Hello! My parents came to the Philippines a few weeks ago for PVT (parent vision trip) to see me and experience life on the race! I asked my mom if she would write about the week, and she, so willingly and in detail, wrote a blog of our time together (with way more elegance than I could’ve). So enjoy reading this blog!

Hello readers of Mo's blog! Maii here. (or Amanda, or Mrs. D, or whatever you call me) :). I'm stepping in for a minute to blog about PVT, the parent vision trip, that happened last month. It only seemed appropriate for a parent to step in and write about our week together, and I'll let Mo follow up with anything else!

I already know this will be on the long side, so feel free to come back when you have more time, or go get some coffee and get settled in. Here we go...

The Preparation

Two years ago, Gavin and I traveled to Eswatini to see Jackson for his PVT. I definitely felt we were a lot more prepared going into this week than we were last time, although what I didn't realize was just how incredibly different it would be! Thankfully the packing part was pretty simple - the climate was hot and humid, so we could easily fit all our stuff into a carry-on. The biggest hiccup getting ready to leave was that Miles (Mo's 13 year old brother) fell while snowboarding and broke his collarbone 2 days before we left. Not exactly on my BINGO card for the week we leave the country for 10 days, but I rested in the fact that the Lord knew this would happen, and I just needed to trust that all would be ok. And it was. It was a whirlwind of 2 days with doctors’ visits and switching gears from people taking him to soccer practice to people caring for him, but our amazing village rose to the occasion and he was in good hands. I was so thankful to feel like I could be fully present with Mo and not worry about home. Finally, we were on our way to the airport, and I felt like I could start to breathe a little bit and begin to decompress.

We left Atlanta at 7pm on Feb 18th and flew into darkness for the next 22 hours! We pretty much skipped most of Feb 19, finally seeing the sunrise as we landed in Manila on the 20th (time zone there is 13 hours ahead of EST).

Busuanga

If we are going to fly to literally the other side of the world, you better believe we are going to find something fun to do there and add a couple days on to our time! We did just that; Gavin found an incredible but low-key resort on the island of Busuanga. After flying into Manila, we boarded a small prop engine plane and flew to a gorgeous island for a couple days of rest before heading back to the city to see Morgan.

The Lord knew I needed this rest more than ever after the events of the previous few days! We enjoyed some rare down time; we read some books, laid by the pool, did some snorkeling, and went on a spectacular Coron Island tour, all in 2.5 days! It was nice to also start to adjust to the time change in the Philippines, as I think we would have really struggled flying in and going right into the late-night ministry that we were a part of with Morgan. We also saw some incredibly beautiful landscapes.

The Reunion

Our reunion was a little different from the other racers. Because we chose to go to Busuanga on the front end, we unable able to get to the Manila airport at 11am, which was the designated meet-up time for parents to be reunited with their racers. We couldn't even fly into Manila until 2pm. We instead flew into the airport that is close to where we would be doing ministry, and rent a car (yes, Gavin successfully drove in the Philippines - NO ONE there could believe that he drove a car. Crazy doesn’t even begin to describe it.) Morgan knew that the chances of us making it to the Manila airport were very slim, and we in fact did not make it. Instead, we drove to the hotel where everyone was headed after the airport reunion and waited there. Some sweet people made sure Mo was taken care of since she didn't have us there right away.

As racers and parents were on the bus to the hotel, Gavin and I got a bite to eat and familiarized ourselves a bit with the area we were in. It is east of Manila, and we were staying there for one night. As the buses got closer, we were waiting outside the hotel with great anticipation. Our reunion with Jackson 2 years earlier is one of the highlights of my life, and I couldn't wait. Finally, the bus pulls up, and I see a couple people I recognize in the windows. I was waving, but Morgan wasn't coming out. I didn't know if I should run onto the bus, but others on the bus finally told her to run off. I could see her running down the length of the bus, out the door, and she flew into my arms and gave me the biggest bear hug ever. Gavin joined in and we had our own sweet reunion. And the beauty of being after everyone else is that some folks on the bus got some sweet videos of it all. It was just so special.

(I tried hard to get a video to upload here, but couldn't get it to work, so you will have to be ok with just pictures!)

That first day we got a couple hours together to catch up, meet some of her friends and their parents, and just have time together. That evening we had a bit of an orientation to our ministry week (see below for more on that), and the next day we left for Angeles City, where we would spend the rest of the week.

The Ministry

Every PVT has some sort of ministry that the racers and parents do together. In Africa we worked at Care Points, locations where local kids came to get a meal and be cared for. This is what Jackson's team had been doing during their time in Eswatini. Morgan's squad had been working with Kids International during their 6 weeks there, but our PVT ministry was something completely different.

There is an organization in Angeles City called Wipe Every Tear, and they work to provide freedom to women who are enslaved in the sex trafficking industry. Angeles City is the sex-trafficking capital of the Philippines; there are 240 bars and about 12,000 girls/women “working” in them. Many were promised jobs as waitresses (in this country you cannot even work as a waitress without a college degree) and showed up to find out they were instead a bargirl. Others had to drop out of school because it was too much money and felt they had no other way to support themselves and their kids. We learned how trapped these girls become once they fall prey to this industry, and how it’s almost impossible to get out. Wipe Every Tear helps provide an education and freedom for girls who choose to leave, while also showing them how to find freedom in Christ.

