Our Last Night in the Philippines.

At our nightly devotions with the children

Tomorrow we will be leaving Manila and returning to Singapore after an eventful week. We accomplished so much on this trip, and I feel like we really made an impact on the community. Not only that, but the community impacted us as well. Looking back to the beginning of the week, my attitude towards this experience has changed so much. At first, I wasn't very excited about coming on this trip, but now I'm so glad I did. This has been such a rewarding experience for me and I have definitely felt God working in me throughout this week. I have gained so much from this trip, not only from all of the work we have done in the community, but also from interacting with others. One thing I have learned this week is tolerance. There have been many times when I had to do things that I didn't want to do, but God has helped me to put others before myself and do what I need to do whether I like it or not. Being with the same group of people all day every day for a whole week can get very tiring. I realized how easy it is to become irritated with people after spending so much time with them, but I learned to put tolerance into practice and not lose my cool. In order to effectively get a job done, you have to be able to work as a team, and teamwork means tolerating each other. You also have to have respect for each other and authority. At the beginning of this trip I didn't know everyone that well, but now I have so much respect for everyone after working with them and spending so much time with them. This trip has shown me that God can work through anyone. It's amazing how much presense God has in this community among so much poverty. It has really inspired me to see how strong people's faith can remain in the midst of hardship. I have met so many amazing people this week that have really impacted me in a positive way and have helped me to strengthen my relationship with God. I'm so grateful to have had this opportunity to come to the Philippines and it has definitely been one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had.