Journal Entry 5 (Recapping days 6-11)

So to recap the last 6 days...

Last week ended well. I preached 15 times and enjoyed every minute of it! God has really reminded of His word and His promises through the Gospel. This trip has been a huge blessing so far. Thursday evening we went to McDonalds for supper. Can I just say I'm so tired of fast food that I can get in America. It's not even really the same as an American McDonalds--I digress. After we ate, Mr. Tebow asked us to share some thoughts/stories from the week. I really enjoyed this since I haven't had a chance to really meet everyone and get to know some people. Some stories were funny, and some were really touching. It's great to hear the different ways of how God is working on this trip. Then we were told what we needed for our trip to the orphanage and what time we were going to be leaving Friday. I was pretty pumped at this point! I had been waiting, patiently might I add, for this trip to see those kids. So I was really ready.

Friday was a good day! It was a short day, but a good one nonetheless. Everyone in our group was going to the orphanage so we kind of cut our day short so we could go back, pack, and get ready to leave that evening. So we returned early in the afternoon and I showered--a good shower since I was told we wouldn't really have a chance to get one this weekend...what!? Then I packed my stuff up and got it ready to go. Little did I know this was going to be a rather rough trip for me...
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Orphanage
We left Friday night for Manila to spend the night and wake up early to catch a flight @ 7AM for Mindanao--What!? Yeah, so we sat in traffic for 2 and half hours in Manila Friday night--blah--and while we did that I caught up on some sleep. We finally got to the hotel and I was sooo exhausted. And I was dizzy from being exhausted. I was also really thirsty. Once we got up to our room, all I could do was fall on the mattress and curl up and sleep. My body was so tired. And I was so thirsty. I think my body was shutting down. So the next morning, we got up around 3:30AM and I felt horrible. I was still so thirsty and dizzy. So I pushed through and made it to the airport, made it through customs, got our tickets and waited on our flight. It was a pretty long morning but we finally got on our flight and headed to Mindanao. I slept on the plane because that's what I do now and before I knew it, we were there! Landed in General Santos, caught a bus for two hours and tried to sleep while riding. The roads were pretty curvy, or maybe it was my imagination, but I ended up getting a little car sick along with a fever. I knew something was wrong. The dehydration and exhaustion--it was going downhill fast. I was definitely jostled around on this bus ride and so that didn't help much. I was freezing because of my fever and this bus was hot. Something terrible was happening and I knew it. I kept trying to tell myself it was psychological or that it was just motion sickness--it was neither. We finally got to the orphanage and I was thirstier than ever! I still had a fever and it was like 80-90 degrees outside and I wasn't breaking a sweat! My head hurt so bad but I didn't want to miss anything. So I just pushed through it. The kids were wonderful! And I knew I wanted to play with them. They were so awesome to be around--so loving. We went down to the river to play with them and just love on them. I'm glad I didn't miss that. I took some medicine for my headache and fever so I was starting to feel better and just figured that was it. Not exactly. It rained for a good while and so we played with the kids underneath some shelter and sat around with them and just talked. One girl taught me some songs and we sang those together. I was having so much fun but feeling awful. So I finally made myself go lie down for a while to boost some energy and make myself feel better. I slept for about an hour and a half when I made myself get up and go back and play. The fevers never stopped and so when dinner time came, I ate rice. That was it. Then I went to bed for the rest of the night. I missed the rest of dinner and the kids program they put on for us. I felt so bad. So the middle of the night is when it hit--the long awaited diarrhea. I knew it was coming. It was just a matter of time. So anyone can imagine how the rest of the trip went that weekend. The bus ride, plane ride, bus ride again stuck in more of Manila's fine traffic...it all was just lovely. We stopped at a Burger King at 10:30 at night and everyone in the Philippines was there! These people literally never sleep. I had rice, again. Then we got back on the bus and rode some more to our next city. We arrived at the hotel at 3:45AM and once again, had to get ready and go for our next day. I however, didn't go out that day. It was an awful day of stomach cramps and smelling fuel from the traffic outside. Both not a good combination. Sleep was good when I could get some. I ate one bananna and drank some Gatorade. Everything was horrible until about 7PM that night when I started to feel better. Things started to settle down. I woke up the next morning and things were so much better. I was ready to go and feeling like myself again. Thank you Jesus for getting me through that. Never do I want to experience that again. I'm good. Promise.
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The next day...
The day after I was sick was a great day! I mean a really good day. Not sure if it was because I was just happy to be back or what but it was a great day. I ended being in a group with some great girls and we had so much fun! The pastors were great as well that day! We all laughed the whole day. We got to 10 schools. I just love getting to go from school to school to see the children. They're so beautiful and lovable. They listen so intently and just hang on your every word sometimes. They're obviously hungry and want to be loved. I'll love them :) We ate chicken and rice for lunch at a really cute place that I want to go back to. We met up with our other half of the group so it was nice to hang out with them as well. The pastors are so funny. I love getting to hear their stories and learn about their families. They're just amazing people. Such a good day to visit and share the Gospel after such a wretched day before. I praise you God for giving me this day!