Island View Baptist Church/Choir Practice/Funeral, Olongapo (Saturday)
Samuel takes us on our Update journey today–thank you, Sam, as we appreciate you!
Hi all! Saturday was an eventful day. We started out bright and early at 7am. After driving for a bit, we ended up taking a boat to an island where we would spend most of our day with the people at Island View Baptist Church led by Pastor John Mark. The boats were small, but fun to ride in. It took us about an hour and a half to get to the island (Dr. and Mrs. Cirone took a speed boat piloted by Pastor Odek and Johnrine that only took maybe 30 min from what I heard).
After getting to the island, we were able to minister to the people. We started out by playing different games with the people. Half of the team played with the younger kids and did games such as sack races, three-legged races, and egg on the spoon races (a lot of racing games that day). The other half of the team was with the older teens and some adults playing a basketball challenge. While all of that was going on, Sara and Kaitlynn held a small clinic for the people and helped treat small wounds.
After the games were over, we started sharing the Gospel. Eyla, Adi, Callie, and Grace led songs for the kids, and Marion gave the lesson. Meanwhile, after giving introductions and singing our songs for the team, Isaac gave a testimony and Cave gave a message to the adults. After the message, we handed out food supplies to people and animal balloons to kids. While waiting for the food, a couple of us went on a hike to the top of the hill and got an amazing view. When we got back after cooling off in the water, we had a big spread of food. It was all laid out on leaves and consisted of fish, pork, chicken, and rice. We also got to have coconut water out of a coconut. Before heading back, a couple of the kids from the island went out a ways in the water and grabbed some blue sea stars to show us. They way back seemed faster but was also choppier.
After the island, we went to Hannah’s restaurant Hapa and had some of her amazing food (if you’re even in Filipinas, I recommend her Ultimate Smash Burger). After dinner we had a choir rehearsal led by Mrs. Cirone with the people of the church preparing a group special for church the next day. After the rehearsal, there was a funeral that Pastor John Mark had to go to a funeral. Sarah, Sierra, Mike, Alex, and I went with him to be a blessing to the people there. Alex and I each sang a song while Sierra and Sarah played their violins. It was very different from an American funeral but was very pleasant, and the people were welcoming and grateful to us. It was more a a celebration and remembrance of their life than a time of grieving. We got back late and then went to bed. Thanks for taking the time to read the post and for your prayers and support!
