The EXPERIENCE

" Why did the turtle cross the road?"
- To get to the shell station
" Where does a fish go to the doctor?"
- To the fishician ( instead of physician)

What an experience! The entire trip was a learning experience in several ways. The children changed our lives, the people there changed our lives, the culture changed our lives. I want to thank you all for the love, support, prayers and gifts that  you guys gave us! We want to tell you all about the experience...

The children

Ambassadors For Christ ( AFC) has an orphanage were there are 10 children staying there! I would first like to say that these kids are amazing the names and ages of the kids at Palm Haven ( the orphanage) are listed below

Joy 12
Aldrine 10
PJ 9
Sean 8
Jericho 8
Clifford 2
Charice 2
July 2
Aidan 1
Larry 1  ( he turned one on the day we left)

These kids are very strong and courageous. When we first visited the kids, the kids were outside playing on the slide, swinging on the swings, and playing in the little playhouse. They were a little weary of us Americanos but soon warmed up to us! The stories of the kids broke my heart. I cannot remember all of them but one was left under a fence, one was left at the hospital, and some were left for adoption. The stories continue but I don't understand how a human can do that to a fellow human. Those kids hearts were big and they were full of life and energy.

We have many memories with the kids! We were graciously given supplies to give to the kids and when the suitcases were opened the kids were ready to play with the new toys. We soon stepped outside of the nursery cottage (we opened the gifts in there) and passed the football, bounced the bouncy balls, jumped some jump rope, played pitch and catch, and then the younger ones were running around having a ball. After the fun outside the clothes were sorted. We came back a few days later to celebrate baby Larry's first birthday! The kids put on a program for us and we then broke out the cake and ice cream. The children get ice cream like once a year due to the high price in the Philippines. By the end of the ice cream and cake party every kid had ice cream from ear to ear and a huge grin in between! It was also cool to see the kids still out playing with the toys and they were wearing the clothes that we took to the party!

I still laugh at different times because the kids were so funny! Aidan (1) was a bundle of adventure and joy as he ran around outside. We played a small game of peek a boo and he just laughed and screamed. July also was a bundle of joy. She always was smiling and loved peek a boo too! Dad taught Jericho how to throw a football and his first throw was a spectacular spiral. After throwing the spiral he topped it with an awesome catch. Sean and I threw the baseball around as the other kids were jump roping and playing with the bouncy balls. The memories will last a lifetime. (:

Church there was an unreal enviorment. During worship everyone was in loud melodious tone as they sang there hearts out. On our first Sunday church dad and I Father/ Son preached at a local church. That was an awesome experience with my dad! I gave my testimony there and spoke later at a youth rally where I spoke on Spiritual gifts and how to use those gifts to bring people to Jesus. I then spoke in the mountains where I got to experience what it is like with a translator! There I spoke about my testimony but took it to another level where I spoke on the connections and witnessing we as Christians need to do! To help the younger generations establish there faith so they might find eternal life. It again was an experience like no other. It was neat how the people there wanted to get pictures with us. But sometimes pictures lasted for quite sometime and we had to be helped out of the church. I met several youth there. I felt as though I was welcomed with open arms and that was reassuring as I spoke.

The people there are very kind and sociable. Before service outside there was always commotion going on with the kids running around to the adults talking with one another. Everyone always had a smile on there face and when I was preaching it was a comforting feeling.

A highlight of many that I have is we got to eat lunch with one of the women who learned the Obo Manobo language, developed the alphabet for the language and kind of put a grammar aspect to the tribal language. After doing this they translated the new testament into the Obo Manobo tribe. It took them 22 years to do and what an awesome accomplishment that is. After we ate lunch with them the next day we attended the dedication of the translation where here team was honored. What great things God can do!


