Welcome to the Island Castaway team!

On June 14^th we met the team at the airport and took them straight on an adventure on a tricycle. After getting them settled at their inn to rest for a bit, we met back up with them for dinner at a local restaurant... feeding them the typical Filipino chicken barbeque and rice meal. After long travels, the team was thankful that was all they had to do for the first day. 

At 9 the next morning, we met up with the team to help them practice the Bridge tract and Gospel Hand while using a translator. They did an excellent job! After practicing for a while, their American Race began! They split up, girls and guys, to try and accomplish all the tasks on their list: finding the hourly price at a local internet café, knowing where the port was, finding the hospital, and other things that would help them begin to adapt to their surroundings. 

For lunch we met them at Jollibee to introduce them to yet another classic Filipino meal and debriefed how the race went. As jetlag was a inevitable obstacle for that afternoon, they went back to their inn for a little siesta to rest up and met up with them again later that afternoon to practice their testimonies and the Bridge tract once again with a translator. 

After practice we rode over to the market (palengke) to buy food for dinner. That evening for dinner, we took them to Pastor Gladwin’s church where some of our Filipino partners made them a very Filipino meal: rice, dried fish, fried fish, and dried squid. Their first full day in country was a success! 

Sharing at the park

Day 3 started again at 9am with practicing their testimonies with a translator before taking them to a local park to share with some of the youth hanging out. For lunch we took them to Chowking and bought some halo-halo for them while talking about all the sharing they had done. Again, the team split up, girls and guys, and each had a translator with them and walked around the park talking to anyone that wanted to listen. They reported that most people were very willing to listen and they all had a great time practicing their testimonies and using the Bridge tract in real life. Sadly, that afternoon I had to leave to go back to Davao, but I had an amazing time getting to the know the team a little bit and already seeing them adjusting to a new country and a new culture. 

On Sunday, June 19^th, the team packed up their bags and enjoyed a 19-hour ferry ride to the outer islands where they will be serving the rest of their summer. 

-Betsy

Pray that the Island Castaway team will have safe travels as they travel by boat to as many of the islands as they can and pray they would stay healthy.