Monday Construction (from Wonwoo's perspective)

Three groups went to the construction in the morning today. Jungmin, HoonJoo, and I carried the water tank to the construction place and it was super heavy. Thanks Jungmin and HoonJoo! We first had some people to keep digging the hole and collect the soils and rocks into the sack and we had some runners to carry the sacks. Every single one of us were working hard under the hot sun: shoveling and carrying. We also had some people collecting the gravels and sands into the sack while others were carrying those sacks to use for mixing cement. I carried one of the bags of cement which is 40kg and it caused me to be 10 years older after carrying it. I saw all members working nonstop with a very positive attitudes. We encouraged and tried to help each other. It really inspired me and also made me to appreciate my teammates. Through the construction, I felt a strong bond between each members and I thought that I am really blessed to serve other people with this teammates in Christ.

Jung Min & the Kangaroos go on a feeding

On the second day (Friday) in Manila, my animal group (Kangaroos) went on a feeding session with the people from the World Race organization. My group members were Tessa, KI, Hong and Daniel Park. We got in the car with the World Race organization and I sat at the very back of the car with Daniel. It was very hot in the back as four people were squished inside the back. The ride felt like ages, we went through bumpy and busy roads of Manila. Finally, we arrived at the village nearby the TayTay region. We got out of the car and started roaming around the village shouting "FEEDING!" it was done to alert the kids that there is food. After the food went out, we played tag with the kids and played around with them by carrying them on our shoulder and back.

We played for a long time and I was exhausted. My shirt was soaked with sweat and dust because the ground was full of dust. Overall, the feeding was one of the best part of the trip for me last year and this year it was the same.

PS. KI took amazing pictures; Hong and Daniel Park played hard with the kids.

Hong's Blog (Saturday Morning)

Hong's:

In the morning, we had our "morning meeting" with Ms. Bandy and the group. We usually split into our animal groups, to have our own individual work but today was different, our leaders decided to split us into boys and girls. The boys were schedule to do construction and on the other hand, the girls were to play sports and games with the  kids and then swim with the local girls from the community. As the boys were dragging their feet and making their way across the floor, the girls were excited. I was ready to go, but I felt a bit frustrated. As we made our way through the streets, the adults and kids were giving us a warm welcome by giving us high 5's and saying hello. I was lifted by their welcome and was full of adrenaline. I worked, and rested for a 5 min break. While I was resting, the kids were hugging and having a conversation with me. I remembered smiling at them and began to enjoy myself for a bit. After the break I began working again until we headed back for lunch at 11:30am.  After we finished eating, we rested.

Koala's Community Walk

Today the Koala group (Terry, Bryan, Frances, Cyrus, and Ji Won) went on a community walk. We first headed out to the street where we met the local people and their environment. We walked and occasionally stopped and prayed for the kids and community. Once or twice we stopped and played basketball or soccer with the kids. Ji Won liked how unexpected everything was and enjoyed interacting with the kids, not just walking through the streets. Cyrus loved how friendly all the people were. Terry was amazed that the kids weren't scared and readily approached us and came to us and high-fived us and asked what our name was. Frances met one girl named Princess who gave her a bracelet that she had made. Bryan liked playing basketball and soccer with the kids and brightening up their day. It was a very fun experience and we definitely want to do it again. :)

Saying Goodbye By: Annika Petersen

       Saying goodbye can be the hardest part of leaving. Whether it is saying goodbye to your friends, your pet, your family or for some people their phones, it can be difficult to say goodbye to all of these things, but saying goodbye can lead to great things like spreading God's love and word. Once you say goodbye it can be scary at first but gratifying in the end. If we never let ourselves say goodbye we would never be able to create memories, share love and wisdom and be servant's for others.
        Although it is only day two and there are many more things to come, saying goodbye for me was really hard to do but upon doing that I am able to open up and do what God has called me to do in the Philippines. Saying goodbye affected some more than others, but it has led to laughs, and inspiring moments. It will never be easy to say goodbye but the experiences that come from it will be great.

sunhee's Friday post

We came to Manila and it is very nice so far. The food here is awesome. I was worried because father told me the food in Manila is terrible but I love eating here. Part of the ministry is a spa.  There's a saying, "Get a massage, feed a family." It only costs about 10 SGD and it is really nice.  I am planning to get it everyday, if that works out. Playing with kids are fun, even though they are so energetic. I think Singapore's weather is cooler because here, even if I stand outside doing nothing, I will sweat a lot.
-Sunhee

A Little Bit Of Everything - Zayne

Hello, today I went to play with the toddlers in the morning and that was really cool. A kid was named Renzy (probably not how you spell it) but I thought that was cool because it's my brothers name with "zy" at the end - but his is spelled differently. This afternoon we're going to a feeding and I'm really looking forward to that. I also think that construction will be extremely satisfying - but tiring too. :P It's so much nicer here than I thought it was going to be. They have come a long way from where they started and it's really inspiring to see. It makes me want to start doing this too. Goodbye, Zayne.