Philippines Day 1
Good day from Manilla, Philippines!
Our team departed Friday morning with a quick jaunt to Atlanta before the long haul up and over the country by Alaska and then back down to Tokyo, all 14 hours of it. What a flight! We had about an hour and a half in Narita before boarding another plane for the final leg of our journey to Manila. That one lasted another 5 hours. I really didn’t want to look at another seat but we then had to get into a van for the 40 minute ride to our hotel. The bed was a site for sore eyes after 24 hours of traveling, let me tell you! We awoke to beautiful skies to celebrate Easter with New Hope to Asia, the church that is to be our place for VBS this week. The congregation welcomed us with open arms and we celebrated our Risen Savior with singing and dancing. There was an amazing sermon on the hope we have in Jesus, then after lunch we got some much needed rest in the afternoon before going back that evening and worshiping Easter again with the youth. Before that we made final preparations to begin VBS the following day. Monday morning we began our day with devotion and breakfast, which consists of rice, a fried egg, some type of sausage, and bread. We then arrived at New Hope, where we were greeted by over 120 smiling faces, ready to start VBS. We’re doing Submerged, which is what the church did last year, so a big SHOUT OUT to those of you who let us borrow shirts!! We dove under the surface to find out what God sees in us and how we can look deeper into God’s Word. We did four rotations: Crafts, Bible Story, Music, and Recreation. The crafts and Bible story centered on Zacchaeus and the music taught the kids that no matter what, no matter where, Jesus knows you and Jesus loves you. The children then had some lunch before heading home for the day. We came back to the hotel to get some rest before dinner and are looking forward to day #2 of VBS.
Blessings to all,
The Philippines Team
