My most memorable and most intimidating experience recently was to take a Tricycle (motorcycle with a side car) that stopped to pick up two other women from close to our house to the main road and then catch a loaded Jeepney from there to the office.  It wouldn’t be such a big deal except that I had to do it alone, as Todd was working with a medical team that came over and I also had to do it in a dress carrying my computer bag and purse and a jacket I would need in the WMC air-conditioned office!  I chose my wardrobe carefully, opting for the long flowing “broomstick” skirt that my Father-in-law calls my “missionary skirt” so that I would be well covered all the time.  I didn’t think about the fact that I would trip over it getting in and out as it was so long!  I had texted Grace in the office and she wrote back the Tagalog words that I would need and told me to have the exact amount ready so that I didn’t have to worry about getting change from them.   I made it to the office and was feeling quite proud of myself……so the devil frustrated me on the way home and I ended up walking the couple of Kilometers and caught a Tricycle up the main big hill in the subdivision and paid a lot for it!  What is that verse…..pride goeth before a fall…… you would think I would learn!

The reason I had to have the above new experience, is because the car we purchased broke down after we had the new experience of driving through a flooded area.  The rain stared while we were out running an errand on Sunday late afternoon  and by the time we returned on the road we had started out on approximately 30-45 minutes later, the road was flooded, up to the bottom of the doors of our little Honda CRV. Getting an inch or two of rain in a 30 minute period is common here. There was no choice but to go with the flow of traffic through the flood water, other cars smaller than ours were going through.  We made it just fine (I took a video of it) and made it home praising the Lord the whole way!  The next morning when I went to drive Todd to the main road to meet up with the Medical Team at 5am, the car wouldn’t go into gear.  I got out and switched places with Todd, he thought I was just not doing it right – and still, it wouldn’t go into gear.   We have a mechanic coming to look at it Thursday morning.  Hopefully he will show up and we are praying he will be able to fix it quickly without costing too much.  I have been wishing I had that big ugly 4 wheel drive “Mystery Machine” Van we had in Africa! J That would have sailed right over the water – never even getting close to the underside of the vehicle!

Another new experiences was that Todd was able to go and help out with a medical team that was here.  They put him on triage and they saw 400-500 patients per clinic day!  That is a lot of sick/hurting people.  They had 3 docs with them from the Ukraine and Paramedics from the US.  They helped many patients, but there were some patients that the only help they could give was prayer, as they knew that the limited medicine they could give would not be enough to cure, only the Great Physician can help them and heal them. The prayers for them continued through the night and today each time they come to mind.  One does not experience that type of hurting without it having an impact on them.

We moved into our new house and are getting things worked out with the water tank on the roof that has to be monitored while filling between 9pm and 11pm each night.  To leaks in the pipes somewhere between the 3^rd floor roof and the ground level.  When you pay dearly for every drop of water that is pumped in at that hour, you don’t want the water to just disappear.  Todd was able to work with the owners and they got a plumber in and thankfully found the main leak! That is after they tore up the tile in one of the bathrooms thinking the leak was there and not finding it and then starting to dig outside where they finally found a substantial leak and fixed it.

One of the more fun new experiences was that Todd was asked to speak at the Annual Metro-Manila District Bowling Tournament.  He gave a 15 minute devotional with a challenge and then the fun began!  We didn’t bowl, we just visited with the people and enjoyed ourselves.  They had some serious bowlers and some very high scores!  There was a lot of laughter and great fellowship.  We were thankful to be a part of the event.