We get by with a little help from our friends...

We made it! The trip from Charlotte, NC to Manila has been a long journey, and we wouldn't have been able to get here without the help of some of our dear friends. Ellen's friend Ginny graciously took us to the Charlotte airport very early on Friday morning, where we boarded our flight to San Francisco.


Once in San Francisco, we were picked up by Amanda, who is an old friend from Auburn. She took us on her exclusive Bay area tour, which showed us every major site in about 3 hours. Included in the tour was: Robin William's home, the crookedest street in the world, the Golden Gate bridge, the beach, the house in "Mrs. Doubtfire", the "Full House" house, the seals at Fisherman's Wharf, Chinatown, views of Alcatraz, a park where a scene from "The Rock" was filmed, and of course, Golden Gate seminary, where she is a student.


We then said goodbye to Amanda, flew to Taiwan, and caught our connecting flight to Manila. After our arrival, we were picked up by Dave and Tammy, two missionaries who have been here in the Philippines for 15 years. We will be staying with them for the next couple of days, and they will help us to get acclimated. They are very gracious to allow us to stay in their lovely home (pictured below).


Tammy and Dave have planned a complete itinerary for us to get to know the greater Manila area, and to meet some of the 250 Wycliffe staff that serve here. Last night, we had dinner with another missionary family, who used to work in the remote area of Bagabag (pronounced: buh-GAH-bug), which is where we will be staying on Wednesday night as we head up to the NT dedication. During dinner, Ellen and I both had to apologize for nodding off while we were talking because the jetlag was overwhelming us. Even so, we seem to be adjusting well--our bodies are probably only about 2-3 hours off from our normal routine, which alright, because the Philipines are 12 hours ahead of what we are normally used to.

Today we will be going downtown to Wycliffe's main office in the Philippines where I will meet my future boss, John, for the first time, and where we will undoubtedly meet many more support-staff missionaries. Along the way, we will also get to experience a rite of passage for people who live here: the dreaded Manila traffic. Tammy (who works in that office) told us that it usually takes her about 1 hour and 20 minutes to get to the center. Ouch--that's about 3x my current commute to get to Premier in Charlotte.

We are learning a LOT and are well taken care of--thanks for your prayers!