Storms and Floods

Currently, it is the rainy season in Southeast Asia. This session is (obviously) characterized by alot of rain, and frequent typhoons. One such Typhoon, "Ondoy" has hit Luzon, the northernmost island of the Philippines and caused massive floods and devastation. The current death toll is over 70, with countless others displaced and homeless.

Please take a moment to look at the pictures on the link below and then pray for the Philippines!

Massive Flooding in the Philippines--- MSNBC

P.S. Cebu (where I am located) has only received a little bit of leftover rain and wind, so the linked pictures are just as surprising to me as they are to you!

Highlights and Injuries

Current favorite fruit: Yellow Mango, with just a tint of green so it's a little sour

Current almost-healed injury: massive bruise/burn on my leg from falling out of a bathroom on a boat

New favorite Cebuano Phrase: "Amboat Nimo" or "I don't know about you" (usually used when someone is acting a little crazy or you have no idea what they are talking about).

Current work projects: Case management policy and procedure manual for My Refuge House and bi-monthly training sessions for staff in My Refuge House.

Other highlights of the past few weeks:

• All of the teams at International Justice Mission just had a 3 day team-building retreat. The Aftercare team, of which I am a part, went to the nearby island of bohol, to a great little beach resort and spent a very relaxing couple of days enjoying each others company.
• I have been able to reconnect with many of the "kids"' I used to work with when I was here five years ago at Happy Horizons. Most are now grown up and have moved on or are going to college and being sponsored by Happy Horizons. But they are all just as delightful as I remembered and getting to reconnect with them has been amazing!
• I've jumped into a nice little community of Ex-pats that help make transitioning back into a foreign culture so much easier! Currently our group includes three of us from IJM and two girls from the peace corps. Amazingly, these are all people I would CHOOSE to hang out with if we lived in the same city in the states (which doesn't usually happen when you are overseas!) so I'm very thankful for them!

TIA moments:

• My roommate and I rented a semi-automatic motorbike to take a trip on. I drove, she rode on the back. I hadn't driven one in 8 years, but amazingly we only had one accident and one flat tire! And other than a bruise or two, no one was hurt either :)
• I got my first ear infection EVER, but it's better now thanks to a very nice doctor and some antibiotics which cost me a total of $16.00 (doctor visit &meds)
• I was stuck in traffic and my taxi driver hopped out to... check on the source of the traffic? Nope...urinate on the wall.
• I had a bug bite on my foot that was itching like crazy so I asked a co-worker if she had any anti-itch cream. She handed me Vicks Vapor Rub.

Prayer requests:

• The staff at My Refuge House to have confidence and courage for the very hard work they are doing every day.
• One of my co-workers is currently in Chemotherapy for cancer. Her name is Charito. Please pray for her and her family.

I love and miss you all!!