For 3 consecutive nights we went into bars in the red-light district in groups of 3-4 families, meeting some of the girls and helping them become aware of the freedom that is available to them. I had absolutely no idea what we were about to experience. As typical Americans, we hear of red-light districts around the world and of trafficking, but to see it in action, to realize that these girls are truly enslaved, and to witness what they experience night after night was just heartbreaking. We met girls who were the same age or younger than Morgan. Some were promised a waitress job, others were unknowingly sent to this ‘job’ by a relative because they needed money, others had recently dropped out of school because they could not afford it, and others had not finished high school. None of them wanted to be there, and all had dreams of what they would do if they could go finish school. Many had children at young ages and felt trapped because they had to support their children.

I won’t go into details of the process that we had to go through to talk to these girls, but I am happy to meet up and give more details in person if you wish! I can only say that it’s hard for me to think back on some of the girls we met, their sweetness and innocence (some had literally been there for 3 weeks and were terrified), and not get a bit teary, knowing they are working 10-11 hours/day, 7 days a week in this industry, and have no way out.

I will say that it was incredible to watch Morgan interact with these girls. We would call one of them down off the stage, and she immediately would strike up a conversation (many of them were her age, as I mentioned), and talk to her for the next 1-2 hours, finding out who she is, her dreams, and talking to her about the Bible. We had these 2 amazing Filipina women with us who work for Wipe Every Tear, and they would navigate the bars for us (the first night we had absolutely no idea what we were doing), and then enter into our conversations at some point to make sure the girls know where the ministry is located, what they offer, and that there was hope. They got each of the girls’ numbers to follow up with them.

In spite of the ear-blasting music and the crazy scene playing out around us, I relished the chance to watch my daughter so effortlessly make these girls feel so comfortable and loved and was truly amazed. In a couple instances we were able to take some girls to McDonalds afterwards (again, a part of the complicated bar-fine process), and there we were able to have more conversations and get to know them. We did this 3 nights in a row from about 8pm-12:30/1am. It is the darkest placed I have ever experienced. But despite all that, I am so thankful to have a picture of some of the evil that exists in the world, and to not be ignorant of it. It was an intense but beautiful ministry week.

Ate Mich was *amazing in how she talked to the bar mamas, took care of us, and knew exactly how to handle every situation.

The Rest of the Stuff

With ministry in the evenings, we had most of the days somewhat free to do as we please. We spent a good number of hours having coffee together, catching up on life, talking about family and future, and processing a lot of what has happened during her 6 months on the Race. It was beautiful to see how much Morgan has learned about herself during this time, and especially how adaptable she is. One day in January, after living in pretty rough conditions in the slums of Manila, she sent me the following text:

“I realized today I’m a very adaptive person. If I’m in a tent, I will adapt to a tent. If I’m in a nice room with only one roommate, I will adapt to that. If I’m in the tiniest house with 11 people, I will adapt to a tiny house with 11 people.”

What a beautiful text to get from a 19 year old American girl. She truly has adapted to every situation that has been thrown at her, including all that led up to her team going from a team of 8 to a team of 4. She has an almost constant smile on her face, and she can talk to anyone. She carries a confidence that I think was there, but not quite as apparent before she left. She was open with us, asked insightful questions, and truly wanted to know how our year has been. She shared how she has grown in her faith and what has been easy and hard. We had beautiful conversations (and delicious coffee).

Our last day was a free day together. Gavin had found a place about an hour away in Subic Bay where we could go scuba diving. Having gone once as a kid and having a bit of a panic attack while diving, I was not overly thrilled at this idea. However, I certainly was going to put on my big girl pants and try it again if it’s what Morgan wanted to do! It was a beautiful day, and we got all suited up.

We had some fantastic guides, and they decided that instead of training in the pool, we would just go ahead and train at the beginning of our dive. We went down about 15 feet (lots of ear clearing to get down), did our training bit, and then had a dive. I’ll be honest – I was not super comfortable down there. I *may have been biding my time until it was finally over, but at least I didn’t panic this time, and feel proud of staying down there for 35 min and conquering my fear. We came back to the boat and Gavin and Morgan happily said yes to a 2nd dive. I was perfectly content to snorkel around a bit and sit on the boat drinking coffee while they went down. 😊 It was a fantastic day.

The Goodbye

As all trips must do, the week eventually came to an end and it was time to say goodbye. Every night we had a gathering with the whole squad and parents for a time of games, testimonies and worship. The last night was more of an extended time for us to spend parents/racers together, praying blessings over them and talking about the week.

Saturday morning we headed out fairly early. We had a long day to spend in Manila, as our flight didn’t leave until almost midnight. We were so so thankful that we had booked our flights through San Francisco instead of Doha; the Emirates flight next to us had just de-planed, as the Middle East had shut down just a couple hours prior. We had an uneventful flight home and landed at 5am on Sunday morning.

It was an incredible week. Hard in a lot of ways for our brains to reconcile the beauty of the Philippine islands with the darkness of Red Street. One night we were in a bar and 10 hours later we were scuba diving. It was wild. But most of all it was a treasure of a time with Morgan. I miss her more than ever now, and it’s less than 2 months until she gets home! It was so special to be a part of her world for a few days, meet her buddies, and see how great her squad is. They are a squad who loves to laugh, and we had so much fun together. While the hotel environment wasn’t super conducive to spending time with other parents as much as in Eswatini, we still had a chance to meet and get to know a handful of other parents, especially the ones in our bar groups. And of course it was so great to meet the other racers whom I only knew through Instagram and blogs beforehand.

I’ll stop here, this is long enough! If you made it this far, congrats. If you were a part of our village in any way while we were gone, thank you so much for making it possible for us to do this. It’s a trip I will never forget.

Amanda / Mrs. D / Maii