school!
Wow.. here I go! Made it to school and I am already sleep deprived! It has been way way hectic. I think I already realize that I am a little bit over-committed. But it should be a great year. My suitemates are all.. sweet :) And the air conditioning in Robby is totally worth the $$. mmhhmm.
I am taking a bazillion classes.. 19 credit hours. But I am pretty excited for all of them, so it shouldn't be too bad. I am taking psychology, western civilization, ethics, photography, jogging, macroeconomics, and art appreciation. Mainly I am just really pumped for jogging and photography.
My awesome uncle Wayne let me borrow his 33mm camera for my photography class and it has already been an adventure! Buying film for the fist time.. going to walmart to get the film developed for the first time. I am not good at knowing when or not to turn on the flash..
I am ready for the year and will try and update my 'blog' as often as I can - or when something interesting happens. Interesting things are always happens so I should rephrase that too ' interesting things that other people may or may not actually care about'
Off to a hall meeting! And am waiting for some real mail to come through my mailbox ;)
I am taking a bazillion classes.. 19 credit hours. But I am pretty excited for all of them, so it shouldn't be too bad. I am taking psychology, western civilization, ethics, photography, jogging, macroeconomics, and art appreciation. Mainly I am just really pumped for jogging and photography.
My awesome uncle Wayne let me borrow his 33mm camera for my photography class and it has already been an adventure! Buying film for the fist time.. going to walmart to get the film developed for the first time. I am not good at knowing when or not to turn on the flash..
I am ready for the year and will try and update my 'blog' as often as I can - or when something interesting happens. Interesting things are always happens so I should rephrase that too ' interesting things that other people may or may not actually care about'
Off to a hall meeting! And am waiting for some real mail to come through my mailbox ;)
Long time no write..
The kids saying goodbye to us on the schoolyard
Sandy & KayKay
Troy & Jor on our Riverboat Cruise
8/9/09
Well I am sure you are all wondering why it has taken so long for me to post another update. It’s all very simple in the fact that our internet has been down for… a very long while.
A lot has been happening here, as I’m sure you can imagine if you have been reading the MOM site. On top of that there have been so many emotions as we said farewell to the kids after their VBS program earlier this afternoon. Even long after the program was over, the kids would not leave. They simply wanted to stay and sing more praise songs with us.
With one day left we will be trying to finish everything up tomorrow.. some painting in the Sunday school room we have been building, and I get to hand out some leftover school pictures tomorrow ☺ This trip has been so amazing for each of us, however, I can see that everyone is ready to be home in some way. I am just ready to catch up on a little bit of sleep!
I will try and write more tomorrow, but it is laaaaaate. All is well here, but keep the prayers coming!
Well I am sure you are all wondering why it has taken so long for me to post another update. It’s all very simple in the fact that our internet has been down for… a very long while.
A lot has been happening here, as I’m sure you can imagine if you have been reading the MOM site. On top of that there have been so many emotions as we said farewell to the kids after their VBS program earlier this afternoon. Even long after the program was over, the kids would not leave. They simply wanted to stay and sing more praise songs with us.
With one day left we will be trying to finish everything up tomorrow.. some painting in the Sunday school room we have been building, and I get to hand out some leftover school pictures tomorrow ☺ This trip has been so amazing for each of us, however, I can see that everyone is ready to be home in some way. I am just ready to catch up on a little bit of sleep!
I will try and write more tomorrow, but it is laaaaaate. All is well here, but keep the prayers coming!
Some pictures..
Eating at the school
Carly, Zoe, & the preschoolers
Pharaoh, ooohhhh Pharaoh! All the kids love Joe :)
Kenzie helping the kids with crafts
This little kid would not let go of Tyler the entire day..
Rock Stars.
Uff Da
Me.. and the kids. "Fear Not!"
Troy & Seth.. well.. ya.
All the cute kids at VBSReality Hits. We are most definitely not on any sort of relaxing, fun vacation. Today we started painting… building.. teaching. Everyone assigned different tasks according to ‘specialized abilities.’ However- even with amazing painting &/or photography skills, the Philippines can only be glamorous for so long. Keeping our goal in mind becomes tough when you no longer ‘glisten’ – but sweat is just rolling down your face. Sleep deprivation is catching up with us also. Everyone a little more snippy yesterday.. enthusiasm running low. We are all just a little run down. I say all of this to simply remind you that your prayers are still needed – and much appreciated.
