The Philippines :: Boracay

At the end of our trip we were able to rest up from the busy week for a couple nights at the amazing and beautiful Boracay island!!

Brandon and I have never been to an island like this, so it was really exciting for us!

On our way!!

Our room with the neat towel display!
When we walked out of our hotel and around the corner this is what we saw! Amazing!

This was built everyday.

The beautiful white sand and clear blue water!! And it felt amazing!

It was officially perfect when we found the Starbucks, and, right on the beach!

Brandon and I enjoyed an amazing walk along this beach our first morning there, and with Starbucks of course!

And then off to snorkeling!

We went to 2 different snorkeling sights. Brandon had been a couple times before but this was my first!

It was perfect conditions!

We're ready to go!

Our favorite thing we found was a Nemo fish! It was exactly as the movie portrayed!

We took a little boat around the whole island!

The mango shakes were the best in the world in Boracay! Thanks Jonas shakes!

Leaving Boracay . . . a bitter-sweet feeling for us Burns' cause we got BURNT!!

That snorkeling got us good! Man the sun there is strong! We applied sun screen twice before 10am and this is what we get!!

It took a good 3 weeks until our backs we fully healed! It was quite an awful, long plane flight back!

These were the neat boats called bonkas.

We saw some amazing views on our way home.

This is the top part of the island!

I was just playing with our camera here, but I thought it was a cool shot :)

We had an amazing time, and it was so neat to see the beautiful island that our Lord created! We would love to go back there too! (But this time with more powerful sunscreen!)

"O Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!"

Psalm 8:1

The Philippines :: Buhay Sports Basketball

The basketball ministry we worked with is called Buhay Sports. Buhay means life in tagolog (the language in the Philippines). The ministry runs by short term teams that come and play exhibition games with teams all throughout the country. Basketball is the main sport in the Philippines! Everyone plays! There are basketball courts where there in not even running water. Since everyone loves basketball so much, whenever there is a game going people from all over come out to watch. So, during half time a member from the Buhay team says a short testimony to the crowd followed by a recap and the gospel again by a local pastor in tagolog. Then the team passes out tracts and asks the crowd to respond by filling out their information. A local pastor then sends them a bible and literature. Receiving mail is a rare thing so when someone gets mail, they take the time to read it! It's a really neat ministry! We were disappointed that we didn't get to see the latter end of the deal, but it was a real blessing to be able to share in this way.

So for 4 days of our trip the guys played 2 games a day with teams in provinces and even a college team. Buhay won most of their games which was an added plus!

Here is Brandon sharing his testimony during the last game. He did such a great job and it was a great way to end the basketball part of the trip.
This was the court of the last game they played. Most of the courts we went to were outside but covered.

We all loved our matching jerseys!

This little guy was a baller!

We had both purple and black jerseys!

We Had our first names on the jerseys so that is was easier for people to remember our names.

Go Team Buhay!!

This is out in one of the provinces, probably one of the prettiest places we went. But half way through the game it started to pour and water got on the court so we had to leave, but the gospel was shared!

The team always gave kids what they called "baller bands." They loved them!

Team prayer before the game.

This was probably the biggest crowd that came. It was at a college, and they screamed when their team not only scored but had the ball!

This court, among the others, was so slippery that they sprinkled Coke on it so that it was sticky!

The team being introduced before their first game.

This was my favorite baller!!!

Ya, look at that dunk!!

We loved being there to support and cheer on our husbands!

This is the team with some local fire fighters who wanted a picture :)

So after half time, us girls went around and collected the response cards. This is me doing so at our last game.

This is a ministry that is really effective in the Philippines, but it wouldn't seem like it unless you knew the culture and the people and what they do and love. Though one of many opportunities to share, we would love to be able to participate in this ministry in the future. Our team was amazing, and this is something anyone can do!

"Shout for joy to God, all the earth;

sing the glory of his name;

give to him glorious praise!"

Pslam 66:1-2

The Philippines :: Manila

So Manila was the main city that we stayed in the Philippines. We stayed in the Kids International Ministry's guest house. The ministries here that Brandon and I could be involved in are amazing. There are teaching possibilities and opportunities to work with kids and teenagers who are living in their children's home. Though the majority of our time was spent playing basketball, we got a really neat tour of all the ministries.

These are some really cute kids that we met in the surrounding neighborhood. The poverty there was great, and these precious faces lived among it. It was heartbreaking to witness the way they lived, and yet so joyful.
This is what a typical neighborhood looks like. The houses are very small and stacked on top of one another.
This is an outside kitchen where people make food for the kids that go to the school that is next to KIM.
Another neighborhood in the middle of the city.

This is a typical transportation vehicle-- a Jeepey.

This is a view of the city from Faith Academy which a school where missionary kids can attend. It's a really neat school where I'd love to teach someday!

Faith Academy is where Darren went to school and graduated!

And this is the amazing swim complex that the owner from Forever 21 completely donated!

Teaching at Faith would be a really neat opportunity some day, and it's just one of many opportunities that would allow Brandon and I to serve here.

"The Lord is a string hold for the oppressed,

a stronghold in times of trouble.

And those who know your name put their trust in you,

for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you."

Psalm 9:9-10