Rachel Hampton

Life in Asia August 20, 2009

Well it’s been over a month. I’m sorry…again. Here’s the deal: our internet is terrible. And sometimes it’s not easy, convenient to find wireless connection outside of the ship. And when I do, updating my blog isn’t always my first priority. Sorry about that.

Here’s what’s been happening. I had a good time in Cambodia. It was different than I expected but we enjoyed it still. The down-side…it rained pretty much EVERYDAY. It got really frustrating and wet. Because of the weather, we didn’t have very many visitors. But we are praying God is going to work in the lives of the people we did come in contact with. Speaking of the rain…two memories come to mind. The first one is of the first attempt I made at exploring the city. Carola and I went walking without any idea of where we were actually going. We hadn’t made it too far before it started to pour. We had no car and all the taxi’s/tuk tuks were taken. So we started to walk back. I, unfortunately, was wearing a white shirt. Thankfully, Carola had a jacket she let me borrow. We got close to the ship when the wind and rain really started to pick up. The force of the rain into my face was physically painful! We took shelter behind a building and spontaneously shot a video of carola standing with her useless umbrella in the storm while pretending to give the weather forecast. We made it back to the ship but not with any dry part on our bodies and not without the stinging sensation of raindrops on our faces. But it was still a great time and an entertaining memory. Then the other time wind and rain interrupted my normal life on board was even more dramatic. It was a Sunday. The sun was….ok, not shining. But so far, no rain. Just setting the stage here. I was on the crane deck which is a separate section of books for sale at a discounted price. The area is set up under a tarped tent. There were a good number of people there looking to buy books. Then suddenly, the skies opened up. I hurried to pull the front of the tent closed to protect the books but the wind was insane. As soon as I got one side down and went to get the other, the first side would blow back on top of the tent again. I yelled into my walkie talkie that I needed help and Josh came running up the stairs from gangway out to assist me. It was a typhoon! While we desperately tried to hold the tarps down to protect everyone inside, we couldn’t help but look at each other and laugh. It was ridiculous! The tent was blowing around and we decided it wasn’t safe for people to stay there. We rushed them to the bookshop and secured the tarps. Meanwhile in the bookshop, the floor was being flooded and many books were ruined. It was the craziest time at work I can remember in the past six months. But what a humorous story to tell. and we all lived to tell about it. In fact, the wind and rain was so bad that the ship had to leave the port and go out to anchor so we wouldn’t get broken against the quayside. It will be one of my biggest memories of Cambodia.

We were also blessed to have a five-star resort offer for us to use their pool for free and their spa facilities for a discounted rate. I took advantage of a massage, pedicure, and walk along their beach more than once. It was so peaceful and beautiful there.

I was also able to participate in International Night. It was the first time I had been to once since we joined in Cebu, Philippines. It consists of dances, songs, and international performances by the crew of the Doulos…all with a gospel message. It’s usually the biggest event in the port. Well, I was blessed to be able to be in the gospel choir. It was the last performance and we had such a good time. I also got to be in the parade of nations. Many crew dress up in their national costume and are introduced in front of the audience by name and country. Then we bow or wave or whatever. Well, Josh and I were both representing the USA. I challenged him to yell “Oh Yeah!” with a fist pump after I announced we were from the US. He pulled through and got a big laugh out of me…even if no one else was entertained. Afterwards, I went to get a bite to eat with Jen and James. We went to a really nice local restaurant. The best moment of the night came when two drunk guys were leaving the restaurant and one stopped behind James. Jen and I were facing him so curiously watched the guy to see what he was trying to do. He leaned down until his mouth was near James’ ear. At this point, James’ heard the guy’s saliva in his mouth and turned his head, jumped about a foot in the air, and gave the man a disgusted look. Jen and I were rolling on the floor with laughter. Even our waitress got a kick out of it. Only James…

Another highlight in Cambodia was our bookshop shift 2 outing. After one of the girls in our shift made pizza for lunch and then we headed to a local HIV hospital. James had been earlier in the week and saw a small building that the hospital planned to use for patients in their final stages of HIV. The place was disgustingly dirty and not fit to be used in that manner. We got right to work and cleaned the building from top to bottom as well as painted all the rooms and the outside. It was hard work but so fulfilling. I had felt liek I hadnt been able to do much ministry so I was really grateful to be getting my hands dirty and doing something out of love for those less fortunate. And funny Carola story…while we were changing to leave for the hospital, Carola put on work pants and sat on her bed to put on her shoes. Then she commented, “man, these pants are hot.”, stood up and proclaimed, “Or it could be the PIZZA I just sat on!”. She had brought an extra piece of pizza from our lunch, placed it on her bed and forgot. She had an awesome pizza butt stain for the rest of the day. Of which I also felt called to take a picture. Perhaps I’ll share that one day

I am now in Bangkok, Thailand but won’t be here for much longer. It has been a fun and very busy city. I was able to make a visit to the Grand Palace on my off day. It’s beautiful and is a must for anyone who comes to Bangkok. The king used to live in one of the buildings on the grounds. I felt very asian walking around there. Partly because they don’t allow shorts so I had to rent an asian skirt to wear around.

Speaking of being asian, I am now officially a Filipino dancer. Meaning, I have learned and performed part of the traditional Tinikling dance of the Philippines. I’ve done it three times now and have another performance on Saturday. I recorded my first performance which will be seen at some point I am sure. If you don’t know anything about the dance, please google it because it is hecka fun!

Also big news, the princess of Thailand came on board a few days ago. She is very well-respected in Thailand and we were excited she was coming to visit the ship. I was asked to be in the parade of nations and felt very lucky to see the princess face-to-face. Out of 350 crew, only 25-30 got to stay on board during her visit. We all stood in a line in our national costume and bowed politely as she walked past us. Then we were introduced by name and country and one at a time walked up to her in her chair and bowed. It was a very cool experience and she seemed quite kind. It was a big ordeal and we were even on the news. Though we hoped it would bring a lot more people to the ship, that hasnt seemed to happen so far. But we still have a few more days.

I have had some great edays and have enjoyed spending some time with precious Thai children. I’d like to come back to thailand someday. The people are really nice.

