Home At Last

After fifteen hours of travel we arrived in the Philippines in the early evening.  Our friends were waiting with the church van and we packed in our boxes and luggage and headed for home.  Nothing had changed the humidity was still 1000% and the traffic as crazy as usual, nonetheless it was good to be back.  We began to unpack a few things before heading to bed, we would be leaving the following night for the island.  After little sleep we woke up continued unpacking and then tried to sleep again.  We were about to  endure a ten hour bus ride, and needed all the rest we could get.  The would be ten hour ride turned into fifteen, and we were ready for more sleep.  Not sure if it was jet or bus lag, but we were drained.  As luck would have it, the rain was coming down in buckets just in time for or hour long boat ride to the island.  We would spend the next two weeks on the island working both kids camp and youth camp.  We mostly helped out with, the preparation and decorations for Children’s Camp.  The teachers were some of the youth, that would be attending next weeks camp.  The youth did an amazing job, the boys did most of the set up and goofing around, and the girls did all of the teaching and devotions.  Praise God for such devoted youth.  

For youth camp we had the opportunity to be camp counselors.  We had a great time with our groups sharing about our Giants.  The theme of the camp was “Facing the Giants”.  I also had the opportunity to teach a session on The Conquest of Jericho, where God through the faith of the people pulled down the Giant wall.  It was amazing as we sat and listened while the youth shared about the giants they were facing.  Many of them have been facing persecution from their Catholic teachers, their neighbors and even their families.  I thought for a while about persecution, and realized how blessed we are in the U.S. to be virtually free from persecution.  Aside from the occasional snide remark, when was the last time any of us encountered anything like this.  One man even tried to light a Sunday School  room on fire, that was filled with 80 children.  I was encouraged to pray for them and lift them up to the Lord as they struggle not only with the common struggles that youth face, but with the harsh reality that the enemy does not want to see them succeed.  We were unable to stay for the entire camp, because we had to travel back to Manila to renew our Visas, but praise God for the opportunity he gave us to serve him and the children over the past two weeks.

Now we are back on Manila, and back to the daily grind.  We will resume our Tagalog classes this afternoon, and are anxious to continue learning this new language.  Please pray for us as we continue to study the language, and as we continue to live our lives to his Glory, making the most of the opportunities he presents us with.

In His Service,

Justin and Erin McDonald