Wednesday, July 1 - Loon and Iris!

Today is another favorite day of mine on this trip. I have been sponsoring Iris for 4 years, and it's such a blessing to see her, talk with her, see her improvement, and give her gifts, every year. In the picture to the right we are both signing, "Miss you!" We arrived at her school, my favorite school due to the peace and management of the kids, during a monsoon storm. Our bus got stuck several times in the field in front of their school. A few older, deaf students came running out to help by pushing our bus closer to the school. With our 30 Americans and their 60 Filipinos, we played inside games in a tiny room. We played "fruit basket," "elephant," "1,2,3,4"... it was so fun, but cramped. While the students ate lunch, we also ate. The teachers had prepared pancit, empadas, chicken sticks, and rice for us. It was SO yummy! We finished the usual routine of dramas and crafts and were very hesitant to say our goodbyes. This is a school where Joshua, the leader, will tell us many times to get on the bus. He's learned to give us about a half hour of saying goodbye.

We had the later afternoon available before going to BDA for their Bible Study. We drove into Tagbilarin to eat an early dinner at the Montana themed Garden Cafe. From there we headed to ICM (Island City Mall). This mall is about 3 years old and is a fun place to shop for souvenirs and load up on the much needed groceries for our group of 30. From here we continued onto BDA where we were able to see the new fly tying building. One business IDEA has set up is tying flies for fly fishing in Montana. This is one of the few IDEA businesses that only employ the Deaf. Therefore, as a Deaf student graduates, they are able to get a decent job that not only supports them financially, but gives them a strong vocational skill while continuing to live surrounded by their Deaf family. So often students graduate and are forced to move back home with their family, either because of finances or they are expected to help on the farm. At home they do not have communication with their families because their families do not sign. I have yet to meet a Filipino Deaf student who says their mom or dad signs. Therefore, they would go home to loneliness. Most students love to be at school, because they have found a Deaf "family" of friends and adults who can sign and encourage them. This new fly tying building gives IDEA workers more room to work and will allow the business to expand (hire more Deaf) as they are already back ordered and struggle to keep up with the demand. Two of the workers came with us on our tour and demonstrated how to tie a fly... it was amazing, as they are SO fast and the fly is TINY!

The Bible study went well, I sat in front and voice interpreted for our hearing group. We LOVE getting time with these students and I had a hard time prying them away from their friends... I guess I was one of them that had a hard time leaving too! With promises to see them next Wednesday, we bid them goodbye and loaded the extremely loud bus. It was loud because everyone was SO excited about the conversations that they just had with the Deaf... they shared all the way home and I was so thankful that this group was so passionate towards the Deaf. How encouraging it was to hear the stories!

Tuesday, June 30 – Dolphin watching!

We were up at 4am, and on a jeepney by 4:45 to get to the dolphin watching pier by 5:15. Every year I’ve gone I’ve never seen a dolphin, so this year we were really hoping to see a few. We headed out on a banca boat and actually saw dolphins!!! They would swim right next to our boat, like they were playing with us! It was so fun! However, this was when the huge disappointment hit me… my camera stopped working! Yes, my nice Canon Rebel that takes amazing pictures, that I carry everywhere! Oi… what do you do when you are in another country, in the middle of the jungle, when your camera breaks? Nothing. So this is where my pictures stop... I will hopefully soon get some pictures from a friend, but until then... sorry.

We then stopped off at Pamilacan Island to rent snorkels. We snorkeled around in the water, spending a lot of time just playing around, jumping off the boat. I made sure I could still back flip and back dive off the boat.

On our way back home, we stopped at a knife shop. This shop is on the main road, on the circumferance of the island. At the shop we turn onto the barrio road, to get to our house. Today we stopped, which is typically a long process, now longer with 30 people on the team. People pick out beautiful, ornamental knives to give away as souveniers and then bargin for the price. A few ladies and I decide to take a walk, heading back to the house. Through the hills we travel, hoping to not make it very far, is it's VERY hilly and hot. We stopped to talk to a woman who knew great English... as we left, we heard the bus coming.

We arrived home at 11:30... it was weird, as we felt like we had a full day of activity, because we had woken up at 4. The day was fun, but not over. We left around 3 for Tambangan Elementary which was close to our house, to do our usual VBS type day. It was a fun, full day.

That evening, I had an amazing opportunity to have a close conversation with one of the girls on the trip. We talked a long time, and prayed a lot. I love those opportunities to just love on the girls, who have been hurt a lot. Jesus is so tender in these times, I love it.

