December Update!

Hi all!

So we’re entering our last two weeks of lecture here at the base. This week have Phil Gazely speaking on the Holy Spirit. Phil is the base founder of YWAM Calgary in Calgary Canada. Now he and his wife, and his two kids live in California working against Human Trafficking. In the last day and a half of lecture, it’s been absolutely amazing! Some of the things that he’s been sharing I’ve heard before, and others I have not. From what I can tell, and just hearing the student’s comments here and there, it’s been a really good and intense week for them.

Last week we had in-house speakers. Two staff, Josiah and Alia Scott spoke on Monday on Biblical Worldview, and it was definitely an intense teaching. It had all the students talking and murmuring the entire day pretty much. On Tuesday, we had Andy Schmalfuss speak on Genesis and just how important it is to the church, he went on to say that a majority of churches nowadays don’t think that Genesis is relevant in today’s church, which is a huge deal. On Wednesday, we had Josiah and Alia speaking again on Biblical Worldview, but they were focused on the importance of Genesis in world view. As well as the importance of having a worldview that is biblically based. On Thursday we had Chuck Walton of Wycliffe Bible Translators come in and speak on bible translating in the world. It was so cool to see the way the students were affected by what he was saying. I have no doubt that there are a few students that very well might go into Bible translating, which is way cool!!

Two weeks ago for Monday and Tuesday, we had Mark Baxter in from YWAM Jacksonville Beach in Jacksonville Florida. He spoke on the importance of team work, and how important it is to trust one another. A typical lecture day is just 9-12:30, but because he only had two days to get through everything he needed to get through, we gave him Monday morning, Monday afternoon, Tuesday morning, and Tuesday afternoon. So we were lecture all day for two days straight. His teaching was really good. It was interesting to hear Team Work as a topic in DTS. It’s something I never really thought about as a topic that one could teach on, but I was proven wrong. As soon as he was done with lecture on Tuesday afternoon staff and students were free to leave for Thanksgiving break.

Three weeks ago we had Wick Nease come in and speak on Destiny. Wick was the base director for the YWAM Tyler base in Tyler, Texas until God had told him and his wife to move to Connecticut and start a ministry that supports orphanages in India with help from churches. From what the students said to me, and from what I heard the staff heard it was definitely an impactful week for students and staff. He spoke on how our destiny is really just an adventure in God. Wherever God leads us to go, safe to say, adventure will follow. One statement Wick said his first day of speaking which I think so many missionaries don’t think about when getting married, is that BEFORE you get married, make sure that your destiny, and the destiny of your spouse are compatible. So many times these days people get married for the sake of getting married. When people do that…the marriage just ends in disaster and more often than not, completely ruins the kids, if kids are in fact involved.

Thank you all that have supported me monthly, or one time, and for those of you who have supported me through prayer! It is very much appreciated, and I definitely feel the prayers! Thank you!!

With the wind,

Mark

Second Monthly update...where is the time going??

Hi everyone,

Where to start. The past month has been absolutely amazing! So much has happened! The speakers have been exactly what we as staff and the students have needed to hear. It’s been so cool to see how God speaks to everyone in different ways.

After Cindy Mandrell of Project C.O.O.L in Canton Ohio spoke, we had Dan Sneed come and speak on Identity, knowing who we are in God. Identity is always a good week. I think it was definitely a God thing that it happened so early in the school, week 3. I didn’t have the Identity lecture until the 3^rd to last week of my DTS. But having the students knowing who they are in God is such an important thing going forward in DTS. It helps them accept the fact that no matter what they’ve done in the past, they are loved, and accepted by God. Dan Sneed had a very interesting teaching style. He was more of a talk-about-it-with-slides-to-help-solidify-what-he’s-talking-about kind of speaker. Which I think is very cool to see that someone feels that comfortable just talking about something like that. He also told a lot of stories. Some from his childhood which affected who he was, and how he acted, and some stories which he’d heard from other people. The combination of them really helped get his point across.

After Dan Sneed, we had Marty Myer come and speak on Spiritual Warfare, which is always a heavy topic. Like I stated in my previous update, it was exactly what the students needed to hear at that moment. Marty Myer was about a month into a 9 month road trip sabbatical with his family. Making stops every once in a while to speak at a school here and there. So the week that he was with us, he had his entire family with him. It was definitely interesting having an entire family on the base, it was new for everyone. Marty was more of a in your face kind of a speaker. He didn’t go easy one bit. He told it how it was.

Then came my favorite speaker from my DTS, and from the word on the base, the favorite speaker of all the students, Jeff Pratt of YWAM Axiom in New Haven CT. He spoke on The Father Heart of God. Jeff has a very unique style of teaching. Before becoming a speaker on the DTS circuit, he used to be a film critic, so he combines his love for the two, and has a lot visuals in with his teaching. He shows a lot of movie clips from movies that one wouldn’t really think to use. Along with the movie clips, he tells a lot of stories of redeeming love. On Wednesday he had a ministry day…and it would be the understatement of the century if I said that it was an intense day. Words cannot begin to describe what exactly happened. All the students were set free from something. A lot of them were able to forgive those who had hurt them in the past. Overall it was a very good day, just so so so so intense. It was one of those days where all you want to do is drink coffee (or hot beverage of choice) and just stay in bed all day. But it was so good!!!! Needless to say, he was everything I remember he was, if not better.

Last week we were in Cincinnati Ohio for a Frontier Missions conference. For those of you who don’t know what Frontier Missions is, because it is a relatively new concept, it’s the going into closed countries and preaching the gospel, very carefully of course. But Frontier Missions can take place right in your backyard by talking with the Muslims, or Buddhists, or Hindus, etc. The conference was all day Monday, all day Tuesday, and all day Wednesday. The morning sessions for the three days were with a guy by the name of Steve Gregg who spoke on the Cost of Discipleship, and what it looks like. It was some really good teaching. In the afternoons on Monday and Wednesday we had what were called Breakout Sessions, which we could choose one of two topics to go listen to. On Monday, I went to a question and answer session with people that lived on the “front lines” people that served in closed countries for 20+ years. It was really cool to hear their experiences and stories, and just what God showed them through that time that they were there. On Wednesday, I sat in on a testimony of a lady who had served in Mauritania whose husband was killed by al Qaeda in 2009. It was awesome to hear her story and how God has been bringing her and her two children through it the last two years.

We left the F.M conference early Sunday morning to head to Harrisburg PA for the Northeast Regional YWAM Staff Conference. There are nine YWAM bases represented here right now. Some of the DTS with them, and some don’t. it’s been really fun getting to know other YWAMers from the Northeast and just hearing their experiences thus far. Please pray for us for the rest of the week, as the conference ends on Thursday night. Thanks!

Thank you again to everyone who has committed to support me financially as well as prayerfully, it is very much appreciated!!!

With the wind,

Mark

Wait wait wait....it's been a month already??

Hi all, so I can’t believe that I’m saying this already, but I’ve been on staff here for a little bit more than a month already.

