I just received the following email from the Philippines Team. Sounds like the trip is going really well thus far.

Hi Friends,

What a wonder God is doing. We had a wonderful retreat with the Manila region ladies, and they were so blessed – we were very blessed as well, and saw God work in mighty ways.

Our retreat flowed well, and our speaker, Kathy, was spot on . One comment was that we scratched where they itched.” Part of our time was giving testimonies, and the ladies appreciated that so that they could learn to be more transparent with one another.

One of the things they really enjoyed was the spa night. We had set up stations for do it yourself pedicures, manicures, facials, and we had a massage therapist come in and do shoulder massages. Every woman went through every station, and it was just so much fun to watch them connecting and giggling with each other.

One thing we made sure the ladies knew was PCC’s support for us. As we left last week, the elders came down in the middle of their meeting to send us off from the church. Some others gave us goody bags to have sweets and stuff for the very long plane ride. The ladies at the retreat were very touched by the church support that we had.

One of the ladies came up to Kathy afterwards and told her we brought them Jesus. This was HUGE, as we know Deborah was praying specifically that prayer for the retreat.

Yesterday, we visited a children’s home (orphanage). While it was clear that they did not have an abundance of resources, those babies were well taken care of. The baby I held for a good portion of the time is being matched with it’s family today.

One thing that’s been striking us is the vast gap between the rich and poor. Basically, there are squatters everywhere! I asked what percentage of the population was squatters (Basically families setting up camp on property that they don’t own – public property, etc.) and its to much to quantify. It certainly is an eye opening experience.

We’ve been blessed at how cohesive the team has been, and that we’re all healthy and have just been able to soak it all in.

Today we’ll go to the birthing center and then to village handcraft for shopping.

Pray for us and the retreat in Davao.

To God be the Glory!

Jeanne