Hong Kong Day 3 - Kowloon and The Peak

Today was my last full day in Hong Kong. I had to get to all the places that I wanted to see today... there weren't many, as there isn't too much to do or see in Hong Kong. The first night I was here, I had ridden the ferry from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island, but it was in the dark. I wanted to get some good pictures of Hong Kong Island sky scrapers and the ferries, in the day light. So I headed back to Kowloon via Starr Ferry. I walked around for a few hours, taking pictures, then headed back to Hong Kong Island. I was able to catch an open air double decker bus that went directly to The Peak Tram. I boarded the tram and rode at a 45-degree angle up to The Peak. Views there were remarkable. It was fun to walk around just enjoying the view. There was a wax museum inside The Peak, but I'm not such of fan of those... though I did benefit from walking near it, as they had Micheal Jackson standing there. It was a popular picture place! After I felt I had exhausted the place taking pictures, I had a few hours until sunset. I wanted to get pictures here of of the sunset as well, but didn't want to just sit for a few hours. My camera battery was close to dying though, so I decided to go back to the house I was staying since it was on The Peak as well. I was told that The Peak is within walking distance of the house so I took off on a walking trail I assumed led me near the house. Maybe it wasn't the wisest decision on my part as I felt very lost a few times, knowing I could walk back up the hill to The Peak to catch a bus down to the house. The walking trail came out on the road in which the house was located, phew! However, from that point it was a GOOD long walk to the house. I got my exercise that's for sure! I came back to the house, to charge my camera battery and rest.

When charging was done, I decided to go back up to The Peak and eat dinner up there. They had a lot of restaurants that looked interesting. I caught a bus outside the house that took me back up The Peak and I decided on a restaurant that overlooked the backside of Hong Kong Island and the harbor. It was fancy yet not too expensive. I then searched for the perfect place to wait until sunset. People were starting to gather on top of a building and I assumed from the angle, it would be a good one. I joined them and waited and waited. The sunset was beautiful, changing the buildings and water to a soft pink, it was so amazing it looked fake. Everything glowed. It was a fun night, just watching the changes of the city scape. Satisfied with the pictures, I joined the hundreds of other people waiting for the tram to head back down The Peak.

It was a fun day, but I was getting excited for my adventure in the morning. I'm going back to China! I spent the evening packing a light backpack for my adventure and looking online for things to do in Guangzhou, including directions to the 1 Starbucks - gotta get my mug!

Monday, June 29 - Sagabayan & Chocolate Hills

Monday, June 29 - Sagabayan Elementary

Today we traveled to Sagabayan Elementary, about a two hour drive. It was so hot and humid, unlike the cooler, cloudy days we’ve been experiencing. Granted, it was cooler and cloudy for the Philippines, not typical of this time of year. Today was typical Philippines: hot, humid, and sticky! As we went inside the school dorm, to start crafts, it started POURING! Thunder and lightening accompanied soon after. It’s amazing how in the Pacific Northwest, we say, “That’s Washington weather!” when it’s sunny, yet raining. It’s also typical here, in the Philippines, to have bright, sunny, hot days and looking up to the sky, see a black cloud rolling in. Soon, monsoon rain and thunder follow. We didn’t see a black cloud this day, but we were glad to have finished the outside games prior to this monsoon hitting. During the student lunch, we were given fresh mangoes and a rice snack with ginger and cardamom spices. This school is one that I typically take a lot of pictures. They LOVE to have their picture taken, and then want to see it on our cameras. It’s so funny, we always feel like photographers.

As we left, we continued on to the Chocolate Hills, one of the Bohol tourist destinations. We were excited as last year there was a new tourist “trap”. You could walk to the edge of the hill and a photographer would take your picture jumping in the air and print it off… for $3. It looked like you were jumping over a bunch of Chocolate Hills (green grass covered hills that look like Hershey kisses). We were excited for another opportunity to take the pictures. We climbed the 214 steps to the top of the hill and were met with a chained link fence. You could no longer use natural scenery to take a picture, but had to use a fake background that consisted of two canvases taped together. We were SO disappointed!