It has been such an amazing experience so far! We currently have a Discipleship Training School going with 31 students representing 14 different countries!! We are in our second week of Lectures; our current speaker is Cindy Mandrell from Project C.O.O.L in Canton Ohio. Cindy is actually an extended staff member here at YWAM Metro New York. She’s just based in Canton Ohio. About three years ago God gave her an idea for this Project C.O.O.L, which stands for Community Outreach Of Love. It has been described as, “Extreme Makeover Home Edition on steroids.” Instead of tackling a single house for a week, they tackle an entire community for one day. The last C.O.O.L day in June of this year, had over 2,000 volunteers!! How cool is that?? (Pun intended)

It has been such an intense week so far, and it’s only our third day! She has been speaking on the Character and Nature of God, and has been exactly what the students have needed to hear at this moment. And after last weeks’ lecture with Christi Wilke who spoke on Hearing God’s Voice and Intercession, this week has been an amazing follow up week.

From my experiences in YWAM, no matter the speaker order, it seems to me that the weeks just flow like they’re supposed to. The same happened on my DTS more than two years ago now, and the same is happening now, even with only two speakers having been here. God just knows what the students need to hear, and when they need to hear it, and it works exactly how He intends it to.

Alright, so I’m posting this a little later then I was hoping to, and we’re now in our last lecture day of our third speaker, Dan Sneed, who has been speaking on Identity. This topic was a huge part of my DTS, and I can tell that it has had a massive impact on a lot of the students here.

Nonetheless, it has been an amazing experience thus far, and I can’t wait to see what happens in the future! Thank you to all of you who have committed to supporting monthly, supporting with a onetime donation, and/or committing to pray for me while I am here. I appreciate it more than you can imagine!

With the wind,

Mark

And so it begins...

hey everyone!

So it's been about a month since my last blog entry, which doesn't seem all that long ago, but at the same time it does. Let me catch you up as to what has happened in the last month before i move on to what i really want to talk about. Alright, well, i arrived home from the Philippines on August 3rd. And was home for about a week and a half when i started working at my summer job from last summer temporarily because they needed help desperately, and i needed the money, so it was a win-win for everyone. Also in the past month, i was able to hangout and catch up with friends that i had missed dearly for the previous four months while i was in the Philippines.

Alright now...unto the main event. This past week i officially moved to the YWAM Metro NY base here in Smithtown. It is as much fun as i thought it was going to be. The people here are beyond amazing. And i can't think of anyone else that i'd rather be on staff with. Yesterday and today were staff training/orientation days. Both days were amazing. Both days were stressful in their own unique ways. Yesterday was stressful in the fact that it was much more theological and way above my thinking level. Today was stressful in the fact that it was just a massive amount of information in not a lot of time. It was brain overload to the max. But I have some amazing friends here, and they helped me sort through some of what i was feeling, and gave me suggestions on what i could do to further process what i was thinking/feeling. I think it's just going to take me a little while to get used to how things work here as a staff member given the fact that this is my first experience as a staff member for something like this. But i can honestly say, I am definitely looking forward to living life with all the staff member's for the next two years of our lives, and the students that arrive in about 2 weeks for the next six months!

With the wind,
Mark

Final Update that's not really an update

Hello everyone!! This isn't an official update, but given the fact that i'm leaving to come home today, I figured it would be a good opportunity to tell you what i've thought of the last four months. I write this while i'm in the Cebu Airport, waiting for the airlines to open so I can get my ticket. They want international travelers at the airport four hours before their flight is supposed to leave, but that doesn't help when the airlines themselves aren't open.

Anywho, the last four months have absolutely flown by! It feels like just yesterday that I was stepping out of the airport and meeting up with Angela. They say, “Time flies when you're having fun”, and they are absolutely correct. Sure there were a few rough periods while i've been here, but that's to be expected on any mission trip.

Before coming here, I was told multiple times that I was a natural leader. I even did a leadership based DTS (Discipleship Training School) without realizing it till I got there. I did not want to accept the fact that I was a leader. No matter what people told me, or how many times they told me that I was a leader, I denied it. I didn't see myself as a leader what so ever. Well, while i've been here interning at the children's home, I finally accepted the fact that whether I like it or not, I AM in fact a leader, and I need to embrace that. To say that this was an awesome experience would be an understatement. I knew coming into this, God was going to reveal something about me to me, I just had no idea what that was. But now that I do, I'm surprisingly okay with that. In about three weeks, I'll be moving out to Smithtown, New York to go on staff at YWAM Metro New York. While i'm super excited to go out there and be apart of what they are doing, it also terrifies me at the same time, mainly because I have no idea what to expect, and it's a first for me. Having a legit job. It's all uncharted territory for me. But I think it's safe to assume that being terrified comes with going into the uncharted right?

Last night Angela and Janet stopped by the house to say goodbye to the kids and the staff. After the kids were done saying goodbye to them, they started to say goodbye to me. I told them I wasn't leaving yet, and they went back to what they were doing. This morning, when they were all getting ready for school, I was hanging around so that I could say goodbye to them as they walked out the front gate. The first two kids walked out with saying goodbye to me lol. We had the youngest kid run and call them back so I could say goodbye to them. Since then, one of the staff reminded all the kids to say goodbye to me as they walked out the gate. I just found it funny that last night they couldn't wait to say goodbye to me, but this morning they totally forgot. Saying goodbye to the kids was a lot easier then I thought it was going to be. I think that's mainly because the kids didn't really make a big deal out of it. If they had made a bigger deal, I think it would have been hard, not to mention that I didn't say goodbye to them as a group, but individually as they left for school.

Last Update!!!

(Insert clever greeting). As strange as this sounds, this is my last update from the New Beginnings Children's Ministry. This is our 17^th meeting, but i'm just finishing up week 16, my last full week here.

This week was...interesting. Normally I allowed to go up to the headquarters during the day to use the internet and what not. But this week they were having meetings there with all the pastors that are involved with Missionaries To Asia, the organization that NBCM is associated with. So the plan was for me to go to a local resort for a couple days, Monday- Wednesday. But with the craziness of the schedule for those days, not to mention the fact that the price I was originally quoted from the website, was a lot cheaper then what the person said at the resort itself (about $100 cheaper a night, plus, the fact that i'm an American is going to cause the price to shoot up. They hike all prices up when they see American's because they figure, American's= $$, sadly, that's not always the case.) So I was under house arrest for this week. Okay, so that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I wasn't allowed to go to the headquarters for internet. Fortunately there's an internet cafe on the same road that we're on. But I only spent like an hour at the most there each day cause I didn't feel like spending my money on internet, even though it only cost P5 which is the same as $.12 for 30 minutes of internet time. On Tuesday, I was able to go to the mall. Unfortunately, due to a very last minute change of plans, I was not able to eat American food this week. The plan was that on our way back to the children's home/ headquarters, we were going to stop at a restaurant for authentic Filipino food. But the remote for the car decided to die, so we had to get that fixed, which cost a little less then an arm and a leg, maybe just an arm, and then we were sitting in a coffee shop, eating breakfast, when we found out that a couple of the board members for the States were coming, and Angela had to be tour guide, and then bring them back to the hotel they were staying at. So I didn't get to eat lunch at all on Tuesday, because I had already told the person who does the cooking that I wasn't going to be there for lunch. But I was still full from the sandwich that I had, plus we shared two salads. A Spicy Tuna Macaroni salad, which is absolutely amazing, and a Caesar salad, which was also really good.

Nothing new really happened with the kids this week. The expression “same stuff, different day” applies here, just substitute the word “day” for the word “week” and we're golden. I know they know that i'm leaving soon, but I don't know if they realize that they may never see me again. They keep asking me when i'll be coming back, and I say the only thing I can, “i don't know”, but the very sad truth is, I may NOT be coming back.

That's it for this week. I will most likely post something on Wednesday.

With the wind,

Mark

No Exit Visa Needed!

