Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Why Philippines?

We're moving to Manila, Philippines for 9 months to participate in the long-term service work by a team representing the Philippines, America and England.

We have been blessed to have been able to participate in a few service projects throughout our lives thus far. We've learned through those experiences that we have developed a passion for participating in service projects and that being involved in service work is something that we want to do for the rest of our lives. One of the aspects of service work that we want to experience in our lives together (before we settle down, have kids, etc.) is international service work. From a prior mission trip in college, Mary was introduced to a non-profit mission organization called 'International Teams' or 'ITeams.' ITeams, headquartered in the US, connects long-term mission groups in countries all across the world with people looking to do short-term work (under one year), like us. There is a group in Manila, Philippines that is doing some great things and we got connected. We ultimately decided that it was now or never for us to do this, so we're moving to Manila and joining the team for 9 months.