On a lighter note, my morning was spectacular. I had to go back to the school early this morning to finish up taking the kindergartners’ school pictures. Needless to say, I felt like Paris Hilton stepping out of the pick-up. The kids were screaming and jumping, their brown eyes sparkling with excitement. And when I started walking they all clung to my shirt, just wanting that physical connection that they rarely get at home. Each and every one of them knew my name, and were especially eager to show me they remembered the ‘secret handshake’ I taught them our first day here. So rewarding.
So the day was full of ups and downs. But in the end when I sit here writing, I feel so incredibly blessed to even have the opportunity to feel all of these crazy emotions. It may not be perfectly clear to me now why God called me to be here- but I am confident that I am in the right place. I am also positive that each of the other members of our group are in the right place as well. Our team is dynamic, fun, and cohesive. I love to sit in devotions and just guess what is going through each of their minds as we journal. Even after 4 days here, I can see that the Philippines.. the scenery, people, food, and raw essence has captured each person and God is working in their hearts. I have never been in a group that has given off such a feeling that everyone wholeheartedly wants to spread God’s glory. I am very proud to be associated with the Glasgow Evangelical Church’s Mission Team.
I hope that through some of my writings you can feel that you are a part of our group as well – because you are. We would not be here at all if it weren’t for the support of you. And we still need help – your prayers are just as important as us being here.
What a day..
Jory, Seth, and Troy at the Tagbilaran airport
Having a coke at the Co-Op
Kenzie on the Jeepny ride to the house!8-2-09
What a day yesterday! We about 130 kids that attended our VBS (Crocodile Dock) They were SO excited, we could not get them to settle down- all day. I hope they learned something! We have been having a LOT of rain- there were a few minor injuries yesterday because the cement gets so slippery. A few of the kids- and Carly. She broke her tailbone a little while back- and she either badly bruised or re-broke it. ☹ sad day.
Although the program takes an insane amount of work- it has been worth it. To see 130 children worshiping from the bottom of their hearts- dancing and praising without any reservations, makes one’s heart skip a beat. They are on a totally different spiritual level. They just get it. Despite the fact that they have next to nothing, and face trials that even many adults in the US could not handle, they have faith in the Lord. They thank him for every little blessing that comes along. We fed the children during the lunchbreak (rice, fried chiken, and pansit –noodles) I have never seen so many beaming, eager faces. They were so hungry. So incredibly hungry. Each of them stuffed down more than a normal adult eats. You could tell that some of them knew it would be their only meal for the day. I just wonder what they do on other days when we are not here to feed them.
Anyways, last night we went to see the Loboc Youth Ambassador Band- in Loboc. The journey there was the first best part. We took two vehicles, and Seth was driving the Tool Cab. It is this itty-bitty Japanese-made truck. So small. He could barely fit. And the road is so horrible. Just bumpity bumpity bumpity. And we went full force ahead. It is hard to give you a picture- driving through the jungle in a little pick-up with Seth, and 4 people in the the back. Flying through the air and coming down into huge puddles and mud from earlier the day. The whole thing is a great memory.
And the band is another story- they were indescribable. It was NOT a band concert- it was a full show. They did motions and singing and- wow. It was amazing. And most of them have been playing for two years. They are high-schoolers that have been accepted into this program so that they may learn an instrument well enough to get scholarships for college. They are also given the instrument that they choose to learn. I have to say- they even sounded better than our bad at good ol’ Cottey College. The best part was when two of the littlest boys in the band came off of the stage. One of them came up to me with flowers, knelt, and played the trumpet. It was SO cute. The other one gave his flowers to Kenzie. They then pulled me up to the stage and ‘battled’ over me by competing in their trumpet playing. When they couldn’t reach a conclusion with that, they put down their trumpets and just grabbed my arms and really pulled. And they were serious! It kind of hurt, haha. It was quite the time.
Well yesterday and today weather forecast of ‘monsoon’, so it is pretty stormy here. But no lack of heat and humidity. Our plans are to have church- and then jump back into VBS for the afternoon. Everyone is having a fantabulous time. Keep the prayers coming!
Day One - at Sunshine House
Zoe, in the Seoul airport
7-30-09Wow. What a journey. We left on Tuesday, and now it is Thursday. Eyes drooping and derrière best described as tender, I am in a surprisingly good mood. Seeing the sights sends pulses of random memories through my thoughts. And I think back to how much I unexpectedly learned from the last time I was here. I can only hope and pray that this trip will even surpass the amount of knowledge that I previously gained.
