Round two!

I've been back for one day.

The plane landed in Manila at 9:30 yesterday morning, June 2. I am not in the least embarrassed to confess that I cried tears of joy as I saw the Manila harbor coming into view, completely overwhelmed. The humidity hit me like a wall, no suprise there. I got through customs, brushed my teeth and changed in the washroom, and headed out to grab a cab. He brought me to the church instead of to Treesa's- she wasn't going to be home and I decided I'd rather go and see all my friends first rather than crash in an empty house. I had the driver stop one block away from the church so that i could walk in. So much has changed... Anyway, I walked through the door to find the Danish team painting away, and just past them I saw Ate Rona! So I followed her into the church, dropped my bags, and we proceeded to hug with lots of squealing and crying on my part. I was actually shaking! Ahh. It's so good to be back.

As it was thursday, most of my friends started to trickle in. One by one I got to hug the youth of this church who I LOVE. I should explain for those reading who don't know, on thursdays we make a butt load of rice and ulam (yesterday our ulam was soup) and then bring it to Gruar, a squatter village nearby. We gather all the kids together and sing songs with them, dance, do a drama or tell a story with a biblical message, and then we pray and hand out the food. Since we have the Danish team here, they were our entertainment yesterday. They were wonderful! The kids especially liked when they performed a hip hop dance haha. Typical for them- dancing really grabs their attention. I recognized a lot of kids, and some of them remembered me. I saw Mae Mae. She was the girl who ran at me and jumped into my arms the very first time I went to Gruar, she had no idea who I was but she decided to just run at me! So since then we've been good buddies. I walked up to her and Ate Beth called her name, she looked at me kind of like a deer caught in headlights haha, and after a few seconds she LIT UP! We hugged, and pretty much kept hugging throughout our time there. I held up a few of the smaller kids so that they could see the Danish team's program, saw all kinds of things I'd forgotten I'd see... things that make me sad... But being back in that squatter village confirmed so much in my heart and in my spirit. God uses me there. God uses me here. I can LOVE these kids and it can make a difference in their lives! Not because of me, but because of Jesus in me. Awesome :)

So we finished up at Gruar, a fulfilling and blessed time, and headed back to the church. Pastor Ding and Ate Mona drove me over to Treesa's house. Only Mike was home, so he took my bags and we went to the kitchen where I tried to eat as much as I could, considering that it was 4 or 5 in the morning as far as my body was concerned! Treesa came, tried to feed me more, (lol) and we chatted about her daughters upcoming graduation, and how crazy everything has been getting ready for that. At about 8:00 I went into the room I'm staying in to get ready for bed and almost slept in all my dirty clothes haha, I could barely muster the energy to shower but I felt a lot better after I did. I slept SOLID, it was wonderful. All the way till 8 when Treesa woke me up to take me over to the church.

So that's where I am right now, 9:46 am, typing away on the church computer. Today we go back to Gruar, not to do our big program but to visit with some people who had their homes recently burned down- again. (Squatter villages are vulnerable to fires, with burning garbage and homes made partially of cardboard...) So we're making pancit, I'll help with that and maybe wander around Sunset Drive in the new grocery store and check out some of the newer shops.

Will write again soon, much love!

Ange.