Games Trump Language Barriers

Thursday (6-9) we dropped by the kids' neighborhood to tell the high schoolers we would be doing an activity with them Saturday. The younger ones all came running to the car to greet us. They followed us around as we went around to the high schoolers' houses to talk to them. After we had talked to all the high schoolers, we stayed a little while to play with the kids. Mik Mik was carrying a 10-month-old baby that she let me hold. She was so calm and content. Ian started giving the kids piggy back rides, and soon they all wanted a ride. When the baby I was holding saw Ian running with the kids on his shoulders, she started chuckling. Every time he started running, she started laughing. She thought it was so funny.

We played catch with the kids for a little while, and some of the other kids enjoyed sitting around Veronica, putting flowers in each other's hair. Then the kids started playing a new game. They taught me how to play, and they all wanted to try to beat me. It's basically rock, paper, scissors. The only thing is, you have to move your feet a certain way depending on if you win or lose each round. You keep going until someone's feet are spread far enough apart that they fall or give up. With the language barrier, I was having trouble understanding how to play at first. I kept misunderstanding how to move my feet, and they kept correcting me. I got it down soon enough, and we played over and over! It was so much fun playing with them. I loved watching them get excited and laugh. It is amazing to me how one simple game can make a language barrier completely irrelevant! I loved getting to play with these kids again and build an even stronger bond.

New People, New Places

Sunday (6-5) we visited a different church, Downtown Church of Christ. Dowtown Church is one of the bigger churches here around Cebu (although still fairly small compared to those in the US). They have a pretty large group of young adults around my age. We had met a few of the members previously through other events, and were now getting to meet more. They are all so friendly! They introduce themselves right away, show you where to go, and make sure to involve you in the bible study. Veronica and I went with the women to study 1 Peter 4:7-10. We looked at each of the concepts (keeping an alert and sober mind, loving others, being hospitable, and using our gifts) to see how well we did each of these things, and how we could improve. It was a great discussion and reminder of how important each of those is. It really made me think about how I could improve in each area. Later in the afternoon, we went to play volleyball again with the Churches of Christ in the area. Ian spoke first on how Christ was a servant, and calls us to be servants too. He did a great job! Then we played volleyball. I got to play two games with two different teams. I got to meet some more girls from the different churches, as well as seeing some of the ones I had met the previous week from volleyball and those I had met that morning at Downtown Church. They are so gracious in welcoming us to play with them, and introducing us to everyone. It is so good to see how loving all of these people are towards eachother, even though they all come from different places, and are playing against each other.

Monday (6-10) we took a trip to Mantayupan falls with the Whitts and Caidy and Ronald for their 2 year anniversary. The drive up there was so nice. We went into a more rural part of Cebu to get there. It had the same lively feeling of the city, with people everywhere and colorful buildings, but with less of the trash and more natural greenery. There were a lot of rice fields on the way, with rice drying on the side of the road. When we got there it was just a short walk to three smaller falls, and just up some stairs to the larger fall. It was so beautiful. We all started taking pictures immediately.

Not long after, we were in the water! It was cold at first, but not too bad once you stared swimming. There were two ropes closer to the fall that you could swim out to and hold onto, so as not to by swept out by the current. There was one point where I was out there by myself. I enjoyed just sitting there in the water, surrounded by the green trees as the heavy mist circled around my face. The waterfall was so loud that it blocked out all other noise. It was so peaceful! I love nature, and I remember sitting there thinking I could stay there every day and be perfectly content! We stayed there several hours, swimming, visiting, and having lunch. On our way back we stopped at a look-out over the coast. It was so beautiful! I loved getting to see more of the beauties around Cebu! It is so beautiful here. I loved getting to see what the Lord has created!

6-4 Saturday

Today was our last day of VBS, so we had "graduation." Throughout the summer, the kids have had the opportunity to earn stickers. They were told that they would be able to buy things with their sticker at the end. We had a store set up for them where they could buy school supplies, clothes, or toys with their earned stickers. We also had some fun games for them to play. All of the games were Joseph themed, as their VBS had been over the story of Joseph. The kids loved the games, and it was so much fun to watch them play! They were so funny laughing, cheering, and getting so excited. My favorite games were the "Dress the Joseph" contest and "Find the coin in the flour" relay. For "Dress the Joseph" they had strips of different colored tissue paper that they had to use to dress a chosen team member like Joseph. It was so fun to see how creative they were with it! We also learned that the color from tissue paper rubs off onto sweaty skin.

As soon as we were finished with the game, they kids started throwing the tissue paper everywhere! For the "Find the coin in the flour" game, we had three plates with a coin covered with flour. We divided the kids into three different groups. They had to take turns running up to the plate, blowing once on the flour, and running back until the coin was revealed. It made quite a mess, but they loved it!

After games, the kids watched Veggie Tales, while we took them a few at a time to the store we had set up for their stickers. They all took their time deciding what they wanted. They were all so pleased to be able to get new things. One of the cutest little girls, Ashley, always looks so apprehensive. I don't think I had ever seen her smile before. But today, she had the biggest smile on her face as she walked away with her new badminton raquets. Baby Lyn also looked so content, playing with her new stuffed animal in her own little world. It was so much fun watching these kids laugh as they played games, and seeing the joy on their faces as they picked out new things that they had earned!

