A mission of Love ... Boracay 2020

A mission of love ... Boracay 2020. It is hard to put in words what an amazing trip this has been with people coming from Malta, UK and Australia to meet the Ati community with no big agenda apart from loving them and finding out first hand what Mission of Love is all about. The team included family, friends and sponsors who got to physically meet the children they sponsor and see with their own eyes where they live and what a blessing their support is to them. It was very emotional and we felt the whole experience was saturated in love. Each one had something to give and the joy on the children's faces when they receive a little love and care is overwhelming. It really was a beautiful experience. Group activities which were all optional included visiting Mission of Love school, Ati village where we were greeted with great honour as they prepared a presentation for us with their tribal songs and dances telling their story and blessing us with some of their tribal foods. We threw a little party at their village with 125 pieces of Jollibee chicken and lots of fun and games, music, dancing, basketball, frisbee, beach toys, football and lots of love. It was almost surreal to see everyone interact with such grace and joy. We were also honoured guests at Marissa and Gie's 60th birthday party. They have served the Ati faithfully for so many years now and continue to do so with love and devotion. They have hearts of gold and without their teamwork we could not sustain this channel of love that flows to the Ati community. Peppe and Marilena (a Sicilian couple of sponsors who joined us from Malta) worked on helping with vegetable gardening which you can see in some of the pics, something of great importance that can help them sustain themselves. Christian Palmer, my artist brother who came with his family from Australia worked on an Art project together with the Ati kids and our son Josh who is super excited about where this can go. Benedict swam the 7km length of Boracay beach while there and is preparing to attempt to swim the English channel this September to raise funds for Mission of Love, now even more motivated by the beautiful faces of those kids he has encountered. We took about 40 Ati children and young adults swimming on white beach where they had so much fun and thanked us by spontaneously breaking out in a native thank you song right there on the beach to show their love and appreciation. It was so moving and heart warming. Suz, also from Australia, was busy filming and is working on a documentary for us. I believe whole team will share their experience and the ripples of this trip will be far reaching. Every one was a blessing and I believe every one was blessed. Maria and I are full of awe and thankfulness for the way this came together and flowed with such harmony. Many more sponsors have expressed a desire to go and I know the 2020 team would all like to go back so bigger things to come! I could go on and say a whole lot more but I think it's long enough so I'll end here for now. We give thanks to all the sponsors that are the fuel that keeps the lamp of love burning. You are touching and changing lives and making this world a better place 🙏🏼❤️

See more photos on our facebook page here!