Sunday, June 28 - BDA Beach Day

This Sunday morning started off as any other day. I got up early to spend some quiet time with Jesus, as He put it on my heart to pray for the Deaf that morning. I was going to be preaching a basic message of salvation, at the same time tying it together with my testimony. My heart was burdened for them, wanting them to understand who Jesus is in my life. At 7, our team gathered and worshiped, this time in the moat room, where our voices echoed. My heart continued to be burdened for them this day and I couldn't help but cry as I pleaded with the Lord to soften and prepare their hearts for the message.


Emisan led worship prior to me preaching. I preached about Jesus' life and why he came to Earth, how my life was prior to Jesus and how drastically different it is now. It took a lot longer than that, but you get the point. It was great! The Lord was definitely speaking as I was preaching, giving me examples and scripture. At the end I asked for an alter call, asking them to think about which life they wanted to live: similar to mine prior to knowing Jesus, one focused on shame, anger, shyness, fear and depression or a life that I have now knowing Jesus, one focused on Him, joy, courage, love, and serving. Three hands went up... I felt a tug to go deeper, to explain further, so I did. One student, Jessa, had tears running down her face. Ten minutes later, I asked again who wanted to give their lives to Christ. At least fifteen hands went up - including Jessa's! I fought hard not to lose it, I was SO overwhelmed by the Lord's presence and the work He did in those kids, giving them the courage to make the decision and raise their hands, knowing there could be persecution. THANK YOU JESUS! Josh came up and gave directions about cleaning up and packing for the beach as I interpreted. As the kids were dismissed, I then lost it. I was so overjoyed and overwhelmed.


We took all the students to a public beach. This was the first time we've done this, rather than going to a resort, but it saved a lot of money. We rented 6 little huts, that had benches and long tables down the center, for people to chat, store their things, and later eat lunch. I went out in the ocean to play. Upon coming back to apply sunscreen, Zach grabbed me and asked me to interpret for him. He had been talking to Reymart, and thought he was ready to accept Christ. I asked him a few questions and discussed with him what it meant, and he was ready to go. Zach led him to the Lord, while I interpreted. Reymart beamed!!! The rest of the day, he followed Zach around with a huge smile on his face!

Walking out to the beach I saw Jessa. I asked her if her and I could talk. I asked why she had been crying. She said she had a lot of sin in her life. She wanted to accept Christ but not yet, not until she graduated (2 years later). This is common with students who know they will suffer emotional embarrassment and academic persecution from teachers and/or emotional and physical persecution from parents. If they wait and accept Christ when they graduate, they are on their own and know they can make decisions for themselves. While I didn't want to pressure her, she also shared with me issues that were not related to persecution. I told her that Jesus can take away her pain, her loneliness, her anger and all her sin. Jesus can protect her heart and can give her courage to face the persecution. She cried. We talked a long time as she cried and I held her. I cried too. She then was ready. We prayed and I thanked Jesus for a new sister in Christ. Jessa is HIS!

We joined the lunch crew... looking out at the ocean, I very much enjoyed a Garden Cafe catered lunch of rice, pancit, fried chicken, and curry. Yum!

After lunch I enjoyed the water and the beach a little more with friends. Claris walked up to me and asked if we could pray. We sat down and she instantly started bawling, loudly! I held her for a long time while she cried, but I had no idea why. I had to chuckle inside, as she was crying so loudly. My fear of people watching crept up but I had to think like Claris... she couldn't hear herself crying so loudly, so I had to do the same. When she looked up, still crying, she told me why she was so upset. Her parents had divorced because her dad beat her mom (you never hear of divorce in the Philippines, but abuse is very common). Her mom moved to Manila to work. She is living with her grandparents, when she is not at the dorms, with her younger brother. They are very old and had to work again to pay for her schooling ($8 and a pound of rice a month)and living expenses. Her brother was very mean to her, emotionally and physically, as was her father, long ago. She is not allowed to see him anymore because he has two girl friends. She felt all of this was her fault. She felt shame, anger, hurt, and unforgiveness. I prayed. She hadn't yet accepted Christ, but wanted to. We prayed together and she too became a sister in the Lord. AMEN!!!! What a day! But wait there is more!

When we were done praying, we both walked out to the beach and Joshua and I gathered all hearing and Deaf together. We had a few people that wanted to be baptized. No, not a few, 12! Those 12 lined up as Mart, the Deaf pastor, explained what baptism meant. It wasn't just a ritual that you do in the Catholic church, but it's a public announcement that you have made the decision to walk with Jesus. The 12 agreed, and one by one, walked out into the ocean to meet Mart and agree to be baptized. Among those were Rosaly, who accepted Christ 2 years ago, and her sister, Girly, who accepted Christ that morning. What a joyous day!

