Ronald and Gigi have returned to the Casa Esperanza of Angels orphanage in Tanjay, Negros Oriental, Philippines after a two-month long fundraising and reporting trip to supporters in the U.S.
It is a very long trip from Cartersville, GA. They left one night at 6:30 from the Atlanta airport to fly to Dallas. At midnight, the flight left for Hong Kong. It is a 16 hour flight. If you can imagine spending two full work days in a tight seat without sleep, that is just the beginning of the experience. After arriving and going through customs, they had 3 more hours to wait for the flight to Cebu, the island near Negros.
There is a 12 hour time change to keep in mind. They had been awake all day before they left Atlanta. Add up the hours and you will come to between 30 to 40 hours before they get to bed. Gigi can probably sleep some on the flights but Ronald, with his long legs, never gets comfortable but he never complains. I've made many of these long international trips so I know for sure what I am saying.
They got an early check in at the hotel in Cebu as they arrived about noontime. Gigi said they slept 7 hours; Ronald went to a mall close to the hotel to get them some food and they went back to sleep for the night. The day they left Cebu for their flight home, they had to check out of the hotel at 11 a.m. but their flight was delayed and they did not get to leave until 8 p.m. It resulted in another full day of waiting in an airport for a two hour flight home.
There is just no feeling close to the exhaustion you feel after one of these trips. The body goes through the time changes and without sleep, it is very hard. I am always so relieved when I get a message they are in the hotel and ready to get some rest.
I know why we don't have more foreign missionaries. Raising funds for the work, the travels in the U.S. and back and forth to both countries in addition to the work when they are home is unimaginable for most people. The quality of keeping things clean and in good order goes downhill while they are away and then they work very hard to get things back in shape.
About 4 more children were added this month so they have about 34 (?) kids now. It is hard to keep up with the exact number. There is a lot of responsibility on their shoulders as they train these children in all aspects of life as if they were raising their own kids. It is especially hard as the children come from troublesome pasts and unraveling bad things they have already learned makes it twice as hard to deal with the problems.
Creekside church of Christ in Greenville, TX will send a group over in June to conduct a vacation Bible School. There will be a lot of preparation getting everything in good shape for their visit. They are looking forward to the visit and the children will surely benefit from the wonderful work they will do.
Here is a picture of students from their local college Stillman University (Business and Ethics Class) visiting CEA. They brought many supplies and gifts they donated to this work.
Pray for this work in the Philippines. It is an excellent home for children as Ronald and Gigi do such a wonderful job. Thank you to all who support this good work too!
