Malasakit...

This past week went by really fast and I am sure this next week will go by even faster! I cannot believe it is already my last week! It's kind of sad in a lot of ways! This life is becoming more normal for me! And, I am getting used to everything more and more everyday. It is hard to imagine going back to life as it was before I got here. It will definitely feel weird at first. It seems like I have been here for such a long time!

Last Monday we hiked to these waterfalls on Samal Island. I saw pictures before we got there! They are beautiful. They are supposed to be clear blue waters. However, since it had rained the night before they were all muddy. We did jump off of the cliff into the water below though and I got to slide down this rock into the water. It was a lot of fun. We then went over to the Bat Cave they have on the Island here. You don't actually go inside (which is what I was expecting). But, you just look into the entrance. They also have these holes in the top where you can look down into the cave. There are about 3 million bats that live inside. I never realized how horrible bats smell either. It was really interesting to see!

On our way back to the orphanage we had a really nice cab driver. He was so sweet. And he tried to teach us Cebuano words and we tried to teach him some english ones. lol. He taught us the word Malasakit. It apparently means something you can't really express in english words. But, it is something like love. He said you know you have Malasakit when you can give everything of yourself and it is ok if you get nothing in return. He was like,"That is what you have for those kids!" haha. It was so cute!!! And really neat to hear someone tell you how one word means but they have to use a paragraph in english and even then it still doesn't quite capture the meaning.

This past week I got the chance to iron a good bit for the laundry lady at the orphanage. She has such a big job. Filipinos are really big on smelling good and since it is so hot here they change multiple times a day. So, mulitply that by like 50 kids and you have yourself a really big job. Especially since they don't use washing machines!!! It's crazy!

On Tuesday I accompanied Nanay and Mary-D to the school. My arm was really scraped up from skiing and there was a Filipino crowd nearby. When I passed them they asked Nanay a question. And all I heard was "white girl". So, I asked what they said and she told me they were wondering what had happened to the "white girls arm". haha. It made me laugh! People here are really nosy. And it is funny because I wonder why it matters to them what happened to my arm? haha. People are really open here about every detail of their lives and they want to know every detial of yours. Even ones you may not want to share! Lol.

That day coming back we saw one of the girls fathers on the street. Nanay told me that he had chosen to remarry and support his new wife instead of his own daughter. That made me really sad! I don't understand some of these parents and their poor decisions. It makes me so upset to think of all these kids and how some of their parents just didn't want them!

MJ has found a fascination with all of the scrapes I have on my body. And she thinks it is hilarious to punch them, scrape them, etc...So, that has been a lot of fun this past week! HAHA! THe other night I was sitting on my bed and she kept puckering her lips at me (that is what they do to point here...instead of using their finger. The gesture still kind of confuses me sometimes because I forget what it means). I finally figured out she was pointing behind my head so I looked to see two big lizards right above me. I chased them away and then she gave me a thumbs up sign! HAHA! It was so funny.

I finally got to interview someone that works at the orphanage this past week. I think a lot of them are confused about how you get saved. But, I wonder if it is because it just isn't like it is in the USA where you pray a prayer or go down the Aisle. When I asked him when he got saved he said he didn't remember? I think I might follow up on that later.

I have been helping the kids with homework a lot this past week. IT has been kind of fun! Everything I do here requires patience though because the kids are SO SLOW at reading english and I have to sit there while it takes them about 30 minutes to get through a small paragraph. God is really teaching me patience! I also found out MJ is a perfectionist. Who knew? I sat there with her while she tried to draw and "A" for about an hour! She kept erasing it until she got it perfect. haha.

We spent Thursday and Friday up at the church labeling clothes for the bazaar. I managed to stab myself pretty hard with the gun in my finger! HAHA! It took a lot of time because of all the stuff we had. WE took a break one day and went to eat a snack. One of the workers accidently left a candle burning on a plastic chair and when we got back from snack it had completely melted the chair! We were so glad nothing else had been damaged!!!

This past week it has been really good to see my girls act like kids. I don't get to see that too often because they have so much responsibility!!! They are always cleaning or working or something. But, there was one night this last week where we got to just goof off in the room and I was so glad to see their childlike attitude come out!

I found out this past week Mount Apo is a volcano! I was so shocked!!! I was telling on of the workers I would love to see a volcano and they were like,"There is one right over there!You see it everyday!" haha.

