Day 13

Hey everyone!

Its the 2nd last day, and after our tiring day yesterday we were all a bit sore. The war wounds are still present, some worse than others. 

Last night was very relaxing for everyone. Devotions were done by Rehoboth again and we all learnt a new song written by Mr. Price's friend. The play was about Jonah and the BIG fish. After we put the kids to bed we went our separate ways. Mani-pedis for the girls and massages for the guys. The girls were treated to a girly night-in, with clean and painted fingers and toes followed by chocolate, junk food and tea. The guys had a spa and buffet followed by massages, jacuzzi, steam room and sauna. when we all finished and were back at the ministry centre everyone just went straight to bed as we were extremely exhausted.

Waking up at the usual time, we were treated to a breakfast of waffles, pineapple and eggs. After some of us being given basketball jerseys, we headed over to the school next door to play basketball against the teenage boy team. It was a very intense game with three hundred cheering kids on the sidelines. It was a close match, with our guys pulling away at the end. As usual we dominated, winning the match 57-45. 

Next, we headed out to exchange our Australian dollars for Filipino pesos. It took awhile but we were finally ready for our shopping extravaganza. We then came back to see our hard work from yesterday at the Mango Property. The effort we have seen each other put in and the sores on our hands made us proud to say that we poured a concrete slab that was around the same size of the average house (450
 sq m), three stories up. 

Lunch was mus masarup as usual. We had rice with chicken and beans, complimented by a sweet cherry cake. Oh and by the way, to our dearest parents, we do expect different cake with every meal. Straight after lunch, we travelled to the Greenhill Market to put our shopping and bargaining skills into practice. Mr. Beacham told us some scary stories so everyone was wary of guys asking us if we wanted DVDs. Everyone had lots of fun, some people getting a bit lost, but everyone purchasing something. It was really awkward getting money out of our travel wallets without too many people seeing the money that we stored inside. Some of us also had Starbucks before we left. 

Coming back to the Ministry Centre, everyone started packing. Mr Beacham had paid for us to have one shirt from the Centre's shop so shirts were flying as people tried to find the one that they specifically wanted. We then got the opportunity to support the Journey for Hope project, that meant we were able to buy some jewellery that was made by some of the women in the community who would otherwise be unemployed with no income to support their families. 

Our final dinner was Lechon Baboy: roast pig. We had some other Filipino delicacies that accompanied the delicious main course. Chris, our Filipino construction manager, hacked away at the pig, turning the meat into edible portions for us, the juices dripping down our hands. We headed to the Children's Home, where the Rehoboth people did the devotions again. This time it was Luke 9:11. It was particularly hard for us because was our last time with the kids to say our goodbyes. Kids were begging us not to go and stay with them. They created a card specially for us, to show our group that we were special to them. 

 Coming back, Rehoboth left to do karaoke, while the rest of us packed to leave in the morning. We also waited for the leaders to come back. Thankfully their flight left at the scheduled time and they have just arrived back at the ministry centre. :)

Thats all for today and we leave tomorrow so this is the last blog. We love and miss you, even though we would love to stay a little bit longer. See you when we get back!

Shout outs...

Johanna - Congrats Mum and Dad on your 25th wedding anniversary. 

Blakke- home soon! cannot wait to see you all xx