Sunday, July 5th - Barrio retreat continues

After last night, all of us were excited to see the students again. Peter, one of the adult leaders, preached this morning for church, while Along (the barrio pastor) translated into Visayan, the Filipino language. We then took all students to the Nature Resort to play and swim. It was a hot, sunny day... perfect for the beach! The students had a blast! I had more conversation with Cheryl and Irene. Both of them I talked with quite a bit throughout the weekend, and they both accepted Christ the night before. Cheryl also sang in the talent show and won! She has an amazing voice. She knows English very well, and when she talks, she often brings herself down, and putting all others up. She is beautiful, has an amazing voice, and seems confident. Team members would often tell her how beautiful her voice is and she would adamantly argue. Well... through a lot of talking and convincing, she was finally able to admit that she was beautiful. Victory! We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at the beach.

That evening, when we returned to the house, we took showers and instantly left for the barrio basketball court. We had provided dinner for the entire barrio to congregate and watch our dramas. The dinner was great, cooked by Marita our cook, and consisted of rice and chicken, and no utensils. This is when I'm very thankful for the invention of hand sanitizer. As the dramas concluded, thunder and lightening hit nearby. Then the monsoon started. It was POURING! We've never been caught out in a storm like that. It wasn't raining cats and dogs, but lions and bears! It was pitch black out and we huddled under the eaves of the preschool wondering how all 30 of us were going to get home in a pickup truck and a four wheeler. Well, Along handed me the keys of the pickup truck and we loaded it up with all the electronic equipment (for the dramas) in the cab. With all the equipment, and 6 other people in the cab... and maybe 15 in the back of the truck, I drove through the barrio praying every second. When it rains there, the roads half being paved, half still rock and clay, were very dangerous. That was not fun! We made it home safely, but all of us, especially those in the back, were drenched! We all looked like we had just gotten out of the shower, with our clothes on. We all arrived back at home safely though!