Well, today began a lot
later than had been on the regular schedule.
Our flight was delayed a day, so we slept in until about 6 – or at least
we laid in bed until then. Most of the
team was awake at 4 – Harrison even got up and showered until I told him to go
back and lay down. By 5, though, he was
back up and ready to begin the day.
We ate breakfast and then
had our devotions. A number of the staff here at the office joined us for our
devotions as we began the book of Philippians.
Seems late in the trip, but actually it was our first morning to be
together as a group (yesterday we attended their devotional time).
Anyway, after devotions, we
gathered the kids from outside and brought them into the gym to show a veggie
tales video. In the middle of the video,
one of the kids unplugged the power to the projector, and the unit turned off.
So the kids got up and the team started singing songs with them. We gave them starburst candy and sent them on
their way – because we were going to visit ASHTEC – a ministry of AMG
Philippines.
We hopped in the car for the
1 ½ hour drive to ASHTEC – AMG Skilled Hands Technical College. A technical school focused on giving the
poorest of the poor the opportunity to be trained in technical skills like
welding, pipe fitting, computer and media skills, etc. Kristine gave us the orientation and shared
with us the purpose and goals of ASHTEC and then proceeded to give us a tour of
the facility. ASHTEC has the only
simulated EEI facility in the facility – which is a simulated oil processing
plant fashioned after the plants in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. The training helps them be marketable to go
and work there, which is a very valuable skill for them.
ASHTEC has tons of
partnerships with companies and organizations that need technically skilled and
morally balanced people, and that is the focus of ASHTEC. It was cool to hear their passion for not
only preparing the students academically and skillfully, but also spiritually
and morally.
We had lunch at the school
and met with Richard (COO), Eric (Head of Moral Development) and Jun (the
founder and head of the school). I told
them that I had a treat for them – Dee could help with their future dental
school, Ashlyn could help in the Bible training and moral development classes,
Kendra could help with their math teaching, Harrison could help with their
Science teaching, Brooke could help with their Music teaching, Don could work
with their technical school, and Bevan could work with their English
classes! Everyone had a role for the future
at ASHTEC. We all had fun dreaming about
the possibilities, but seriously, only God knows what the future connections
will be as a result of the connections that happened today.
After a long discussion and
finishing our very “fancy” lunch, we headed back to the AMG headquarters 1 ½ hours
away. The team sang songs, made plans
for our work with the kids, laughed, and just developed and deepened relationships
with each other and with Pastor Jun and Jing as they drove us back to the
center.
When we returned, most of
the team went and lay down to rest – because tomorrow we have a very early
flight, so we will be getting up at 2 in the morning. Before dinner, many of the team went out to
play with the kids – they didn’t even want to come in for dinner. I really think we could have spent the entire
trip right here, and they would have had a wonderful time. I look forward to our trip to Samar tomorrow. I know God has some amazing things for us as
we head that way.
Early night tonight – early morning
tomorrow – we need to get to bed early.
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