The Philippines team has made it safely to Atlanta! They have all of their luggage and are currently at the hotel resting. We look forward to hearing their stories--and we know you do too!
Well we are in our last day now, and the girls have said it several times "Where did the three weeks go!?!" As we have debriefed our experiences and done our best to prepare for our trips home, it is easy to say that we are sad to see that this trip is almost over. There is hope in knowing, however, that the mission field is not only in the Philippines, it is on our soil as well.
Last night we talked with the girls about the impact that they can have on their friends and families by simply telling the many stories that they have from this trip. We strongly encourage them to continue to tell those stories, even when it seems like they have told them 100 times, because we never know the impact that our tales can tell. The Lord will continue to use these three weeks to minister to the girls and also the friends and families that they are going home to. So expect to hear those stories, to look at pictures, and see the changes that have been made by this experience.
Tonight we will say goodbye to our hosts, Ruben, Sharon, and Joy. We were able to bless them with gifts for the new baby coming soon, and school products for Joy. We were also able to bless eight separate families and two main ministries that the Cebu City Alliance Church is in charge of with the extra money that we had left over from our budget. What a huge blessing that will be for those families and those ministries.
Pray for us as we travel home. With all of those time zones we will be crossing, we get to experience Friday almost twice :o) Last year we saw 2 sunsets on our 14 hour flight home. Pretty cool. Pray for each of us as we experience coming home after such a life changing trip, and that God would continue to move in us as we minister in our communities at home. The Lord has done great things here in the Philippines and in each of us, and we praise him for that.
On Sunday we traveled to Lorega as a team, and I knew that it would be an impacting time for all of our students. Lorega is a place like no other. There really are no words to describe it. There is no place like this in America, nor do I ever see one being there.
Lorega is life built around death. Lorega is homes built atop burial tombs and goats sleeping on gravesites. Lorega is a city built upon a cemetary. It is a place that often carrys a heavy spirit. Because of drug activity, prostitution, gangs, and other forms of criminal activity that often occur at night in the area, people often sense a great weight upon them when they enter. For me, however, Lorega has always brought light, and not just because we only travel there in the middle of the day. This was the third trip to Lorega that I have made, and each time I enter, I feel such a great since of hope surrounding all of the devestation. In my eyes, this is probably the best place to share the love of Christ.
The people of Lorega sleep on the tombs of the dead, they build their houses upon them. The small church that has been set up in the middle of the community has a large burial plot as its cement floor. The people of Lorega are literally surrounded by death all day and all night, and they crave hope! I see the Lord working so strongly in this community. His spirit is moving through there and inhabiting that place. And praise the Lord that we serve a Master who is stronger then all that surrounds that place.
What great hope must rest in knowing that when they die, they will not simply go from outside the tombs to inside. That there is a home that rest for them in heaven and the Lord has prepared for them a mansion with a treasure that will never pass away. Perhaps this is why in places of extreme poverty people tend to cling to the new hope that we present to them. Because when the world fails around you and a promised heaven lingers above, what a joy it must be to reach for it. And an even greater joy in knowing that as Christians, the Kingdom rests within us!
The Lord brought to me a word from Lamentations 3: 21-23 on Sunday while we were there. It is one of my favorite passages of scripture, and is so relevant to that place.
Yet this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope.
Because of the Lords great love for us, we are not consumed.
For his compassions NEVER fail.
They are new every morning.
GREAT is Your faithfulness!
Praise the Lord for his faithfulness, his unfailing compassion, and his mercies which are new every morning. And praise the Lord for His hope in Lorega.
My first week of ministry in Cebu Philippines has been really eye-opening. We went to three different ministry sites and ministered mostly to the children. The kids are absolutely adorable, but they live in poverty like I’ve never seen. They all wear tattered and stained clothing and some even run around naked. Their teeth are already rotting and many have skin rashes. Simple products like toothpaste and lotion that we take for granted just aren’t present in these places. Trash, mud and stray animals like cats, dogs and sometimes goats surround the walkways and houses. The houses are made of metal sheets, crumbling stone and wood, and they definitely do not look very strong. They are extremely small, usually only two small rooms, but they provide shelter for entire families.
A couple days ago we fed dinner to children living in a community behind CCAC (Cebu City Alliance Church). We told the kids a bible story, taught them songs and just loved on them. Soon; however, it was time to leave. Leaving the kids is always so hard because they cling to us until the very last second and then they chase us down the street. As we were leaving, I was holding the hand of a little boy who was probably about ten years old, but I was falling behind and was trying to catch up with my team. With so many Filipinos bustling around me, I knew I had to keep my team in sight. Suddenly, the little boy clinging to my hand rammed right into a little girl who must have only been two years old, and she fell down flat and started balling. When I was little and fell down, someone would immediately pick me up and comfort me. With this little girl, it was a different story. No one really seemed to notice. It broke my heart. She stood their crying with no mother around to comfort her, and I couldn’t help her because I had to keep my eyes on my team. I felt awful.
