Cebu, Philippines

In the Philippines we had the opportunity to visit and be part of a youth group meeting in an organization called “Christ for Asia” which takes care of street kids by providing a home for them as well as education. I was leading the team of four people and we prepared a short program to share with them during their youth meeting. We were surprised by how well they were prepared for the meeting. They had their own worship band that lead us in a time of worship and prayer. When it was our time to share, we felt that we weren’t prepared enough because of different expectations we had, but by God’s grace all went well. We did a short Christian drama, some games, one of the team sang a Korean blessing song for them, which they loved, and there was a short message at the end. The meeting was a real blessing for both, them and us. They didn’t want us to leave in the end and were so excited to visit the ship and see us again later.


Since we arrived to the Philippines, one of the biggest ministries we had was with the street dwellers especially the street kids. Many teams went on feeding programs to offer them food and on daily basis there were teams interacting and playing with these street kids. I was able to join one of those teams and went out to a nearby park, where many of the kids gather. We played and talked with them, told them stories from the Bible and had fun with them. Most importantly we were able to offer them our love and care which is something they rarely receive during their time on the street which is their home where they eat and sleep. Most of the kids got to know us and many other crew members by name and we built real friendships with them. Towards the end of our visit to the port, all the kids were invited to attend a one-day special program held in our theatre that told them about the “Greatest Treasure” which is the Bible. After the program they were all able to enjoy a good meal in our dining room and they left with a small souvenir of some Christian booklets and coloring pencils as well as a nice smile on their face.