Afterwards, I played in the ocean with Rosaly, Girly, and Emisan. Emisan sat on my shoulders and we played chicken with others doing the same. It was so fun but hard work. We chatted out there in the ocean. Then I realize that as I was acting younger than my age, I must have pulled a muscle in my back, cause it SURE hurt! It was extremely sore that night, but it only lasted a few days. Our friends left the beach as we changed out of our swimsuits and into short, on the bus. We've never had to do that before, but the public beach isn't as nice as those resorts. We headed off to town to load up on supplies for the schools. We met at Gary (Debbie's husband) and Kristie (Lindie's sister and a good friend of mine, my roommate) at ICM, the mall outside of town. I was SUPER excited to be in the Philippines with Kristie once again! She was here my first year in 2002 and came again with me in 2003, but hasn't been back with the team since. I was so excited to spend a lot of time with her!

Heading back to the barrio, we stopped at Along and Endai's house for dinner... yes, all 30 of us & yes, they were expecting us! We ate wonderful pork adobo, sprite pork, sweet Filipino spaghetti, fruit salad, vegetable and vinegar salad, and sweet rolls. It was SO good, I had to have seconds! I think pork adobo is becoming my second favorite to pancit. I have a recipe, I need to make it!

What a splendid weekend! I shared all that happened with Kristie, as we drifted off to sleep... thank you Jesus for open hearts and your Word to sink powerfully into their hearts!

Saturday, June 27 - BDA Retreat!

A full day with BDA students - So excited!


As I was outside, at 5am for my quiet time, I heard the basketball bouncing on the court. Thankful that I stay in the main house, away from the noise I was curious at what time that started. Our team had our normal Bible study in the morning and then headed down to the camp with BDA. Leoni again led worship and one of our students, Natalie, led the session.


Our day activities started:

*Scavenger Hunt - We had 6 different colored teams and 6 places for those teams to find. At each place they were supposed to complete the necessary activity (climb a coconut tree, team pyramid, rock pass with spoons, 3 basketball shots, entire team crab walk, and ball pass with feet) in order to receive a part of the weekend verse. The first team to complete the verse successfully wins.
*Romans and Christians - All Deaf Filipinos where the Christians. All the Americans were the Romans. The Romans chased the Christians and if a Roman caught a Christian, they would put them in jail. In order to be freed from jail, the Christian would have to complete an activity like 10 jumping jacks or make 3 shots at the hoop. There were three locations around our complex that each Christian had to get to. They were safe zones, but they also couldn't get into the final safe house until they had been to the 3 safe zones. It's just a more complicated form of "tag".
*Water balloon toss - Each pair of people got one water balloon and tossed the balloon back and forth, taking a step back each time they received the balloon.
*Craft time - Half the group went to make friendship bracelets and the other half made tie-dye t-shirts. When they were done, they switched.

After lunch was siesta or free time. I had been preparing for my teaching time the following morning when I was summoned by some Deaf girls who wanted to talk to me outside. I went out and Emisan, Rosaly, and Antonia were all there. They had gotten off early from their fly-tying job and came up to the Sunrise House, to join in the weekend fun. I was so excited to see them and talk with them! I had seen Emisan at Bible study Wednesday, but I hadn't yet seen Rosaly, since she was at her own Bible study that night. We sat and chatted and caught up quickly.

Pool time is always fun. With almost 100 people walking around and more than half of those in the small pool, I tend to sit out. I sat with Emisan and Rosaly and we decided to paint our toenails. Emisan had painted each toe a different color and decided that I needed the same, so she painted my toes for me. They she put my hair up in bobby pins all around my head, so that my hair was off my neck. It was nice to not worry about my hair, but I'm sure it looked funny.

After dinner we performed our dramas for the Deaf. I took my time in between all the dramas to explain in depth what each one meant and hopefully relate it to them. The message for all our dramas is "Jesus is the answer." All the dramas point to having problems and issues in our life in which we struggle. Jesus is the only way to fully get rid of those problems. We just need to give our heart to Him and trust only Him.

After our drama presentation, we had a talent show. Normally this is an American show as the Deaf tend to be shy and not want to perform. But this year we had many Deaf participating in dances (with no music) and dramas. What a fun day! No snake episodes tonight either!

Friday, June 26 - Silent Retreat, Tambangan & BDA Weekend!

One of my favorite days of the year!

