First Time in the Philippines!

From Switzerland we continued heading east to the Philippines on July 17. We flew from Geneva to Amsterdam to Taipei, where we were supposed to have a 30 minute layover then board the same plane and head to Manila. However, just before we reboarded, they announced that the Manila airport was closed because loose pavement from the runway had gone through a plane's wing. So, KLM cancelled our flight and put us all in a hotel overnight. We'd never been to Taiwan before and were in need of rest so this delay was actually a blessing to us. The hotel was very nice, as was the plentiful buffet with octopus, shark and a huge assortment of other delicacies.

By the next morning the Manila runway had been fixed and we were rebooked on China airlines with a first class upgrade, allowing us to continue resting between busy weeks. After a 4 hour delay in Manila, we finally flew to the Island of Negros Occidental to meet students and leaders totaling nearly 100 from McLean Bible Church in Virginia.

A rare way for us to fly!

For the next week we did outreaches in Bacolod City and Sipalay City, partnering with International Care Ministries who's slogan is "Reaching the Poor".

Homes we visited made mostly out of bamboo on stilts over water near the ocean.

  

In Bacolod we went into different neighborhoods with students who did health and wellness crafts, teachings and gardening in kindergartens, building projects for churches, and house visits. We presented the UniShow in outdoor basketball courts for the communities they were serving in.

The 4 hour drive from Bacolod to Sipalay was a great cultural experience viewing kilometers of lush palm trees, rice and sugar cane fields with resident water buffalo, multitudes of public tricycle transportation and the beautiful ocean along the way. Our competent driver also happened to be an avid cyclist so he and Dustin "talked shop". He was a God send and used his local family connections to help us in multiple ways, including asking police to provide security for our evening event.

In Sipalay we presented the UniShow at an all day sports camp for students. Mid-show however the rains came and put a quick stop to the unicycling. Though the Filipinos quickly took cover and looked on, the McLean students turned the event into a puddle splashing dance party and we cranked the tunes while they went crazy in the rain. It was a memorable time for all and thankfully, Dustin and another leader had shared the Gospel before it rained.

We visited the local Sipalay high school to invite students to an evening outreach.

The promo worked and around 700 people showed up for our spontaneous event in Sipalay.

Just before the rain came!

Final outreach in Bacolod.

In all, we had 7 UniShow presentations for 2,800 people. Dustin shared the Gospel in each event and we saw many responded to the invitation to surrender to Jesus!

We were so impressed with the friendliness, kindness, humility and helpfulness of the Filipino people. We pray those impacted through our events will continue to grow in their understanding of God's love for them.