Pictures!

Wow, where to begin. I'm not sure if I should write about what's been going on, or if I should just skip ahead to putting up pictures and writing little captions for each. Let me give a quick update, and then I'll get to the photos.

I wrote in my last blog of feeling kind of useless and bored. I am happy to say that things have been a lot better lately. Two things happened to change that - one is that we've actually been busier with things to do (VBS, hanging out with other folks from IT, visiting the Payatas dump site). The other thing was a comment Sandi left on my last blog - how God is more concerned with the being than the doing. I've thought about that statement a lot, and lately I've been trying to pray "Okay, Lord, help me to be." It's not very easy. When you spend a lot of time in one place so far from home, you can't help feeling that you're supposed to be busy, that you have to be doing something. I guess it's finally hitting me that God might be using this time for Him to work on me, as opposed to me working with others. It's easier said than done, but isn't everything? Anyway, I won't go on, because I know you're all wanting to see pictures.

Last Friday, we went to the Payatas dump site for a feeding - Becky will write about that. This week, from Tuesday through Saturday (tomorrow), GK (Gising Kabataan) is having a morning VBS program for the kids in the squatter village in Mandaluyong. Like all VBSes, it's loud and filled with children who won't sit still. And really really hot, at that. I'm in the 7-9 age group, which had almost 60 the first day, but by now it's dwindled down to around 40. I don't really do any teaching, I leave that to my fellow leaders, because I can't speak Tagalog, and the kids don't know much English, but I do help out with the songs (I can now sing "I'm in the Lord's Army" in Tagalog - isn't that special?), which is fun.

Some interesting questions I've been asked by the kids so far:
1) "Why are your eyes green?"
2) "Are you pregnant?" Ouch.
3) "Where is your husband?"

There's also this daily conversation between me and some of the boys in our group - a conversation that takes place many many times every morning:

Them: Yes money, yes halo halo?
Me: No money, no halo halo.

Halo-halo is a dessert they have here that is sold in carts that go around the neighborhood. I was targeted the first day as the white girl with money to buy the whole class snacks - as if I'm that stupid.

Okay, I'll shut up now.

This is me with Jhomer, Rea, and Jovelyn, three of my co-leaders for our VBS group. They really like sunglasses here, I've noticed. And yes, I did get a haircut.

Well, I just realized that all the VBS pics I was planning to put up are on another computer. So, those will have to wait. Don't worry, I have others!

I don't think either Becky or I ever mentioned that Pastor Val and his wife made us the godmothers of their newly adopted baby girl, Shekaina. This is a big deal, so we're told, because usually that title goes to much older and wiser women who the family has knows for a long time. So this is our little goddaughter :) She's about three months old. On the left is Dabie and on the right is Arlene.

This is us with some of the dancers and singers in GK.

Drick, Jossie, and me. Drick is the worship leader of GK, and Jossie is one of the dancers.

To say we got a little camera-happy last night would be the understatement of the year. Literally hundreds of photos were taken.

I have a little more to say, but we're being kicked out of the IT office, so I'll have to save it for another day! Enjoy the pictures everybody! Hope they were worth the wait! I'll put more on another day if I find the time!

-Kendra