Day 6 - We bought a Jeep

In the early hours of this morning, team Alpha (Reuben, Emily, Emma, Matt, Evan, Michaela, Drew and Naomi) arose at 3:30 to begin the bread delivery at the IRC. They arrived back at the white house as the rest of the group woke at normal time. The breakfast was slightly under par today compared to what we usually are served, after Jay made the comment that nothing was edible, we left the table slightly hungry and looking forward to lunch.

At 8:30 we headed into the mountain community  to the Ikthus ministry site to hand out 400 parcels of rice, noodles and sardines to those most in need in the community.  This was difficult for some team members as there were allot of young babies and pregnant mothers.  After everyone had received their parcels of food we entertained the kids with balloon animals and pipe cleaner creations.

After we  finished, we galloped down the road to a secluded natural spring where we were treated to a refreshing dip in the pool, it was a beautiful natural pool fed by a fresh stream of crystal clear water. The waterfall cascaded down various rocks and gullies almost 100ft high. After, we returned to the white house for a lunch that satisfied all our wildest hopes and dreams, a beautiful assortment of salads, fresh salmon, and gourmet pork.

 “Okay guys, time to chill” were the words spoken by Drew after lunch as we reached our favourite part of the day, nap time. After Ley, Keegan, Bek and I (Elliot) woke from an afternoon kip we then headed to the IRC for an afternoon session of construction. Today the construction session was different to others; we had a surprise visit from the Governor of Negros after he heard of the work we were doing at the IRC. This was a really big deal as he came along with a significant security team and numerous staff and photographers.  We kindly greeted him in the local tongue, and he invited us to come have Chicken Inasal (chicken on a stick) when we head into Bacolod city which in the Philippines is a significant honour.  

After we took many photos with them we carried on with our construction for another hour. Then we left the IRC and went back to the white house for dinner, delicious chicken and rice. We had a small break and prepared for our night activity which is always a surprise. Tonight, we went to a prayer meeting at the church down the road where Emily Peirce shared her testimony which lifted the spirits of many. The prayer meeting was followed by our night activity which included the famous filipino tradition, Karaoke.

It was lots of fun and it was Stephen and Josh’s time to shine.  They both belted out numerous songs and Stephen even threw in a few dance moves to get everyone laughing.  The youth from the bible study stayed on to help us with a few songs and we finished with Pastor Pete and his Queen rendition of ‘We are the champions’.  The surprise of the night was our Filipino co-ordinator Pastor Gary who belted out ‘Moon River’ with record quality vocals.  

 With such a late night and with Charlie group on bakery duties tomorrow we arrived back at the white house after completing journals and debrief. 

With special thanks to a number of supporters specifically the Beckenham ladies bible study group we were able to purchase a car for the IRC mission site today.  This will really help with their livelihood projects and help further their ministry with the mountain people of Negros.  So as you may have seen on the TV advert ‘we bought a jeep’.

Elliot Chase & Nic Dawson