Ok. So I've titled this Day 0, like one of my other posts, because really I have begun my vacation by traveling to Nashville, but we won't actually be leaving for anywhere until tomorrow at 3:35 PM.
There are a couple of things to blog about even though the mission trip really hasn't started. I've gotten a lot of questions recently about various aspects of the trip, so hopefully I can answer those here! :)
First, I have had several people ask about getting to the Philippines. Well, the easiest way to describe it is to give you our itinerary. Tomorrow we leave at 3:35 PM from Nashville to Los Angeles (ETA: 6:00 PM). We have a 6 hour layover in LA (oh my goodness I didn't realize that) and then we will leave at 12:20 AM for Seoul, Korea (that is South Korea and ETA: 5:20 AM). We will get right back on another plane to Maila, Philippines (ETA: 11:50 AM). So, if you figure out using all of the times (in their correct time zones) that's over 21 hours of actual flying time, that is not including layovers. When arriving into the Manila airport, we will still have around an hour drive to our final destination, Adventist University of the Philippines, my dad's alma mater. Yes. It is going to be a very long trip that will probably be exhausting. To put it in even more into perspective, just think we are leaving in the afternoon while it is still daylight and then arriving to our destination around lunch time while the sun will still be shining. So we have to sleep on the plane in order to obtain an easy transition and not be tired for the activites planned on the day of arrival.
Next question...who's all going with you? Well, there will be a total of 8. Mom, Dad, Christie, Mr. and Mrs. Erikson (a couple from Madison Campus SDA church), Alex (long-time family friend), Ryan and myself will be traveling together for the entire duration of the trip.
Next question...what exactly are you doing on the trip? What is the "mission" aspect of the trip? Well, easy answer is...go visit http://missionofhope2010.webs.com. The website contains detailed information about why we started this mission trip, who's going, what our projects for this trip is, and photos from last year's trip. But, if you don't really have time, I'll summarize here. :) As previously stated, Adventist University of the Philippines (AUP) is my dad's alma mater. We will have designed projects to specifically help students who are classifed as "working students". This particular group of students work full time (and I'm not talking your generic 30-40 hours a week, I mean 60-70 hours of labor) while trying to attend classes to obtain an undergraduate degree. These students work to support their education. Many of them do not have uniforms, which are required by the university, so they make do by sharing. Most of them eat only one meal a day because meal plans and food costs, just like in the States, are expensive. What we consider as necessities/toiletries are often luxury for these students. So, what are we going to do about it. Well, we have set out 3 main projects. We are providing basic school supplies (something any average US college student would use in a month), toiletries, and a food buffet for 400 students (there are a total of 600 working students so the officers and guidance counselors and figuring how to divide the supplies accordingly). The next project is to provide regular clothes to these students. The last project is to provide about 100 students with uniforms. We obtained all of the supplies through donations of the actual items or raising money in order to purchase these supplies. In addition to these projects we will be providing worship services, English classes, and providing encouragement for the students. It is going to be a rewarding experience and I'm glad to be sharing it not only with those who are going with us, but with all of you who are keeping up with my blog.
Next question...are you spending all of your time doing mission work? Short answer. No. While most of our trip will be spent providing some sort of mission work, either with the working students or with other remote churches on other Philippine islands, we will be taking a couple of days trips for vacation time. However, you will just have to keep reading to see what kind of adventures that we will be participating in!
Ok. I think those were the major questions that I have received in the past few days. Feel free to leave comments or shoot me an email with any other questions or to just leave a comment.
Now, I am just finishing up with last minute errands and packing and preparing for the next couple of days mentally. Hopefully, I will be able to blog tomorrow...maybe somewhere in LA or Seoul. :)
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