Nanay gets her break FINALLY this next week. She gets a break today-Wednesday. So, I will be doing everything she does for the next week! It should be interesting to see if the girls will get out of bed for me or not! Lol. And, it should be interesting helping them with their homework since I can't speak the language! She told me this past week she is going to miss me when I leave! It was really sweet! I love her!!!

This past week we also did some painting at the school for the preschool room as well as pass out fliers for the kids club they are having. On Saturday afternoon we went with the pastor to cell groups on the beach. It was really neat to see all the kids who lived down by the sea playing games, singing songs and hearing a bible story! I really enjoyed it!

One of my girls told me this past week that she would miss me and she gave me one of her only two necklaces to remember her by! I didn't want to accept it since she only has two necklaces. But, she insisted. It really made me want to cry! Yesterday I was telling Sarah it hadn't hit yet that we were leaving. But, yesterday was our last day at church. And while I was sitting there watching the kids sing and MJ turn around and smile at me I just lost it. I bawled my eyes out!!! Mj came up and gave me a BIG hug before bed and told me goodnight (she has never done that before). I am goign to have a hard time leaving these kids on Saturday!!!

After working on the Bazaar this past week we had an outing to this place kind of like Lowes. It was fun to walk around. We got free ice tea!!! I enjoyed being out doing something normal in society for once!!! We don't do that often! lol. We also went to get some glass at Mama C's old house.

This past week Mary D was telling me how bad she wanted an english bible and how bad she also wanted a small bible. She was talking about how cute mine was. And, so, I told her I would give it to her when I left! She was so excited. She would have a better use for it than I would. I have so many Bible's back int he USA. However, I will miss reading it for the couple days I am flying home and at debrief! Maybe I can borrow someone elses. (I hope you don't mind Ben my giving away the Bible you gave me! It's for a good cause).

Two nights this week I have woken up to HUGE cockroaches crawling all over me!!! It has been so gross! It really creeps me out!!!

I have been sick these past three days. I have some type of cold. but, it is the worst cold I think I have ever had. Not only is my nose stuffy but my chest and throat are killing me. It's really hard to breathe. I have been really achy and weak. I can only walk for a little bit before I feel like i need to lay down RIGHT THEN!!! I hate feeling like this!!!! I am so busy all the time. I don't have time for this! Lol. Especially not on the week Nanay is gone. I also got pink eye. Which, it wasn't just a little bit. It was HORRIBLE pink eye. If any of you remember those two years in VBS I had gone to the eye doctor and the corners of my eyes were red. They looks so freaky and they looked like they were bleeding! That is how it has been! haha. It has been an interesting couple days with all of that!!!

Luckily it has rained this week! Last week it didn't rain at all so it was getting really hot and nasty. Thankfully it is back to pouring rain EVERYDAY! Lol. I am thankful for it though. There was actually a breeze in my room all night long the other night. It felt kind of like I had airconditioning! KIND OF! haha.

Yesterday cracked me up. After church last night we looked outside and our ride back to the orphanage was a big dump truck! HAHA. I just smiled and was like,"You have got to be kidding me". It was jammed packed full of kids. And not only that, but it was a stick shift. So, imagine what happened with that many people whenever it jolted or came to a sudden stop! HAHA! I think I hurt a few people trying to balance and keep myself from falling over. I came pretty close to wiping out a couple times! I finally got to the edge where I could get a good grip on something. But, even then the tree limbs kept hitting my head from up above me. I was telling Cameron and Sarah,"What are we going to do whenever we don't have random things happen to us like this all the time? Life is always interesting and full of weird surprises here!" One thing is for sure: I laugh more here than I do at home. Everything is just so hilarious!!!

Last night I was so hungry after dinner and luckily two of the workers noticed. They took us down to a shop to get some Hany (their chocolate here) and a 7 up. I was so thankful!!! I was starving!!! I am becoming addicted to Hany! I will miss it at home!! lol.

Since we are leaving here soon everyone keeps asking when we will be returning. It is kind of sad knowing we may never see them again and they are not just a car drive away. I mean, it costs thousands of dollars to come see them. It's hard to tell them we might not come back. In fact, I haven't. We have been making facebook accounts for a lot of the workers here so we can keep in touch! That makes me laugh1 They have no idea how to use facebook. haha. So, we have to give them lessons.

This next week we are taking a couple of the workers out to lunch and a movie. We are paying. They never get to do fun stuff like that! It should be really fun!

