Rehoboth Children's Home (I have been told not to call it an orphanage)... we had a great day trip to the pool with the kids. Apart from some sunburn on us whities, it went off without a hitch. They kids tie pool noodles around their waists as floaties... quite a genius initiative I thought, compared to the old blow up.
The baby home at Rehoboth - snack time
Farewell gifts for the Rehoboth staff
Travelling to Lagoona, Rizal
Travelling to Lagoona, Rizal
Work at Rehoboth was quite productive. Apart from the craft initiatives and daily play time, we successfully levelled 6 square metres of ground for the aquaponics venture. Then we set to work on the street front, levelling a sloped patch of ground in front of the Medical Centre to be concreted for a car park. One day a basketball team of energetic men came up the road, fundraising for their uniforms... we persuaded them to grab some shovels, and 30 minutes later, our project was significantly advanced and they had scored some easy money! Our final night at Rehoboth was special. A karaoke machine was hired, and all the 22 staff and our team enjoyed a fun night of singing. We also were able to bless each of the staff with 10kg of rice and some other goodies... they are certainly in need of such things.
The puppet show for the Rehoboth kids
During my time, I have become attached to two little faces at Rehoboth. Jomar is a little boy, aged 6, who has a large scar across half his face. Only one of his eyes is working... Maybe it is our scars which gave us a bond, but we became good friends. They other little boy, Joseph, had a gorgeous smile and a very gentle friendly personality. It was sad to say goodbye...
3 hours of car-sickness later, the team arrived at the Rizal Recreation Centre. It is great, a big resort with pool and slide, basketball courts, snack bars, dining hall for meals, soccer fields, volleyball... 5 minutes walk away is the Church and the Christian school where we are getting involved. It turned out that the school is moving to a new premises next semester. So we have head there to re-paint the new classrooms. Apart from this project, we have run a movie night for the community (including some prayer and a testimony) and also a sports day for kids aged 13-17. Things are going really well. The team is generally very healthy, although a few of us (myself included) are feeling a little over-tired and getting a few colds. But God is good and we are so excited to be used in the Philippines to glorify his name.
The Recycling man!
We are safe, despite the rumours of storms and typoons. The weather appears to be missing us, praise God.
Mum, I miss your cooking. I don't really like the strange flavour which invades everything over here... and the cooks at Rizal just deep fry everything... even the carrots! (We joke that they don't have an oven or stove... just a deep-frier.)
Not quite sure what else to say... Thankyou so much for the emails from home. It is lovely to hear the news. I hope you enjoy your holidays and cope with the warm weather! I'm a little jealous, cause its been raining here ALL week!
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