So, I had never been to the Philippines before my trip in April, so I didn’t exactly know what to expect from it. My dad had asked me many months before if I would be interested in going, and I was enthusiastic about the idea right away. Going new places? Mission work? Adventure? The unknown? I’M THERE!
So we arrived at the airport (approximately 8 months after we first talked about it) with a group of smiling Filipinos, ready with hugs, cars and hands to help carry our luggage. It was wonderful, and bode well for the trip ahead. So we piled in a bunch of cars, luggage and jet lag in tow, and headed off to… well, we didn’t know exactly where. But after a couple hours’ ride, I found it. Paradise. No, seriously…. PARADISE. Bamboo sticks erected over clear, warm ocean water with ferns, flowers, and food waiting…. I’m not sure I could have possibly dreamed of anything better.
So we settled for a while, then went to our first crusade only a few hours later. Now, here is where I could get uber detailed and make everyone suffer through the blow-by-blow of the trip. But I’m not gonna do that… as much as I may like to. Suffice it to say, every single night had extraordinary events take place. I’ll highlight my top ten favorite moments (in no particular order):
1. Watching my mom pray for a lady with a huuuuge sist on her arm, and the sist disappearing.
2. At our very first crusade, there was a super bad power-outage, which would have shut down the whole thing completely. After about 20 minutes of the techs frantically working to get it back online, my mom finally walks up and prays over the generator, and about 1 minute later the stupid thing revs up and gets online, working flawlessly the rest of the night. So great.
3. I ate a baby chicken. Well, actually, it was so baby, that it hadn’t been hatched yet. Yet being the operative word there…. but it almost had. I think it was either 6 or 8 weeks’ developed, and this Filipino delicacey (yes, delicacey) is the pride of the country–so don’t hate. It’s called balut, and actually isn’t so bad. Tastes like chicken. The way you eat it, however, should be devised in a slightly better manner than us balut-virgins go about it (cracking open and laying out on plate), and thus would prevent any potential upchuck reflex that you may or may not have upon viewing it. The key is, I was told later, to “eat it in the dark.” A-ha. Would’ve been good to know. Well, I ate it in full and uncompromising light, and still managed… So what you’re suppoooosed to do is, crack the top of the egg and suck out the juices, then crack open a bit more and suck out/eat the chicken. God, this sounds disgusting writing it out–it really does. But it’s not that bad. Really. Even feeling the little bones in your mouth doesn’t throw you off too much.
4. Playing with the kids every night. This is my TOP top top memory of it all. Those kids were sooo freakin wonderful. I showed them every trick you could possibly think of, and remembered games I hadn’t thought about since before I had begun learning fractions in Mrs. Thomas’ class. At one point, I had totally run out of ideas, and they were all sitting there with faces like, What’s Next? So I did Pilates. That’s right. I showed them Pilates and was like, Can you do this? Haha. Well, the kids were impressed, anyway–who cares whether the people around were debating on my mental stability or not.
5. Being with the awesome team we had. John and Betsy were such incredible workers in all they were doing–I was blessed by John’s amazing flexibility, willingness and spirit. Every time Betsy got on stage to share or speak, I was blown away at her extraordinary natural ability as a speaker, as I had never seen her in that arena before. Plus, rooming with Betsy was such a freakin’ blast–I seriously wish I could kidnap her and bring her to do it again for another couple months( ……..maybe I will….) And it certainly would not be complete without mentioning the incredible tools that my mom and dad were on the trip–and from a selfish point of view, my trip would certainly have not been possible without my mom and dad making it a reality. And, of course, my favorite mum moment was after one of the guys pounded on the floor of our bamboo floor, and my mom, startled, looks at him and blurts out, “DON’T YOU KNOW WE’RE LIVING ON STICKS???”
6. Praying over a girl with a broken wrist and feeling the bone move underneath my hands, then afterwards watching her be able to move it and bend it without any pain… just an expression of shock.
7. Watching the riiiiiiiidiculously talented band play. Ridiculously talented. So cool.
8. Driving in the Philippines. Like nothing I’ve ever known, and makes driving in Mexico look like a polite little tea party. Freakin awesome!
9. THE MANGOES!
10. the people.
So, of course, that doesn’t give a fully in-depth look at our time, but a surface scratch never hurt anyone, anyway. If you’d like to hear more about it, please just e-mail me and I’d love to share more stories. 
As it is, we’ll wait for more to come in the next few months….. 