Our day started as normal: wake-up at 5 and have quiet time until 6:15, shower and eat breakfast, and start our group Bible study at 7 - student led. At 8 we started Silent Retreat day. This is where we have 4 hours of alone time with Jesus where we can pray, read, or worship. I headed back to my bedroom, which is nicely air conditioned, and I had a very purposeful time with the Lord. At 10, I met up with Lindie, Josh's wife, and Debbie (Angie's mom) to drive down to Loay to pick up supplies for lunch. With 30 people on the team, food runs out fast. We bought supplies for spaghetti. Filipinos LOVE spaghetti. They add sweet and condensed milk to it though, to make it sweet and creamy. It's REALLY good, but we make it with just the spaghetti sauce. My body needing protein, I went on a hunt for some meat. Behind the stores in Loay there was an open air market selling fruit and vegetables. I thought there must be meat there somewhere. I found it, but it surely wasn't fresh. It was laying on bloodstained, wooden tables out in the open. The people standing near it were waving sticks, with yarn on the end, over the meat, to keep the flies off it. I decided I didn't need meat in the spaghetti that much!

The three of us head back and successfully made spaghetti for 30 people. The team then prepared the camp for the Deaf campers that were coming that night. We made animal balloons for each bunk and signs for the buildings, welcoming them. We then planned out what we were going to be doing for the weekend. Amy Grimm really took charge here with Angie Snyder. It was great. Everything was organized and planned out by the time we left for Tambangan Elementary.

Tambangan was great. We headed back to finish preparing for the campers, who arrived 15 minutes after we did. We ran outside to greet them and were so excited to see them. Last year there was a lot of opposition from a Catholic teacher and only about 40 students came. This year, Dennis Drake, the founder of IDEA, made it mandatory that all students come to our camp. Yeah, such favor! All 65 students were there and started playing court games like basketball and volleyball. Dinner was supposed to be at 6, so at 6 I went down, and Marita (the cook) was in a frenzy. Her help did not show up and now she and one friend were alone, cooking for 100 people. It looked like they had just started. Lindie and I jumped in slicing huge pieces of pork with dull knives. An hour later we were done, and dinner was being served. Pork with vegetables and pancit... a wonderful meal, I ate a lot of it! I LOVE pancit! Eating though, I realized my hands still smelled like raw pork. I had washed my hands a lot, but the smell stayed until the next morning. It was gross.

That night after dinner, we meet for session. Leoni, a teacher at BDA and a good friend, lead worship. Peter, a father of two children on the trip, lead the session with me interpreting. As all the Deaf students went off to prepare for bed, our team met in the camp kitchen to talk and pray. Joshua and I talked about the spiritual warfare that is always present on these weekends and specifically surrounding these students. We prayed... as we prayed, we heard a continuous ruckous from the boys' dorm. Thinking they were just fooling around, playing, we continued to pray. I knew there were teachers down there that would take care of things. As we finished praying, I headed down there to say good night to the students and the ruckous was continuing from the boys dorm. These dorms have 50 sets of bunkbeds, each dorm (one for boys, one for girls) sleeping 100. Right away I was confronted by a bunch of girls saying there was a snake in the boys' dorm - that's what all the ruckous was about. Yikes! The girls told me they caught it, so assuming it was safe, I walked into the boys' dorm. They had the snake pinned to the ground with a stick, right behind it's head so it couldn't strike and it's body was covered with a black, plastic garbage bag. One of the teachers, Keats, and Chris, an American caught the snake.
The American who caught it was volunteering with IDEA for 10 weeks. His organization funds a lot of IDEA and they had sent him over to interact for 10 weeks. Prior to catching the snake though, one of the IDEA workers had been scratched by the fangs, not bitten. So Chris took the snake up to the house, holding behind its head and further down the body. We showed one of the care takers of the house the snake, who backed away from it, while Keats told him that it was safe, Chris had it paralyzed. It was poisonous. The IDEA worker who had been scraped, needed to go to the hospital, as snakes like this could release a venom that could kill in 30 minutes. Just to be on the safe side, they went off to the hospital. Prior to leaving though, they knew they couldn't enter a hospital with a live snake, nor did Chris want to continue to carry it alive. Keats found large wire cutters in the garage and proceeded to cut the snake in half, to kill it. The next day Keats showed me pictures and the video they took. The snake was about a golf ball size around but over 7 feet long. Gross!

It was a great night overall, but I was also looking forward to the next day with the students.