Day 1 – Departing T.O. and arrving in P.H.

Our group of leaders meet at Toronto Pearson Airport at 9:30 pm on Boxing Day, Dec. 26.

Prior to leaving, Greg Rogers told us a story of Blessed Mother Teresa as we all took the Vow of Pleasant Disposition.

"I vow never to complain about traffic in the Philippines."
“I vow never to complain about traffic in the Philippines.”
One last group shot before saying bye to our parents
One last group shot before saying bye to our parents

Our 1:30am flight was delayed because of snow, but sure enough, we took off ready to embark on a 14.5 hour flight to Hong Kong for our first stop over!  Here are some beautiful shots of the sunrise from the airplane window. DSC01393DSC01398

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We arrived in Hong Kong and had an hour to chill out, look around, and pray.

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Although you can’t see them, there are beautiful mountains outside 🙂
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We’re anxious to board the plane… only 1.5 hours from Hong Kong to Manila
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“All Aboard”… wait… where’s “The boy?”

Landing in Manila you can feel the hot tropical air… huge difference from the snow storm we just left in Toronto.

Posing in front of one of Philippines most famous landmark - Mayon Volcano
Posing in front of one of Philippines’ most famous landmarks – Mayon Volcano
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The Christmas season in the Philippines doesn’t officially end until January!!
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Wow it’s HOT!!!!
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ANCOP our charity partner has us riding in style!
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We’re smiling now, wait until we hit the traffic!
Filipinos are known as the friendliest people in the world. Even after a 10hr shift, the toll booth guys are still smiling!
Filipinos are known as the friendliest people in the world. Even after a 10hr shift, the toll booth guys are still smiling!

After going to the mall to have dinner, we organized all our gifts and donations to prepare for tomorrow’s orphanage visit.

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Toronto leaders spreading the gift of Christmas to the children in the Philippines
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So much to choose from… simply awesome!!!

We bagged 50+ gifts for the St. Martin Orphanage and 300+ gifts for El Dorado…

…and we still had a ton left over to give away at the ANCOP Build site and the children of San Mateo

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I feel like Santa 🙂
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Teacher Diane Ignoto trying to find just the right gift
Santa would be proud.....and so would Jesus :)
Santa would be proud… and so would Jesus 🙂
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Hi-fives all around… it feels good to give!!

Tomorrow we go to St. Martin Orphange… but right now we need SLEEP!!!

6 thoughts on “Day 1 – Departing T.O. and arrving in P.H.”

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  1. I really like the idea of the vow of pleasant disposition! Sounds like so far so good! Thanks for sharing!

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