Hello of people of planet earth! We meet once again. This is now our 16^th meeting, but the end of week 14. It feels so incredibly strange that after being here for the past four months, I'm going home in 11 days.

Last night one of the boys asked me when I was leaving while I was saying goodnight. They now know that my time with them is drawing to an end. Before last night I don't think they realized just how close I was to leaving. But now that they do, who knows how they will react when i'm no longer around. I know it will be one of the hardest things I've had to do to date. I'm not saying that saying goodbye to family and friends to come here wasn't hard, it was, but when you live with people for this length of time, not really getting away from each other, there’s a bond there that almost seems stronger then a family's bond. The only thing I can think that was tougher was saying goodbye to my YWAMily in February after graduation. Being with these kids for four months 24/7, through the bad and the good times, has definitely grown us together.

With that said, it will definitely feel good to be home with all my family and friends once again! I've said this before, I'll say it again, this trip has been one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I've been a few international mission trips before, but I was always with people of the same culture, who spoke the same language. That was not/is not the case here. These kids, and staff, speak English as a second language. With that said however, they speak English very very well! One of the staff members just about speaks it fluently. These past four months have absolutely flown by! It feels like I just got here a couple of weeks ago.

Nothing really interesting happened this past week. Although, on Monday I had to go to the immigration office to get my exit visa, which costs about P700, which is like $15 or so. Anyway, I get to the immigration office, pick up the form I need and go sit down and fill it out. When I go back up to the desk, to give my form in, and be told where to go next, the lady tells me that I don't need an exit visa because I'm only here for four months. The only time you need an exit visa here is if you've stayed for more then 6 months. SO naturally I was very happy. That was $15 I didn't have to spend! And to celebrate, we went to a different mall then we usually do, which is actually bigger in my opinion, which is very hard to believe. We didn't really go there to celebrate, Angela needed to pick up a dress for the mother of the bride. We had a little breakfast when we first got there because we got there before the mall o

pened. Then it was time to get the dress and a few other little things. Then it was time for lunch. We went to this place called Case Verde. If you look at Facebook profile picture, that's the Big Bang Burger from the same place. I was smart enough not to get that burger again, instead I got the Excalibur burger. When I ordered it, it looked a lot smaller, and much more manageable then it really was. It was huge. But, I was able to finish this one this time.

There's not a whole new with the kids this week. All the kids are officially in school now. For the past month- month and a half or so one of the girls wasn't in school because her aunt hadn't sent her papers to the headquarters for her previous school. But she officially started school on Monday. But other then that, nothing new has happened this week.

Well that's about it for this week, see all of you again next week!!

With the wind,

Mark

"It's not goodbye, it's see ya later"

So once again we meet. Week 13 is coming to an end. Which means I have less then 20 days left. And i've been thinking about going home this past week. It's going to be exciting seeing my family and all my friends again. But it's definitely going to be hard leaving. There's a saying in YWAM, “It's not goodbye, it's 'see ya later'.” I hope, hope, hope that I get to return in the future.

Nothing really new has happened this week. Actually...no, I lied, something DID happen!! On Thursday we were headed to the mall, I needed to get a few things and my fix of American food, and Janet and Angela needed to get dental work done, and Art and Annabelle needed to get some stuff done for the wedding. Anywho, we were driving down the street, and we were driving through the an intersection. Now most of the intersections here don't have working street lights, they have police officers directing traffic. Well, this intersection happened to have a working street light, and had just changed red as we were driving through it. There was another police officer at the intersection with a motorcycle, well he chased us down, and pulled us over. I've been told a few times since i've been here that the police officers are very corrupt, and they take bribes to get people out of tickets or having to go to some sort of seminar thing. Anyway, I had no idea what, or how it all went down. When the police officer pulled us over, he asked for the license, and said that it was only valid for 90 days, but they, Angela and Janet, were told that it was valid for 6 months. The police officer then started to say that they would need to attend a seminar, but that won't work, because they leave the same day I do to return to the States. Even before the police officer can finish what he has to Angela asks, “how much?” on purpose to make him as uncomfortable as possible, because, obviously, it's highly illegal to take bribes. Flustered, the officer responds, “whatever you want.” Angela takes the money and sticks it out the window, again, on purpose, the officer bumps her hand back inside the car, takes out his police wallet thingy magigy, opened it and stuck it in the car for Angela to put the money in her self. After which, he let us go on our way once again. It was very very interesting needless to say. Once at the mall I had to go get my picture taken for an exit visa, which we are getting on Tuesday I believe. The purpose of the exit visa is for the government to make sure I'm not wanted for some sort of crime. Anyway, I did that, had my American food, got what I needed to, and then left to come home. I had to take a taxi home again, and if you remember back a few weeks, the last time I had to take a taxi home, I got the driver lost horribly. Luckly, I knew where I was going this time and got home no problem. I went to pay the driver, but he didn't have any change for me. So I started thinking, and realized that I had a bunch of change in my back pack. I didn't realize how much I had until I started counting it. It was enough to pay for the taxi, about P173. I felt bad for the driver, but it was all I had haha.

As for the kids...not a whole lot is new. Beginning last week, each of the high school students have some sort of party they have to go to. Last week was first year high school, this week is second week, and so and so on. The school is only about 15 minutes away or so, so I can hear the music, and from what it sounds like, it sounds like they are having a lot of fun there. But other then that, nothing is new. Life has gotten dull since the children have started school.

That's it for now. We shall meet again next week! Hope everyone is doing well!

With the wind,

Mark

Phil- Am Day

Here we are once again. Week 13 is now over with, and I am still as surprised as I always am at how fast this internship has been going. I can't believe it's been 3 months since i've arrived here in the Philippines, but even weirder is the fact that I leave in less then 1 month.

As the previous couple weeks, nothing really exciting has happened this past week. On Monday we had a Barbeque at the headquarters to celebrate Philippine- America Friendship Day, Filipinos call it “Phil-Am Day” for short. But us Americans call it the 4^th of July (our countries birthday for my friends not American). We had burgers and hotdogs, potato salad, deviled eggs, can't remember the last time I had a deviled egg, and beans for the Americans there, which were only 4, but we still made 30+ of both, and had fried fish and rice for the Filipinos that were there, though some did have burgers and hotdogs. And then for dessert, we had walnut brownies and chocolate chunk brownies with vanilla frosting on top. Needless to say, they were very good.

There really isn't anything new regarding the kids. Nothing really exciting happened this past week, no had bleach accidentally thrown in their eye this past like we did a couple weeks ago. Now that the kids are in school, the chances that an accident occurs is dramatically reduced, thankfully. But that also means that my weeks have been insanely boring.

Well, that's it for now. As I said, nothing exciting happened this past week. We shall meet again next week!

With the wind,

Mark

P.S. Can't believe I only have 3 weeks left!!

officially have 4.5 weeks left...no more confusion

So we meet once again. And just as I thought last week, my math was off. Week 12 has just come to a close. Which means I have about four and a half weeks left. Which sounds really strange to say. It will definitely feel strange walking out of the airport when I get back to the States.

