Month 5...... Didn't think I would be able to type that out so soon. Has it really been over 4 months since I left home, since I said good bye to my friends, since I last hugged my Mom.... Here I sit questioning whether I want time to continue to fly by or slow down so that I will have a chance to grasp what is happening. Grasp the lessons I have learned and the changes in my spirit. You tend to get stuck in this slump where there is nothing more in this world that you want then to see your family. But, you realize that there is still so much more growing to be done, so many more things to happen until you step into that Calgary terminal. The emptiness I feel from the absence of my family has only ever been able to be filled by one thing, the comfort of the Lord. The moment that I became entirely independent from my family and friends was the time that I became dependent on God. When I had finally let go of the attachments of home, that was when I was able to fully embrace the love and grace of God. It was the dependency I had for my incredible Mom and Dad that I needed to let go of. Then I could fully trust God, fully trust His journey for me. Although, It was also then that I realized growing up kinda sucks. The days of leeching and being a bum are gone and the days of responsibility have come. And as regretful as I sound, I actually rejoice because I am finally able to take those unhealthy dependancies and put them somewhere I know I can trust... In God Hands... The only place where every piece of my being and spirit can rest safely. So even though every minute away from my family kills me, I know that this is where I'm meant to be. 

In Summary their is my sappy paragraph to assure my fam jam that I'm thinking about them. For how my ministry is going I'll explain of where I'm at a little more. Like I said in my last post I am in Malaybalay which Is on a new island about an hour south of Manila. Our ministry is located 15 minutes outside of Malaybalay called Mount Moriah. It is a camp for various people and groups to stay at. They have a church, community hall, basketball stadium and dorms all on campus. Also on the property is a children's orphanage where 24 kids are housed and cared for. We haven't had much to do with the orphanage yet but, later in the month we should be spending more time their. What we have been doing lately is construction around the campus. Along with helping out with all the tournaments that have been happening at the basketball court. The community hall and basketball court were actually just built, so they had a big opening tourney for the whole community. The man who funded it all, Dr.Tom Randall came down also for the tournament. He is a really amazing guy, leader of world harvest ministries, pro basketball player in Australia and Philippines for 16 years. Also is a senior on the world PGA tour, all around an incredible athlete and has a huge heart for everyone in the Philippines. So all in all it has been a pretty good first week, been playing basketball constantly and meeting a lot of great new people. 

Our days off were something I mentioned that were going to be quite adventurous this month. And so far they have been!. Last Saturday we got the opportunity to explore a cave near a village 1 hour from Mt. Moriah. It was absolutely incredible, inside the cave stretched an underground river that flowed under 4 separate mountains. In total it took us about 3 hours to get through it all. Some of it consisted of walking, crawling and swimming through neck High waters. Really an amazing day off and one that has made the top charts of this trip. I know a lot of you are probably now thinking "man I thought this was a missions trip", so here it is. As for ministry here, yesterday we were able to go in to a small village in the forest and go door to door to pray with the families. Some of these families were among the poorest I have seen on this trip. Was a real heart breaking experience, hard to see the amount of pain and suffering in there lives and still try to convince them there is a God out there that loves them. Really got me thinking of how easy we have it at home, like how could we ever not take advantage of the opportunities God has given us. These are people digging through the trash of the rich hoping to find anything of value to feed there kids, of which most of the families had 6+. These people would take anything we take for granted as a God sent miracle. Meals three times a day, clean cloths, warm beds, a house that isn't falling down etc.etc.etc. Do you know how stupid I felt trying to explain to one of our cooks what a dish washer was. She darn near thought I stepped out of a time machine when I told her all you have to do is push a button and they come out clean. Start to really think of the blessings in your life and give thanks to God for them. Because we live lives in a way that these people have only dreamed about. 

Anyways that's all I have for this week, continue to pray for me as I  work towards my half marathon, I actually leave to Cebu on Friday and am super excited!! It will be about an hour flight to another island and we will spend the weekend there. The marathon is on Sunday and hopefully I will be able to blog after the weekend to let everyone know how it went. Missing my family and friends like crazy, looking forward to seeing you guys soon. Only 17 more weeks whoop whoop!! 

Peace Out!!