At the Feeding Sites

During the time we were in Boracay, we went to six different feeding sites. These sites are located in the poorest communities on the island. Each one is visited only once per week. Local Filipino believers associated with the mission run the sites. They faithfully teach God's word to the children, feeding them a meal and taking care of basic first aid needs afterwards.
Our part was to sing some songs with the children and then just to interact with them, giving them some personal attention. We took 1600 pipe cleaners with us to Boracay, and used every one of them up! The kids had never seen them, and we had great fun making glasses, butterflies, spiders, etc. together. The pipe cleaner glasses were very popular, as you'll see in the pictures.
The children that attend the feeding sites regularly are all given the "Jesus Loves Boracay" red t-shirts. It was neat to see these t-shirts being worn all over the island- great advertising for the ministry.
Gwen loved being involved with the kids at the feeding sites. Above she's passing out cups of chicken soup. The children in the picture below are waiting in line for their meals.
Dishing up dinner for a crowd!

Caleb, Seth, Lucas and Lance found an eager group of boys at most of the sites to play ball with them. A couple of sites had makeshift basketball courts; at the site in the picture below the hoop is attached to a palm tree trunk.

I took a storybook with me to the sites about how much God loves us. At some of them, I would read the book and the local Filipino worker would translate in into Tagalong, the native language page by page. Many of the children understood basic English, but they are still learning.

Sue with a group waiting to be shown how to make magic with their pipe cleaners.
If you look closely, you'll see a chicken and a pig in the background of this photo! This group of children was so happy to play Ring Around the Rosie, Duck-Duck-Goose, and Looby Loo with me.
Rich is handing out vitamins... Gwen watching.
More pipe cleaner fun..
Working at the feeding sites was definitely a highlight for me. Scott graciously took on the role of photographer at the sites, consequently there are very few pictures of him, but when he wasn't taking pictures, he was also a popular pipe cleaner artist and did some first aid, too.

The last two days we were on the island, we took some time off and didn't go to feeding sites. We actually missed going... it was truly a gift to get to love on those children!