We started our day at the house by sorting through luggage and getting each piece to its designated destination. Took a little tour through the property. Talked to Denny (he even remembered my name! that made me feel good) Went over the rules Had a little time for either a swim in the pool or cool shower (I opted for the shower. Hairy legs and I do not bode well together). Ate an amazing lunch.. rice, and things that I do now know how to pronounce, let alone type. Took a mini-tour of the barrio. Made name tags for Crocodile Dock. Ate dinner.. Chicken Joy! .. the best home made fried chicken EvEr. Then we had a short devotional. Everyone was holding their eyes open trying to pay attention- this has been a loooong couple of days. We were excited to go to bed- and then the Girls found a HUGE gecko in our room. I have honestly never seen one so big. Poor Sandy was already asleep and was awoken by high-pitched screams. Troy tried to show his manliness to us by trying to catch it, but ended up getting a little frightened himself. The thing was hissing and jumping everywhere… and all of the girls were screaming and climbing up and down the bunks. It was a sight to behold. We managed to chase it close to the door, but then it was really really mad and faked dead. But who wants to touch a gecko faking dead? So one of the night watch guards heard us screaming and came running with a long stick in hand – he thought we had a snake in our room! Lol. Anyways, he took care of it and once the commotions settled down everyone was in bed- and asleep- by 7:41. What a day.
I was so amazed to see the progress and changes that have happened in two short years. Many buildings have been constructed or improved, and I can see that MOM has done an amazing job at showing the love of God to these people.
Seoul, Korea
Ethan- In the Seoul airport! Soooo happy that he just had the best 10 hours of his life sitting next to me on the last flight.
Our Korean Air airplane.. that looks like it has the Pepsi logo on the tail :)
7-29-09
We are fiiiiinally in Seoul. That was a pretty long flight with good ‘ol Korea airlines. 10 hours. And the best part was definitely the free socks. In a nice sea-foam green color. Oh- and the fact that they were just feeding us, the entire time. We purchased the economy seats, and were therefore in the very very back of the plane. Except for Joe. He got a seat in the middle of plane. How did he manage that? And he had a free seat next to him. Lucky guy. Even luckier that Maddie kept him company for the flight. There was some moderate turbulence throughout the flight, and I was definitely more worried about if Joe was handling it ok than what was happening with the plane.
We are all ready to be done with traveling, but we still have a 2 hour layover, 3 hour flight, 6 hour layover, and then 2 hour flight. Oh- and the drive to the house. JOY! At least everyone is still getting along and the flight attendants haven’t banned Seth from any planes. Much love from Korea!
Security Breach
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1 comments
Tyler & Troy fixing a broken string...
Seattle 7-28-09
Interesting Update :
I am sitting in the seattle airport, oblivious to all the problems of the world : and we have been quarantined! OK, well maybe not quarantined, but we are near one of the security check-ins, and we are in the area that nobody can get in or out of. Did I mention that Seth took half of the group to get their lunch of Italian pasta and paninis, while Jory, Sandy, Betty and I waited with the bags? It is true. No worries though- I have scoped things out and asked random people questions. This is the info I have so far. The pilot guy said that the officials couldn’t give us any information. I looked and all security check-in has been stopped, and the TSA agents are milling around in our quarantine area. However, none of them look especially bothered, so I believe we are safe. ☺
And finally, half an hour later they un-quarantined us- with the simple explanation that there was a security breach. Hm.
I am sitting in the seattle airport, oblivious to all the problems of the world : and we have been quarantined! OK, well maybe not quarantined, but we are near one of the security check-ins, and we are in the area that nobody can get in or out of. Did I mention that Seth took half of the group to get their lunch of Italian pasta and paninis, while Jory, Sandy, Betty and I waited with the bags? It is true. No worries though- I have scoped things out and asked random people questions. This is the info I have so far. The pilot guy said that the officials couldn’t give us any information. I looked and all security check-in has been stopped, and the TSA agents are milling around in our quarantine area. However, none of them look especially bothered, so I believe we are safe. ☺
And finally, half an hour later they un-quarantined us- with the simple explanation that there was a security breach. Hm.
Up Up & Away!
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1 comments
The whole GrOuP. In Billings, MT
7-28-09
Chaos. Confusion. But yet, everyone with the same purpose. Monday, July 27th, 2009 at 12:31 PM we officially embarked on our journey to the Philippines. Ok, so maybe it wasn’t actually That chaotic or confusing, but in my world it was.
And in Kyla’s world her two most dreaded questions are 1)“So are you excited?” and 2) “What was your favorite part dear?” They are both very common courtesy questions, and sometimes people genuinely want to know. However, being someone who has been blessed with many, many opportunities to travel I have trained myself to begin with no huge expectations, just trust that everything will fall into place, I will enjoy myself, and hope I will learn everything that God has planned for me to realize. So to answer your question.. No. I don’t think my feeling would fall under the category of ‘excited’ quite yet. But ‘interested’ and ‘ready to begin’… yes.
