KUMUSTA!!
Wow...what a crazy couple of weeks I've had, life in the Philippines is fast-paced and they're keeping me busy that's for sure! Today marks the beginning of my third week in Manila and I can't actually believe I've been in the here for only 2 weeks, I feel so settled and at home here already! Everyone has been so welcoming, made some good friends and witnessed many blessings!

Anyway, I'm known to have the memory of a goldfish, but I'll attempt to remember everything I've done so far...this could take a while!

2 weeks ago marked the beginning of my 6 month adventure. I'd been preparing and planning for that very day for months, yet I'd never felt so unprepared for anything in my life. I've never properly been away from my family and friends...not for 6 months at least, so it was a mix of nerves and excitement.
It was my first time flying, but I managed to get some sleep and claim every complimentary item Kuwait Airways had thrown at me (of course!). The flight was a total of 19 hours in the air, so jet lag hit me when I arrived in Manila. However, I wasn't overly exhausted and I seemed to adjust quickly, so I was still able to be active the next day.

I visited the office in Masinag the next day where I helped to edit reports and meet some of the social workers there. For those who don't know, Christian Compassion Ministries (CCM) has set up 2 homes, a girls home (looks after 32 girls) and a boys home (looking after just 5 boys). I'm staying at the boys home for the next couple of weeks. CCM also runs an Educational Assistance Program (EAP) helping children in the slums. This is something I've been involved with as well in the past couple of weeks. I alternate between working in Masinag Girls home and Notre Dame office throughout the week days.

So...the next day I was able to experience my first ride in a jeepney! It's quite an experience. I think it's hilarious that every jeepney has "How's My Driving?" inscribed on the back...erm, you really want me to answer that?! Let's just say that road lanes are invisible to Filipinos and drivers take chances! You'd be surprised how many people can pile into one jeepney, it's like a game of sardines!
I also attended the drop-in centre in the evening which is a feeding program run to help the homeless. It's amazing to see how the church is able to support these people both physically and spiritually. In fact, the motto for CCM is 'How can we tell people about the love of Jesus without showing them something of that love?' The drop-in certainly does this!

The drop-in was shortly followed by the balut trial. Both Sophie and I were made to sit at the table as the balut was put before us. We'd been warned about it earlier in the week, and we were soon to understand why. Balut is a fertilised duck embryo that is boiled and eaten in the shell...yes, you heard correctly...a duck embryo!! There were about 40+ of the volunteers gathering to watch both me and Sophie gagging as we attempted to eat. I gave into the peer pressure and swallowed; however, I was close to vomiting...it didn't help when some of them pointed out that I had a little duck growing inside my stomach. Nice! I was awarded a mango for my success. I felt cheated.

Another ministry of Cubao Reformed Baptist Church (CRBC) is the Grace Ministerial Academy (GMA) which runs most nights. I was able to attend (and no, we were not made to do any kind of bushtucker trial). It aims to help train and tutor pastors and men in the ministry with sound biblical teaching. I am continuing to attend this every friday (not to become a pastor, let's just clarify that). This is a ministry which needs your prayers, as do all of the ministries! They tend to speak Tagalog on the whole which is their national language, but often mix it with a bit of English, so although most can speak English, I have begun to pick up and learn some important Filipino phrases like "this is my nose" or "I don't understand!" ;) << Courtesy of the boys in the home for these, cheers guys!

Life in the Philippines is cheap, in comparison with what we're used to. Like the other day, I got my haircut for 50 pesos (the equivalent of less than 1 pound!!). The barber at one point asked me if I had a girlfriend...not thinking it through I replied that I didn't, and so he inevitably attempted to set me up with his daughter. A very awkward moment!! I like to tell myself this was because of my stunningly good looks, yet I know the truth is because most Filipino's assume that if you're a westerner, you're either wealthy or a member of One Direction!! This is something I've been asked on several occasions, I'll let you decide whether that's a compliment ;). That's another thing...you get used to the staring, they have no shame in staring at you for a full 45 minute journey on the train. I've noticed that the best solution is to just wave back ;)

The heat is another issue which I have to tackle. Even after 2 weeks I still find the humidity here a real struggle. The average temperature tends to be around 30 degrees celsius every day. We're lucky if we get that in the summer in England! For this reason, I tend to spend a lot of the day sweating like crazy and chasing the shade. Unfortunately I've been told that this heat is nothing in comparison to what it will be in April and May...temperatures regularly exceed 40 degrees. Happy days! Oh how grateful I am for air con!

Basketball is the national sport in the Philippines and it's typical that it's always been the one sport I was never very good at. The boys are determined to change that. Rice is also a national necessity...word of advice, don't come to the Philippines if you're not a fan of rice! It's no exaggeration when I say they have rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I made the mistake of buying a t-shirt with the words 'Extra Rice' on it, so I'm regularly forced to eat the left-overs. Look, I don't have a problem with rice. Rice is great. But with every meal?? What's wrong with a bowl of cornflakes?! - Obviously I haven't actually plucked up the courage to say this yet, and I can't really see it making a difference.

