AFTER!
All the pieces
Slide over the school
They played on the slide before it was even unwrapped and attached to a playground!
BEFORE
Tire swing constructionWe were just preparing to write somewhat of a discouraging blog post, apologizing that the playground is potentially out of reach and may never be delivered. Well that was yesterday and today we write with a fully completed playground!
Tuesday night we anxiously awaited for the playground to arrive at 5pm, then 7pm and no playground. We were quite worried as the playground had to be out of the port by Friday August 8th. Otherwise it was considered "abandoned" where the customs officials can keep the playground or sell it as they please. With a possibility of delivery on Tuesday we really had our hopes up for the first time in weeks. No delivery on Tuesday, so we took the Canadian team to our school on Wednesday and waited, and waited, and waited until 3pm a Schenker China delivery truck came around the corner. All the kids rushed out and everyone was clapping and cheering!
Our next challenge was the large spiral slide that was too big to fit through the school to get into the backyard. Fortunately the gentleman next door offered to help and suspended the slide with rope and led the slide over from the 4th story next door. Our next task was the full assembly and the instructions were just as we expected (well we expected nothing) considering we'd been requesting instructions for 4 months now. An agent did draw a picture of the playground (which was no use) and handwrote in Chinese a few explanations. The assembly was a near miracle! The playground was up and nearly together within 3 hours. The next day we cemented and added final pieces. Today we presented it to the children. Their faces were well worth all the pain and agony. All the community is talking about it and you can already feel the attraction to the school.
Thank you all who were involved. This was a significantly larger project than we anticipated and it took more involvement to make it a success. Thank you to Cotton Creek Elementary School, Mom's mission fundraising donations, the Wallenstein team, Centennial Baptist Church, Andy's mom who created a plaque, Alissa Manske who coordinated donations and sent a large bag full of jump ropes, basketballs, volleyballs and bean bags, and all others who donated during our stay in the Philippines. The playground has been a huge success! G2G as Filipinos say (glory to God)!
Thank you God for:
• Releasing the playground
• For being bigger than customs and corruption
• For the assembly of the playground
• And thank you God for no rain for the first time in weeks
Please pray for:
• Mom's upcoming lung surgery Aug 14th
• Our departure from Philippines Aug 16th
