Hotdogs and Marshmellows

Okay, so Debbie and I spent a couple of hours yesterday with Bambi and Carmela to plan "date night" for the church's married couples....in discussing the meal we said we wanted to pass some appetizers while everyone was coming in. We asked what was typical?...crackers and cheese, you know, the kind of stuff we do in the states. NO, they like to have marshmellows and mini hotdogs on a toothpick! together...

Next eyeopener was trying to come up with some prizes that the couples could go home with after winning a couple of games that we will play, you know, something that would be considered romantic to enhance the marriage...candles we suggested...NO, they only use candles in "brown outs"...what about music CD's....NO, most people have no means to play music...Bambi suggested a small basket filled with coffee, sugars and creamers as this will be most useful and wanted. Great, we will go with that.

On to the tables and decorations...how we would love to have access to our round tables at the church building and our throw away tableclothes....good luck! They do have some tables, various shapes and sizes so we will get creative with this! They have such a workforce that all Debbie and I had to do was say what we want and Carmela will get her troops out into the city to try and find what we want....like "tealights"...flowers...these will be gathered from bushes around the city and candies....well, these are too expensive. (I wanted Hershey kisses for the tables but Carmela said they were too expensive...I am going to pick some up from the local market and scatter a few around the tables anyway so that I can share how special they are to me and my family and maybe instill a little romance!)

We will meet with JR,the church cook, and discuss menu today. This has been a fun project and will continue to be an enlightening one into the Philippine culture.

After this planning session, we had lunch at a local place and Debbie & I had fresh "Lumpia" which was like a burrito with fresh local vegetables inside(mostly a root vegetable alot like Jimica) and a semi-sweet sauce poured over top. This has been my favorite dish so far....and for desert we shared a Hola-Hola (Zach's fav) which was a shaved ice concoction with coconut and a "flan" on top....it was very good. I thought of you Zachary with every bite!

Afterwards we rode a "trike" to meet Loleit at a local hospital to meet and pray over the sick there. This is a ministry that she has done for 3 years now, going every wednesday, to pray for the sick. The first person we visited was a 6 yr. old boy, Jefferson, whose mother said my name when we walked into the room....WHAT...turns out, she remembered me from Sunday when we went out into the villages to do the "missions" . Their home was our first stop that day. Her son was hit by a van on Monday and has suffered some brain trama. It was such a God thing to have this "coincidence". We prayed and visited with him for quite awhile and by the time we left, we were graced with the ever slightest smile on his precious scraped up little face!

The next visit was with the parents of a 1 and a half month old baby boy sick with a fever. So tiny and fragile lying in an adult size bed. They were very receptive to us praying over him.

Next was a 59 yr. old woman, Norma, who was just this week diagnosed with bone cancer...please pray for her! Alot of her family was in the room with her and they too were very receptive to us praying for her and all came and stood around her bed with us as we prayed. After the prayer, I went to her bedside and took her hand and looked into her beautiful eyes for several seconds...seemed like a minute....I don't know what it was, but there was a connection there (Im glad I didnt start crying til I left her room) but I will remember Norma and continue to pray for her.

Last visit was to a 79 yr. old man, Arturo, with advanced crippling arthritis. He has been there for over a year. His english was quite good and we had a good visit and prayer with him. I went to shake his hand and he said, it doesnt work too good, I told him that it was just fine as I tried to put my hand in his and make it fit...Debbie did the same and then he asked her for a hug...hummm, I said, "Hey, dont I get a hug too" and of course he obliged!

Such a humbling experience and I thank God for it.

I am having some issues with swelling...hands and feet....must be the heat and standing/walking all day. I am drinking tons of water...any other suggestions? I've never had this before!

My love to all...more later