Author: Adventures

It is rising.

My last blog I tried to express the beauty of Tacloban… and I feel like I will never be able to give this city justice to how beautiful this place is. Yeah, the dark remnants of the storm is still present but the light of God is powering through. I can see the over powering light when a kid hugs me goodbye. I see the light by the hospitality that the individuals at Kids International Ministry provide. I see the light when a man holds out a bowl to be filled by lugaw. But the darkness is still present with the reminders of a home consisting of a foundation, the shortened shoreline, and...

Continue reading

A Beautiful Life

I cannot even begin the understand how it feels to be swimming in black water, waves crashing over me and in pain at the sound of the wind and that only just begins to describe the trauma the people of the Philippines went through. One particular story I was able to hear this week was that of Tina, a teacher who now spends her time doing everything she can for KIM (Kids International), the ministry we are working with here in Tacloban. After waking up on a normal day for her, her world was literally shaken in the worst way possible. As a result of the typhoon that hit in November, Tina...

Continue reading

I am Filthy Rich.

As my teammates have previously mentioned, we played quite the waiting game when it came to traveling to our final destination for our two month stay. With the bus and boat rides added together, it came out to approximately 27 hours of travel, not counting the 6-7 hours of waiting at the bus station beforehand.But now that it’s all over, we can at last say that we are here, we are safe, nothing was lost, and we are ready to see what God has in store for the Philippines this summer! About 13 hours into the bus ride, I wake up at 5:40 a.m. It’s light outside already so I can see...

Continue reading

Beauty. Trauma. Tacloban.

I woke up on Tacloban, in the Lighthouse-a place part of Kids International Ministry- for the first time this morning. Here I have electricity, a bed, a pillow,a fan, and the access to having my kindle charging by my head. And after getting out that, “Where am I?” groggy state of mind after waking up I was finally able to see that massive body of water out the window. These comfort things and sights started to give me thoughts of, “Wow, this is amazing, am I on vacation?” After breakfast part of my team and I walked along the beach across the street from our new...

Continue reading

Driving Fast, Braking Harder

My team spent the past two days traveling from Manila to Tacloban. We arrived at the bus terminal at 10AM on Tuesday, June 10th. Little did we know, the next thirty or so hours would be spent waiting and traveling. We waited in the bus terminal for about six hours, sat on the bus for an hour and a half, rode the bus for fifteen hours, rode a two-hour ferry and got on the bus again for seven hours. Driving in the Philippines is a free for all. There may be lanes on the road, but they are not always used. People walk throughout traffic. Vehicles get within inches (even closer) of each other...

Continue reading

I am Filthy Rich.

As my teammates have previously mentioned, we played quite the waiting game when it came to traveling to our final destination for our two month stay. With the bus and boat rides added together, it came out to approximately 27 hours of travel, not counting the 6-7 hours of waiting at the bus station beforehand.But now that it’s all over, we can at last say that we are here, we are safe, nothing was lost, and we are ready to see what God has in store for the Philippines this summer! About 13 hours into the bus ride, I wake up at 5:40 a.m. It’s light outside already so I can see...

Continue reading