Friday, March 18: After a super breakfast we got together for our first meeting. About mid-morning, a peace and calm came over me like never before. I looked out and saw this beehive of activity before me. Children's Ministry teams were buzzing. Medical Outfeach teams were planning. Construction Crew even went to work and started "digging in." What an absolutely fantastic group. Again, the kids from Okanagan Academy in BC, Canada, have shown their colors. They are some of the most well-prepared, gifted, energetic kids I have had the privilege of working with. And can they ever sing! Yikes!! We plan to form our version of the "MP3 Tabernacle Choir!" Their staff is great.

The group from Blue Mountain Academy has several youth that were with us in Peru as well as the same four staff members. They are primed and ready to go!

We are blessed to have such awesome kids involved in our program. And the Woodruff family! Wow! Symphony caliber string players. Mom (Krista) is my music coordinator. They are going to be the Pied Pipers of our group, with their music, their juggling, their puppets, etc!

By Friday afternoon most of our Children's Ministry teams were in place as well as our Evangelism teams. Pastor Don Straub is coordinating that massive jigsaw puzzle.

All eight groups went to their first "Cottage Meeting" to lead out.

Since one of the speakers was not here (Brad Thorp – still in Indonesia), I preached at his venue. We had to climb at least 200 steps to get there. It was a KILLER! A group of about 50 adults and 60 children were on hand. Those Children’s Ministry groups are SO important and effective in what we do. It will build. Combined opening attendance in all eight of the “cottage meetings” exceeded 1200.

The kids came back PUMPED! It is so much fun to listen to them describing all of their experiences. Sadly, with 125 people, it is impossible to have all of them sharing their “journey” each evening at worship.

The LLU dental team arrived in Manila at 10:00 a.m. They got through customs easily, even with MANY bags of medicine and dental supplies. The Union picked them up in their bus. They were ready to hit the road by 11:30.

Sabbath, March 19: Breakfast at 7:00 a.m! Worship at 8:00! Off to the nine locations by 9:00. What a neat group of kids. Many of them were called upon, spare of the moment, to sing, tell stories, etc. Rising to the occasion, they came through every time.

Lunch at 1:00 p.m. Then at 2:00, we sent out all of our kids and adults with local Baguio youth to scatter like leaves of autumn, brochures and flyers promoting the meetings. They came back SO energized. They distributed 6,000 in 1 hour!! They were handing them out 20 at a time to passengers in Jeepnies as they stopped at intersections. It was a sight to see.

Got back at 4:30, in time to heads for the cottage meetings, which will last for three more nights, then the big gathering at Benguet State University, where I will preach the last five nights. There are several banners all over the city with a picture of the Melashenko Trio, and announcing the meetings, with guest speaker (yours truly)!

The DDS and medical teams had a very productive planning strategy today. My old friend from Loma Linda Academy, Walter Hadley, is one of the DDS sponsors. There are 19 LLU DDS students with us for this Medical Outreach!

The food service has been 5-star. These kids are eating a ton of food. Can you imagine how much food it takes to feed 125 people? Ruth Smith, from Okanagan, and her crew are the best ever!