6-2- Thursday

Thursday we helped The Simpsons set up their kindergarten at Lilia's Place again. Filipino school year goes from June-March, so their school was starting the next week! We started out by going to 138- a knock off store- to get school supplies. They showed us all the knock off Oakley's, perfumes, and designer purses. Then we headed back to the apartment to work on their school room. We helped make counting cards, hang posters, and set up whatever else needed to be done. Lisa wanted to have the room set up so that it would look nice for the parent meeting they were having the next day. There were still a few unfinished things by the time we left, but the room looked really good!

Remi really warmed up to us today. She is the cutest thing I have ever seen! She came and sat by me at one point, and she would touch her nose with a wipe she had, then touch mine. She would do it over and over!

She played hide and seek with me between the pocket chart holders, and had fun telling me to lie down and "sleep." She squealed with laugher as Ian pretended to chase her around the room, and she eventually even let him help her put her shoes on. We had so much fun hanging out with the Simpsons again!

6-1- Wednesday

Wednesday we went out with Benjoseph and Glen for more bible studies. We took a jeepney to Consolacion, and then walked to get to the house where we would have the bible study with three ladies. Benjoseph gave a great bible study on the wedding/banquet feasts in Matthew 22 and Luke 14. After that we hiked up some hills, down some streets, and between houses to get to Nancy's house. I enjoyed hiking through the tropical greenery, seeing new things, and soaking in more of the Filipino culture!

We arrived at Nancy's house around lunch time, and she insisted that we eat with her. We were told later that is very common in Filipino culture. Filipinos will even get food from their neighbors in order to make sure their guests have food. We finally decided that Benjoseph would go to the market to get food, while Nancy put on some rice to cook while Glen had a bible study with us. Our bible study with Glen was over the Good Samaritan in Luke 10. When Benjo got back, we had some amazing roasted pork (lechon) and chicken with the rice Nancy made for us. Benjo also brought a can of sardines and two bottles of coke. Filipinos really enjoy it when they can have coke. Benjoseph showed us how to open a can of sardines with only a spoon. We all enjoyed the delicious meal and the good fellowship of Christian brothers and sisters. I was even brave enough to try sardines for the first time, and eventually gave in to having a little bit of coke, even though I'm not really a fan. It was really nice to see Nancy again. She is such a sweet, loving person! She's always eager to help, participate, and greet you. On our way back from Nancy's, we visited the kids that we have been working with at VBS and Consolacion church. We stopped by their neighborhood, and the ones that were out immediately came to greet us with huge smiles and excitement! They began taking us around to everyone's house until all the kids knew we were there. Then we went out to the street in front of their houses where there's a basketball goal to play with them. It was so good to see them, and they didn't want to say goodbye. They even followed us a few minutes later. I really enjoyed seeing them again, as I could tell we were starting to form bonds with them.

5-31- Tuesday

Today we spent more time with the Simpsons. We started by going to the SM hypermart to get supplies for the families the Simpsons sponsor. Lilia's (their 5 year old) quickly made me her companion. She grabbed my hand and led me all over the store. After our visit to SM, we went back to the Simpson's house to bag diapers, vitamins, and powdered milk for the families that the Simpsons took off the streets to live in their apartments for homeless at Lilia's place. I had never seen so many vitamins! The process went pretty quickly with four of us working on it, but I can't imagine how much effort that usually takes for them. After lunch, we headed to Lilia's Place to work on the kindergarten room in their apartments. Two of the apartments at Lilia's Place house several families, and the third one is being used as a kindergarten in order to offer these homeless and poor children the opportunity of an education they would otherwise not get. We helped set up various things around the room before we left to go help another family the Simpson's sponsor. The mom's name is Australia, and 10 of her 12 kids still live at home. Her husband passed away recently, so the Simpsons began taking food to their family. When we pulled up, there was suddenly a swarm of all the neighborhood kids around us. The kids recognized the Simpson's van, and knew that meant we were coming with food. They were all so excited to greet us! They loved seeing the unusual looking Americans. We walked down the road, and through narrow pathways between tiny houses, to get to Australia's house. Her house was the size of a small hallway. Ian was standing on one wall of the house, and I on the other, and there was not enough room between the two of us for another person to fit.

I have no idea how all of her children fit in there. They were so thankful for the food. Even the other kids in the neighborhood were glad that we were bringing food to this family. It was another great day filled with sweet kids, humbling experiences, and inspiring friends.

The beginnings

I've started a blog about my experience in the Philippines at the following link:

http://blogs.acu.edu/1120_BMIS44001/category/cebu-philippines/

However, I've been experiencing problems with the blog, so I decided to start a different one. In order to read the beginnings of my trip, you can access the link above. The rest of my journey will probably just be documented on this site. However, I would encourage you to continue to look back at the link above occasionally in order to see posts from my teammate(s). Reading their views of our trip and experiences along with my blogs give a better picture of what the Lord is doing here in the Cebu.