Thailand

Time to move on again!

We are just about to close the Thailand chapter of our trip, and thought we'd include some thoughts and photos.

Bangkok is crazy busy. Every form of transportation is over crowded and in a constant deadlock. You can walk, but scooters drive on the sidewalks too. Its a little crazy for our liking. We visited some of their many many malls and markets, checked out their amusement parks and wave pool, and found an amazing church to attend. 

We also took a trip to Kanchanaburi, which is a smaller town a few hours outside of Bangkok. We stayed in a guest house with a pool and cheap mango shakes, which was a welcome change from the craziness. We visited animal parks, rode elephants, fed giraffes and zebras, and got bucked off an elephant into a river! We also discovered the worlds lousiest beach (especially given the extra three hour bus ride).

We are glad to be moving onto new things and perhaps a little less heat. As it stands now, it is uncomfortable to walk in the sun for more than a few minutes, as all clothes become soaked with sweat. We have many many stories, but to write them all here would not do them justice!

We are frequent users of skype if that is up your alley. Feel free to add us zakk.fast

One final note, we have a prayer request. We are scheduled to stop in China after Vietnam, but have had some difficulty getting a visa. We have non refundable tickets (doh!) and so we need to make every effort to get the necessary documents. Theres a lot...    Anyways, we could use some prayer for either entry into china, or acceptance of a bit of collateral damage financially. Either way, we always appreciate your prayers!

The WORLDS LARGEST WAVE POOL (felt all warm...not very refreshing)

 A log flume. And ice cream

The Double BIG SHOCK! A walk through horror house that was ultimately very lame. But this guy puking blood made me laugh.

Kanchanaburi Sunset

Sprayed in the face. Later bucked off.

Our stubborn friend.

He is actually quite alive and did some roaring, but we decided the lady need not poke him with a stick to have him pose for us. We were cool if he just chilled. 

We were bombarded by giraffes, who wanted our banananananas

Zebras too!

No visit to the (crappy) beach is complete without an undersized 'hello kitty' themed tandem bike ride!

A New Chapter

Well, our time at Hope for the Island has officially come to a close. We felt somewhat like we did the first night we left Canada on the eve before our departure. This tropical paradise had become our home and it was not easy to leave behind. During our last dinner, the lovely ladies who make Hope function as wonderfully as it does wrote us a song and told us what they'll each miss about us. We really felt the love, and even shed some tears as we remembered our time together. We were also bid adieu by the local youth, and some of the young adult ministry we partook in. It was an emotional evening.

The morning of our departure we were to take the local transportation to the airport. We were met at the road by a few of the ladies, and the family of the maintenance worker, Jerry. It was tough to leave them behind, but we were glad to have shared life and laughs with them while we could.

All in all we look at our time at Hope very fondly. We became part of a new, much shorter family and had the chance to share the gospel with some of the locals, even though we didnt share a common language. We found that in general, people of the Philippines are extremely friendly, hospitable, and loving. It was an experience of a lifetime and we will certainly never forget our time at Hope for the Island.


Since leaving, we have spent nearly a week in Bangkok, Thailand and have been enjoying the change of pace and atmosphere. Palm trees have been traded for skyscrapers, and dirt roads for pavement. The rice remains however. We will be exploring rural Thailand soon, and find that we are already missing the blue skies and smog-free salt air that we enjoyed for the past "winter" months.  We have more regular access to internet now and will try to post pictures as we go, though in all honesty, it is hard to remember in the whirlwind of activity we are experiencing.

We hope to share all sorts of stories with you when we return, and are always open to finding a friendly email in our inbox. Thank you for your love and prayers, we are doing great!

                                     The morning of our leaving, with Jerry's kids: Prince and Princess

                                             Riding through the jungle roads in the back of a truck

                                                        Kim and 2 of the lovely Hope ladies

                                     The youth who came to say goodbye before we left. Playing UNO

                                                               Our last Filipino Sunrise

Nearing a new beginning

Hello and welcome to another blog post by the Fasts.

We are coming close to the end of our time here in the Philippines and excitement is building for the next leg of our journey. We have booked all of our flights and are doing what little research we can into what types of things we will be exploring in each country.

We are both excited and a little saddened by our leaving this place. We have certainly come to develop a Filipino family here and have taken well to many of their customs. We will miss the ladies who keep this place running and the youth for which they are here. We have appreciated the time spent in devotion staring at the sea and all the time spent in prayer. We have experienced many new things and will certainly look at our time here with fondness.

We do have some prayer requests as well. First ´-- for the continuation of the ministry that we are leaving behind. Hope is affecting the lives of many towns on this island in the name of Christ. They are feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and loving the unloved. We are blessed to have experienced Christs example demonstrated in a real way. Second - Prayer for our future. Having spent time in a place such as this we have come to question what really matters in our lives and what our lives should look like when we get back home. We know that no man (or woman) can serve both God and money, and we desire that we should find jobs that are not solely driven by cash. That being said, prayer for wisdom and provision would be greatly appreciated.

We are excited to share our stories and pictures with you when we return, and promise to put up...at least a few more pictures. We will continue posting as we travel, with our next stop being Bangkok Thailand on Thursday, March 14.

Thankyou for your prayers and support.

Hello from the Philippines!

