Day #11 - Monday, September 3rd

Today we go home! Thie picture to the right was taken together in our room at the Biyanehan Hotel in Manilla, as we debriefed the night before we went home. What an adventure we had! There is no doubt that God brought us together to be a small part of the signifigant work He is doing in the Philippines. Our missionaries that lead the trip, Randle and Joyce Peterson, have become a part of our family. Over the last 10 days, we have worked together, SWEATED together, ate together, worshiped together, and if you know the individual member of our team, you KNOW we laughed together! It was awesome! Randle and Joyce...THANK YOU for giving yourselves to us, and to this ministry! You are truly a blessing to us, and to the body of Christ!

Shortly after we went to bed, we had to get up! On the flight to the Philippines, we "lost" 12 hours to the time change, which only means that on the way home, we would have to make those 12 hours up with a 36 hour Labor Day! We had to be packed and downstairs at 3:45 AM to catch our flight. Upon arrival at the airport, pressing through ticketing and security, we finally found ourselves on the flight that would take us 4 hour north, to Nagoya, Japan.

After a brief layover in Japan, we boarded the Jet and began the longest leg of our journey home...14 hours back to Detroit, then connecting for the brief, final leg finishing in Pittsburgh. The adventure came to a closein a homecoming surrounded by family, at the Pittsburgh International Airport.

The trip has ended, but to this day i am so grateful for several things. First, new friends...in the Philippines, having the great privilege of meeting and working with our missionaries, Randle and Joyce Peterson, and Mark and Fredda Alston, and growing closer with the members of our missions team. Secondly, I carry a stronger burden for missions than ever before. God has called us to be His carriers of a message that needs to "go viral" around the world! I want to do my part! And thirdly, I thank God for the miracle of seeing Him provide. He helped each member of this team raise their entire budget for the trip (thanks First Assembly for your help!!!). God also helped us to raise the $7,500 for the building itself in just a couple of weeks. We are so blessed to be a part of a great missions church that is becoming a greater missions church all of the time!

In closing the portion of my blog that will focus exclusively on the Philippines trip, I would like to say thank you to The Lord for such a great experience for the members of our team. Also, we thank the seventh member of our team who was unable to attend due to his surgery...Pastor Martin, for having the God-inspired vision to send a church-building team. Lastly, I thank the members of the Philippines '07 trip: Samantha Bertocchi, Jamie Cunard, Bill Kalp, Len Lagestee, Harlod Newton, and Matt Sabella. You guys were awesome to work with!

And now...we present this video detailing the process of our trip. Enjoy!