holy week retreat

A deserted mall on Good Friday

Holy week (the week before Easter) is widely observed in the Philippines.

We were honored to be invited to join a Holy Week Retreat outside of Davao.

We joined just for Good Friday, and on the way there,

the streets were deserted, 

and malls and stores were closed

in observance of the day of Christ's death.

The retreat was held at the Davao School for the Blind

Amy and Elise with Ate Tata

Mark enjoys fellowship with some of the men

Amy (bending in orange) and Elise (on right) join in the youth activities

Teams of youth competed to piece together verses correctly

Elise confers with Kuya Harold

Baby and DaiDai

Chickens and kittens dwelling in unity

Amy inspects a mango crop

Michael (in blue T-shirt) hoping to see him catch a fish!

Elise leafs through the Braille Bibles in the chapel

Eloisa reads God's Word to her partially blind dad in preparation for him to preach

Eloisa and Gia

Baby finds a familiar hymn

Yuri, 13, provides the music for the retreat

Michael sits with friends

Ate Juvi, Elise, Amy, Ysha and PauPau pose with a baby chick

Michael was pretty enamored with this little guy

A coconut shell made the perfect bed for a baby chick!

Barbara and Joy, a sweet friend

Elise, Amy and Ysha

Dinner - lots of rice, noodles with fish, and greens with sardines (we ate lots of rice)