Hope all is well with you folks back at home. We are currently in Surigao city (hopefully for the last time) updating our visa information. It is currently pretty rainy in the city, but luckily the boat ride was much less intense than the last time we took it. It actually only took three and a half hours compared to the anticpated four. To avoid having to speak in the third person, I'll let you know right away that this is Zakk typing, and so I can now refer to myself as "I"

What have we been up to? Well, for one thing, I got baptized in the Pacific on Sunday. All the Hope staff and us went to a local "tide pool" and had a small service and my baptism. I gave a very short testimony, as the waves were crashing and people could hardly hear, and then I got dunked by Derek and his father in law Edson. Edson was the pastor at Mount Zion church in Winnipeg. It was a great experience and nice to be surrounded by my Filipino family and friends, though I would have loved to have been with many of you as well. Luckily, we got it "on tape" and will share it with family when we get home.

Otherwise life has continued on as usual at Hope. Our typical week is most busy on the weekend. Mondays and Tuesdays are times of rest for Kim and I and we usually make the most of it by renting a scooter and seeing what the island has to offer. We spent valentines day and our anniversary on sunny beaches and were blessed to dodge all of the terrible Winnipeg weather. 

The rest of the week is spent hanging out with youth, and prepping for our weekend ministries. We also spend time as a staff in Bible study, prayer intercession, and family devotions. I have been teaching drum lessons on and off, and Simon (one of two Danish interns who came to Hope recently) has been teaching some Ukelele lessons. I have been taking in those lessons as well, and am throughouly versed in several pop songs. 

Friday morning we get to spend some time with the pre-schoolers who attend Hope for the Island Foundational Learning Centre. It is their P.E. day and so we have the privelege of getting to play with them, and run their energy out. After some initial apprehension about us foreigners, the kids have really taken a liking to us. They all wear matching white shirts and blue sweats. They are adorable. 

On the weekend, Kim and I have been trying to maintain a minsitry we started with the young adults but have met many challenges. For one, they are in constant need of reminder of events we are planning. For another, a large majority of them decided to go to the city for "vacation" (from doing nothing) for a long period of time. This meant that Kim and I had to seek out the one young adult who didnt go, and very intentionally follow up with him. We have had a few good conversations with him (through a translator) and are hoping that the Danish interns will continue to nurture his development. 

Saturdays are spent reaching out to local towns in the area. The ladies of Hope run children's ministries in several different locations (seven I believe...) which involves teaching them songs, Bible stories, memory verses, and feeding them. The kids are always so eager and excited for Saturday ministry. I drive the truck and drop the women off at the locations and then in the afternoon run my own ministry with youth in another town. Kim helps to run childrens ministries in two different towns on Saturday. 

In addition to the kids ministries, and young adult ministry, we have been spending some time with the surfers that come to hope. Many of them are also involved in the youth program, but get attention as a seperate group on Friday and Saturday. We share with them some of the Bible and what we can learn from it and then they go out and surf. We have gone with them and though they are good teachers, we are not the greatest pupils. Turns out I get sea sick, so Kim has certainly surpassed me as far surfing performance.

I feel I'm beginning to drag on, and we need to get some breakfast!! The moral of the story is that God is doing great things at Hope and we are blessed to be a part of it. We have also grown a lot as individuals, as a couple, and as followers of God. We have been fortunate to have much time for devotion and prayer, and are grateful for it. Thank you for your continued prayer and love, we are truly blessed. 

Zakk and Kim

Drummer Boys, Zakk has been teaching.

Friday PE Day with Preschoolers!! Snack time!

Loading Rice Haul for the Farm...on Sunday.

Happy Valentines Day!

Ultimate with Young Adults from Burigos.

Saturday, kids Ministry and Feeding.

Soccer or Football you choose.

Baptism! .....Zakk has decided to follow Jesus, no turning back....

Hope Family Staff, Good by Derek, Jen and Family.

First place of stay at Hope.

Plane from Cebu to Siaragao.

AM...Sunrise!

Gwapo! Gwapa!

Once a painter, Always a painter!

Roosters so stupid. Inside Zakk wants to kill it!

Driving is a blast!

Zakk playing B-ball at hope with youth. Notice atop the scorekeepers!

were back at hope

Been quite a while since we wrote. Since last time we have made it back to Hope and are slowly getting into the swing of things. The boat back was much bigger and smoother, the sun was shining making the ride much more enjoyable, though less eventful. Two weeks back and quite a lot has happened. 

Zakk has been teaching some boys drum lessons, which is fun but challenging. the language barrier is always a factor, but teaching them to read music has helped. There are four boys total and one drum set, so its slow going.

We've also been slowly working on our young adult ministry, with such a different (laid back) culture it makes it challenging to know how to love them well. In  previous ministry lots of structure and schedule is the way we ran and now we are learning a whole new meaning to these terms.

Please continue to pray for us, in loving through service as deep conversations are few. Also we ask prayer for a staff sister who has just recently had a sister die very suddenly while caring for her sickly father.

God is so good and at work in this place, your love is greatly felt and appreciated.

                                                                   Chicken Anyone?

 We'll be taking a bigger boat back to Siargao......if the weather's ever good enough to get off this island.

Driving here is actually quite efficient, and cheap!

Scarf accessories, yeah we do that.