The culture was a big life changer for me ( Jesse). The roads were very undeveloped though we commuted on paved roads, they were not as far along. Vehicles were much like the cars here. Except it was a little harder to see the Chevy's and fords. We saw a lot of Toyota's and Nissan's.  But that is to be expected for being on that side of the world. I must tell you about one way of public transit. Jeepni's ( not clear on spelling, going off of pronunciation) is a big way of commuting from place to place. The closest thing that I can compare them to in the US would be something close to trolleys. Jeepni's looked like a jeep/ mini van in the front and had a long stretch of seats in the back. The seats were much like two benches, one on each side were I saw that one Jeepni could hold 19 passengers!. Another characteristic that Jeepni's had were the different themes that each one had. Some were gray, others blue, the list goes on but one grabbed my attention and in my book one the contest of coolest Jeepni's. It was a fire engine red color with Angry Birds on the side and the logo. It was a newer model of Jeepni and totally blew all the other ones out of the water.

There were many street vendors on the side of the road. As we would approach a red light ( not often this would happen) vendor sellers would come up to the van to sell there goods. It was a neat experience in that regard because you got to see the different produces. Dad and the group loved the mango's there. Mango's is a fresh fruit that was served at every meal. Also the fruit there was spectacular! I could have gone with out drinking any beverage at the meals because the fruits were so full of juice. The food there was also amazing.The food was seasoned to perfection and we miss the cook ( Yolenda)'s cooking! We had fresh foods and when I say fresh I mean it chicken being fixed literally from being alive to dinner! :) It was sad to leave but we are happy  to be home with you guys.

We again want to thank you guys for all the love and support you guys set upon us. We are missing the kids right now. As we were typing this out memories and laughter came to us. It brings back the memories just like they had happened. Man those kids were awesome!

Catch - up

Wednesday

Today would be the experience of a lifetime. We all woke up as a family, and started the finishing up the final stages of packing. We took the kiddos to school and it was hard saying goodbye. We went home and had breakfast with momma before heading to church. We had a little prayer before getting on the bus and heading to the airport.

Indy Airport - Detroit

It was a quick 39 minutes to Detroit. I had just enough time to get comfortable before touching down in Detroit

Detroit - Nagoya, Japan

Wow! Is all I have to say. Wow! Longest thirteen hours of my life. But all in all it wasn't bad. We met some friends on their that I won't forget for a longtime. The food wasn't bad either, I felt that I was eating every five minutes.

Nagoya, Japan - Manila

This in my opinion was the worst flight out of all of the flights. My mind frame was already in the Philippines. Yet, we still had to fly 4 hours to get there.

Manila - Davao

The flight was okay. Again I was still in the mind frame of already being there. We arrived to the airport and it was smooth sailing after that. We headed outside where we met with some of the members of the AFC team.

So this takes us all the way to Friday

We arrived Friday early afternoon at the AFC complex where we were served lunch almost immediately. The food here is great.

Saturday

Saturday we got up and started getting ready. We ate breakfast and went and witnessed nine baptisms. After that we attended the AFC Homecoming and Alumni festivities but after that Jet lag had taken it's coarse and we rested the remaining afternoon and into the evening.

Sunday

Sunday was amazing. We attended church for 8 hours and it was a spectacular sight. Sunday morning dad, Trey,and I attended church where my dad preached the sermon! It was an awesome service. After that we went out to lunch with some of the AFC leaders. We then headed back to the complex where Trey and I gave a sermon to the youth at the youth rally. After that we went to an evening service where Bj gave the service. Oh and in the morning service Terry preached at another church.

Monday

Monday we went and spent the morning with the kids. It was an awesome experience to get to spend with the kids. They loved the gifts and we spent the rest of our morning with them playing with the toys.

Before

Two days left!

Where has then time gone? It feels like just yesterday we started the planning process, and saving for then trip. I must say that we are totally excited for the trip. As you all know my dad and I are headed to the Philippines on a mission trip. Together this is our first mission trip and couldn't have done this without you!

Last week we had a " baby shower" for our trip. We collected an enormous amount of supplies to take to the Philippines. We are so thankful to have been given the opportunity. We have packed our supplies into three of our four suitcases and are ready for the trip. It won't be before long when we are in the air that I think I will officially realize what We are doing.

Our trip is truly a work of what God can do! When I was 10 years old I was baptized, in eighth grade I decided to dedicate my life to the mission field, and last year I dedicated my life to ministry! This journey will be the first and not the last.

My dad and I thank you for the love, prayer, and support that you have given us. We ask for prayer and support while we embark on this journey, we will continue to post while we are away as much as we can!

Thanks,
Tom & Jesse