In sad news, I’ve learned in the past few days that my grandfather is getting close to passing away. I rejoice in the fact that he will be home with the Lord but it is still hard to let him go. It’s also hard not being there for my family. But I was able to talk to him and he told me, “You are where the Lord wants you”. Even being ill, he’s thinking of the Kingdom. I have an amazing grandfather and have felt so blessed to have him in my life. His faith is encouraging and inspiring. He will be missed but I look forward to the day I will see him again. Please pray for my family and my granny during this time. Thank you and….I’ll see you here in another month

Taiwan to Hong Kong to Cambodia July 12, 2009

Apparently I have an inability to update in a timely fashion. Sorry about that. So obviously lots has happened since I last updated. Namely, Hong Kong and a five day voyage to Cambodia. We left Taiwan (which I was sad to see go) and a few days later arrived in Hong Kong. The ship was docked right in view of the building from Batman and the gangways exited directly into a mall. Not a mall I would shop in as the stores were mostly Gucci, Burberry, Calvin Klein, and other high-name stores I couldn’t afford if I WASN’T on a missionary salary. Though I will say I gazed longingly at the Burberry trench coats on more than one occassion. The ship was in a great location and we got to see the famous Hong Kong light show every night at 8pm. It was a weird port, however. There seemed to be a lot of spiritual attacks with a few crewmembers being hurt (even one who was in the hospital for two weeks because of a fall and hit to the head). We were also hit with the swine flu panic and a hurricane as well. Many crewmembers also had to go home because of family illnesses. Everything just seemed to happen at once. And Hong Kong was an interesting place to do ministry. There are many foreigners there so they weren’t impressed to see our faces. In some countries it’s a big draw to the ship but not there. Also, as in many big cities, everyone was in a hurry and suspicious of your bottom line when we really just wanted to show love. Needless to say, I wasn’t too terribly sad to see Hong Kong go, though I did enjoy my time. I got to go to a local amusement park one day with a few friends and ride some roller coasters. In fact, Carola had never ridden a roller coaster in her life so I got to be there with her as she had that experience. The park (Ocean Park) was very beautiful. It was on a mountainside with the ocean beside it. They had impossibly steep escalators so you could get from one section of the park to another. They also had amazing cable cars that you could take from the part of the park at the top of the mountain to the section that was further down the mountain. We got amazing pictures of the gorgeous scenery from that ride.  The cable car operator that day was CW Chan, according to the posted sign so somehow that became the joke of the day. Anytime anything would go go wrong we would just shake our fist in the air and yell “Darn you, CW Chan.”  One of those…why is this funny but it seriously is making us laugh…moments.

My A-Team is still determined to hang out. We planned an outing for our group while in Hong Kong. From what I hear, this is very abnormal and the A-Teams don’t usually get back together after they come back from their trip. But our group was so blessed by each other. We went out to dinner at…Subway. That’s right! It can be so funny to find American restaurants in other countries. Then we went bowling afterwards. And I would like to say that…I won. Just needed to state that. We took a walk in the rain to a Starbucks and just sat around chatting and enjoying each other’s company. There are some of the greatest people in the world on this ship!

Also in Hong Kong I had the opportunity to change cabins. Now I have a porthole and our own bathroom! It is really nice. Elly (one of my previous roommates) moved with me and then Carola joined us as well. So I went from a tiny 4-person cabin to a larger 3-person cabin. Yay. It makes such a difference to have light filtering in your room in the morning. Another reason I moved…bedbugs! I was being eaten alive by them in my previous cabin. In fact, one morning I woke up, and walked straight to the bathroom but thought, “what is wrong with my eye?” One glance at the mirror confirmed something WAS wrong. My eyelid was swollen to Quazimoto proportions. I couldn’t help but laugh. A trip to the clinic confirmed that it was some kind of bug bite but they thought maybe cockroach. How sick is that? I didn’t even know cockroaches bit! So yeah, I was glad to be out of that room. And so far, no swollen eyelids to be found in room #2.

One of my favorite things about Hong Kong was going to a local grocery store and finding…DR. PEPPER!!! I have not seen this heaven-sent beverage since leaving home in january so I was pumped to see it! In fact, I was just walking past, not even looking for it when I saw the can and started squealing and jumping up and down. My friend, James, just stood there laughing at me making a fool of myself in the middle of the grocery store. But I didn’t care. It was worth it! As was the $1 a can price. Speaking of James, he had is 21st birthday while in Hong Kong. He wanted some of us to go out on the town and just spend time together so we all dressed up (which was nice since there are few to no opportunities to do that on board) and piled into Mercedes that James had rented to pick us up. He also got two hotel rooms at the Hong Kong Marriott. One room for the boys, one for the girls. We went out on the town and finally fell into bed around 4am after just hanging out. The next morning brought the most glorious breakfast bar I’ve ever seen. BACON! Oh, it was such a nice, short break.

I finally got some packages my parents sent back in February. The sad thing is, a few other friends sent a package at the end of April that got here at the same time. But I was so happy to get things from home (mostly food). It makes me feel more connected to the people that I love. As does email…so don’t feel shy about sending me hello emails. I’m really good about responding

Fourth of July was very different than what I am used to back home. We actually sailed out of Hong Kong that day so half of my day was sent packing down the bookshop and getting ready to sail. No fireworks. No day at the lake. No cookout. But the galley did make burgers and fries for all of the ships company and the Americans ate together while listening to good, classic American music. I wasn’t too bummed to miss out on the festivities back home. It’s always so worth it to be where God wants me to be and doing work for Him.

Our voyage to Cambodia was five days! The longest one yet…and the smoothest. In fact, the ship is moving more here in port than it did the whole time we were sailing. I was happy for those who so easily get seasick because they were able to actually enjoy the peacefulness and beauty of sailing. Those of us in the bookshop were assigned to work for two days in a different department while sailing. I was put into accommodation….which meant doing a lot of cleaning. I scrubbed some bathrooms (including the ones in the engine room that were soooooo hot), cleaned some rooms for incoming guests, folded laundry, and got down on my hands and knees to scrub baseboards on the stairs. It wasn’t necessarily fun work but it was nice to do something different for a change. One night they had a coffee house set up and the whole ships company came and chatted while soothing music played in the background. It was a great way for everyone to unwind. One of my favorite things about sailing is going up to the top of the ship on what we call the sun deck and listening to music and just appreciating the beauty of God’s creation. Nighttime is especially a favorite of mine.