This week nothing really exciting has happened. Although, we did a new staff member this past week, Pastora Fae. She's been working with Missionaries To Asia, the organization that I am interning with, for almost 30 or so years in the bible college they have up North, as well as pastoring a church there. She asked for a change of location, so they transferred her to the children's home. Which is very good, because according to Angela, she was trained by a very strict pastor, which is very unusual for a Filipino. Angela and Janet, co-founders of New Beginning Children's Ministry, are very happy to have her here on staff. From what I can understand, she'll be the one that'll be taking over my job when I leave. She will be responsible for building relationships with the kids, and just being an ear for them to talk to her. She's had experience as a counselor, which is a huge blessing for the children here, I just don't think they fully see it yet. Also, today, Saturday July 2, the kids are finally off punishment. They've been being punished for about a month from the music room, and practicing. But today the punishment is over, which they are very very happy about.

I had an interesting experience this past week. On Thursday it torrential down poured the entire afternoon, so we were all inside, in our rooms doing different things. My room is at the end of the hall, with two windows, one facing the front of the house, and one facing the side yard of the house. Well, it started raining so hard, that the rain started coming in the side window. I was sitting on my bed watching a movie, and I started getting wet, which has happened in the past, so I didn't really think to much of it. Well, I started getting wetter...and wetter...and wetter. To the point where, I put my laptop under my bed, slid the books that were on the floor and were getting wet, under the bed and left. I returned a few minutes later to check to see what was happening, and found a pond on my bed. It was soaking wet. I had to put two towels on my bed to keep it from getting more wet. Fortunately, the rain stopped around 4 or so, and it dried enough for me to sleep on that night, but for a while there, I wasn't sure what I was going to do. I've had my fair share of interesting experiences, but this was a first for me haha.

Well, that's it for now. Hope all is well with everyone!!

With the wind,

Mark

How much time do i have left?!

So it's that time again. And i'm beginning to get confused. According to the blog, I should only have 4 weeks left, but according to the calendar, I have a little more the 5 weeks left. In any case, my time here is coming to an end.

This week a lot has happened. Not so much with the children or the ministry, but in my life personally. Before I left for my internship here I filled out an application with Youth With A Mission Metro New York, the same YWAM base I went to Mexico with to finish outreach. Well a couple of weeks ago I was second guessing myself wondering if I had done the right thing, or just did it because it was what I wanted to do, and not because it was what God wanted for me. I had been tossing a few different ideas around in my head. But finally, after sending an email to my parents about what I was thinking regarding everything, and talking with them, I had decided that the other option, which was to go back to Belize and do a secondary school, just wasn't a smart idea because of the whole situation in Thailand, I won't go into detail, but to make a long story short, I had to come home about 2 weeks early from outreach. Finally I decided that if I was supposed to go back to Belize, the Leadership team at YWAM Metro would say that didn't feel like I should staff there. And if I wasn't supposed to go back to Belize, then the Leadership team would say that they felt like God was saying that I was supposed to staff there. Well on Monday I got the email telling me that I the Leadership team felt like God was saying that I should staff there, and I had my answer. So Once I get home, I'll have about 3 weeks at home before I head out to the base in Smithtown, which is about 30 minutes from my house, to begin my 2 year commitment to work there. I've said this before, i'll say it again, for not being a planner, I sure like to plan. It's nice to know what i'll be doing for the next 2 years of my life now. Having some kind of structure in my life now is a nice feeling, unlike before where I didn't know what I would be doing, or for how long.

Also this week, I became an Uncle again :) This time a nephew, Joshua Paul. He'll be a little more then a month old by the time I get home, and I can't wait to see him for the first time!

Moving on to the kids. Not a whole lot is new. The kids didn't have school on Monday this week, because of a “holiday”, but apparently it's normal for the kids to get off from school randomly. And the boy, Ian, whose leg got burned last week, is doing better. But he says that he's still in a little bit of pain. The burns blistered this past week, and some of them have popped so it's made his leg look ugly. Hopefully his leg begins to heal, and get better soon.

Well, that's about it for this week. Hope everyone is doing well!!

With the wind,

Mark

11 weeks down...5 to go

Okay, so here we are again. Week 11 is just about over with, which is kinda scary. I can't believe how fast this has gone. It doesn't feel like i've been here for almost 3 months.

So remember in last weeks update, I said that last week was boring, and this week should be interesting? Well I was right haha. But before I can tell you what happened, I have to explain something first. Here in the Philippines, anyone hardly “throws away garbage” so to speak. They just burn everything. There is a guy on a tricycle that comes by the headquarters to pick up whatever doesn't get burned, but for the most part, everyone just burns everything. Okay, now that that's explained, I can explain what happened yesterday. Yesterday, Art came up to the children's home to burn the burn pile, but because we haven't burned in almost a week and a half because of various reasons and it looked like it might rain, he poured gasoline on the pile so it would light. Him and one of the older boys, Ian (pronounced I-On), stood about 5-10, or 1.5-3 meters for my European friends, figuring that that should be a safe distance to light the fire. Ian was the one to light the match, because Art was the one that had poured the gasoline on the pile, and had gotten it on himself, and he didn't want to light himself on fire. Anyway, Ian had found something to light and throw into the pile, only problem was that, even though they were 10 feet away, the gasoline fumes were still in the air, and when Ian had lit the match, the fumes caught on fire, I was inside when it happened, the sound was so loud, and deep, that I thought it was thunder, when I went out to see if it was raining, I saw Ian in tears, and that's when Art explained what happened. Ian has some melted skin, and it looks like a nerve or two were effected. He was in a lot of pain yesterday. I still had some pain killers I was given in Mexico, and I told Angela, who had EMT training, and she said to give him one to help with the pain, and to help sleep. He was in so much pain, that even after an hour after giving him one, he was still crying. He eventually did fall asleep, and he slept for a while. Today, Saturday the 18^th, he said that he was still in a little pain, but that's understandable I think. If you could keep him in your prayers that would be deeply appreciated.

In other news, one of the other sons, Clint, who is a Reverend, travels a lot within the Philippines speaking at conferences and such. Well a couple days ago, he invited me to go with him on one such trip the second week in July. He then asked me if I could preach. I said, “I have in the past.” He then said, “Great, we'll give you an opportunity to preach.” Now my initial reaction is to freak out, naturally, given the fact that i've only done so once in my life, and that was to a hill tribe in Thailand. But now, surprisingly, i'm not quite as nervous as I thought I would be, I mean it is still a couple weeks out, but still. When I know that I have to give a oral report, or speak in front of a lot of people, I'm nervous the entire time before hand. But now that I've been through YWAM and had oral reports every other week, I'm getting more and more comfortable with it, which is good I think.

That's about it for this week. Oh! The kids didn't have school yesterday, Friday, and don't have school on Monday because it's a “holiday.” I say “holiday” because from what Angela has told me, town just kind of makes up holidays randomly so that they can get a day off from work. Naturally all the kids are excited, but some of them had/have projects to do, so they've been keeping busy. And the ones that don't have homework or projects, have book reports to do. As punishment, instead of groundings, because they've tried those, and figured out that that doesn't really work, they do book reports. The kids aren't allowed to do anything until those are done this weekend. NOW that's it for this week. Hope everyone is doing well!!!

With the wind,

Mark

Where is the time going???

BOO!!! Admit it, I scared you didn't I? Okay, so I probably didn't, but it was worth a try. This is now our 10^th meeting, which is weird, because it feels like I JUST wrote the 9^th a few days ago...not a week ago. Can't believe I leave in 6 weeks, which was the length of my Outreach to Mexico.

This week was pretty boring in all honesty. The kids started school on Monday, so the house is empty from a little before 7 to about 4:30-5:00. There really isn't all that much to do here. So I spend a lot of my time in my room watching movies, or listening to music and playing Mahjong Titans, which is an awesome game by the way, I discovered it a couple weeks ago.

