Red Cross fun run

 Last week the Red Cross held a 5k run to raise money for the Chapter here on Boracay.
I'm not sure who's idea it was to start the race at 5:30am...yep..that's why the pictures are dark hahah :)  We had so much fun despite the early hour :)
L-R Shane, Me, Yosef, CJ and Tom

 Smiling even though I was very tired hahah :)

 I paced with one of our neighbor boys, Ninoy, here we are pictured in the far right corner after crossing the finish line...Poor Ninoy was beat.  He collapsed on the ground and didn't move for a good ten minutes  :)  He ran a good race!

 Resting after the race.

Shane and I.

school pictures

 My co-teacher, Praise, and I.  
Praise has been a huge encouragement to me.  She is such a blessing in my life.

 Xanana working on his math.  This little guy has such a special place in my heart :)

 Elizer joined our class mid school year.  He was really struggling with his English and writing...He has improved so much in the past few months!  I am so proud of him!

 Peter sharing a secret with me during play time :)

 Kylle is just as beautiful on the inside as she is on the out.  I love her sweet smile

 Xanana and Xinidi keep us guessing who is who every single day haha :) I still can't tell them apart.

I can't believe that school will be finishing up within two months!!!!
The past week has been so exciting for me-  The children finished up their testing and each child did so good!!! It was exciting to see that all of our hard work is paying off :)
Thank you for your prayers and your support!!! love you all!

Update on my health

I just wanted to write a quick update on my health and thank all of you for your prayers!!!
Most of you know I have been struggling with a serious infection for over a month.
Currently I am on my fourth round of antibiotics and I an finally improving!  Praise God!
I am so grateful for all of your prayers and support!
Please continue to pray for complete healing as I finish up the last of the antibiotics, and that it will not return!!!!

Update

Hello everybody :)
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Years!!!  I am so excited to see what the year 2013 holds :)
Most of you know I had the opportunity to travel to Australia for the holidays.  I had such a blessed time there!!!!  It was  fun to relax and get refreshed.
I met a lot of amazing people and made some great friends....And I got to pet a kangaroo...SCORE!  :)

School is back in session and we can see light at the end of the tunnel...only nine more weeks left!!! Wow! This year has flown by!

Construction on our school/ministry center is ongoing.  Here are a few pictures from this week.  There is always work for willing hands around here :)







   

We are working on building two more classrooms on the back of the school.  We hope to have them finished by the time the next school year begins.

Please continue to life all of us up in your prayers.  Pray for strength to continue the work God has called us to here on Boracay .  And also for wisdom- Many of us are facing some major decisions.
As always I send my love and thank you to everyone back home.  I miss each and every one of you!

Loving the children

Sometimes ministry is cuddling a child who needs some extra love

 Sometimes it's just a shoulder for them to rest on

I was leading songs at a feeding site a couple weeks ago and I noticed this little girl off to the side crying...I went over and picked her up and before I knew it she was fast asleep.  She slept through the entire feeding in my arms.  I love these children so much!!!

But Jesus said, "Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matt. 19:14

Prayer request

Every day my roommates and I have the opportunity to minister and reach out to our neighbor kids.   Many of them attend our school and we have become very close to them.
They love to come to our house and play games or read stories - we love spending time with them!!  Acouple times a month we have "Movie night"....Sometimes we have 30 kids packed into our tiny living room :) 
I would like to ask for prayer for these kids.  Most of them have wonderful parents and a great home life-  but they don't know Jesus as their personal Savior.  
Please pray for opportunities for us to share the gospel with them and that their hearts would be open to receive it!

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us,^[a] not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 2nd Peter 3:9

 Angel, Aletcha, Shane, Kevin and Jake playing cards on our front porch

 One of the days Anneke and Alyssa were here we had them over and made bead bracelets :)

 I am so thankful for each one of these children...God uses them in my life to teach me so many things!

 

Anneke and Alyssa's visit

The past two weeks have flown by!  It has been so amazing having Anneke and Alyssa here!  They have been such a blessing to me!!  Here are just a few pictures to show what we have been up to!  There are lots more to come too! :)

 Alyssa and Anneke leading songs at the Malabanoot feeding site.  The children were so excited to see them and enjoyed the new songs they taught them :)

 They brought a flannel graph board to use for the stories.  It was something we have never had at the feeding sites before so it really captured the kids attention.

 The coloring sheets are always a big hit with the kids :)

One of the biggest things we challenge people to do is just love the kids.  So many of them just want to hold your hand or sit on your lap and receive some much needed attention...Here is Alyssa doing just that :)

 Besides doing the ministry work we have also enjoyed some bonding time :)  I am going to miss them both so much when they leave!!!