Today we are going to Paradise Island to go Scuba diving and then we are going to the G Mall to shop.

I am really going to miss this place. I will be missing telling the kids goodnight all the time! It is going to be hard to come back home! But, in some ways I am ready to see everyone back home again. I guess this is one of those no win situations, huh?

Debrief is from Sunday to Wednesday. I will most likely just want to get home at that point. haha. I leave the kids Sunday at noon! So, pray for all of us! It is going to be so hard to leave them! It will be hard to leave this place. Pray for my last week and that Christ will give more opportunities to help out and speak to others about Christ. Pray that I will get better. This sickness really stinks!!! And, pray for the kids and me as we say goodbye to each other. It is super hard on them too!

I have been amazed to see the missionaries here and how they operate. They find so many ways to tell people about Christ. I have been blown away at the inventive things they have come up with! Because it isn't like the IMB just sits them down, holds their hand and tells them everything they need to do! I have just been really excited to see what they have been up to and the ways they have found to reach out to the people! I hope I can be that inventive one day!

Ghetto Skiiing...

This past week felt like the longest week since I have been here. I am not sure what it was about the week. But, it didn't go by fast. ha. Monday we did some shopping at the SM Mall and we also watched a movie. Lizzy met up with us for dinner and then she came back to the orphanage with us. She stayed in my room with me. It was nice to have a friend over int he girls house to talk to when falling asleep at night and to just hang out with all the time. She is so funny! She also let me use her computer to get on Skype and I got to call home for the first time in five weeks! It was really nice!!! I needed it this week too!

Lately the girls have been fighting more. This past week I had to literally pull two girls off of each other who were hitting,kicking and pulling out each other's hair by the chunks. I asked what they were saying to each other and one of the older girls said one of them called the other one ugly. haha. Nanay and me laughed about it a little bit but the girls definitely got in trouble for it!!!

This past week we also had a group of kids run away from the orphanage. Someone found them and brought them back! It was a big deal. ANd one of the workers got fired over it. They were a good friend of mine. IT was kind of a sad week in that respect. Everyone was sad because they fired this one worker and the kids were in big trouble.

Lizzy was here filming our team for the video she is putting together for NEhemiah Teams for the summer. I went with her to take the kids lunch at the school one day this past week. While I was there TONS of kids swarmed us. I was so tired that day. And they kept talking to me in Cebuano. So, I couldn't really understand what they were saying. They were touching my face, rubbing my arms, playing with my hair. haha. For an hour I had kids all over me. It makes me laugh what fascinates them. One night I was brushing my teeth and about five girls in my room stood there watching me. I was like,"I have never felt like such an interesting person in all my life!" I mean, everything I do here is fascinating to everyone! HAHA.

THis past week we also looked at and bought some jewelry from Mary D. She is a worker at the orphanage that makes jewelry and the money she makes from it goes to support the orphange! SHe makes some really pretty stuff.

This past week we have done a lot of painting. We finished up painting the only room we had left in the Caltex House. And, we also started sanding and painting the cabinets. Everything looks so good. I got really sore and exhausted though from all the work we have been doing.

Now that MJ is in school I have started washing dishes from 6:00-7:30 every morning. There are so many dishes it takes so long! But, it is good knowing that the lady who usually does all those dishes doesn't even have to for at least two more weeks!

I have been so burdened this past week for the workers here. they never get a break. Some of them have been working for seven years without a day off! They are all exhausted. I just really wish there were some way we could do more to relieve them and give them a break while we are here! I want to do so much more than I am doing!

I didn't get any naps this past week! HAHA! I have been working too much most days for that. I have been trying to catch back up on my homework too because I haven't been doing it faithfully. lol. It takes so long to do what they ask.

Saturday we got to join the staff here at the orphanage to go do home visits for the church. Home visits here are so interesting because you have to hike to get to a lot of the houses. One house was about a mile and a half down a mountain. So, we hiked down. It was SO PRETTY at the top though. I wish I could put up pictures of the view from the top of the mountain. We went down to the bottom and hung out with the family. THe father of the family took us to the river and showed us his farmland. It was really nice to get out into the community and see how people REALLY live. Because, the kids at the oprhanage have it really good compared to most of the community. IT was interesting to see how most people live. It was also very sad.