The drive to Billings occurred without crash or leak or blowup, so categorized under SUCCESS! We had a leisurely dinner at McKenzie River Pizza, and then wandered over to Target for our last minute supplies and things that would could not get in the city of Glasgow. And it might even be considered a sin to not at least walk through Walmart while in Billings, so we had to take a gander through the isles there.
The stay at the Wiens household was great. They were extremely generous to not only let us stay at their house, but also keep the church van while we are away. The air-hockey table at the house was put to great use, and I believe there were only a few cuts and scrapes. Good news, right?
By the time everyone was at the house and things started settling down it was about midnight, so I do believe Joe, Maddie, Carly, and Kenzie decided it would be ridiculous to go to sleep- we had to leave for airport at 4:30 AM. ☺ I think I am too old to be attempting all-nighters so I opted out. 20 years of life is a lot longer than it sounds, I only wish I had the energy and enthusiasm of the highschoolers. Lol.
We are currently on the plane to Seattle, and I am proud to say that I had the privilege of sitting across the isle from Joe for his ‘well I flew once before in fifth grade’ flight. AKA- he was a little scared, and the nice lady next to me was even discretely laughing at his antics. Let’s just say we pulled out the little safety pamphlet and made sure that we practiced and knew all of the procedures. I am happy to say that we are off to a good start and we can feel the Lord continually watching over us.
And in Kyla’s world her two most dreaded questions are 1)“So are you excited?” and 2) “What was your favorite part dear?” They are both very common courtesy questions, and sometimes people genuinely want to know. However, being someone who has been blessed with many, many opportunities to travel I have trained myself to begin with no huge expectations, just trust that everything will fall into place, I will enjoy myself, and hope I will learn everything that God has planned for me to realize. So to answer your question.. No. I don’t think my feeling would fall under the category of ‘excited’ quite yet. But ‘interested’ and ‘ready to begin’… yes.
The drive to Billings occurred without crash or leak or blowup, so categorized under SUCCESS! We had a leisurely dinner at McKenzie River Pizza, and then wandered over to Target for our last minute supplies and things that would could not get in the city of Glasgow. And it might even be considered a sin to not at least walk through Walmart while in Billings, so we had to take a gander through the isles there.
The stay at the Wiens household was great. They were extremely generous to not only let us stay at their house, but also keep the church van while we are away. The air-hockey table at the house was put to great use, and I believe there were only a few cuts and scrapes. Good news, right?
By the time everyone was at the house and things started settling down it was about midnight, so I do believe Joe, Maddie, Carly, and Kenzie decided it would be ridiculous to go to sleep- we had to leave for airport at 4:30 AM. ☺ I think I am too old to be attempting all-nighters so I opted out. 20 years of life is a lot longer than it sounds, I only wish I had the energy and enthusiasm of the highschoolers. Lol.
We are currently on the plane to Seattle, and I am proud to say that I had the privilege of sitting across the isle from Joe for his ‘well I flew once before in fifth grade’ flight. AKA- he was a little scared, and the nice lady next to me was even discretely laughing at his antics. Let’s just say we pulled out the little safety pamphlet and made sure that we practiced and knew all of the procedures. I am happy to say that we are off to a good start and we can feel the Lord continually watching over us.
the first blog of kyla's blogging life.
Well this is all pretty exciting. My first blog. I decided that because I enjoy journaling, and because a few people may enjoy learning about what is going on while we are in the Philippines, why not share my innermost thoughts and feelings about what is going on while I am over there with the whole world? Yep, why not. However, we are not over there yet and I have already started post #1. So I shall give you a little information about what is going on. There are a total of 16 people going to the Philippines for a missions trip. We are representing the Glasgow Evangelical Church, and of course, our Lord. We will be doing a Vacation Bible School, building a Sunday school room, taking school pictures, painting, and numerous other things. woohoo! Pretty exciting, right? We will also try and spend time with the locals- just getting to know them and sharing with them the Love that God has shown each of us. Well, that is all that I have for now. I hope I am doing this blogging thing right. Stay tuned for something that is actually interesting to read!
Oh look! Here are 11 out of the 16 people that are traveling to the Philippines! We have already done soooo much together.. {planning, fundraising, etc} that we are practically family. Fighting and all ;)
Oh look! Here are 11 out of the 16 people that are traveling to the Philippines! We have already done soooo much together.. {planning, fundraising, etc} that we are practically family. Fighting and all ;)
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