit heads up. She is one ah-mazing woman. We also got to feed them lunch :) it was so awesome to see the smile on these kids faces who had nothing. I led them in a game of red-light green-light although here the kids call it pepsi-seven up haha. because these american soda drinks are so treasured here. It was such a blessing to be able to just spend some time with these children, my heart completely went out to them. That afternoon we had a siesta and rested back at the house and then at night some high school students came over and i led worship and our staff member dave taught a lesson on the beatitudes. It was a nice little bible study and it was fun to pray for them and then have them pray over us as well :) After the bible study, Kit thought it would be nice to treat us to a "delicacy" in the Philippines.. Balot. basically a 16 day of duck in the egg still...but cooked. SO GROSS tho! it seriously was like fear factor..all of us in a circle peeling away and getting ready to attempt this haha i think about half the team, including myself, got most of it down :) hopefully i wont have to ever do that again over these next months :/ haha. Sunday the 4th then we left to go to our second location in Manila. This time we were working with Viergie at a "drop-in" center which is basically a house that the working prostitutes can come to get a good meal or sit and talk with Verg. There is lots of prostitution in this area and Viergie has been working and building relationships with the girls on the streets. It so sad how common it is here. Sunday night she took a few of my teammate out on the streets with her and they said it was heartbreaking seeing all the girls out. Some looking like they were 10 years old. Verg introduced them to a girl named (rachel) that she had starting building a friendship with and they invited her back to the house for the leftovers from our dinner. The sad thing was she agreed but told Verg and my teammates that they would have to wait a little because she just got a costumer..so they waited. it was so heartbreaking they said and it made it so much more and personal than prostitution was ever before to them.

Since this blog has gotten long enough I will continue with what went on the rest of that night in my next post...
so.. to be continued..

[name of girl is changed to protect her privacy]