That’s when it hit me. There are so many kids around in this place and they live in such poverty that one kid crying is just another kid to the others living in the same situation around them. This little girl was just another kid – just another kid thrown among filth, just another mouth to feed, just another broken heart among so many others, just another girl who has never received the love she deserves. This is why they cling to us, strangers with different color skin who don’t even speak their language. They cling to our love. Love is a necessity that these kids are deprived of, but they crave it, like all other human beings, more than anything. They need to know that they are not just another kid, but that they are important and they are special. They need to know that the creator of the universe loves them and calls them his very own children. This is our mission – to feed these children the love of Jesus that their hearts desire and need. By loving on them, we can show them Christ’s love, which is the only food that will ever truly sustain them.
Hello everyone! I'm so glad I get to give you an update. I love and miss you all!
When I heard that each person on our team is able to post blogs, I was super excited but unsure what I was going to talk about. I didn't even write it out before hand like we are supposed to because I didn't have any ideas. I eventually settled on talking about wealth and what it really means, but God blessed me with an awesome expereince about an hour ago that I am bursting to share. It started this afternoon at about two o'clock. . .
Everyone was excited to be able to go back to Riverside and play with the children we have come to know there. Cora wasn't able to go last time so we were happy to be able to introduce her to all our new friends. We left our apartment with high hopes and headed into a breezy city with an overcast of dark rain clouds. We didn't think much about it as as grabbed our umbrellas and rain coats.
We caught a jeepney (which we have all grown to love) and it almost immediatly started to down pour. Most of our ministry is outdoors, so the first thing that popped into my head was a picture of sopping wet Americanos. Our leaders, being as awesome as they are, decided to wait out the rain inside the local supermarket, Fooda.
Kelsey and Kasandra pulled us aside and asked if the Lord was leading any of us to do ministry in Fooda. I know for me especially, God has been ringing my heart out for the "well off". We prayed for guidance and a few of us recieved confirmation from God that ministry in the supermarket instead of going to Riverside was what we were supposed to do. We prayed again, but this time for specific images or people that God wanted us to talk to. I got a picture of a watch and the color purple. It turned out that Margo had an image of a watch come to her mind and Lorena also pictured the color purple, so we were immediately a goup. We split into our two groups and started the ministry.
We first focused on the watches. There was a watch repair cart but we didn't feel comfortable talking to the men, so we went to a young girl selling watches and jewelry instead. Margo took the reigns and talked to her for a while when I felt led to ask her if we could pray for her. She said no, but I feel like we made an impact on her day anyway.
After that we headed upstairs where Lorena asked for us to stop and pray again. We asked for visions, directions, guidance... anything! Lorena had the image of clouds with the sun shining through, flowers in the same color purple that she had seen earlier, and blueberries. Kasandra pictured white flowers and Margo also had in image of clouds and a sun. We started walking again and long story short, we saw each of those things (clouds with the sun shining was painted on a wall, a bag of blueberries in a purple bag, a pile of purple and white flowers) when we came across a big cart full of sheets with flowers on them. "Guys, those are the same flowers I saw!" Lorena shouted. Just then, a saleslady walked over and asked us how we were. We talked with Maica the saleslady for over fifteen minutes over the pile of flower sheets. She was surprisingly open and honost with us, explaining how her parents died when she was 3 years old, how she has a 1 year old daughter living on a different island with her aunt, and how God has blessed her. We told her about the church we are working with and she wants to visit. She asked if we could "fervently pray" for her and her daughter, for protection, for safe travels, and for her relationship with God.
I know that God put this young woman in our life for a reason and that He was the one who led us there. I've learned that even if it seems silly, do it. If it seems unreasonable, believe it. If your heart starts pounding really fast, you're heading in the right direction. I'm so blessed that God gave me an opportunity to practice ATL (ask the Lord) and that He did not disappoint. When He wants us to do something, He'll make it happen. He's bigger than our schedule. I can't wait to get home and put this into practice!
Thank you for all your prayers! They are moving the hand of God to do incredible things in and around us.
A couple of days ago we went to Lorega. Lorega is a place where the homeless live among the dead in a cemetary. Part of me doesn't even know where to start. They live among the dead. Their home is literally on top of and surrounded by tombs. And it's not an old burying site either, we saw tombs marked 2004 and these people have been making their home there for well over twenty years. The first church service we went to we had the oppurtunity to teach the children Sunday School off to the side. I taught the songs, and then after the story was taught one of my other team members got up in front to teach another song and I stepped back. When I did this, I glanced down and there was little girl kneeling on a tomb in the dirt, glass, trash, and goat poop next to me. I knelt down and started to try and sing the song with her but she was too young to understand. I had this tug on my heart to try and pick her up, so I did. Immediately after I picked her up I felt my side get really warm and wet from where she had had an accident and not been changed. After holding her for a while I set her on her feet right in front of me. Immediately she grabbed my hand. It wasn't because of her lack of balance because she was old enough to walk, but it was so obvious to me in that moment that she just wanted to be loved and comforted by someone. Eventually, after holding my hand for a little while she started to lean into me and rest her head on my leg. Whenever another child came over to talk to her she would almost act frightened and in turn I would feel her squeeze my hand a little tighter and lean into my body a little harder.
