Nehemiah Update 6 - Arriving in the Philippines

We are in Manila, sitting at the domestic terminal waiting for the flight to Puerto Princessa to board. It’s been a pretty epic journey so far, but even though everyone is tired, they are doing well.

I think it best that I start at the end. Tuesday morning was our last day of the program, and each group performed a song or skit. It was great closure. Then Nehemiah went out with their small groups from the program one last time for one last time. That evening we walked down to a building, where we went up to the 17^th floor, climbed another set of stairs which brought us onto the room.

And a magnificent view of the city.

And there we worshipped with many of the Chinese volunteers who work alongside us throughout the program. It was truly an international event, and we sang and prayed together as a light rain came down.  Lots of pictures, lots of tears. It ended up being a late evening once we got back to the ranch, packed, and showered.

We woke at 5:00am the next morning (Wednesday), got packed, ate breakfast and then boarded the two small buses that were going to take us to the train station. A typhoon (small one) was passing through and the rain was ripping down. Thankfully, the buses drove up to where we were staying so we didn’t have to get too wet. We negotiated the train station, boarded the bullet train and most of us promptly fell asleep. Even though the train is going 160+mph, it’s a smooth ride.

Destination Hongqiao Train Station! We arrived and made our way slowly (it’s pretty darn big) to the subway where we got a train to the airport – an hour and a half ride. The flight was short and sweet (1.5 hrs) but by the time we piled into three Uber’s and got situated at the hostel, it was after midnight. Most of us got to sleep by 1:00 am. Unfortunately, wake up was 4:20 am, and we were in Uber’s and driving back to the airport by 4:45am. Hardly seems worth the hassle, doesn’t it? But after sleeping on wood for the last 10 days, the mattress sure felt nice! It’s the most comfortable I’ve slept since leaving home on May 26^th!

The flight to Manila was boring (I’m not complaining), and now we are poised for the next flight to Palawan. Whew…that’s a lot of travel!

I’m sending this off now, because once we land it’s off (45 minutes) to the camp, where there is absolutely no cell signal or wifi at all! Tomorrow we “rest” and then we make the final stage that will bring us to San Jose (it’s actually called Pirate Island locally…don’t worry, they don’t look or act like pirates. Yet.)  We’ll be in church on Sunday and begin another full week of ministry in the local schools on Monday.

Finally, the team is definitely weary and showing a bit of the wear and tear of some hard travel. But they are doing well! All are looking forward to finally getting to where we are going and settling in!

For the Nehemiah Family,

Tom

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