Welcome to the Philippines

My Transition from Europe to Asia

I can't believe that I've already been here in Cebu for a month!  It has been quite the transition for me.  I knew that it would be hard to start over here and in some ways it's been easier than I was expecting, but in other ways it's been harder.  Before coming here I really prayed that I would connect with the other staff and make friends quickly and I feel like God really answered that prayer and desire of mine. 

One of my other prayers has been to learn the local language quickly.  They speak a dialect called Cebuano here and one of the staff members has been giving me classes to help me learn.  There is a lot of Spanish and English mixed in, so that helps, and I'm starting to pick it up a bit more.  I'm the only American on staff here, so quite often I'm the only one around who doesn't understand what's going on, but most of the staff have been very gracious in translating for me and helping me understand.

The base here is set up a lot differently than Mazatlan.  In Mazatlan, I always had a specific job description, but here everyone helps with everything.  It's been fun getting to be involved in all different aspects of the base at the same time.  So sometimes I help cook, other times I help clean  I've been assisting in the accounting department part-time and helping out with the kid's ministry/feeding program every afternoon; when there's a team I go with them to their different ministries and when there are no teams I've been able to sit in on some of the DTS classes to see how they run their DTSes here.

So it's been quite the journey figuring out how to do life here, but I think I'm starting to get the hang of things.  Thank you for all of your prayers and support throughout this whole transition.  I really appreciate knowing that there are so many people out there that love and care about me who I can count on.

Blessings,
Cassandra