Speaking of God, he’s been doing a lot of speaking to me lately. Read the first chapter of Haggai. This is where I was in my read through the Bible plan a few days ago. I was reading but secretly (not that there are secrets from God…who was I trying to fool?) not expecting to see a whole lot that was applicable to my life. Then God slapped me and woke me up. If you read my latest newsletter you will see where I was talking about how so much of what we do is seed planting on the Doulos but not a lot of harvesting. Well, this chapter revers to God’s house being in ruins. There being food to eat, but not enough to fill you up. This was my quiet time. The house of God in me was not being cared for as it should. Yes, I was doing some quiet time and getting some spiritual food but not enough to fill me up. Then it talks about planting vs. harvesting. I could be harvesting more if I was fully connected to God and letting Him work through me. God was asking me in this chapter to rebuild His house. And not because I feel I need to but because I love Him and desire a relationship with Him. Though I wasn’t expecting to hear from Him and especially not in a “girl, get your act together way”, it was so encouraging to hear God speak to me…even if my heart wasn’t in a place to fully listen. He is such a faithful Father. Man, He’s awesome. We should stand in awe and wonder more frequently. The God who created all the stars in space and keeps them from plummeting to destroy our small planet, the creative God who designed all the fish in the sea and controls the winds and waves, the huge God who has always been and will always be loves us. Loves me. Loves you. Desires to teach us new things daily and has designed wonderful things for our lives. It’s the same God. He’s huge. I’m nothing. And yet He cares enough to see me sitting on this tiny speck of a ship, opening my Bible with only a half-hearted effort, and takes the time to reveal something to me. How blessed are we? There are no words.

I look forward to seeing how He is going to work here in Cambodia. We have only been here a few days and I haven’t gotten to walk around yet but the scenery is absolutely gorgeous! There is a lot of corruption here and, I believe, lots of opportunities for God to work. Please pray that He will and that those of us here on the ship will be willing to do whatever He asks of us. And I promise to update again soon!

A-Team without Mr. T May 31, 2009

So I am finally back from A-Team. It was a wonderful ten days! In fact, my team and I didn’t want to come back. Let me tell you a little bit about my team. There were six of us plus a local translator. We all came from different countries but got along wonderfully! Our team leader was actually the youngest on our team but did such a great job! His name is Maurits and he’s from the Netherlands. Then we had Florian, a guy from Switzerland, and Sebi (Sebastian) from Germany. Those were the guys. The girl’s side consisted of Katrina from Australia, Aileen from Panama, Me, and our translator Sunya from Taiwan (obviously). We had the best team unity and I think I can say my favorite part of the trip was just growing closer to one another and having a great time of fun off the ship. Our team verse before we left was Psalm 121:1-2. Maurits picked this to help us remember to trust God and also because we thought we would be doing a lot of stuff in the mountains. Anyway, after a few hours of travel we arrived at our host home and they decided to teach us a Chinese song. We wrote down the words and did the best we could at pronouncing them correctly. After we had learned it we asked what it was about and they told us it was Psalm 121:1-2. How cool is that? I love when God gives you little surprises like that. Just a small way of feeling closer to Him. 

We found out that our ministry would actually be a lot different than we originally thought. Not as much free time and a lot of school visits! School visits are difficult. You go into a school for one hour, do a program, have little to no interaction time, and then leave to never see them again. It’s hard to not know what kind of impact was made on these kids. You really have to trust that God is going to use it and work in the lives of maybe only one child. But then it’s still worth it. Still, it’s hard to accept that you’re doing ministry when you have such a short time there and don’t get to really talk to kids one-on-one. And that was our ministry for the vast majority of the time we were there. So that was difficult. But we just pray that God will use those 10 days for His Glory. 

I got up earlier than I had in a long time since we generally had breakfast at 6:30am-7am and had to leave the house by 7 or 7:30. Amazingly, God woke me up every morning so that I could spend time in His Word to start the day. That generally doesn’t happen here on the ship and I get up later. I think a big part of it was actually having sunlight to wake up to. That makes such a big difference. It really helped me to stay focused. So we would have 2-5 programs a day at usually two schools before we were done. Then we had some free time or down time at the house of our hosts. Our hosts did not speak English which was why we needed a translator but they were so sweet! And I have never had so much Taiwanese food in my life. People would be very proud of the things I ate. I even tried Octopus (not a fan). There was tons of fish which I am not a fan of, but you gotta live like the locals.  Or you die basically. 

In our free time we did a lot of hanging out. There was a rock wall attached to the outside of the house so we got to climb that multiple times which was fun. We also had opportunities to ride bikes quite a bit. There was a river near the house that we swam in one day.  Well, waded, swam, almost lost our lives to the current, whatever. Let me lay out a little story that may only be funny if you were there but I’m going to tell it nonetheless. There was a big concrete hill beside the house and if you stood on top you could see way down to the river. To get down to the river you had to take one steep concrete hill down to a platform and then another concrete slope to the river. Well, Florian was at the very bottom which was quite far away and the other two boys were on the platform. I asked Sebi if he would catch my sunblock so that I could use both hands to climb down the hill. Well I threw it a little hard and it hit off the tip of Sebi’s fingers, hit the ground, bounced, and slammed into Florian’s head. Though his head was cut and bleeding, he didn’t yell ouch or scream in pain, his only reaction was to yell “Are you crazy?” And I wish you could hear the accent because it would mean so much more. We were are rolling on the floor laughing and it became a quote for the trip. Another quote? Gibbous. Does anyone know what this word means? We sure don’t but on the train on the way to our short-term home we saw a sign that said “The floor is gibbous”. I think they made this word up but it sure is fun to use in any way you’d like. Your mom is gibbous. Shut your gibbous. You’re looking gibbous today. There are so many uses! Ok, time out. I just looked it up on dictionary.com because I am a nerd and it’s actually a word! Man, don’t we look stupid. It means convex like the moon when it’s half full.  Hmm, interesting. I’m glad we could take this journey together. It was gibbous.

One of the best days of our trip was Monday. We pulled weeds in the garden that morning and then some other Douloids came to go river trekking.  We waded into seriously cold water and climbed up waterfalls (some fell down waterfalls) and jumped off rocks into the water. It was a lot of fun though way too cold! After a few hours, we headed back to the house and did some wall climbing. Then me, Sebi, Aileen, and Josh (from the ship and works with me in bookshop) decided to ride some bikes down the road. It started pouring rain but we were still wet from river trekking so we didn’t mind. It was so refreshing to be flying down the road and having rain drops pelt you in the face. Maybe pelt isn’t the best word to use. Maybe I should say something like…having rain drops fall like cotton balls on my face. Less violent.  We went a few miles down the road and climbed down to the creek and started skipping stones. Some more successfully than others. Then we rode back to the house and said goodbye to the other Douloids. Our team sat on the hill beside the house and chatted for awhile before our “dad” asked us if we would go into the frog pond and pull weeds. Ok, this pond was disgusting! It was dirty and full of weeds and the bottom was squishy and slimy. It took a lot of effort to get me in there at first. Then, of course, a mud fight ensued. By the end of our time in there, we were all COVERED in mud. It was in our hair, in our ears, all of our faces and clothes. It was sick but so much fun! I have some great photos of it that I’ll have to share. It was a wonderful bonding time. We then went down to the creek to wash off as best as we could. After real showers, we had dinner and group devotions. This was always a nice time for us to get together and talk about what God was teaching us and sing some praise and worship songs. Once it got dark we decided to take a walk. The house where we were staying was a little in the country so the road wasn’t well-traveled. Somehow we ended up laying in the road and talking for hours. It was so peaceful and nice to be out in nature, under the stars, and talking with friends. That was the nice thing about this group. We all felt free to be ourselves without the worry of being judged. There is such wonderful freedom in a friendship like that. That’s how they should all be.  That was a highlight day. 

