Adventures

Last night I attended one of the home fellowships in Alegria, which at home would take probably 5 or 10 minutes to drive to on our roads and with our cars. However, here it takes about a half hour. We realized before leaving that the headlights on our “vehicle” were not working. Not going was not an option, so the solution is to shine a flashlight through the windshield to light the road for us to find our way. This was an adventure in and of itself. Add to our creative mode of transportation the condition of the roads and the effort required to travel this short distance is quite high. But I was thankful to meet with the believers in this small town, and share my story about why I am in the Philippines. It was awesome to hear them singing praises to God in their language, Visaya (which I still can barely understand a few words of) and to read Scripture. It is now the intention of Hope for the Island to gradually hand over responsibility for their Home Fellowships to leaders in their own towns. This will lead to growth in the depth of their own faith and hopefully in numbers.

Tomorrow (Thursday) I am leaving for an overnight trip to another island for a medical mission. This is organized by the community doctor who often asks for assistance from Hope for the Island. This will be the same doctor who organized our previous trip a few weeks ago and I was able to have a good conversation with her about my faith and where she is at. I hope that we can continue where we left off. So, this will be another new experience for me. The medical mission I participated in a few weeks ago was relatively close to the town where we are and didn’t require an overnight stay. I don’t really know what to expect, but I know that God’s hand is on us. Your prayers for safety and expecially for my interactions with the doctor would be greatly appreciated.

My work in the library is progressing and I am sure I will be able to complete it before I leave. I am so glad to have had such a practical project to work on.

Love, Rita.