Philippines Report

One of the last updates from the Philippines! Hello again friends and family! We just wrapped up our last weekend here in this beautiful country. The team has mixed feelings about heading home. On one hand, everyone is excited to see loved ones again and have some of the modern comforts and luxuries of home. But on the contrary, leaving this place and these people will be difficult, as God has done a special work here and has richly blessed us in so many ways. To start, work these last few days has been quite productive. The concrete stairs were finished, and the final touches of paint are currently being added to the conference center. Seeing the accumulation of the team’s effort has been satisfying and encouraging. Evangelism, also, has been a highlight still for the teens. Most days, the team works early until lunch and then has evangelism in the afternoons.

The team members have valued being able to love on the children in the villages they’ve visited and sharing the gospel of Jesus through their presentations. On Friday, we were able to purchase new flip flops for the children and hand them out after sharing with them, which was exciting. Fun fact-Filipinos love their iced coffee. Friday evening, after evangelism, the team was able to get drinks from Don Macchiatos, which is a quite popular cafe here in the country. In addition, several of the teens tried BALUT!!! The term ‘Balut’ refers to fertilized duck eggs. Some claimed they liked it while others found it utterly disgusting. This weekend, the team had the opportunity to ride a water buffalo around the Teen Missions Philippines base. Mr. John, as the quick learner he is, learned to steer and give verbal cues to the animal. The teens had a lot of fun riding and watching. On Thursday morning, we travel to Manila for sightseeing for a couple days. Please pray for safe travels and a restful couple days before flying home. It is crazy to believe that we only have one more report this summer (coming Wednesday)!

We, as leaders, are so thankful to have been able to pour into your teens this summer. They will have so much to share with you when they return home. Blessings, Philippines team