Now that I think about it, this week was so boring because last week was so eventful. It has occurred to to me that one can't have two interesting weeks in a row. If you think back to my blog update about a month ago, when my phone was stolen, that was a very exciting week. If you look at the week after that, that week was boring as well. If you look at all my previous posts, it's the same thing. One week is boring, the next is as exciting as can be. So following this format, next week should be exciting...key word being should.

This week I started getting sick for the first time since being here. Not bad, almost 3 months, which is a record for me on mission trips. It's just a simple cold, which is better then having stomach issues like I...er...everyone did in Mexico.

Well that's pretty much everything that went on this week. As I said, it was a very boring week. I hope everyone is doing well!!

With the wind,

Mark

9 weeks down

So we meet once again. This is now our 9^th meeting, and the more and more that we have this opportunity together, the more and more comfortable I get with my role here in the Philippines. I am now officially at the point where I have fewer days/weeks left, then I have been here. Now that i'm at that point in this internship, I'm approaching the home stretch. 2 months to the day until I leave. As much as this makes me happy that I get to see everyone back home, it grieves me that I will have to say good bye to the kids here, and to the amazing staff here at New Beginnings Children's Ministry. As with every other mission trips I've been on, this has been life changing, and one that I will never ever forget.

This past week I watched Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring again for the first time. There's a line in there where one of the Elvish maidens tells Frodo, “Even the smallest person can change the world.” Now she was probably talking about physically small, but that can also be taken as feeling like the smallest person inside oneself. Before I began this adventure almost 2 years ago now, I felt like the smallest person. I didn't think my life would amount to anything special. I didn't even think I would leave the country. Now, I know who I am in God, I know that that feeling of feeling like the smallest is straight from the enemy, and now, I'm writing this blog entry from the Philippines changing the world for His gain!

The excitement for this week occurred on Wednesday. One of the boys “playfully” threw Bleach on another boy. As retaliation, the boy threw Bleach on the one who did it first. Only problem, the Bleach got in his eye. The boy didn't really do anything at first. He just complained about pain, and was rubbing his eye. Eventually he said that he got bleach in his eye. Immediately I told him to flush his eye out with water for a while. After about 15-20 minutes, he said that his eye still hurt a little bit. I told him to go to bed and told him i'd see how it was in the morning when he woke up. Thankfully, he said that his eye no longer hurt, and was fine.

School starts on Monday for the kids. From what I can understand, they have a ridiculous school day. Class starts at 7 in the morning, and then at 11 or 12 they have an hour lunch break, and the class until 4 or 5 in the evening. That's for elementary and High School, they don't have Junior High here. Kindergarten is for only 2 hours everyday. The kids are really really excited to start school, which is totally not like the States. Here, everyone has to wear a uniform to school, regardless if you go to public, semi-private, or private. Public school is the cheapest out of the three, then it's semi-private, and then private. The kids here attend public school, because that's the most affordable for the ministry. However, the ministry wants to open their own school for the kids. They wanted to have it opened before this school year, and were in the process of doing so, but a few medical emergencies came up, and they have to wait until next year to open the school. Since everyone has to wear uniforms to school, this past week the kids were taken out in two groups to get them. Which they were very excited to get to leave the house for only a few hours because it doesn't happen very often.

Also this past week, I had to renew my Visa to stay here for another two months. I ended up going with them when they took the second group of kids to the mall. They dropped me off at the Immigration office, and they continued on to the mall, which is HUUUGE by the way. It only took me about an hour and 15 minutes or so, so I took a taxi to the mall, and I can officially say now, that I have ridden in more taxis outside the United States, then I have in the United States. Anyway, I ended up staying at the mall after they left, I had some things I needed to get, and I stayed and had lunch, my weekly fix of American food, and I saw a movie. Kung Fu Panda 2 was amazing!! After that, I made my way back to the children's home, and I got the poor taxi driver lost. I had told him to make a wrong turn, which got me all turned around. Finally, after about an hour, we finally found it, and I was back safely.

A few other things happened this week. Two of the kids had to get glasses. One of which resisted as much as possible. He did NOT want to wear glasses, but finally gave in. The other was very happy about getting glasses. She had been suffering from a lot of headaches, so she was happy that the headaches would stop. One girl had to go to the dentist this past week. She ended up having 13 cavities, and 5 extractions, not sure if they're the same as pulling a tooth, but I don't think so. And on top of all that, another girl had to get her hearing checked, because she had said that she was having trouble hearing. It turns out that she has 50% hearing loss in one ear, and 60% in the other. She has to go back in about a week and a half for more tests to see what's causing the hearing loss.

Well that's all the excitement that happened this past week. Hope everyone is doing well!!

With the wind,

Mark

So long teenage years...hello road to getting old

So we're at the half way point in this internship. I've been here for 8 weeks, which means I only have 8 more weeks left. As much as that makes me happy and everything, it also kind of makes me sad. I'm just beginning to feel comfortable here. That doesn't necessarily mean that I could see myself here long term... I don't think being here long term is for me.

Getting back to the fact leaving makes me happy, I am really really REALLY excited to go home. I get to see all my friends and family again. I get to eat American food ALL the time, and I don't have to eat rice 3 times a day =) I have been craving pancakes and diner food so badly the last couple weeks. When it comes to food, that's just about all I think about...pancakes and going to a New York style Diner. The pancakes I can understand...I have those somewhat regularly...but the diner, i'm not so sure about. I don't really eat a diner all that often.

Okay enough about food...it's making me hungry, and I just finished breakfast, which was noodles and milk, not mixed, if you were interested. But yesterday, or tonight, depending on when you read this, was my birthday. As the title says...it's time to say “so long teenage years...and hello to the road to getting old.” But now that i'm 20, which is weird to say, I don't really feel all that different. I mean yesterday didn't feel like a “special day” like it has previously. To me it was just another day. With that said, when I first arrived, Angela had told me what the Filipino people do on ones birthday, which scared me at the time. She said that Filipino people wake up the birthday person at like 5:00 in the morning to sing to them, and then make the birthday person make everyone breakfast and coffee and such. When I had heard this I was very scared, because I did NOT want that happening to me. So when they asked me when my birthday was, I was skeptical to them. I eventually did tell them, and thankfully, they didn't do that to me. But we didn't have power again the night before so we all slept in the living room because it's a lot cooler out there then in the rooms. Only problem is that the tile floor isn't all that comfortable, so I didn't really sleep all that well. Around 6:15 I got up and went into my room and slept for another hour or so, which I was very thankful for.

This is totally random, but while I've been here, I have been very very VERY thankful for music. On my last missions trip I didn't have any music with me, but fortunately my friends let me borrow their ipods, which helped a lot! I LOVE music, and it helps me if i'm not in a good mood, or just bummed about stuff. There have been about 2-3 songs that have been particularly helpful. Not Alone by Red, Hymn For the Missing by Red, and Best Is Yet To Come also by Red. There are a lot of songs that I've listened to that have brought me peace while i've been here, but these three have been the most helpful to me.

