Shady Internet Cafe

That's where I am.... a shady Internet cafe in Olongapo, Philippines... For all of you back home who have no idea where that is... I am here and still don't know where it is.... All I know is that after we got to Manila we got in the back of a jeepney like truck with aircon and drove til my hind parts were fast asleep along with the rest of me.... about 3.5-4 hours....... I do know that we are A LONG WAY from that volcano that you all emailed me about.... DON'T WORRY!!!! We are relatively close..according to Saralee... to the infamous Mt. Pinatubo that irrupted many years ago here and caused lots of trouble... I think it's about and hour and a half two hours away.... Here in the Philippines that is relatively close

When we got here we checked into our "quaint" Filipino hotel and then headed over to a local church that is kinda the hub for the 2 day crusade.... There we meet some other Americans from Hawaii and California who had been here for 2 weeks..... They leave this weekend. They have been laying the groundwork for the crusade by passing out fliers and tickets for the event....

There is gonna be a raffle where tons of prizes will be given away...One of which is a motorcycle... you can just imagine what a prize like that would do for some of these poor families

The crusade starts this afternoon at 3 and runs til 10... It is gonna be a carnival like atmosphere... I am gonna do my best to get lots of great pics for you guys..... This place is definitely different than Cebu..... Lots of children begging on the streets, (especially to us white boys).... the jeepneys look different, and the people speak a different language....

We had some down time after lunch so my great Filipino friend Shen, Mel's wife, gave me a tutorial on Cebyuano.... I wrote 2 pages of notes and words.... The have this "ng" sound that is difficult for us Americans to catch on to.....

We will be here in this town until Sunday morning and then we will head back to Manila... I should be able to blog again...either at this cafe or in Manila....

While we are in Manila we will be staying with our great friend Dennis' mother.... It will be a great experience there....

A funny story from last night..... Matt and I are sharing a room... and of course the beds are teeeeeee tiny...... and of course there is only 1 per room... so we had to share... the only cover we have is a sheet as thin as one ply toilet paper..... the aircon was on all night..... and Matt is a cover hog.... my toes are still thawing out....... I know you are all thinking..why didn't you just turn the air off.... We tried that...but in a matter of seconds these 2 pieces of white meat were cooking in the little oven we called a hotel room......

All that said.... there is not a place on earth I would have rather been..... This is a great trip and and awesome place to be..... I can sense that the Lord is doing things here, and I am so honored and humbled to be a part of it!!!!!!