Hello friends and family!We are here safe in the Philippines!
Me and the 4 students I am leading arived on August 8th. I taught the book of Ezra from the Old Testament on the 10th and then we flew down to Bohol Island on the 11th. Devin preached at church on the Saturday and on Sunday I preached. We have been staying very busy and are on the move a lot. The students have been inductively studying the New Testament all year, God has given them so much to give to these people... but they (and me) are learning quickly that the Filippino people have so much to give as well. When I preached, I encouraged the church that we as Americans have more to learn than to teach and to not be shy (becuase they naturally are) to share there stories with us. That opened a flood gate! People have been very open to telling us about there lives. We are doing a lot of teaching, but the most impactful things is like last night when Ethan and I stayed up with 5 of the male youth and shared stories of God's faithfulness. The girls have been doing the same with the female youth. We are now in Buena Vista in a little village and are continuing to sleep in nice harsh conditions! But it is so good! We of course have seen cockroaches, massive spiders, 16 foot python (in a cage of course), and other things. The roosters speak to us every morning!
Ronnie and Naomi have been wonderful hosts. They sure do know how to be hospitable! Our goal, like I have said is to refresh them. I shared that with them the first night... I said God put it in my heart that our team would be like a charger to cell phone... that when we are here, they would feel recharged. And Ronnie became teary eyed and said that was what he was praying for!
As intimate as it has been, most of our time is filled with laughing...they love to laugh. You can see the stars inside Ronnies house and he said that in America we have 5 star hotels but his house is an all star hotel because you can see all the stars! They have these 3 huge pigs they are fattening up for food and he said when we leave he is going to miss us...but he will go to the pigs and cuddle with them because they have pink skin like us white americans! haha. He loves to laugh and make jokes. He is a 21st Century Paul...he has 10 churches and we are visiting 8 of them this month. So other than church work, we will do some construction, encouraging, also seeing the beauty of what God has put his hand on in this nation! Ethan, Ronnie, and I played in a basketball tournament last night and we won by one point! They play in flip flops and we played bare foot because my feet get so sweaty.
Anyway...I could go on and on. But thank you for your prayers. We are safe and healthy. Mystudents are doing incredible. They are being flexible and fluid...goin with the flow.
So in short, it has been great! We are learning so much and are attempting to break the mold a bit of American dominance. Filippinos have so much to offer, so we are enjoying raising them up as well through Bible Study and Teaching.
I love you guys and please check our blog. Internet is a rare thing here because it is very rural. But I will try to keep you all connected as much as possible.
ericmccray.blogspot.com
On the schedul today:
-Help Naomi at the local market
-Outreach
-Maybe basketball outreach again
-More bucket showers
-Squaty potty! Oh how I have missed those
-Frog hunting tonight with the youth for frog and rice as a meal!
We love you guys and again, thank you for your prayers. Please pray for health, because we don't always know what we are eating or drinking. Naomi is an incredible cook and is a really hard worker! She is going out of her way as we speak to get us purified water.
Ok, I am done, I could go on and on.
Eric
PS Please check the blog and post comments.
Do me a favor! If there is anyone I left out or that you can think of who would like to read this, please forward it
PSS Those in Boise that will see Melissa...give her a hug for me, I miss her a lot!
