Day 1: Venturing out of the comfort of our house in Baguio to the rural authenticity of this small village nestled up in the mountains was quite a trip. We began with an early morning jeepney ride to catch a taxi to drive us up the steep and curvy mountain roads to drop us off where the road ended to hike the rest of the mountain to finally arrive at our destination: a small and beautiful village with no more than 200 people. We were greeted with local coffee and the opportunity to kill our chicken we brought with us. Becca did the honors of sawing off the head... way to go Becca. They prepared the meal and served it with this insanely spicy sauce... more coffee was drank, un-boiled water was drank by three of us... definite bad decision. We then prayed against any sicknesses from the water...good decision. There was some chatting and planning of what the next three days of ministry are going to look like then we headed over to a friend's house for some home-brewed rice wine. Now that stuff is intense but it's cool because you can add sugar. Basically it was like rice porridge with alcohol eaten with a spoon and sprinkled with sugar. So many memories and it had only been a few hours. Then the five of us girls napped on our sleeping bags in our "room" after our already very full day and later that night only had more in store with the open-air ministry (Becca and I talked and our whole group performed a dance and lots of singing and encores and prayer for healing). After the open air ministry, we did some pretty sweet star gazing. An awesome testament to God's glory!
Day 2: Woke up to chickens after a night of people snoring and a hard floor; best sleep in a while. I had to quickly grab breakfast and coffee (of course) so I could prepare for the message I was to present to an elementary school in a half hour...success. The Doctor's Skit, Pate Pate dance, the Machine Skit a message on "our value to God", repeat skits and dance and then another message on value by Mahea then we finished by teaching the Pate Pate to all the kids of the school. Coffee and pancakes were provided and then we headed back up to our house. There was lots and lots of trivia then some exploring by Mahea and I to pass the time until our next ministry at 7 pm. Our discoveries included: a river, beautiful views, farmland, peppers, a water buffalo, some fire, little friends across the valley who's conversation included, "Helllllooooooo!" and then, "Godbyyyyyyeeee!", a lush little hill that was just so perfect, precious children who loved being chased by Mahea, another water buffalo (much closer to us), and the decision that we would both enjoy living on a small farm like these. Hours later it was ministry time; Abby and Daniel spoke and there was more dancing and singing by us and the local people. More coffee was served as we looked at photos then it was time for bed. As we were "falling asleep" however, there was a lot of laughter because of hiccups, loud snoring, unexpected gas and sleeping bag caccoons.
Day 3: Early morning rising at 5:30 am in order to eat breakfast, pack, and head off to hike to our taxi to catch the jeepney back home. Next time I go hiking I need to remember an inhaler because asthma sucks. Fortunately, I was with awesome people who sat with me, prayed for me, then carried my bags. Daniel and I rode down the mountain separate from the rest of our group in a mini-jeepney...well, we decided that the rougher roads/rougher ride brought more adventure and better memories. Which was true because in our trip we rolled backwards down the road, fell off the road a bit but stuck some rocks under the tire so it was fine, then we stopped for water for the car twice, and picked up a lady on the road all while there was an old man hanging onto the top of the car. More memorable than a safe ride down the mountain? Oh yes.
Thankful for toilets and mattresses,
Rachael Andersen
Day 2: Woke up to chickens after a night of people snoring and a hard floor; best sleep in a while. I had to quickly grab breakfast and coffee (of course) so I could prepare for the message I was to present to an elementary school in a half hour...success. The Doctor's Skit, Pate Pate dance, the Machine Skit a message on "our value to God", repeat skits and dance and then another message on value by Mahea then we finished by teaching the Pate Pate to all the kids of the school. Coffee and pancakes were provided and then we headed back up to our house. There was lots and lots of trivia then some exploring by Mahea and I to pass the time until our next ministry at 7 pm. Our discoveries included: a river, beautiful views, farmland, peppers, a water buffalo, some fire, little friends across the valley who's conversation included, "Helllllooooooo!" and then, "Godbyyyyyyeeee!", a lush little hill that was just so perfect, precious children who loved being chased by Mahea, another water buffalo (much closer to us), and the decision that we would both enjoy living on a small farm like these. Hours later it was ministry time; Abby and Daniel spoke and there was more dancing and singing by us and the local people. More coffee was served as we looked at photos then it was time for bed. As we were "falling asleep" however, there was a lot of laughter because of hiccups, loud snoring, unexpected gas and sleeping bag caccoons.
Day 3: Early morning rising at 5:30 am in order to eat breakfast, pack, and head off to hike to our taxi to catch the jeepney back home. Next time I go hiking I need to remember an inhaler because asthma sucks. Fortunately, I was with awesome people who sat with me, prayed for me, then carried my bags. Daniel and I rode down the mountain separate from the rest of our group in a mini-jeepney...well, we decided that the rougher roads/rougher ride brought more adventure and better memories. Which was true because in our trip we rolled backwards down the road, fell off the road a bit but stuck some rocks under the tire so it was fine, then we stopped for water for the car twice, and picked up a lady on the road all while there was an old man hanging onto the top of the car. More memorable than a safe ride down the mountain? Oh yes.
Thankful for toilets and mattresses,
Rachael Andersen
