Saturday morning, we found ourselves back at the Compassion project at Life Church for their Saturday program. The kids are split into classes based on their ages, and our group broke into smaller groups to visit them in their classes. These are the oldest kids, years nine and ten, who will graduate from high school next spring. In the Philippines, kids go to college at age 16, though they are phasing in a more “American” style, adding grades 11 and 12 to their curriculum over the next several years.

The younger kids enjoyed games like pictionary and duck duck goose.

One really cool thing that happened was that J and I started sponsoring a kid in the project there… and then I got to meet her! She’s six and her favorite color is pink. ^_^

I gave her a ton of books, mostly about animals (hey, it’s ME after all) and art supplies with EXTRA crayons and we got to play and color together. ^_^ (We’re talking about favorite animals in this photo. She likes birds.)

Aaaaand here we are smiling. She’s just too cute. I got to meet her mom, too, and learn all about her family.

Here’s a pretty good group shot of all of the sponsors and kids in the project, plus a few extras in the back. Our church in Hawaii is partnered with that Compassion project and sponsors nearly all of the kids there.

All too soon, it was time to go…

There were lots of hugs and tears and photos and all of the things when you’re saying goodbye.

And lots of silly. Lots and lots of silly.

It was starting to rain again, and she didn’t want me to go. 😦

We got to the airport on time despite all of the long, hard goodbyes, went through customs, and settled at the gate to wait.

…and wait…

…and wait…

…and wait.

Our plane arrived THREE HOURS late from Manila, effectively missing our layover there, but we thought we would still maybe make our connection to Guam and the flight home…

To be continued… ~_^