To say that Thursday was a busy day is an understatement. The day started for Lara and myself the way that it usually does here - We wake at around 5.30 am and wander down to the dining room for our coffee. Here we either chat with whoever is around, I catch up on the blogging or we read the Bible for a few minutes. We headed out at 9.00 for a feeding at a new place which is quite close to KIMS and the Junction that I'd been to last week. I probably liked this one the most. It was up a little alley way and right on a river. The kids were super cute and very appreciative as were the adults. It seemed like a genuinely lovely little community. I even got a chance to do a bit of Karaoke.
I was fascinated to see that the kids there were swimming in the river. It was one of the most polluted things I'd seen. It made the Yarra look like the Great Barrier Reef. There were all manner of things floating in it. The kids were having a ball doing backflips. They loved the bits and pieces that Lara and the team handed out and we also got a chance to hand out the clothes that that had been donated by all the lovely people back in Melbourne.
Both the kids and adults were super appreciative of everything that we provided and were eager to show off their new threads. Charlie mesmerised the kids with an impromptu magic show before we piled back into the cars for the short trip back to KIMS. At breakfast this morning I sat with a ripper couple from the US. Their names were Ashley and Chris. They were from Mississippi and Arkansas respectively. They had been married for 2 months and were at KIMS for a short term mission. They both had interesting stories and I asked them whether they'd be happy to share their stories with our group. They obliged and so after lunch we gathered on the very top level to listed to their amazing story. Chris smashed it out - He'd had a history of sadness, crime and addiction. He'd been to just about every rehab known to man. He eventually turned his life around through the Teen Challenge program. It is a Christian rehab program. He spoke very powerfully into the lives of everyone present. There ended up being over 40 of us there to hear his story. His message was simple - He's not an ex addict, he's a new creation in Christ. His conviction was strong and he spoke with great spiritual authority. Ashley's story was fantastic too. She had been married before and spoke of the pain of losing her marriage and the joy of finding Chris. It was a tear jerker. What legends - we'd love to get them to Australia.
After this, myself, Trans-am Mike, Starry, Rusty and Spidey (together with Trans-am's wife, sister-in-law and daughter) went to the Marakina Mall. The purpose of the bloke's visit was to catch up with Ben from the Tondo trip. We were so fascinated by him and his calling that we wanted to find out a bit more about him and his story and also to encourage him in his journey. He's a ripper bloke and his calling to his community is a very big assignment. We had a great time chatting and we planned to stay in touch over the coming months. We met at Starbucks - This may prove to be Starry's downfall. He has become very partial to the Caramel Frappucino. This wasn't his last one for the day.
Myself and the big boys burned back to KIMS just in time for tea. After tea, we had a baptism in the pool. It was a magnificent time and I had the privilege of baptising Claire Millar. She's 13 and in year 8 and she made the decision to get baptised while she was here and among friends. It was a huge moment with about 75 people there. It was awesome to see people from all over the globe (many of whom we didn't know), gather for this marvellous event and to encourage a young Christian. Corinna said a few words and Rob said a prayer. We also suckered in a few young people from Mill Park Baptist to play a song. I gave them about 4 minutes notice. I'm rapidly discovering that this is the Filipino way. Any more warning gives people a chance to say no!
Since we were leaving KIMS on Friday, there was a growing enthusiasm for one last cheeky little trip to Greenhills market. We decided that I would lead the charge in my beloved Green van and Starry would drive the L300. It was a significant outing, as this was really the first major expedition (save from the return journey from the basketball) without a Filipino tour guide - WHAT WERE WE THINKING?! We made it to Greenhills without incident. The traffic was terrible, but we got it sorted. Lara and most of the others got themselves another Dairy Queen while Starry disappeared to
Starbucks and returned with another Caramel Frappucino. More bargains were had - Shoes, basketball jerseys, purses and general trinkets. Rusty agonised over a Rolex which he eventually decided against. While it would have suited his new high powered finance role, Starry assured him that it would cease operation within a month.
At the conclusion of this outing, we set the Google maps for the return journey. Google maps told us that we had to turn right in order to go left. It promised us that it would help us to a U-turn. It lied. We found ourselves hurtling along an expressway from which there seemed to be no return. The expressway was heading in the direct opposite way from where we needed to be going. There was panic and alarm and high anxiety as we got further and further and further off-track. Before long we were genuinely lost. Google maps had let us down. Rusty asked to be dropped off at the Hilton (if we could find it). We went though a massive series of on and off ramps, illegal U-turns and confusing intersections. All the time, Starry and his L300 van were trying to follow us. It was a disaster - If only we'd had a Filipino with a very basic sense of direction we would have been OK. Anyhoo, the lovely Lara eventually got us back on track. What should have taken 30 minutes took 90, but we made it back home. It was a late return.
What started out as a reasonably straightforward day, turned out to be totally action packed. There was barely a moment of breathing space. But, it was a day of great highlights and we are thankful for the many and varied things that we got achieved. We love it at KIMS and the people we met were absolute gems.
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