Back in England!

Hey guys!

Back in snowy snowy England! I hope you're all missing me and my fruit loops! I am missing all of you, its too quiet. To Lou and Liz, I pray the Sid the cockroach has left your room and to Malcolm and Ian I pray you have found out what the heck is in your room.

I hope you all have had a great day and I really pray the weather clears up so you can get home!
This blog is late as normal for me, but at least this time I have a good reason. Been catching planes for the last two days :). I want to write about Tuseday, when we all split up and went the areas we felt God was calling us to. I felt such a desire to go back to Tunasan, now having learnt to spell it correctly.

We, Malcolm, Lou and I, arrived to empty drop in centre. However this was good news as it meant parents had enough food to feed the children before school and that they had actually gone to school. In Manila, the amount of children wanting to go school and the lack of schools mean that the children go to school in shifts. The shifts are from 6 am to 1pm and then 1 pm to 6 pm. A couple of children did up later as they needed their lunch before going to school. It was great to be there as we had the van so we could give them a lift to school. The school is quite a walk away and they are having to walk when the sun is at its hottest. We then went on a tour of the school and gave the children a lift back to the drop in centre.

Well then they were flooded with children who had just finished school. I think there was around 24 children. We played games, dodgeball and this one where you are in circle and all have to do stupid dance moves. Malcolm, Lou, Kathy (the social worker at Tunasan) and I went on a shopping trip! It was brilliant having Kathy there as she knew exactly what the children needed and what she wanted for the centre. She was touched and so happy, it was fanstastic! We brought her a world map something she had wanted for ages! As we were leaving the mall, we wanted the buy the children ice cream but Kathy suggested brownies from the Brownie shop instead as the children were always staring at them and had never had brownies before! To be honest I think although we were buying stuff for the children, the true enjoyment was for us as we saw how happy they were. We arrived back at the centre with massive bags of stuff but the children never tried to peep in and see what we had brought. They were all doing their homework when we arrived and we did distract them but they stayed in their seats. When we got the brownies out they didn't rush us or fight and argue. They formed an orderly line, no pushing or shoving and just patiently waited till it was their turn. But what really got me, was there was a little boy, around 2 who was to shy to come and get brownies so the children grabbed my hands and brought me to him so he could have a brownie as well. I was so touched by their thoughtfulness and selflessness.

As the day progressed, we coloured in, Lou helped them to make bracelets and rings out of the beads we had brought, but they were already very clever at making everything. At the end of the day me and Lou were covered. We both had bracelets, rings, ankle chains, necklaces and flowers in our hair. Even Malcolm had a bracelet on! Then we played games, similar to British bull dog, the children had their dinner and then we brought them ice cream. We spolit them rotten but they deserve it! The girls made me and Lou valentine's card, as in the Philippines its a celebration of love for everyone not just partners.

They are the most delightful, selfless people I have ever met. The love of one another and their acceptance of anyone new is something we should all try to replicate. I thank God for all the work He is doing and thank you for letting me see it.

Thank you all for reading the blog!
Emily x