There was so much laughter and love in the 10 days. None of us were ready to get back to the ship though I have to admit, I missed hot showers and ship food (gasp, I said it). I wish I could better express what we did and how it felt to be part of such a wonderful team. Thanks for your prayers that you sent up on our behalf. Please continue to pray for the kids we ministered to as well as our “mom”’s father. He is in the hospital very sick from cancer and not a believer. 

Since I’ve returned, I’ve been able to go to Taipei and went up to the top of Taipei 101, the tallest building in the world. It was a cool experience (and there are photos tagged of me on Facebook) that I’m glad I got. This week is Sabbath Week on the ship. It’s a time of rest and relaxation as well as spiritual renewal. I’ve really been loving it! We have a guest speaker from Malaysia who brings great messages every morning to encourage and inspire us. His messages are simple but good. We are off to Hong Kong in just a few days. I will miss Taiwan! There were many great memories for me here. If you ever get to come to this country, definitely come. You won’t be sorry. Unless your head runs into my sunscreen.

No, I’m not dead May 15, 2009

I know it’s been awhile and I’m sorry. You’ve missed a whole port. We just sailed from Hualien, Taiwan to Keelung, Taiwan. Let me just say…I love Hualien! It is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. There are huge mountains on one side and the bluest ocean I’ve ever seen on the other.

Shortly after we got into Hualien, I had an eday at a nearby church. I was helping lead a Sunday school class during both services. The first one was disabled children but we didn’t know that until we got there. I think people who work with kids with disabilities have a special gift from God. While I don’t feel that I do, I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. Those kids were filled with so much joy. They weren’t complaining about their circumstances but readily gave hugs and open-mouth kisses. It encouraged me so much to be around them. The second Sunday school class was about 30 7-9 year olds. They were a blast! I had so much fun playing games with them and just talking to them. I’d always rather play with kids than speak in a main service!

That afternoon we helped at Open Day for the ship. I was first assigned to the “practice speaking English” table. I had some great talks about Jesus with the people who stopped by. The people of Taiwan are genuinely interested in what we have to say, though many of them are not quite ready to accept. Two teenagers, I found out, didn’t have a Bible so I used the ship Bible fund to buy them a few from the bookshop. They promised they would read them. I’ve come to realize that our minstry with the ship is a lot more about seed-planting than actual harvesting. And that’s ok. Many Christians make the mistake of pushing to get a conversion when the person is not ready and then leaving them with no idea what to do with this new-found faith. I’d rather talk to someone and really explain what it means to have a relationship with Jesus Christ and let them seek that out on their own. God says that if you seek Him you will find Him and I pray that the many people we come in contact with will do just that.

Bookshop is going well. I love the people that I work with. They can handle randomness which…if you know me…you know it’s important. Like just last week Carola and I thought up this question. What if you were on a first date with someone that you really liked. They said something funny and when you laughed, something flew out of your nose and into their dinner. They didn’t see it. What would you do? Would you leave it there for them to eat or would you risk serious embarassment to rescue them from digesting such a disgusting “treat”? Gross question but it brought a lot of laughs. One guy even suggested that he would sacrifice himself, ask for a bite, and eat a forkful that contained his…gift. That’s dedication.

I mentioned Hualien’s mountains. Well, about 10 of us decided we wanted to use the beauty of them to do something fun like…paragliding. So on our day off, we contacted a local company and set up a time to come paragliding there. Well, language barriers always bring difficulties. There was miscommunication and after a few phone calls we found out they weren’t sending a car for us afterall, but he did have a friend in the area who would take us. Too bad this friend’s car was not fit to hold 10 people. But we squeezed in.  Four in the back, four in the middle, and two up front. Man, it was cozy. The paragliding place was about 40 min away and was gorgeous! The first five of us piled in another van and rode it to the top of the mountain to jump first. Jennifer (USA) was the first to go…and the last. After she jumped, it started raining and continued all day. This prevented the rest of us from going. But we ended up still having an amazing day. The guy who owned the place felt bad and took us to a local restaurant to eat lunch. We all sat on the floor around a huge table and tried our best to eat with chopsticks. I’m actually the only one who really had to try. Everyone else is pretty good at it. I’ll get there eventually. Then they drove us to a nearby lake where we rented paddleboats and took off across the lake. The boats held four people and were shaped like dragons and lions and other animals. Paddleboats are a lot more fun on the shore. Once you’re out on the water for awhile you forget why you wanted to do it in the first place. So no paragliding but still a great day!

I’ve saved the best for last. When we saw the gorgeous surroundings we were in, some of us decided it would be so nice to go camping. Well, we had the worst luck ever! For a week I would call campgrounds and find out if they had tents to rent (since we didn’t have one) or little huts that you could sleep in. Those that did, didn’t allow you to build a fire which is half the fun of camping! Then we decided to do one night in a hotel and one night in a campground but all the hotels we called were booked. Problem after problem. Then God smiled on us A local volunteer told me he had a friend who had a tent and said we could borrow it. And there is a local park called Taroko National Park where you can camp for free. So we were set! We rented a car (which was one of the best decisions ever) and after work on Saturday, set out. We drove first to the park to set up our tent. Driving in at nighttime was still amazing. The road is in a gorge between mountains and we were astounded at the size of the shadows towering above us. We just knew it was going to be a great trip. After our tent was all set up (though we didn’t do the best job ever), we drove back to the ship to pick up one of the other guys who had to work at the International Night. We got back to the campsite about 1am and sat around the fire making s’mores and talking. It was so nice! The next morning I woke up early with the sun and walked a distance to do my quiet time and listen to music. There is something about sitting in nature that makes me feel so close to God. To see the hugeness of mountains and then understand the same God who made those in all their majesty also made me and cares for me…wow. So humbling. We hung out at the campsite for a few hours before piling in the car and driving through the park. I will try to put photos on flickr as soon as possible. Then we decided to drive a few hours south to a sugar factory that is famous for their ice cream. And yes, it was delicious! We kept driving to Butterfly Valley Resort where we heard there was a beautiful spa and hot springs. For a small fee we were able to relax and enjoy the hot springs for hours. They had different pools at different temperatures and then one big pool that had different massaging “stations”. Like you would lay in the water almost like a bed and push a button and jets would massage under you. Or you could sit on a ledge and push a button and jets would massage your back and legs. OR there were big poles that you turned on and high-pressured water massaged your back. Oh man, it was Heaven. The others also enjoyed the sauna and steam room. I’m not a fan of sweating and struggling to breathe so I chose instead to take a nap by the pool. At one point I woke up in the perfect weather with a slight breeze and thought “I am so happy right now” and proptly fell back asleep. It was such bliss. We had no problem falling back asleep in the campsite that night (though we did have an improptu dance party outside the car on one of the bridges in the park). We didn’t want to go back to the ship the next morning but begrudginly packed up the car and made our way back. On the way, we were able to spot the ocean which was sooooo blue. We all screamed in delight and jumped out to stand in the water. My camera died but one of the guys that went took photos and I will try and get them to post. I’m sure it won’t do our weekend justice but it’ll have to sufice.

