When I first got to Florida, it was about 2 a.m. When we arrived at the “Lord’s Boot Camp,” it was about 3 a.m. We unloaded all of our stuff and took it into the chapel. We stayed there for the night. We only got about two and a half hours of sleep. We had to wake up at 5:30 a.m. and take all of our bags over to the big top area. We met our team members there. Then we took our bags to our tents and went to sleep.

Then boot camp started. We had to wake up every morning at 5:30 a.m. We had three minutes to get our boots on and be out of our tents for count off. Then we had three more minutes to go back to our tents and clean them. Then we marched out of our ten site and went to the obstacle course. We ran the obstacle course every day at 6:15 a.m. The course was very difficult the first day. It got easier every day. I only fell into the slough once up to my knees. Then we had breakfast. After breakfast we had to attend classes where we learned different building skills and how to use different tools.

After the classes we had lunch and free time, where we got to enjoy the lake with a fun rope swing. We had two weeks of boot camp. Then we were off to our fields. My team flew from Florida to Dallas. Then we flew to Los Angeles. From there, we flew to Hong Kong. It was such a long flight. It had the worst jet lag ever. After an eighthour layover, we flew to Cebu, where we did a little bit of shopping and slept at a church there. Then we had to get on a boat and rid to Batwan, which was 12 hours. I slept almost the entire boat ride. Then we drove a truck to the base we would be staying at. It is one of the many Bible colleges Teen Mission has all over the world.

My job was to help build new dorms for this college where students get to go for free. I was the concrete mixer (by hand, of course) and sometimes the brick layer. We also did presentations for the people there and went into the streets of the Phillipines and ministered to them. I got to tell my testimony and pray with them.

My favorite part about my trip was the people. I love the people there. They are so happy and so poor at the same time. How does that work? I also got to ride a water buffalo, which was awesome.

Thank you for all of your support and prayers. This trip would not have happened without you all. This was an awesome experience that I will always remember. Thank you again.

Darrell Hutchens