The final countdown

I'm back from my 3 week trip to the Philippines. It was a success and the way is now paved for the whole family to go to Cebu in 3 weeks. 

We are grateful to be able to find cost effective flights (£400 each, one way) which will give us an overnight stop in Singapore, leaving the UK on Monday 2nd May.

While in Cebu I was able to visit some of the IJM ladies we have been working with for these years while there. They are struggling with home.

Today was the children's last day at their school, Covenant Christian School, which they (and we) are all very sad about leaving. Becky's mum Jenny also shed a few tears, as she has been teaching most of Becky's allocation of classes and we have all fallen in love with the families there! They will be missed. To help the kids keep in touch with friends, we are planning to let them make short videos - so if you have a question for them, please send it to us!

Friday photo on 8-4-2022 WhatsApp Image 2022-04-08 at 13.26.22.jpeg

This was our last day with the school. They threw a little goodbye party for us, with gifts, which was so moving! 

One of the things I was looking at when I visited in March was the ability to continue to do our work. That included the state of our home after the typhoon, the status of the schools (whether they are opening), transport links and ability to reach those we minister to. I'm pleased to say that the trip was an overwhelming success and all is ready for us to return. One of the areas that I highlighted as a need was to replace our car. Twice it was in the garage whilst I was there and they struggled to fix the ongoing problems with the steering and oil leaks. The bodywork of the car has deteriorated since we left significantly. Therefore we are getting ready to sell it. At 22 years old and being used every day for the last 6 years, it has served us well. 

If you know of anyone interested in supporting us to buy another car, we're running a fundraiser on GoFundMe. A replacement of a car about 8-10 years old will cost in the region of £5,000 to £6,000 (cars are expensive in the Philippines!), but the more we raise the better the car we can purchase and the longer we can use it for. Our last car was already 16 years old when we bought it and the previous owner felt it was 'on its last legs' when we bought it! Praise God that it lasted this long! Hugs thanks to those who helped us bluy 'The White Warrior' (as it is known).

Here's the gofundme link: GoFundMe

( https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-us-replace-our-aging-car?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1 )

More info can be found on our blog fundraising page.