Day 12: Stage Two

Well we have finished the first stage of our journey here in the Philippines, and what a ride it has been. We started Day 12 with a well-received sleep-in, with everyone relaxing before frantically packing bags! We took one last walk down the road towards the mall, passing the sights, smells and smiles that we have become well-accustomed to (okay, maybe not the smell of the meat market :/ )

We arrived at the mall for our early lunch, with most people choosing the traditional 'Turks' kebabs x 2, with a few heading to the popular ChowKing. We then ventured upstairs, for a much-needed stop at the World of Fun arcade. Us boys had been there the other day, but were still a few tickets short for the Batman bracelets we desired. So after a few basketball games and a lucky spin, we walked out with our hard-earned matching bracelets! Of course, we couldn't quite leave without some videoke, so a few of our team showed off their talents to the whole arcade, with a grand finale of 'We Are The Champions' performed by the 4 of us guys.
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Making our way back to the hotel, we said our final goodbyes to Pastor Earl, who was rocking his new Schoolies Rev t-shirt, which we had gifted him last night. Pastor Earl has been with us everyday, showing us around, facilitating our ministries, translating where needed, driving us everywhere and joining in the banter and jokes of the team! We also said goodbye to Chin, the hotel manager, who we've talked to a lot and has journeyed with us through a number of shituations! Our time in Lapu-Lapu has been great and these two people in particular have been a huge part of that.

Our YWAM friends picked us up and we piled our luggage and team members into 2 small cars and a van and made our way to the other side of Cebu City, to a town called Talisay where YWAM Cebu is based. The traffic was pretty intense, but Chloe was the winner of the day. After bragging about her skills in this area back home, she made the closest prediction of our travel time, which was 1hr 35min. 

We arrived at YWAM and were made to feel right at home. Cookies and personalised cards were on our beds, along with many new faces who welcomed us. The base is great, with plenty of people from all over the Philippines, as well as a few white faces! We were privileged to be a part of our their graduation dinner last night and join in the celebrations, which included a whole pig on the spit; it was delightful!!! 

Overall, it was a pretty relaxing day and the change of scenery is certainly welcome. Not only are the people great at YWAM, but the showers are better, the wi-fi is slower, the roof terrance is beautiful and the basketball court is ever-ready. So the updates may be a bit slower, but I'm really believing for God to really speak and work while we are here, as we continue to reflect on what is happening around us and start to think about our journey home. 

​- Joel