Saturday we also had a movie night. We watched the movie CARS and had snacks. Some missionaries from Australia brought the kids chips, chocolate and cokes! It was so nice!!! OF course I enjoyed it too! haha. The kids were so cute watching the movie!

Yesterday morning we spent a lot of time cleaning the church for the service. WE set up the chairs, swept, and cleaned the CR (the bathroom). It was hard work and I got all sweaty and nasty for church. haha. I am pretty much always sweaty here. It is funny how back home 85 degrees seems SO HOT but here it feels SO NICE! It is always burning up here.


One of the kids shared their testimony with me this past week. It was so sad because he was given up by his father at age four because his father gambled money away and then couldn't support him. He was then given to his uncle who found him a burden and gave him to a friend. The friend found him a burden and then gave him to the oprhanage. It is so sad to see the affects that the parents decisions have on their children. It makes me so mad to think about a father's choices doing that to a kid! So many of the kids are here because of poor decisions on their parents part or because their parents don't really care. I look at these beautiful kids and it breaks my heart. I'm just thinking,"How could you not want that?" These kids are so precious!!!

Last night they had a going away party for an american visitor that came to visit for two weeks.The kids were getting really sentimental and sad that we were going to leave. So, they kept asking when we were going to leave. They kept bringing us so many flowers. They made me a brown to wear on my head. I had so many flowers in my lap. They kept kissing us and telling us they loved us! It was so sweet but kind of sad. It got me thinking about leaving them and how hard it is going to be! I wanted to cry!!! It is going to be so hard. I only have two weeks left now. I wish I could put up pictures of all this stuff!!!

The kids have gotten into this phase where they repeat everything we say. They play the "copy cat" game. haha.But, it's pretty funny because they don't speak english. So, if you start speaking really fast they can't copy you anymore! I am enjoying that!!! I have also started calling MJ silly! So, she has learned the phrase. She know goes aroung saying,"SILLY SILLY" all the time! HAHA. This past week she tried to fix my hair. It took her about an hour to get it into a pony tail. Finally when she was done she smiled, clapped and then whiped her forhead! HAHA. SO MUCH WORK for such a little person!!! SHe also has been eating REALLY slow lately. And, she won't let me leave the table until she is done. So, everyone will be out of the dining room and it will just be me and MJ at the table. I think she finds it as a game now! HAHA. The kids are teaching me cebuano. And, I picked up some of the phrases like "What is your name?" "How old are you" etc...So, they are really confused now and think I actually know cebuano. They can't figure out how I can answer them. haha. It's really funny!

This past week somehow the water we got has ants in it. So, anytime I fill up my water bottle I get some ants in there. They are really big on WASTING things here so I just decided I would just drink the ants. haha. It was kind of gross. But, I do things here I would never do in America. I guess it is good for you in some way? haha. Maybe a good source of protein? I am telling myself that anyways!!! SO NASTY!

This morning the missionaries here took us to the beach to go skiing. It was kind of ghetto though because he pulled us from the beach on his motorcycle! HAHA! It was a lot of fun! The Filipinos looked us like we were crazy! I face planted it at one point. I am all scraped up and bruised!!! But, it was so fun1 This afternoon we are going to an island to go to a bat cave and to underground waterfalls! It should be fun!!!

It's been a hard week. I am getting so physically exhausted now. The chores I found easy are now ten times harder! Pray for my energy and endurance. I am getitng really weak. God is still teaching me so much. It blows my mind how much I have grown in just two months! He has taught me so much. He is definitely changing me in a lot of ways! And, they are good ways!

I am learning a lot about learning to listen to His voice and not to do all the talking. I am learning to sit before him and quiet myself and just be still. I am also learning so much about not worrying but fully trusting him. I have always been a worrier and it blows my mind how much peace God has given me here. I have not worried about a thing! God is so good!

Some funny things to wrap this up:

When you go to McDonalds here and you want to supersize something they ask you: "Would you like to go big time?" haha

Also, the kids came up to me this week and squeezed my arm and go,"SO BIG!" THey really do have a way of making you feel so skinny! apparently to tell someone they are fat here is a compliment! so they always tell us we are "big" or "chubby" haha. It makes me laugh!!!

This past week was another whirlwind of events that seemed to go by pretty fast. We only have three weeks left. We are past the halfway point and I only have two more Mondays where I write on here! That seems crazy to me! I don't feel like I have been here that long. And, I am sure those next couple weeks will go by SUPER FAST!

