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Psalm 127:1 ...unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain...
Wednesday morning, a National holiday, around 50 children descended upon the place for fun and games. We played freeze dance, musical chairs, cat and mouse under a parachute, upset the basket, and a crazy piggy back game where they were supposed to grab a piece of tape off another person’s back. The decibel level was probably over 100, so the best game of all (at least for the adults in the room) was “graveyard,” where the kids lie motionless and quiet on the floor. If Nancy saw them move, they were out, so the kids tried very hard to stay still for a candy reward. We appreciated the reprieve.
They will be over again on Friday, likely even more of them, because it is a national holiday to mark the end of Ramadan (Eid ‘l Fitr). Recently there has been more political pressure to include more Islamic holidays, though Catholicism is still the majority religion.
The building projects continued on, except one of the teams had all their batteries run out, so they couldn’t do much until they got recharged. They are hard at work in the heat around 6 hours a day though they come back here for a lunch break. Pray that they would be able to complete the two houses, one of which is being rebuilt for a senior woman because the previous one had water running through every time it rains hard.
The afternoon included recreation at White Beach, a large resort area with water sports galore at affordable prices. The beach here, like other beaches on Boracay are stunning with fine white sand and clear waters. A few went banana boating, while others took a paraw sailboat ride. The paraw is a traditional outrigger sailboat and the thrill of the ride is to sit on the netted outrigger and let the waves splash you. Remember, even your pastors have to have some fun!
Today Anita and Joven accompanied a boy to a medical centre about 6 hours away, to see if he is a good candidate for a cochlear implant. Pray that the exploratory procedure would go well and the child be granted the gift of hearing.
Whether it is building into the lives of children, building actual homes or showing practical care, may our work point to the One we are labouring for.
