Beautiful!

So, I'm sitting in this awesome internet cafe in a mall in Baguio. The Philippines are wonderful! Everyone here is so beautiful! God is really on the move here. We've seen so many new things already and we've only been here for 8 hours. The travel was intense and long, but we are all so stoked to be here! We had our first interaction with the students today. After we got in from all of our traveling, we had a "sports event" and played a bunch of games with the students. It went super well. I had an awesome opportunity to talk to and meet a new girl named Melody. The weather is fantastic. Through all of the travels, tiredness and interactions thus far, God is continuing to reveal Himself as faithful and Good! And for all of you out there who know how much I love new foods, I ate cinnamon rolls for breakfast and pepperoni pizza for lunch :) Thank you all for praying. We'll continue to keep you updated! Ps. Some of us rode in a jeepney today- which is a very cramped jeep/bus thing. It definitely didn't have a back on it, and we went up this super steep hill, so fun! I love it here!
Shiann

We reached the Philippines today at 7 a.m. Philippine time!!! The bus ride was a long one but included some sweet views. Baguio is in the mountains so it is not as hot up here, I would say about 80 degrees. Manila, however was a scorcher! Last night around 1 a.m. we were riding around before we hopped on the bus and it was 84 degrees! My eyes are continuing to be opened to the differences of this world. It is humbling to count your blessings once you see areas of such poverty. This morning when we arrived we ate some breakfast at Steve's, the Pastor whose house we are staying at, and then headed out to a shaded basketball court in Baguio to hangout with kids and college students and play sports all morning until 12. They were soooo fun and I immediately loved them all. They were just happy to be there and take part in everything that they could. They gave us hugs and were so lovable it was just too awesome for words the love that God placed in our hearts this morning. And they LOOOOVE pictures haha. Okay, well tonight we are having a leadership meeting with the Baguio Encounter leaders and I am excited for that and some sleep =).

Peace,
Brooke

Seoul, Korea

Heyy!! Okay, so we are now in Seoul, Korea. It is so crazy because we have not seen night yet! We left Chicago at 12:30 on Monday and it is now 6 p.m. at night in Korea. It has been day light as we followed the sun the whole time! It is almost 4 in the morning at home so you all are probably sleeping soundly, I hope. We are doing well and the Holy Spirit is totally with us. We are tired, but excited, knowing that even though we do not know the plans God has for us, we know that He has a plan for us. I think we are a little nervous for the bus trip following the next plane ride because we are not sure what kind of bus it will be haha. I am sure it will be no Peoria Charter! Thank you all for your prayers! Peace and blessings.

Brooke

South Korea

So...after taking off at around one in the afternoon in Chicago, we are now in south korea at around five the next day. We rode that plane for about fifteen hours and watched numerous movies that were available to us. It's funny how little we all talked as we rode, I wonder if it was the nerves that were getting to us or if it was just because we were tired. Now that we are here it's hard to forget that we are in a different country. Not only is everything in a different language, but the way people dress, the quietness of the airport, and how it seems everyone is working when in America it is hard to look around and not see someone gossiping or just standing there. These kind of experiences make you realize how big the world, god made all of this...crazy!!!

Correction

South Korea...NOT North Korea-Derek S.

Sorry, my fault- Andrew S.

Team

Preparation

So...in addition to meeting and having a good time playing pool, we decided that we needed to train so we can be "fit" for the trip. As evidence of our hard work, our fearless leader Pete Cocco volunteered to show us how it's done.....

The Happening.....

Schedule for the next 24 hours....

Noon we are on the plane for 14 hours, we fly to North Korea and have a four hour layover, we finally arrive in the Philippines at eleven PM their time. From there we get on a bus and drive for seven hours, we will arrive around seven in the morning and go to an sports clinic that starts at eight..... We got this.

We spent the night in Illinois doing things like tram poline jumping, rope swinging, eating sloppy joes, packing bags full of candy, and playing pool. All in all, a great night of reuniting as a team as we plan to set out early tomorrow for the airport.

Please pray for us as we just learned that we get to teach two classes, one over reading fundimentals and one over western music. We really have no idea what we are going to do, but the point is to show them Jesus through our lives and words. Thanks for the support!!!

Andrew Sexton and Andrew Hargis

Preparing to leave

So in less than 48 hours our team will be trying to sleep off the jet lag from our 16 hour plane trip (6 hour layover). Most of us are packed and ready to go, and now our goal is to enjoy this last night in our own beds and try to get some good rest, even though I bet that the excitement is going to hinder that effort.

I have some contact numbers for those that need them be they parents or concerned persons:

Arnold (main campus minister)- 0927 378 1037 mobile (074) 443 4729 house

Steve Hung (Owner of the house)- 0919 320 4731 mobile (074) 446 6566 house

Please pray for our team as we travel to Illinois tomorrow, and then for our plane trip there. I hope that God does amazing things with our group, and when we get back we will have plenty of things to talk about that only Jesus could put into our lives. Stay tuned for more posts!!!

Philippines Team 2010