I forgot to mention this in last week's update, but we went to a Taoist temple for an “outing.” Once a week or so, we didn't go on one this week, we all go on an outing somewhere. It could be to the movies, it could be to the beach, or it could be an educational outing. I personally loved the Taoist temple, but everyone thought it was boring. But I like that kind of stuff. It was just interesting to see everything, and just to experience such quiet even though there were a lot of people there. Because everyone was bored out of their mind, we only stayed about an hour and a half, and ended up going to Family Park, which is a huge park that has fields, and a pool, and it even has it's own Zoo, a small zoo, but a zoo nonetheless. We went there to eat lunch, and so that the kids could run around and play. We spent more time there, then we did at the Taoist temple, and the Taoist temple was supposed to be our “outing” for the week.

Well that's all I have for now. Talk to you next week!!

With the wind,

Mark

So long teenage years...hello road to getting old

So we're at the half way point in this internship. I've been here for 8 weeks, which means I only have 8 more weeks left. As much as that makes me happy and everything, it also kind of makes me sad. I'm just beginning to feel comfortable here. That doesn't necessarily mean that I could see myself here long term... I don't think being here long term is for me.

Getting back to the fact leaving makes me happy, I am really really REALLY excited to go home. I get to see all my friends and family again. I get to eat American food ALL the time, and I don't have to eat rice 3 times a day =) I have been craving pancakes and diner food so badly the last couple weeks. When it comes to food, that's just about all I think about...pancakes and going to a New York style Diner. The pancakes I can understand...I have those somewhat regularly...but the diner, i'm not so sure about. I don't really eat a diner all that often.

Okay enough about food...it's making me hungry, and I just finished breakfast, which was noodles and milk, not mixed, if you were interested. But yesterday, or tonight, depending on when you read this, was my birthday. As the title says...it's time to say “so long teenage years...and hello to the road to getting old.” But now that i'm 20, which is weird to say, I don't really feel all that different. I mean yesterday didn't feel like a “special day” like it has previously. To me it was just another day. With that said, when I first arrived, Angela had told me what the Filipino people do on ones birthday, which scared me at the time. She said that Filipino people wake up the birthday person at like 5:00 in the morning to sing to them, and then make the birthday person make everyone breakfast and coffee and such. When I had heard this I was very scared, because I did NOT want that happening to me. So when they asked me when my birthday was, I was skeptical to them. I eventually did tell them, and thankfully, they didn't do that to me. But we didn't have power again the night before so we all slept in the living room because it's a lot cooler out there then in the rooms. Only problem is that the tile floor isn't all that comfortable, so I didn't really sleep all that well. Around 6:15 I got up and went into my room and slept for another hour or so, which I was very thankful for.

This is totally random, but while I've been here, I have been very very VERY thankful for music. On my last missions trip I didn't have any music with me, but fortunately my friends let me borrow their ipods, which helped a lot! I LOVE music, and it helps me if i'm not in a good mood, or just bummed about stuff. There have been about 2-3 songs that have been particularly helpful. Not Alone by Red, Hymn For the Missing by Red, and Best Is Yet To Come also by Red. There are a lot of songs that I've listened to that have brought me peace while i've been here, but these three have been the most helpful to me.

I forgot to mention this in last week's update, but we went to a Taoist temple for an “outing.” Once a week or so, we didn't go on one this week, we all go on an outing somewhere. It could be to the movies, it could be to the beach, or it could be an educational outing. I personally loved the Taoist temple, but everyone thought it was boring. But I like that kind of stuff. It was just interesting to see everything, and just to experience such quiet even though there were a lot of people there. Because everyone was bored out of their mind, we only stayed about an hour and a half, and ended up going to Family Park, which is a huge park that has fields, and a pool, and it even has it's own Zoo, a small zoo, but a zoo nonetheless. We went there to eat lunch, and so that the kids could run around and play. We spent more time there, then we did at the Taoist temple, and the Taoist temple was supposed to be our “outing” for the week.

Well that's all I have for now. Talk to you next week!!

With the wind,

Mark

Week 7...which means only 9 more weeks left...which means we're down to single digits people!!!!

So here we are once again. We only have 9 more meetings after this one, which is kind of weird. I can't believe i've been here 7 weeks already. I know I say that just about every week. But it's true. The longer I'm here, the more and more comfortable I feel here. This past week has been a really good week for me. I'm finally beginning to accept my role here, and be who I am here, a big brother/ role model/ staff member.

This week we were given a new schedule that will take us to when school starts, and then we get a new schedule. School starts on June 6^th here, and the first day of summer vacation for the kids here was April 5^th, the day I arrived. So it's not that long of a break. But with this new schedule I am with the kids all morning, and during the evening, and I have the afternoons off. In the morning I am responsible for giving just about all the kids, accept for 3, medicine. The kids have some kind of skin fungus that spreads when ever the kids sweat. So they have to get this medicine three times a day, once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and once again in the evening. The morning dose, they receive right when they wake up, and are not sweaty yet. The medicine is a cream that has to be put on the spots themselves. The afternoon and the evening doses they have to shower before receiving to get the sweat off, and be clean. Once they get the medicine, they have to let it sit before being able to run around again. Once all the kids have gotten the morning medicine dose, and have let it sit, it's time to go outside for outdoor games and activities. This usually involves throwing the football around. I taught most of the older kids how to throw a football this past week, and the more they throw, the better they get. Once we're done with that, which is usually around 10:15-10:30 or so, it's time for chores. Each kid has his/her own chore, depending on what the chore is, there could be two kids to do one chore. Chores last until about 11:00, at such time, they have to go inside, and takes showers to get the next dose of medicine. This lasts about an hour or so. At noon, it's time for lunch, and then after lunch is my time off until about 5:00 or so. In the afternoons, they have group music time with Art and Earl. They have private music lessons in the morning during outdoor play and activities. At 5:00 when I get back from my time off, it's free play and the kids can do whatever they'd like, which usually involves playing cards, they LOVE playing cards. At 6:00 it's time for dinner. Dinner has gotten very interesting lately. But that's to be expected in a different country. After dinner I have time to Skype people back home if needed (If you want to Skype let me know, and we can set up a date to do so). During that time, the kids receive their last medicine dose of the day. From 8-9 is devotion time. I'm responsible for devotions on Wednesday and Saturday.

Before the new schedule started, I had been in charge of devotions for the older kids every night. About 2 weeks ago, I had asked them to start reading their bibles by themselves, and I had told them to start reading in the book of John. Yesterday, Thursday, one of the boys came up to me and said that he had finished the book of John, and was in Acts, and he mentioned that he liked John, but he was liking Acts better. This made me very very happy to hear. I am hoping and praying that he continues to read once I leave, and not just him, but all the kids continue to read their bibles everyday. I've learned that without reading the bible everyday, life gets sluggish, and doesn't feel all that good.

Now that we have a pretty sound schedule that people are following, it makes being here a lot easier, and a lot less stressful, and lot more enjoyable. As I've said the past, these last 9 weeks will fly by. I am happy that I go home in about 2 months because I get to see all my friends and family whom I haven't seen in 4 months by that time. But at the same time, a little bummed. I mean, yeah, I know that this trip has to come to an end eventually, but this is an awesome place to be...aside from the heat. I could do without the heat. This doesn't necessarily mean that I can see myself here long term. I don't think this is for me long term. Would I mind returning in the future for a visit, or another missions trip? Not at all.

All right well that's all for this week. Same time, same place next week!

With the wind,

Mark

Squid, Cockroaches and the case of the missing cell phone

Hello people of planet earth! This is now my 6^th weekly blog update...can't believe it's been that many already...only 10 more weeks left. While that number is getting more and more exciting the lower it gets, it's also getting more and more real that I'll be leaving here, and who knows if I'll ever be returning. The kids are already asking when I'll be back after I leave. At this point in my trip, I say the only thing I can, “I don't know when I'll be returning” but the said truth is, I might not be returning any time soon.