The annual 3 day Pastor's Conference was held last week and what a week of encouragements! Over 300 Pastors and men in the ministry were in attendance at the conference and I had many a good conversation with some of them. It just fills you with joy when you are able to witness this amount of godly men seeking to pastor their church in the way God permits and gathering together receive sound Biblical teaching. I'm sure you've seen the photos, but there was a lot of hard-work and preparation which went into the conference, including painting, cleaning and refurbishing! Exhausting couple of days work...but worth it in the end!
The speakers for the conference were Pastor Ian Densham, Pastor John Hindie, Pastor Jorge Gumop-as and Pastor Noel Espinoza. There was a great mix and variety in their messages and I was glad that I could listen in on some of them...especially the question and answer sessions. There was also a great variety of Christian books for sale, I resisted the urge to buy any...okay, I soon gave in (this makes it look like I actually tried) and I bought one book. 'Dug Down Deep' by Joshua Harris. I'm currently half-way through and I can seriously reccommend. I helped as a volunteer during the conference along with many other members from CRBC...all working together to distribute mangoes, rice and coffee. Killer combo!

Poverty is an ever-increasing issue over here. The Philippines is known for having some of the worst slum areas in the world and the most cases of abondoned children living on the streets. I won't go into this in too much detail, but I don't mean this lightly when I say that it breaks your heart when you see children having to beg just to get through the day. Forget future ambitions, all their focus is just on scraping enough money for food so they can survive. This is what struck me the most, I thought I was prepared for this, yet every time it just fills me with sadness...children shouldn't have to worry about these kinds of problems yet they don't complain. They're some of the happiest people you can meet! A couple of us went for a home visit to one of the children that CCM supports last week. This girl once lived in a dirty, damp shack by the side of a busy main road. We actually were able to climb on top and then lowered ourself through a hole where she used to live with her whole family. These sorts of squatter areas are known for being worse than the slums and I now know why. Rats scurried beneath and half the house had collapsed. This is so cliche, but stuff like that opens your eyes, it's a completely different experience when you see these things with your own eyes. I'm sure I'll be able to expand on this if you drop me an email.

On Saturday, one of the pastors at CRBC kindly treated us to a day out in the posh part of Manila. It was a really enjoyable day out with some great company. We firstly were given a tour around the Manila Hotel, a 5 star hotel which is totally out of my league. It's a hard life eh! ;) I felt very underdressed and a bit out of place, but they were obviously too kind to say anything. It was seriously incredible, I swear they were just trying to tease us in where we could stay if we were rich! We then moved on to visit a Catholic Church to see some of the traditions that most Filipinos hold to. In fact 80% of Filipino's register themselves as Roman Catholic and so are caught up in these superstituous rituals (I've frequently seen people randomly crossing themselves wherever they may be in public).
The Philippines is a lot more open in their expression of religion, this is practically the opposite to what I'm used to in England. People respect you if you have some sort of religion, yet there is a lot of contradictions wherever you go. For example, most jeepneys and tricycles tend to have an inscription on the fron stating either "God with us" or "Jesus is Lord" etc. yet on the back will be a crude or inappropriate image, highlighting many of their ideal beliefs....they want both the world and Jesus, but they treat Him as some sort of good luck charm (Matt. 8:28).

Later on we were taken out to an all-you-can-eat traditional Filipino buffet (challenge accepted) called Barbaras. Here we were able to have front row seats watching a Filipino dance called the Tinikling involving 4 poles and some super-speedy moves. Look it up on youtube, you'll be impressed! It was great until I was volunteered to get on stage and join in the dancing...reluctantly I went up, but I really enjoyed it. I'll see if I can upload a video at some point of my pathetic efforts.

Last night I was given the opportunity to lead the evening devotion for 40+ girls at Masinag Girl's Home. I was able to share my testimony and speak about having a personal relationship with Jesus and not leaving it too late. Christ was the once and for all sacrifice, the only one who will not fail, the one who holds the future. Please pray that something that was said would have touched their hearts and they would understand that "Today is the day of salvation" I felt truly blessed that evening, to God be the glory!

Later this week I'll be going on a hike, tutoring the children with English Language and no doubt editing many more reports (sigh!). Thank you so much to all those who are continuing to support me in your prayers. It really means a lot to read all your encouraging messages and comments...keep them coming.

For those who have reached this far in the blog, I'm very impressed! Seriously, this is the shortened version of events, they're keeping me busy! Apologies for my rambling, a prayer letter will be on its way soon. You may leave now,

Paalam!!