Day 18 – Travel to Debrief, Moalboal (Mowaaal-Bowaaaaal)

The team woke up early this morning with eager anticipation to get to the resort. After a quick bite to eat, the usual 2 eggs and toast, we packed all our stuff separating a daypack of clothes for each person to take down to the resort. We also gathered the left over ministry materials that we donated to Earl, our host.

​Around 9am we gathered as a team to say farewell to our beloved Filipino friend, Earl. He shared how he would love to see us again insisting that the first time we come we are ‘guests’, the second time ‘friends’ and the third time ‘family’. We presented Earl with a card and the team guitar that we had used all trip. He was overwhelmed at the generosity of the team and couldn’t express in words how grateful he was. Earl leads worship in the prison, leprosarium, church and other places, so to give him the guitar would bless many people including him.
 
We loaded up the van full of bags and dropped them off at our hosts place, then came back to hotel to pick up the whole team for debrief. Firstly, we had to drop off one of our beloved team members, Andrew, at the airport so that he could go to his year 12 graduation. We said our goodbyes and sent him on his way with some lunch money. From the airport we travelled for almost 3 hours to the lunch spot. A number of people were filled to capacity by the time we had arrived. So with a quick dash and a short splash, the team was ready for lunch. It was a quick stop for lunch and then we kept going so that we could get to the resort before it was dark.
 
We arrived at the resort, in the mid afternoon. Settling in was smooth and followed immediately by numerous team members jumping in the pool for a dip. It was a very relaxing afternoon of swimming, chatting and eating western foods for dinner. After dinner we had a devotion lead by Jordan that was based on John 18-19, Jesus’ crucifixion. He reminded us of the grace that we find in Jesus, the injustice of his murder and our tendency to run when the going gets tough (like Peter denying Jesus).
 
We are looking forward to some R&R and good quality debrief. Please pray for us as we begin to set our minds on what has just taken place on this trip and how we want to live when we get back home.
 
- Tim