Monday was our day off. We went up to Hope Mountain to visit two other summer missionaries our age. We met them at New Life Church (the church we have been attending). They are really sweet. We just kind of hung out and talked. We played this game called Auto Ban (if I spelled that right). IT is kind of like horse shoes with golf balls on a string. haha. Yeah. Who knows. I wish I could put pictures up of that. It was a lot of fun. We also ate fried squash, BBQ Chicken, rice, mango, etc...it was a good meal. And, it was nice to hang out with them. It is so pretty up there. You can see the whole city of Davao, the ocean, lots of trees, and Mount Apo!

On Tuesday we helped out at New Life. We worked at the Chosen school sorting through clothes for their store. They give the kids fake money everytime they come to church. They save it up and then they open a store for them with toys, clothes, and things that people have donated to the church. It was kind of funny sorting through all of the stuff. There was a bunch of random things in there. We were sorting everything, putting it in piles and then putting it back in a bag. We had to write what the bag contained on the outside. There was one marker. And, once again I got a little confused thinking Warren was asking about my boyfriend again (I never learn). So, I finally just starting saying in English,"Warren, could I see the boyfriend?" He thought it was so funny. So, the rest of the afternoon we just kept asking if we could borrow the "boyfriend" from each other. I like communicating like that! HAHA! IT is just one big joke. We laughed about it for a long time! Tuesday night Mama C wanted to take us out to go get dessert and coffee. She seems to wanna do that often. lol. We do that kind of thing about once a week. So, we went up to this place called Jack's Ridge. It is up on the mountain overlooking the city. It is really pretty up there. They have a garden and they have lights streaming down from the trees. It was beautiful. I got a cookies and Cream milkshake and a muffin. haha. I was thankful for dessert. They never eat dessert here! Lol. But, I had a really good time talking to Mama C and Papa T and looking around the place. They had deer roaming the courtyard too. haha.

On Wednesday I asked Nanay to show me the ropes of what she does (in preparation for her days off). It was funny that morning because the first thing she took me to do was clean the "urine blankets". I had no idea what that even meant except I just kept hearing her say "Urine blankets" and I was thinking,"Whatever we are about to do has got to be fun!" (that is sarcasm). Anyways...we went into the bathroom and she explained that whatever blankets, underwear, shorts that the kids urinate in during the night are placed in a bucket in the bath room tub. The laundy lady refuses to wash them because they smell so nasty. So, Nanay takes them, scrubs them, and hangs them up to dry. So, that morning I learned the ropes in how to wash "urine blankets". haha. It was kind of funny. She also taught me a couple of other things about what she does in the mornings. Normally I am playing with MJ and taking care of her. So, up until now I really didn't know much about what she did once the kids went to school. That afternoon I was sitting with Sarah and Cameron waiting on the kids to get home from school and I saw the BIGGEST rat I have ever seen. It was the size of a full grown bunny. I looked at Rusty horrified and go,"Rusty, did you see that rat!? IT WAS SO HUGE" He just kind of laughed and goes,"We have some bigger than that! The really old ones are even bigger". It was so gross.It was one of the kids birthdays on Wednesday and apparently their dad had purchased and sent a chicken for the orphanage to kill on his birthday. So, that afternoon I got to witness my very first chicken killing. I couldn't pass up the opportunity knowing that I would never experience this again (well, maybe not). Rusty went and got the thing and brought it down. We each took a picture with it. They told me to conquer my fear of birds. So, I tried. But, my picture looks like I am crying. Because, I was almost going to! HAHA! I only held on for about 10 seconds. It was kind of morbid. I will spare you all the details, knowing tha tsome of you might not want to read them! And, I will show the ones who do care pictures later! I have plenty! HAHA! The kids took the feet and head that had been chopped off and chased us around with it for a little while. I didn't like that so much! And, it was a little bit weird eating that night thinking about the process it took to get on my plate. haha.
That night I really had a good time hanging out in the room talking to the older girls. God has really answered my prayers when it comes to them. They have been seeking me out more and we have been talking a lot more often. I have enjoyed talking to them and I have finally started building more of a relationship with them! At night now they will come and sit on my bed and ask for my help with their homework or just talk to me! A funny story...Wednesday night I went to change into my pajama shorts in the back of the house since the bathroom was taken. I somehow managed to put both of my legs in one hole at the same time. I fell over onto the floor and was stuck in my shorts. All the girls were laughing at me and of course I had to laugh to! I am such a blonde sometimes!It was not my best moment! Lol