We are now in Keelung and in a few days I will be leaving the ship for 2 weeks to go on A-Team. A-Team is basically a small group of people from the ship (there’s 6 people in my team) who leave the ship for two weeks and do specialized ministry in the community. So you may not hear from me for awhile. I’m not exactly sure what we’ll be doing but I heard something about rice paddy farming, learning to tie ropes, fix bikes, and rock climb. So it should be an adventure. Please continue your prayers, they are much appreciated!

I love exploring April 26, 2009

A week ago tomorrow (in the Taiwan timezone) I had a day off. A few friends from the book-ex and I decided we were going to spend all day away from the ship and explore the city. And boy, did we. We did a lot of walking. It’s ok though, I definitely need the exercise. First, we took the Subway to a place called Lotus Pond. And by pond they mean huge lake. There are lots of traditional Chinese buildings and “towers” surrounding the area and they were just breath-taking to capture in photographs. You can see the few I took on my flickr link on the right. There were also tons of temples. That part was sad. It’s overwhelming to see the lostness of people around the world. As I’ve mentioned before, there are very few Christians in this country. 

We spent hours walking around and taking in the sights and sounds. Afterwards, we were completely worn out! So what’s the perfect solution for that? A movie! Oh my…America, take notes. The theatre we found had recliners as chairs. You got blankets to cover up with (I know my mom…who is always cold…would appreciate that) and they bring you food also. It was heaven. I’m not sure there could’ve been a more perfect end to the evening.

I’ve had two edays this past week. One consisted of a small group of us traveling about an hour and a half by train to lead a couple programs at a high school. Our train arrived late so our hosts were waiting expectantly for us to get there. They hurriedly took us to the main auditorium where we encountered about 300 high school students staring at us as we walked in silence up on the stage. Talk about intimidating. The kids were so cute and, bless their hearts, they acted like we were movie stars. The cheered, took photos with us, and asked us to sign anything they had that was signable. In fact, a couple kids handed us some kind of boards. I don’t know if they use these on the bus or train to do homework on or what but I couldn’t help but laugh. It was like, “excuse me, would you sign my piece of wood?” I love being able to go out into the community and meet people instead of staying on board. There’s just something more special about it. And the people of Taiwan are so hospitable. When we left, some of the teachers handed us a big box of sweet potatoes (something that city is apparently famous for).

My second eday was spent doing car deck ministry. We stayed on the ship and did dramas, sang, talked about the ship, and just interacted with people. One girl in particular I got to speak with for awhile. Please pray for Belinda. She is very interested in Jesus Christ but has not yet made a decision to follow Him. She commented how everyone on board seemed so happy. Of course we are not always sunshine and rainbows but I know the joy I have comes from the Lord. I told her this and encouraged her to seek for that joy in her own life as well. I pray that she does.

We only have a few more days left in Kaohsiung. Last night was International Night. There is one in each port and basically many songs, dances, and dramas are put on from the crew. James (Ireland), Tae (USA), and I planned to go and watch. Well, we got sidetracked…by TGI Fridays. Whoops. We were in the taxi on the way when we passed it. We still had about 45 min before it started so took a detour to “eat real quick”. Real quick ended up not being so quick. I wish I could say it was worth it but…well…let’s just say they didn’t understand our order too well, haha. Afterwards, we were going to be late so we just wandered around the area. We got some ice cream and chatted. They are both very cool guys and it’s funny how even though there is a great age difference with people on board, you usually don’t even notice it. I may have been able to babysit them years ago but now, they are just my friends. Tae is also from Virginia so we have created a VA gang sign. Without all the violence that usually goes along with that.  Wednesday we will sail to Hualien, Taiwan and I’ve already heard it’s going to be a rough voyage. I’ll keep you updated. Please pray for our safety…and that no one throws up on me. That is very important!

Life in Taiwan… April 15, 2009

So I am still working on my Mandarin but it’s not that great…I’ve got “hello”, “thank you”, “you’re welcome”, and “sorry” down. The essentials. A tonal language is very difficult to speak for many people on board. Thankfully we have wonderful local translators. Speaking of, that is a big prayer request. Many of the locals that are working with us are not Christians. We have a great opportunity to speak to them about Christ. They are all curious and interested in hearing more about why we serve together. In fact, I got to speak to one girl named Nina who is not a believer. In fact, she says she’s not religious at all. She was telling me how she wanted to serve on Doulos but heard you had to be a Christian. I asked her if she understood what we believed and she said no so I started sharing the message of salvation with her. When I was telling her about Jesus and his years of ministry, she responded, “In America?”  She really had no idea at all. I was able to talk to her for a little bit and when she asked if I would marry someone who wasn’t a Christian, I explained to her why and told her “Even though I don’t know you well, I care about you and want you to have the assurance of where you’ll go when you die.” She was genuinely touched that I cared about her in that way. We were interrupted and didn’t get to finish but I know she’s open.  So please pray for Nina and the other volunteers that their hearts would be open to God while we are here and that some seeds would be planted. And even that some would turn their lives over to Christ before we leave.

Our Easter service was different than I’m used to. We had a sunrise service on the deck of the ship at 5:30am and then another service at 11am. Many of the songs we sang I did not know and I love worshiping through music so that was different for me. My home church, Thomas Road Baptist Church has amazing musicians and the music is so wonderful! But in the past few days I’ve felt God telling me, “Rachel, I want you to learn to worship me with all your heart whether the music is professional or amateur. Can you praise me even if there are mistakes in the notes or singing? That isn’t important, it’s the heart that is important.” And I know that worship is a lifestyle, it’s not music…but when you hear a beautiful song with blended voices and swelling music and know God designed it all…you can’t help but worship. But God doesn’t want me to only be able to worship through song when it’s perfect. And I am trying to adapt to that mindset.

