what's past is past....here we are in the NOW

ok friends, i KNOW it's been forever since i've updated, but the longer i don't write, the harder it gets. too much to update on. i'm sorry, but the past is past and that's where it will stay. what i will say is that we've left the philippines. if anyone has been in contact with us over the past 2 months you would see the absolute miraculous change that occured from the time we arrived to the time of leaving the philippines. when we first arrived all we could see was the cockroaches, our tiny room, the dirt, the heat - the discomforts. the complete culture-shock experience. now, i'm not saying this was just us unwilling to adapt to our circumstances; this was just real culture shock. but how awful would it have been for us to leave a country after two months, and be glad to have it behind us. i am so thankful that did not happen. it was our second month that began the change. it was still hot as hades, the country is still infested with ipis (cockroaches) and mosquitoes and other unwanted creatures, and there were still some uncomfortable things, but that is when (thank God) we no longer focused on those things. leaving the philippines was sad because, for me at least, i had just finally begun to no longer feel like a guest, but part of the family. it would take too long to explain everything and share all the things that i would like to share about my experience, and i am very sorry that i wasn't better at recording my experiences online. thankfully i have journalled more in my 2 months in the philippines than i have in my entire life. that doesn't help you readers, much but... all i can say is that i am genuinely sorry that by my own negligence (laziness) you missed out on my philippines experience. anyhow so i've left the country where we dance during church worship; where everyone is family; where the entire neighborhood know my name; where the kids come out yelling "ate becky" ("sister becky"). we've left our new brothers and sisters behind, as well our goddaugther (that's right, we're godmothers now!) i'll move on from here by saying that i GENUINELY hope i get to go back one day. these are relationships i don't want to forget.
here are some photos:

our goddaughter, shekinah, and her parents, pastor val and nanay

our friends :)
(arris, me, drick, jc, kendra, ate arn, with ivy and belle peeking from the back)

we have THOUSANDS of photos from the philippines...most of them are like this! filipinos just looove the camera...so do we :)
(jc, belle, kendra, drick, me, ivy)

kuya arris (brother arris)

our last of several goodbye parties, with just a few of our closest friends
(from the left: ate arn, jc, drick, kendra, me, pastor val, aris, nanay, shekinah, (bottom) ivy, and belle, and pastor's mother)

very fond memories attached to all of our photos and all of these friends. i might have to come back with another blog about the philippines, but for now, moving on from philippines....

we've been in australia for the past 8 days we're visiting a church here that works with refugees. i am once again able to see how different refugee ministry can be; we, of course, have worked with the refmin in athens, then we were in vienna working with that refmin team, and now here in melbourne it is again completely different. different people groups, different ministries. here there are several large flats that i was told houses 5000 people. these refugees come from africa mainly, etheopia, somalia, eritrea, sudan, etc. the way i understand it, is refugees flee their country into refugee camps in kenya and the such places, and wait their turn to be given assylum. that way, australia only allows in refugees who have already been accepted for assylum. it's planned and deliberate. it's not exactly like australia is an easy place to get to. outside of new zealand, it's a 12 hour plane ride to the next closest country.
that's my feeble understanding of it.
anyhow, we've gone with our dear friend louise to visit some families and had some lovely dinners. (etheopian food is DELICIOUS and fun to eat :)
unlike the arc and the oasis (in athens and vienna) where the refugees come to us, in melbourne we go to them. visit their homes, build relationships. that is how their ministry goes. there are also homework groups, breakfast clubs, a day for art, and a sewing group as well for the kids. i got really excited about the sewing group and hope to bring the idea back to greece. we'll see how that goes :)
so, since the ministry is really a long term investment in relationships, and we are only here for 10 days, we have only gotten a small taste of what refmin is like here. we have still been enjoying the people here, the city, normal food (no white rice or dried fish!!), and we've had a break from sweating!! it's winter here!! i can't get over winter in june... everything is backwards. the seasons, the cars, the road. i keep looking the wrong direction when i cross the road - good thing they stop for people here, or i'd be in trouble.
oh, big news: i got shot. that's right, three times in the shoulder.
in preparation for going to africa i got yellowfever, tetanus, malaria/mumps/rubella vaccinations. this is big news because i've never gotten any vaccinations before. never. the doctor at the travel clinic that we visited didn't like that and tried to stack up the vaccinations on me. when he could only talk me into these 5 he said i got off lightly. the whole ordeal kinda stressed me out. not the actual action of getting the shots, just..the whole thing, deciding what to get, what not to get, not really knowing what i actually need. i don't know anything about this kind of thing but there are others who have BIG opinions on these things. i just don't know who to believe.
anyhow, i have been whining about the shots ever since i got them (yesterday). my arm is sore and i am guessing next week i will be feeling miserable (two of them were live vaccines and the dr said i can expect to not feel so good in a few days; fever and such, my immune system fighting the viruses) SIGH...well it's over with now.
anyhow, i will post a few pics of here and leave it at that. we leave for sydney tomorrow, and i will (hopefully) blog again there :)

us and dear louise

kendra and esther dancing to keep warm

ATTACK!!
in the philippines we had cockroaches, mosquitoes, rat

that's right, my aussie friends, i went to a footy - kinda like american football, kinda like soccer, but it is the austalian football league. i am a fan of the carlton blues (only because i don't know what the shumack's and lou) we won by alot. i don't remember the score

ok, that's all for now. i am overwhelmed with things i COULD write, but if you have any specific questions about what's up with us, about the philippines, australia, or africa, feel free to ask. might help me narrow down the next blog.
til then, enjoy!