Sunday in Ligao is always a great day. We had breaky at the Hometel before heading over to Church for the 9.00 am service.
Rusty got the gig this year to preach. As usual, the little building was jam-packed.
It was a great celebration and they had quite literally killed the fatted pig. Pastor Melvin got up around 3.00 am to start preparing the spit. It was roasted Filipino style behind the church. They look after us so well and there was plenty for everyone.
Rusty did a great job and spoke on being ORDINARY, AVAILABLE and WILLING TO TAKE RISKS. He encouraged each of us to look at what we had in our hand. He used the story of Rahab, Moses and David to demonstrate that they simply used what they already held in their hands to achieve mighty things for God. It was brilliant and lost nothing in translation. Pastor Choi's translation into Tagalog is always very animated and watching this is half the fun.
After church and some basketball in the carpark we headed back to the Hometel for an hour or two before setting out for our adventure to Victoria Bay.
Victoria bay is a lovely beach setting around 90 minutes from Ligao. It was an incredible treat. The weather there was absolutely stunning and we lazed in the horizon pool and the ocean during the late afternoon.
Pastor Choi and Alma brought their incredible team of gracious helpers including Biggs, Hannah, Jona, Jona's Mum and Alma's sister. They were absolute legends and cooked up a storm for tea. They have an incredible commitment to serving others. It was hot and they had already worked very hard on Saturday and Sunday and here they were serving us in the most beautiful way.
After tea, we swam and (more importantly) had a night of Karaoke. Pastor Choi had organised a machine and it was a sensational time. We discovered some hidden talents. A number of those that lacked a little in the singing department (no names), more than made up for it with their choreography and general stage presence. It was heaps of fun. We were, of course, completely outshone by the Filipinos. They have been doing Karaoke since the moment they were born. It's in their DNA. We noted, however, that this doesn't always translate to talent. While the Filipinos in our group were ridiculously good, there were some in other parts of the resort that sounded as though they had gall stones.
The sunset was beautiful and in the distance we witnessed a stunning lightening show.
It rained very heavily overnight before yet another stunning beach day on Monday. This stunning beach day was a real gift. We had so much fun swimming in the ocean and the pool. The kids sat around on the resort boat and generally mucked around in the water.
So relaxed was everyone, that very little thought was given to the application of sunscreen. This has turned out to be somewhat of a negative. I have never seen sunburn on the scale that Victoria Bay produced. I think the kids (and some adults) were just so excited to be at the beach, that they didn't even think about it. Or, if they did, they didn't think too hard. By late in the arvo on Monday and Monday night, there was a radiant heat every time a teenager walked into the room.
We left Victoria Bay at around 3.00 pm and headed in the direction of Ligao. On the way, we stopped at the training base of the Philippine National Police ("PNP.") It was a cracking excursion. We were met at the gate by a bloke sporting a machine gun and 800 rounds of ammo strapped to himself. We then met both the Captain of the base and the Commander of the region. It is a base that trains the Special Action Force which is the Filipino version of the SWAT team. Pastor Choi, Sister Alma along with others from their Church have established a life coaching program with the PNP. There is a huge amount of mutual respect operating here and we were overwhelmed by their attitude to us as visitors and also their respect for what Choi, Alma and others were doing to facilitating the Life Coaching.
Starry probably enjoyed this outing a bit too much. His early life on the farm has instilled in him a liking for high powered armoury. We couldn't wipe the smile off his face!
After a wonderful time at the base, we made our way back to Ligao before heading out on foot to one of our favourite restaurants "Kooyangs." It was an awesome feed of friend chicken (I think they've stumbled upon the Colonel's secret herbs and spices), noodles, spring roles (almost as good as Alma's) and veggies. We then walked home via 7/11 for some tasty treats. Everyone was full, but the kids still found things to buy with their leftover Pesos. It was a brilliant evening, complete with a bit of teenage directed Zumba at the restaurant. Sadly, Grace Parker was looking very average. She had been struggling with her health for a day or two and she was beginning to crash. She was a real trooper and managed to participate in everything, but she was doing it tough. It's always hard when you get sick so far from home. We did pretty well with our health (despite the Sunburn which was self induced). For a group of 29, we actually came out of it quite well. At some stage or another, most of us were forced to urgently excuse ourselves from a conversation or a meal and make a hasty retreat to the closest dunny. But, all told, we did pretty well.
William received a bit sunburn first aid from Madi
Upon return to the Hometel after tea, most of us went to bed at a sensible time. There are rumours that some of the older kids (Jess Starr and William Simpson) thought that staying up all night would be a sensible way to end the holiday. William was seen leaving 7/11 with a 2 litre easy-goer of Coke. No doubt, fuel for the evening ahead. Our last full day of action was fantastic. Tomorrow (Tuesday) we will be packing up and heading back to Manila.
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