We did have an amazing reflection/communion service on Friday night. There was worship, dramas, communion, and just a moving time of reflection. It was my favorite thing of the weekend. Then we had a showing of the Passion of the Christ. I hadn’t seen it in years and was definitely overwhelmed. It is impossible to watch that movie without ending at a loss for words. Jesus is one awesome Savior!

We have been able to travel around the area some and visit the city we are in. One of the big things the city is known for is their night markets. This city comes alive at night. In fact, I was working one night and a young boy came up to me and said his college started back that day and his class is at 11pm. They are night people. So every night they have different areas you can go and shop along streets packed with carts and tables. There are some markets solely for food and some that are mixed food and clothes. We went to the latter. I didn’t buy anything, but enjoyed walking around and sampling some of the foods others had bought. One thing I didn’t try…fried fish eyes. No thanks. On the way back to the ship we were running a little late for curfew. We took the MRT (their Subway) and had to switch trains at one point. Well, as we are coming up to the second one we see that it’s there and getting ready to leave. We didn’t have time to wait for the next one so we all took off running. I make it in the door and turn to see the doors closing and three from our group still outside. Then suddenly, like Incredible Hulk, Adam throws his upper body in the doors and pushes them back open. Everyone made it safely thanks to his selfless sacrifice. God rest His soul. Just kidding! He made it safely….though I don’t know if he was sore the next day.

We have some really interesting people come to the ship. Last week we had a guy who makes all kinds of animals out of drinking straws. It was amazing. He made me a butterfly that I will try to take a photo of and post soon. We also get drunk guys who cause a scene and try to sneak up the gangway. Yeah, that always makes for an interesting night too Well, that’s about all the update I have for now. I hope you all had an amazing Easter and were able to praise the mighty God we serve. I have uploaded a video to my flickr site of some of the waves we experienced on the way to Taiwan. You’ll want to check it out! I’ve also uploaded my latest newsletters for those who aren’t on my email list. Love and miss you all!

Holy waves, Batman! April 6, 2009

So, my first open sea voyage is behind me and I’m sure everyone wants to know…were you seasick? Hmm, should I tell you now or make you wait until later? Everyone enjoys a little bit of suspense so let me first just tell you how the voyage was. We sailed from Manila to Kaohshiung, Taiwan and it took a few days. The seas were angry about something, not sure what…but we sure felt it on board. If you’ve been on a cruise, it was nothing like this! Our ship is much smaller and you can much more deeply feel the movement of waves. In fact, we would go up steps and go from feeling really heavy to really light. You would feel like you couldn’t lift your leg and a few moments later be able to jump four steps in one lurch. It was the funniest feeling! And we would go outside and try to jump when the ship was going down off of a wave to catch extra air time. We may have gotten fussed at for the dangerousness of this, however. Walking in the dining room without holding onto something was nearly impossible. I’ve never been drunk but I’m thinking that’s what it would feel like. As much as you try, it is impossible to walk in a straight line. And you would often find yourself running when the ship was positioned a certain way. You just couldn’t help it. The main lounge (the most calm area of the ship) was like a morgue. Everyone was laid out in there moaning and sleeping. Though I guess you wouldn’t see much moaning in a morgue. At least I hope not.  Most everyone was sick on board.  Except me! Yay! No seasickness. I’m not sure if my love of roller coasters contributed to this blessing. The dining room was a virtual ghost town which was kind of nice. No fighting for a table or food. There were a few others who weren’t sick and hung out with me. Honestly, it was an enjoyable experience. I only hope my lack of seasickness will continue on future voyages. 

Now we are in Taiwan and my Mandarin is horrible! Today is my off day and we decided to go to Outback Steakhouse for lunch since we heard there was one nearby. We walked for an hour and a half until we found it! We had one Chinese-speaker with us which was a blessing but no one seemed to know where the restaurant was. And yes, I had cheesefries. Maybe I can have a goal of having some in each country we go to, haha. It’ll be “my thing” Anyway, we had a great time just exploring the city. Then we went to a street with all the electronics imaginable. I was on the search for an external hard drive and praise the Lord that I had Adam, self-professed tech geek, with me. He led me to one he felt was the best deal and I snatched it up. And he says I saved about $50-$80 US dollars. Works for me.  Tonight we plan on going to some night markets for some shopping and eating. That’s what I enjoy, really hanging out with the locals in the spots they frequent. The language here is tough. I’ve got “hello” and “thank you” down but the others are much more difficult. But I will work on it. It won’t slay me yet!

I plan on uploading a video of some waves we encountered but the internet was not working with me and we are about to go out again. I’ll try again later. But never fear, after an hour of non-tech geek efforts, I’ve figured out a way to put a link to my flickr site on the sidebar so check it out! Photos…FINALLY!!!

Goodbye Manila…for now March 30, 2009

Tomorrow morning we sail from Manila and head on to Taiwan. It is the first time since joining the ship that I will be out of the Philippines. I’m excited to go to a new country, but know it will be more of a challenge. We were blessed that many people in the Philippines speak English. We’ve been told very few in Taiwan will. But language barriers always make for great stories so you will have to check back here often to see what happens

I really enjoyed my time in Manila! It has been exciting to see part of the city where I will be living for a year starting in February. Two very exciting things happened while in this port. For one, i was able to travel about an hour away (due to traffic) to see the office where I will be working next year and, more importantly, the people I will be working with. It was amazing. Carola and Crystal (both from Australia) went with me because A. they are good friends and B. we aren’t allowed to leave the ship alone. I have been corresponding with Dawn, my future boss, through email for a long time. She was probably doubting that I would ever come. I got to sit and chat with her as well as two girls that work in the office for about an hour before Dawn had to leave for a trip to Thailand for business. After her departure, Aileen and Erlene (that won’t be confusing!) took me and the girls out for a bite to eat.  It was afternoon so we walked to Aileen’s apartment and got some ice cream, chips, and drinks at a store nearby. It was like a sleepover without the dark or the pajamas.  We chatted and stuffed our faces for a few hours before the girls and I had to head back to the ship. It really encouraged me to meet everyone. I think I’ll really enjoy working there next year. It was a blessing to get to meet them before my actual move. Is God good or what? And today Dawn surprised me by showing up at the ship to say hello and goodbye (for now anyway). She brought me a really cool Monsoon mug and also introduced me to a guy that I will be working with in the office next year. His name is Kenji and he is from Japan but has lived in Canada for awhile. His wife and adorable son also made the trip.

