A missionary!? Ok... so maybe i AM.....

"Are you in the Peace Corps?" they ask in hopes to show off their English speaking skills to the blond haired girl with white skin and blue eyes. For this reflection shows strength and promise in this brown skinned 3rd world country.

"No, I am a volunteer. But I have come on my own." as you could probably tell, i am this blond hair girl.

"So you are a missionary?" usually with lit up eyes this is the next expression.

"Well," she stammers, always hating that term..."my life is missions. But i am not a missionary."

This is a conversation i have had at least 15 times in the past 2 years. Maybe you have even been the one asking me. I don't know where my jaded attitude toward that label has come from, but i am more open to what it means after this past weekend.

We were able to go out on our first 'outreach' One of the high school teachers chose 5 students from the Deaf academy and we prepared a lesson in Jesus' birth. 5pm Friday afternoon we began our journey to Jagna, where 46 Deaf Elementary students awaited the arrival of the visitors they were told had activities planned for them.



we taught them new vocabulary that was related to the nativity story. The high school students acted out the entire story. in a 15 minute drama they started with Gabriel visting each Mary and Joseph all the way to the Shepherds and wisemen coming to the manger. We had color pages to relate each sign with the characters to help them understand the concept of Jesus being born.



They understood that Jesus was born. But they could not understand the importance. How do you explain the concept of a Savior to children who just found out several months earlier that they had a name? What is sin anyway? This is going to be a long process. But it seems that God has already begun the process. Mother Teresa said, 'What we are doing may just be a drop in the ocean, but the ocean would be less without that one drop.' living next to the ocean and seeing the days when the sky and ocean seem to be one in the combination of grayness... this journey is bittersweet.



After the day and a half of trying to explain that the baby Jesus acted out in recent drama was the same Jesus on the cross they see all over this 'Catholic' nation... none seem to comprehend.

I spent my last 15 minutes in Jagna trying to reiterate to a 7 year old that Jesus is spelt J-E-S-U-S.. not J-S-S-U-E... it is difficult for them to learn the letter order, much less the importance of that Holy name. It was at that moment, holding back tears when frustration wanted to arrive that my heart accepted the label, MISSIONARY. that word has become less scary, but i still prefer Kingdom Builder. I can not associate myself with those who give up their families, friends, cleanliness ect... to come to foreign places for the rest of their lives, all in His name. My life does not compare.

On a lighter note: here are some of the amazing pictures i promised in my last post... They do not do justice as to how incredible that view actually is. It brings new light to the words in Genesis when it says God created the land and the sea... How light those words seem until you see the splender, and in only 6 days! How great.. impossibly great.


i am standing on some really old volcanic rock. Bohol doesn't have volcanoes anymore..




Splendid view. This is where I will pitch my tent in just 2 weeks:




Imagine the sun rise and setting up here...Another view from where my tent will be pitched:


After riding up and down 2 mountains behind Lee... this is what I looked like: