Note from La Ne'- AKA “The Blogger”
It is almost midnight, and everyone else has headed to bed after an exhausting but fulfilling last day of medical work. We headed to another seaside town today, to a little church that was packed to the gills with people. Several of the Sankey kids that came with us today are from this little town. Knowing their histories of abuse and neglect, it is amazing how willing they are to serve and to love people, even from the place that bears hard memories.
The numbers are still coming in, but there were more than 150 families seen today at the clinic, most families with several kiddos in tow. We shut the gates to new patients at 1:30 PM, and still had over 100 patients to see.
The entire team of kids, staff, and our little group from the US was definitely worn out today- you could see it was a great effort to smile at each patient and to gracefully handle the hundreds of wild hooligan munchkins that were running and screaming around the church. But we did it! We took time to love on every patient, to listen to their needs, pray for each one, and help where we could. The Sankey kids played a big role in translating for Jeff and running each station. They are getting to be quite the medical professionals!
And the Sankey staff- I wish I could express in words how we treasure each one of them! They overflow with love and compassion and serve with their whole hearts every day. They did such an incredible job setting up each medical mission and coordinating all of the details required for a day to run smoothly. And all this while still handling their duties at home as house parents, social workers, teachers, directors, and support staff. What an example and an inspiration they are- and what an encouragement us.
We spent tonight celebrating with the kids and staff with a great feast. We shared a video from February's team (Thanks to the Montanans for putting it together), a slide show of all of our adventures this week, and a silly skit that I am sure will make it viral on the internet. We ended the night with rousing games of hide-n-go seek, sardines, and dodge ball. What an endless supply of energy these kids have!
The power just went out, so I'd best sign off before the computer runs out of juice. We are headed to Rizal (a sports camp and resort) with all of the kids and staff tomorrow for a day of rest, games, and fun. We won't have internet access there- so we will be signing off until our travels home on Sunday.
Please pray for us as we say good-bye to all of our precious ones here and as we travel home. We love you and miss you all!
Much love to you from the Philippines Team.