So this week has been interesting...but at the same time, not so interesting. It was interesting that I had three firsts. I had squid for the first time, and now that i've had it, I can honestly say that i'm not a big fan of it. But I think it may just be the way that it was cooked. It was cooked in it's own ink, but through talking to people here, they say that if I have it fried, it tastes a lot better, which makes sense, because everything fried tastes better. Now onto my second first of the week. I had my first run in with a cockroach. It wasn't your typical run in either. I didn't see scurry across the bedroom floor. No, I woke up to it, on my side. You can imagine my fright when I saw that thing. I tried swatting it, but because of the hour in the morning, approximately 6:30 in the morning, I wasn't quite myself yet so my aim wasn't all that good, and I missed horribly. The cockroach then proceeds to crawl onto my back where I quickly lose sight of it. I flip my shirt hoping that it gets flung off. I look all around my bed and I don't see it at all. It's not by the wall, it's not at the foot of the bed, it's not on the other side of the bed. I get up and go about my morning as usual. When I come back into my room late morning, I see it on it's back dead. Where it was I have no idea...all I know is that it was dead and that's all that matters. And my third first, was that I had my cell phone stolen for the first time on Thursday. I noticed my cell phone missing on Thursday night, on Friday morning I went to the home where the people that run the ministry live. I told them that my cell phone was missing, and that none of the boys had it. Art, Annabelle, and Earl went to the pawn shop right down the road, and they said that they had bought it yesterday, but had sold it to another pawn shop in the market in the city. It was then decided that Earl would just go to the pawn shop in the market pretending to be looking for a new cell phone and look for my phone. While all this is going on, I was on Skype with my parents telling them what had happened. We had deactivated the phone so that it would not work here in the Philippines. We then prayed that whatever happens would be the Lord's will. We then said our good-bye's and good night's/ good mornings, and hung up. No sooner did I hang up with them, did one of the co-founders get a text message from Earl saying that he had my phone in his hands. The guy at the pawn shop wanted $2500 Pesos for it which is about $58 USD. Earl was able to negotiate the guy down to $2030 Pesos, which is about $47 USD, because that's all he had at the time. The good news is that I have my cell phone back, the bad news is that the SIM card and mini SD card are missing, and they wiped my pictures as well as messed with the settings, but all things considered, I'd rather my cell phone back with a few settings messed with, then not have a cell phone at all.

Okay, soo I knew that this week had been exciting, but I just didn't realize how exciting it was until I wrote this blog entry. This has probably been the most exciting week I've had in a long while, definitely since I've been here. But I've also learned a very important lesson through all this; No matter where I am in the world, whether it be at a Christian home for abandoned children in the Philippines, or out on the street in the slums of Mexico, I have to be careful with my valuables. I can't just leave them lying around like they are nothing.

Thank you all for praying for me! I hope you have a good week yourself, and we shall meet again next week :)

With the wind,

Mark

Week 5 already?? REALLY???

So here we are once again. Week five is just about over which is weird. It feels like I just got here maybe two weeks or so ago. But I only have 11 weeks left. And if the remaining 11 weeks go as fast as the first 5 have, I'll be airborne and on my way home before I know it.

This week has been pretty uneventful. The most exciting thing I got to do this week was probably go to the Emergency Room...and it really wasn't an emergency. The only reason why I went to the ER was because if I didn't, and just went to the regular hospital, I would've had to wait forever for a doctor. But the reason why I went to the ER was because my foot was so swollen it looked like a softball was stuffed in it. At first, Angela, one of the co-founders of the ministry, thought it was a common Filipino foot fungus someone gets when another person “borrows” your flip-flops and sweats in them, and you put them on and sweat in them also. The sweat mixes and BAM!, you have the foot fungus. When I fist showed her my foot, it was only a little swollen, with the beginnings of blisters. That afternoon she checked on it again, and the swelling was getting worse, which she said wasn't uncommon. The next day, my foot had grown a lot worse. She had mentioned the possibility that I might have to go to the hospital if it get's worse. She and her mom came back in the afternoon again to check on me and the other kids, the kids have a skin fungus from the soap they've been using, and from the morning to the afternoon, my ankle had again more swollen. It was then decided that I would go to the ER to see if they could figure out what the cause was. The doctors at the ER had come to the conclusion that it was an infected blister that I had popped, and the reason for all the swelling, was that it was slowly spreading. That was on Friday, now as I'm writing this on Sunday, my ankle is A LOT less swollen, but it is still swollen a little bit. Unfortunately, I have to stay off my feet with as little walking as possible, which is getting very old, very fast. I've pretty much been cooped up in my room since Thursday afternoon watching movies, which may sound like fun, but let me assure you...it get's old very fast. I'll be very happy when this is over and done with, and i'll be able to leave the house...let alone my room freely. That's pretty much all that happened this week. Like I said, an uneventful week.

Oh, I've been craving every single kind of American food you can think of this week. New York Pizza, Bagels, McDonald's, I hardly ever eat there, so I don't know why I'm craving it, donuts, you think it, I've craved it.

With the wind,

Mark

Week 4 people...WEEK 4!!!!!!!!!!!!

So we meet once again, eh? It's week 4 already!!! That means only 12 more weeks left!! I was thinking this past week about the week before I left for Mexico with Youth With A Mission Metro New York to finish outreach, and how I was keeping a count down for the number of days before left for Mexico, and another count down for the number of days till I left for the Philippines, and at the time it had been 90 days!! That's three months!! and here, i'm writing this after being here for almost one month! Time flies when one is having fun, no?

To say that this week was better then last week, was better then last, would be a major understatement. Thank you to everyone who prayed for me this week! I definitely felt them, and I ask that you continue to keep me prayer while i'm here in the Philippines. Before coming here, I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know what the children were going to be like, I didn't know what the living conditions were going to be like. I didn't even know what I was going to be doing while here. I had an idea of what I was going to be doing, but that's about it. Well now that i've been here almost a month, it'll be a month on Thursday, things are starting to become a little more routine, and some-what comfortable. The children are amazing. They are starting to warm up to me a little bit more daily. I can see a difference in behavior even in the little amount of time that i've been here. They are starting to listen to staff better, and follow the rules better. They still slip-up, but they are definitely getting better.

On Monday we implementing a daily schedule that will keep the children occupied from 7:00 in the morning to about 7:30 in the evening. I am in charge of outdoor games and activities from 3- 6 in the afternoon, and for a nightly devotion. We started the devotions on Friday, and so far it's been pretty good. But please pray for me, as this is my first time doing this kind of thing.

Another quick prayer request, Angela Taylor, one of the co-founders of New Beginnings Children's Ministry is in the process of trying to adopt Ru, one of the girls in the home who is autistic, to bring her back to the States for medical treatment since it's better there then here in the Philippians. Filipino's don't really care for Autistic, or any disabilities for lack of a better word. She needs about $12,000 USD to make the adoption possible. But it's a slow and tedious process. If you feel led to give, please let me know, and i can found out what the easiest way to do that is. My email address is mdvaccaro@msn.com, or you can just facebook message me if we are friends on Facebook. Thanks.

That's all I have for now, but as always, if anything interesting happens in the middle of the week, i'll post a mini update.