Another amazing thing that happened….I met one of my sponsored children! I began sponsoring Carla a few years ago, knowing that one day I would be in Manila and hoping I’d get to meet her. Well, I emailed the director of the program here and she emailed me back saying they would visit the ship on Friday. All day I was waiting in expectation. They didn’t tell her where they were going but just said it was a surprise. They said as soon as she saw my face she recognized me from pictures. She was as sweet as can be and gave me plenty of hugs and beaming smiles. Though she doesn’t speak much English, we had a great time together. Her mom also came along and was so kind. We ate dinner on board and then walked through the bookstore, hung out on deck, and took some photos. Then they had to head back home because it was quite a journey for them.  We’ve already talked about getting together when I’m here next year. They told me they’d take me out for Balut (please google it and you’ll understand my apprehension). Another thing on my list of “to do” things while on the ship can be checked off. I’ve only been on board for about two months and already God has blessed me tremendously. Man, I love Him! He’s the man.

In ministry-related news, I had two really difficult e-days. Tuesday and Thursday of this week I had edays. More than usual. The first day we went to a slum area and did a children’s program for about 20-30 kids. Highlight? They loooooved Father Abraham I have a video of us doing it that perhaps I can upload one day….maybe.  At the end of our program we got to hand out packets of soap, toothpaste, washcloth, toys, etc to them. There was so much joy on their faces as they clutched the bags to their chest. It was difficult prying it away from them so I could get them to show me what was inside. It was like they were afraid we would take it from them. It’s just heart-breaking to see such poverty. But Thursday was even worse. We went into one of the worst slum areas in Manila. When we pulled up one girl in my group commented, “I don’t want to go in there.”  We did another kids program. Only this time we had nothing to give them at the end. I left feeling discouraged and that we did nothing to really help them. We showed up with our full bellies and clean clothes (or clothes at all), sang some songs, told some stories, played some games, and then left. Yes, we talked about Jesus, but we wanted to do more. We wanted to help the tremendous physical need that was before us. You may hear about extreme poverty but to see it is something completely different. And I saw some in Ecuador, but this was so very different than that. I pray that God will continue to break my heart for these people and to give me an opportunity next year to do something to help. You’ll hear me mention this same issue in my upcoming newsletter (soon, very soon) because I think it bears repeating. We are so much more blessed than we ever understand. So I found a cockroach in my food….I HAD food! It’s amazing what poverty does to your perspective. If you haven’t done it today, thank God for his blessings. They are abundant!

Until next time…from Taiwan!

I had cheesefries!!!!!! March 15, 2009

But before I get to that (I’m seriously still on cloud 9) let me tell you what else has been happening. I swear, there is some fascination of things happening that involve my rear-end. Tuesday I had another eday. The morning was spent doing ministry training but that afternoon we were on the “car deck”. It’s the front part of the ship where people pass through as they are leaving with their purchases. Many edays consist of hanging out there and ministering to the people. We do dramas, face painting, introductions, and other things while people pass through. Well, two guys came up and wanted a picture. The first guy put his arm around my shoulders. I’d rather they not touch but, ok.  Then the second guy comes up and puts his hand…ON MY BUTT! I was like “woah, how about we put your hand up here” and moved it to my shoulder. Who does that? There are many guys here who just give you the heebie jeebies sometimes. There are also some amazingly awesome people here. So friendly! One prayer request is that there are many guys who cross dress. And I mean A LOT. Sometimes you’re wondering if it’s a guy or girl until you hear them talk and you know. Like anywhere in the world, there are just many lost people so please pray that God will work in their lives.
Friday evening we had swing dance practice again. I hadn’t been able to go in three weeks so was excited to get back into it. I finally got up the courage (with Adam’s necessary prodding) to do an around the world.  That is when the guy is holding you and then swings your legs behind him and then you swing your upper body back around to the front.  It was terrifying and probably looked horrible, but I did it! In fact, I’m pretty sure I didn’t do much swinging. Thinking back, I’d really like to see a video of that. It’s probably Adam just holding my legs as my body slowly moves around to the front.  Maybe I’ll video the next time.  Not that you guys would necessarily see it…the Internet here being what it is and all.  I promise I’m going to upload photos at some point in this lifetime!

One day this week, I was working at the ticket booth when I white guy approached.  He spoke and I could tell he was American.  He asked where I was from and then mentioned he was from Arkansas.  When I told him I lived there for two years we found out that he had lived in Harrison too!  Not at the same time but still.  It is a really small town, what are the chances? I met someone in the Philippines who lived in Harrison, Arkansas.  Sometimes I’m amazed at how small the world really is…