Thursday morning I woke up and helped Nanay get the girls up. They are so hard to wake up in the mornings. They really sleep like a rock. I guess they kind of have to. But, most of them when I wake them up get up quicker than if Nanay wakes them up. haha. This morning was really hard though. Because Rusty came to tell two of the girls (they are sisters) that their grandmother had passed away in the night. When the first one got the news she started bawling her eyes out. These are always awkward moment for me. Because I have no clue what to do. Some people like to be left alone in times like that. Others like you to be there. I finally just asked her what was wrong. She told me. ANd I gave her a big hug for a long time. She just sat there and cried on my shoulder. It was so hard for me not to cry. I had to crawl up on the top bunk and wake her sister up so she could tell her. THey both took it really hard. Of course it was hard for them because they still want to be with their family. All of their family members were so close to one another. But, they couldn't afford to feed them so they gave them up to the orphanage. It was so hard not to cry. But, I spent the morning trying to be there for them and let them know I cared! That day we didn't really have anything to do around the orphanage. We had gotten all of our work done and none of the kids were there. So, Mama C came and told us she wanted us to go with some of the orphanage workers (around our age) to the beach. So, we loaded up and went down to the Mer Grande beach resort. We went down to the beach that has black sand. We hadn't seen a black sanded beach yet! I love their beaches because they are surrounded by huge mountains! I think that is my favorite combination: the ocean and the mountains! We had fun hanging out there for about an hour and a half. I got a sunburn! But, I got lots of beautiful pictures! Lol. Thursday night two of the kids were having a birthday. So, for the first time since I got here I got my very own piece of chicken! I was so excited. It had pineapples on it too! It was so yummy!

Friday Cameron, SArah and I went to Talomo to the school and painted the preschool room! We got to hang out with two of the New Zealand Missionaries. Friday afternoon we got back to the orphanage in the afternoon. I went downstairs to see Sarah and saw a clown standing up against the wall just staring at me. I was like,"Rusty, what is a clown doing here?" Apparently one of the sponsors of the orphanage has his kids birthday party at the orphanage every year so the kids can enjoy fun, good food,etc...It is a really sweet idea! It was nice of him to do that for the kids. Apparently this year a clown got to come entertain them. It was really funny because we told Cameron it was Mark dressed up so she would go talk to him! HAHA! We are so mean. However, Sarah kept laughing so she knew we were lying to her! Lol Apparently at these birthday parties it is really common to have a WHOLE entire pig (in it's original form) with an apple in it's mouth. haha. THey cook it like that and the skin gets really crunchy. I tried eating a piece but the thought of it kind of made me gag. The skin was really nasty. And there was still black hair on the skin. But, I did enjoy all of the other food! There was a lot of food there. The kids had a lot of fun and it was really nice to see them having a good time, eating good food, and playing games! I still don't like clowns though. The kids really liked him! HAHA!
It was a lot of fun! I think I laughed more that night than I have the whole time I have been here. You guys know me...when things get awkward or I find something funny I laugh really hard. I have been doing that a lot lately. Because sometimes things just get really funny to me! I hope no one gets offended! Lol. I think Sarah and CAmeron sometimes are like,"OH BROTHER! HERE SHE GOES AGAIN!" haha.

The past three days we have had our vacation. They gave us a midpoint vacation just to recoop and get ready for the next three weeks and have a chance to rest since we never got one when we first arrived. It was nice of them. I have been so tired lately. I am still really tired. But, we stayed at a really nice hotel in Davao City. We didn't do much but sleep and lay around. haha. It was just what we needed though. We laid out by the pool and everything! It was really nice! We are at the SM Mall today watching a movie, looking in the shops and stuff. Tonight we are meeting up with Lizzy. She is the media person for the Mindanao area. She is going to be joining us this next week and filming our work at the orphanage!

Things are good. Pray that God will help me through these next three weeks. I am really getting more and more tired by the day. Even after this weekend of rest! Pray that God will still give us opportunities to speak to people and tell them about Him. Pray that the workers at the orphanage will get some time off. They postponed the next three days. And, I hope they get to have those! They really need a break.

This next weekend we are planning on taking a trip with the older kids and rent a boat and go Island Hopping! Pray that goes well and brings us closer together with the older kids!

I appreciate your prayers!!