With the wind,

Mark

I thought a thought, but the thought i thought i thought, really wasn't the thought i thought i thought

Soooo....here we are again...week 3 is over and done with. This week has not gone by as fast as the previous two weeks, and I’d be lying if I said that it was an easy week. In fact it was the furthest thing from an easy week. I am beginning to get tired, and ready to go home. It has been a very up and down kind of week emotionally. But I just have to keep telling myself that I will get stronger through this, and I have to look at it as a growing experience. It's the first time i've been on a trip like this by myself. Every trip i've been on, I've always had a group of people from the same culture that I can always talk to, that's not the case here, and I think that's what i'm having the toughest time with. I know that this all part of the process, but still. It's still frustrating while it lasts.

This past week the boys began working with Arte, and Earl, the son of one of the staff here, with a music program. I didn't really get to see them or do anything with them until late afternoon very often. This past week, I also found out two things they really enjoy doing. Basketball, and playing cards. So when they are done with practice, we “play” basketball, the hoop isn't up yet, so we end up just standing in a circle passing the ball back and forth. When it gets to dark to see, and everyone get's tired, we move inside and play cards, more specifically, Egyptian Ratrace, Egyptian Ratscrew, also known among other names. We taught them the game on Monday morning, and they play just about every chance they get. I also figured out that the boys really really REALLY like tongue twisters. Specifically, I thought a thought, but the thought i thought i thought, really wasn't the thought i thought i thought.

I would deeply appreciate it if you would keep me in prayer in the coming weeks. That I would be rejuvenated, and given peace.That's all for now, but I might give a brief update in the middle of week or something if anything exciting, or interesting happens.

With the wind,

Mark

Adventure called Life

So I can't believe i'm already saying this...but week 2 is just about done!!! This week has been pretty uneventful. We were able to move all the children into the home, which I think I mentioned last week, and I was able to move in to my room that i'll be sharing with one other guy yesterday (Saturday). I'm slowly getting more and more involved with kids, pretty soon I think i'll be spending most of my free time with them.

I was finally able to sit in on the Sunday service, last week I was helping out with Sunday school. The service was interesting. The worship songs were in English, but the announcements, and the sermon were in Filipino. They mostly sang songs that I was familiar with. They only sang one song that I didn't recognize, but it was still a really really good song! While sitting in the service, I had the realization that I am beyond fortunate to be able to do what I do. I travel for Jesus!! If you were to ask me 5 years ago what I thought I would be doing now, I probably would have said going to college for Psychology. Little did I know that I would be a soon-to-be 20 year old traveling for God!

While i've been on this adventure called life, I have seen God do some unbelievable things. He has provided for me in ways I can't begin to describe. Not to mention I've been to places I didn't think I would go. I honestly thought that I would never leave the States. That just goes to show how amazingly faithful God is!!

Right before I left, I started listening to a band called Red. One of there songs has been one that I have listened to A LOT while being here, the lyrics are:

Slowly fading away
You're lost and so afraid
Where is the hope In a world so cold?
Looking for a distant light
Someone who can save a life
Living in fear that no one will hear your cries

(Come and save me now)
I am with you
I will carry you through it all
I won't leave you
I will catch you
When you feel like letting go
'Cause you're not
You're not alone

Your heart is full of broken dreams
Just a fading memory
And everything's gone
But the pain carries on
Lost in the rain again
When will it ever end?
The arms of relief
Seem so out of reach

But I
(I am here)
I am with you
I will carry you through it all
I won't leave you
I will catch you

When you feel like letting go
'Cause you're not
You're not alone

And I will be your hope
When you feel like it's over
And i will pick you up
When your whole world shatters
When you're finally in my arms
Look up and see love as a face

I am with you
I will carry you through it all
I won't leave you
I will catch you
When you feel like letting go
'Cause you're not
You're not alone

And I will be your hope
You're not alone
And I will pick you up
And i will be your hope

Slowly fading away
Lost and so afraid
Where is the hope in a world so cold?

This song has brought me comfort in knowing that, no matter what happens, God is always there to catch me, and be there to be my friend when it feels like I don't have any.

In any case...this has been an amazing trip and I've been here less then 2 weeks!! Can't wait to see what else happens!

With the wind,

Mark

1 Week down...15 more to go

So I can't believe i'm saying this already, but one week has already passed...or soon will pass. So far so good. The time has been flying by here, I guess that has something to do with the fact that i've been going to bed around 8:30 or so, and waking up at 6...i know, it sounds weird coming from me. But the heat has been taking so much out of me...even the people that have lived here their entire lives say the same thing, so it's just not me. Summer officially started the day I arrived here, on Tuesday, April 5^th. So because summer has officially started, the kids are out of school, so that means that the streets are just crawling with people, let alone kids now.

This past week, I haven't had much interaction with the kids from the home, they've been in the process of moving to a different home, much closer, only about a 30 second walk away, instead of a 10-15 minute car ride away. Hopefully either this week or next week i'll be able to move into the home with the other kids. I'll be sharing a room with a son of the family that runs the home.

I am getting more and more involved with the kids, i am spending a lot more time at the house, and with the kids just hanging out and talking with them. I can't wait until i'm moved in with them and spending the majority of my time with them at the house. From what i can tell, they are a bunch of awesome dudes and dudettes. They vary in age from 4-18. As of right now, only 9 kids are at the house. 6 guys and 3 girls. The rest are home for the summer, just trying it out to see if it's a stable enough situation for them to go home permanently, that's the goal of the family that runs the home. They want the kids to be able to go back home with their family. Well, that's pretty much it for now, i'm sure i'll post again sometime this week.

With the wind,

Mark

"I can't believe i'm still speaking spanish, after 5 weeks being home!!"

So...the day has finally come. I am in Cebu, Philippines at the New Beginnings Children's Ministry compound. The flight from JFK airport in New York to the Hong Kong airport was amazing. I slept for most of it, but i can honestly say, that it had by far the most space under the seat in front of me then any other flight i've been on, so it made the 16 hour flight seem like a breeze. Once at the Hong Kong airport, i had 3 or so hours to kill before my flight for Cebu. I had the opportunity to Skype with mom and dad for while when i first got to the gate and again right before i boarded the plane, which was good for both of us. The flight from Hong Kong to Cebu was only about 2 hours, 2 hours and 3 minutes to be exact, so it was a puddle jumper compared to the 16 hour flight i had earlier.

Now that i'm here in the Philippines, it still feels surreal that i'm actually here for 4 months!! When i said that I would do this i knew what i was getting myself into, but at the same time, i kinda didn't. But that's what usually happens with major trips like this, no? I went through something similar when i went to Mexico, and the same thing happened while i was in Belize, in fact when i was in Belize, it was so bad that i almost left after 3 days. And everytime, God has brought me through it while at the same time, showing me something about myself AND about Him that i didn't know before. So while i'm nervous, and slightly scared, i also know that something AMAZING will come out of this, and i'm excited to see what it is!

Now i know what you're thinking... "what's the deal with the title?" Well this morning...er...Sunday night, it's Tuesday afternoon right now as i'm writing this, the clerk at the check in counter had asked me a question, and without thinking, i answered "Si". I'm not sure why my brain is still in Spanish mode, but i suppose that's good that it is, given the fact that some of the words in Tagali are Spanish words.

As i said in my first post, I will do my best to update you guys weekly, and if it's not every week, definitely every 2 weeks, so stay tuned!!!

With the wind,
Mark