Saturday evening after work, Carola and I planned to go out and watch “Taken” at the local theatre.  Then we found out a guy on the ship had it on his computer.  I asked how it was possible that he had a new release on his computer and he claimed it was an accident….sure!   Anyway, so we watched it in my room.  Good movie! All I’m saying is I will not mess with Liam Neeson anytime soon.  Since I’m sure to run into him in Manila. Those guys were such punks. It’s sad to believe sex trafficking like that is really going on.  Go see the movie if you haven’t.  And actually, I was reading in Ezekiel today a passage that mentioned how we shouldn’t want bad things to happen to our enemies or those that do wrong but pray that God would change their lives. I felt really convicted. I mean, you root against the bad guy in movies but what about in real life? I have to be honest, I want evil people to get what’s coming to them. I don’t ever find myself praying for them that God would radically transform their hearts.  There is one guy in particular that has hurt someone in my family. I have not once prayed that God would work in his heart.  Instead I’ve been thinking bad of him and hoping he gets hurt in some way.  I know that’s not how Christ wants me to react. At the same time, I’m not sure I’m in a place to pray for him sincerely.  But it’s definitely something to think about and adjust in my way of thinking.  No one is beyond the Lord’s reach. Think of Paul…he did amazingly horrible things to Christians before he, himself became a Christ follower.  If his life before Christ was made into a movie, I’m sure we would be wishing he was killed brutally.  BUT look at what he accomplished once God got ahold of him. Wow.  His books in the Bible are among my favorites. How many Christians back then were praying for his salvation? Maybe there were many and look what happened. Our prayers can move mountains. Instead of thinking bad about those who hurt me or my family, I pray that I’ll be able to consistently pray that the Lord would get ahold of them.  Tough lesson, whew.
Let me move on to something more light. Yesterday was my day off.  In the morning I went with one of our local volunteers to her church.  She is the sweetest girl, Elisa. We went and got breakfast (yay pancakes finally!) and chatted for awhile before heading to church. She is 33 but looks about 21.  We got to talk alot about God keeping us in this period of singleness and just encourage each other to wait on God’s timing.  It was a really great time.  Her church was really nice.  The people were all very friendly and welcoming. It was more charismatic so definitely different than I was used to. The first song of worship was upbeat and they had four girls enthusiastically doing a choreographed dance in the front.  That was cute.  And the pastor was hilarious.  He spoke in Taglish, a mixture of Tagalog and English.  So I caught about half he was saying.  I didn’t agree with all he spoke about regarding conservative churches and charismatic churches, but I enjoyed being in the fellowship with other believers.  I came back to the ship afterwards and then headed out with a small group to go eat at TGI Fridays.  Adam and I were aching for some American food.  Also with us were Carola, Crystal, and Alex (all from Australia) and Josh (American/Korean/Chinese…too hard to explain). Oh. My. Gosh.  The food was sooooo good.  I had a nice, juicy, huge cheesy bacon cheeseburger.  Yum.  And they had CHEESEFRIES! I could hardly sit still i was so excited.  There is no ranch in this country and as everyone knows…the ranch is essential to good cheesefries. I thought “well, it’s an American restaurant…maybe…”  And they had it!  And they were delicious.  We had fun just hanging out and talking and then walked to a differnt part of the mall (oh yeah, we were at the mall of asia) to watch people fall at the ice skating rink.  And we did catch some good ones.  It was fun just to watch the beginners struggling to stay standing.  There was one girl who apparently face planted by the wall (sadly, I missed that part).  Well the whole rest of the time she just stood against the wall, not moving. After awhile I commented that she wasn’t exactly ice skating.  Adam pointed out that yes, she was instead ice STANDING.  We had a good laugh about that one.  It will be the next Olympic sport.  “And now representing the Philippines in Ice Standing…”  After awhile hanging out there we stopped at the Hypermarket ( a huge supermarket) for some junk food and then headed back….with the craziest taxi driver known to man! I seriously thought I might die.  But I didn’t.  I lived to create another amazing blog post for the masses.  And now I’m off to lunch.  This girl is hungry!

Quite an update! March 9, 2009

Sorry it’s been so long. Have you missed me? Well I hope you have ample time because I have a lot to say and might be kind of long-winded. We are now in Manila. I am still having a ridiculously good time. It almost seems unfair sometimes.  Last week I introduced a couple games to some of my new friends. For those who know we played the dice game and picture telephone. And man, were they a hit! My favorite picture telephone started out as “I got my butt massaged in the Philippines” (if you read a few posts ago, you understand). Well, when it got to Adam he drew a guy sitting in a chair with someone behind him giving a massage. The guy sitting had an american flag on his t-shirt.  Well, the girl who got that one obviously thought that the guy sitting was in a wheelchair because she wrote “America is disabled”. We had a good time laughing about that one.

Before we left Bacolod, Philippines, we were able to go one night to visit a local orphanage. The American couple that started it 21 years ago met some of the crew from the Doulos when it was there 21 years ago. They have been praying for the ministry ever since and wanted as many of us as were able to come to dinner. Well, about 100 of us went and it was amazing!! The couple that started it came to the Philippines to be church planters. God placed two children with them and it just grew from there.  They treat it as a family and say that all the kids are their children.  The children call them mom and dad too.  It’s a huge family too….150 kids!  It was just so amazing to see people be completely open to whatever God wanted for them. You could see the love of God radiating from every face in that family.  It was so encouraging to see. And the dinner was amazing! There was so much food and it was delicious.  We definitely left there feeling more blessed than we felt we blessed them.

Also, I fulfilled one of the things on my “to do” list….being outside at night-time and staring up at the stars while we are sailing from one port to another.  All I can say is…wow.  I was out with a few other girls and we just sat out on the deck talking and gazing at God’s amazing creation.  We actually stayed out past curfew (shhh).  It was so relaxing and I was just overwhelmed with how small I am compared to all that God has created.  The stars were brilliant and sometimes would appear to be jumping right out of the sky when we stared at them so long. What an amazing God we serve! And to think that little ol’ me gets to serve him…how humbling.  Oh yes, we also saw an amazing shooting star! It was bright orange and huge.  It crossed such a huge portion of the sky we could do nothing but yell “ahhhhhh!” We’re quite an articulate bunch. So needless to say, that was one of the best moments on the ship thus far.  I wish you could all have been there to share it with me.  I’m looking forward to the voyage from Manila to Taiwan because we’ll be away from the coast and should see even more stars.  There’s an opportunity for 7 people a night to sleep out on the deck.  I may take advantage of that!

The following night, while we were still sailing, we had a fun night.  They usually plan one during each voyage. The theme was “20 years from now”.  Many people dressed up but I couldnt’ think of an interesting enough costume. Well, one of the funniest things was a mock funeral.  See, earlier in the day they had a man overboard drill. They have a dummy made out of rope that they put a life vest on and throw into the ocean.  Then they have to rescue him.  Well “Drew the dummy” was lost at sea.  Moment of silence.  They were unable to rescue him.  So at the beginning of fun night these guys in black carried in a black box and they mourned the loss of Drew. They really played it up and it was so hilarious. There are definitely some interesting people on board.  I feel like I fit right in

Then we arrived in Manila! It is so cool to be here and see the city where I will be living soon. One of my friends from church has a friend that lives here and we have been exchanging emails, planning to meet.  Well she came to the ship Friday and took me and a friend out.  Her name is Rhoda and she could not be sweeter.  We went to the mall of Asia (the biggest mall in Asia) and ate lunch, and just walked around hanging out.  Then we went to a market area. It was just a nice, relaxing day and I enjoyed making a new friend! We hope to see her again soon.

Work is going well.  I was on night shift this past week.  We start at 4:30pm and go until we are finished.  Well, Saturday was quite a day. There were so many people who came to the ship and they made a huge MESS in the bookstore.  We closed at 10pm and then had to clean up.  It took quite a while.  After that, we had to go down into the book holds and pull all the books we sold that day.  And man, were there a lot!  I think we pulled 76 bins full of books or something like that.  Whew.  Then we had to put them all away.  We finally finished at 2:30am.  We were so exhausted.  We don’t usually finish that late.  So yes, it is exhausting but so much fun.  I just wish you could all experience it with me.

Well, today is my off day and I plan to go lounge around and be lazy.  I hope you made it through all that and feel a little closer to me today.  Love you all!