Going Away- Filippino Style

My sister, Mir, and her husband and children are leaving for the Philippines in the next week. Last weekend, we had a going away party for them. Many friends, from church and the home school group, came to say their good-byes for two years. Apparently, the theme of the party was 'The Filipino Rainy Season'.
We had the party at a friend's place that had noisy chickens and a rooster. It gave it that Filipino feeling. The temperature was over 90 degrees and the humidity was about 100%. Definitely a tropical feel.

The children watched some of the adults play sand volleyball and the young men play touch football. There was a lot of food preparation and set up going on.

Everybody seemed to have a good time. The Eichs (my sister's family) had been the commander of our church's AWANA group and headed up the annual VBS. They had a big impact on a lot of people's lives.

As people arrived there appeared big thunder clouds to the NW. It didn't start raining until people started sitting down with their plates of food.

Then the skies opened and the monsoon struck. There was thunder, lightening and lots of wind.

The tents started blowing down and the tarps flapped in the breeze. Everybody headed to the house. The rain was coming down almost sideways so the pavilions were of no help. People were quickly soaked. A lot of the children ran around in the rain despite the lightening.

The kitchen helpers served up the food, as people brought it. Everything was delicious!

After the rain the children went out to the sand volleyball court and made sand sculptures. They had a lot of fun.

They did end up rather dirty. Fortunately, sand does wash off easily. It was still warm, so a lot of little ones were just hosed off before they could ride home.

We will miss the Eichs. We are praying for them as they start off on this new adventure. Joy will be going to school for the first time as a 9th grader. The other two will still be home schooled. Pray for my sister as her role will really change. Running a household is a lot different over there and she doesn't speak the language. They are hoping to work with a local church and interact with the Filipino people. Pray for their health. My sister needs to be on a totally gluten-free diet. She will need to find new sources for her food needs. TB is also endemic at the school Ted will be working at. They will need to learn a new culture.

~Mom