At one point she let go of my hand just so that she could wrap both of her arms around my leg and place her head there too and look up at me. For a lot of the time I would bend down so I was her height and could see eye-to-eye with her. Whenever I did this she would automatically switch from wrapping her arms around my leg to wrapping her arms around my chest. And it wasn't like she wanted to be given a hug, she more just wanted to be held. I must have stood comforting Zandra for at least 30 minutes while all of the other kids played around us. To be honest, I remember very little about my surroundings for those 30 minutes, it was almost like she and I were the only two there, and all that mattered was the connection I had with this little girl.
When I told her I had to go and waved my other hand to make sure she knew what I meant, (I was kneeling down and looking her in the eyes at this point) she immediately reached up and put both her hands on my cheeks. I have never felt so connected with someone in my entire life. When I was walking away she grabbed my hand and led me. She didn't have any shoes on, and the protective instinct inside of me wanted to say something like, "be careful" or, "watch your feet" as she walked over the broken glass. And that's when it hit me and I held back the words. I realized she has grown up in this. This is her life. Zandra has probably witnessed far worse things in her short life than I will ever have to witness.
Before this trip to the Philippines, and especially before my trip into Lorega, I would have been naive enough to tell you it was impossible for a little Filipino child who didn't even speak English, to have as much of an imact on my life as Zandra did. It sounds crazy, but I can still feel her arms wrapped tightly around my leg and her hands against my cheeks. At the beginning of this trip I prayed for God to break my heart for what breaks His, and I truly meant it in my heart. Over these last couple days with Mariel and Zandra He has done just that. I am so grateful He is answering my prayer, but all the same, it's not painless to have your heart broken. I have prayed a lot about this, and this breaking of my heart is not only a good thing, it's also healthy. Because the second a child like Mariel or Zandra walks into your life and your heart doesn't break, that's when you know something is wrong.
Thank you so much for keeping our team in your prayers. We are all excited to see what these last 7 days in the Philippines will bring us. God Bless!
The past couple of weeks have been nothing short of life changing. I have survived a 14 and ½ hour flight, slept in the Seoul, South Korea Airport, bought groceries at Fooda (and no, that’s not a spelling error =) ), had Filipino spaghetti at Jollibee (it’s not quite the same as back in the States), and taken countless jeepney rides (where you are shoved a little closer to the people around you than you may have wished.) And on a more serious note: I have witnessed material poverty like never before. It was a couple of days ago when I was surrounded by dirt, trash, and pollution, while sitting in a church service on top of a burial tomb that I realized my definition of poverty has been skewed my entire life . I have defined poverty and wealth based of the possessions people have, but it hit me that a lot of these people living in the slums are wealthy. Their faith is incredible and they are keeping their eyes and hearts set on the things that will last for eternity. They praise God for all the small things they have, and in terms of eternal things and the Kingdom of God some of these people are among the wealthiest I’ve ever met.
Our team had the opportunity to go with Cebu City Alliance Church (CCAC) to feed and teach a Bible story to a group of children in a village in the city. Once we were done teaching, the kids lined up to be served food and I stood off to the side to watch. There was a little girl kneeling down in the dirt next to me and I knelt down and attempted to ask her what her name was. During the story I had been leading one of the songs, and whenever I looked at her she would smile but she didn’t really participate in the hand motions. When I asked her what her name was it became clear to me she didn’t understand English. I asked our host and translator, Ruben, to come over and help me communicate with her. I found out her name was Mariel and she was four years old. I realized she didn’t have a bowl and would be unable to eat. I had Ruben ask her if she wasn’t hungry, and she responded she was going to eat at home. Later we asked her where she lived and her response was, “everywhere”.
A few minutes later I pointed in the general direction of her face and said, “Gwapa ka,” which in Cebuano means, “You are beautiful.” She turned and asked Ruben, “My hair is beautiful?” and I asked Ruben to tell her “No, everything” and I motioned with my hands to her entire face so she would understand. As soon as Ruben translated for me, Mariel looked back at me, smiled shyly, and let out a little laugh. Ruben turned to me after this exchange and said, “That is probably the first time anyone has ever told her she is beautiful.”
Ruben had told me earlier that the majority of these girls had been molested by this age, and a lot of them were children of prostitutes. And the sad thing is that they will most likely choose the same lifestyle when they are older because they see it as their only way to make a sufficient amount of money.
After that exchange between Mariel and I, she stood behind my skirt and wanted to play with me. When it was time for us to leave our first feeding site to go on to the next, she let me pick her up and hug her and then she held my hand and led me into another alleyway. My exchange with Mariel is one I will never forget, and my new favorite saying for all the little Filipino girls is “Gwapa ka” because who knows if they’ve ever heard it or when the next person will tell them. It’s such a blessing to have the opportunity to love on these kids and shine truth and light into their hearts. My prayer is that they will turn to Jesus to be loved and not end up looking for love in the people and things in this world.
Hello everyone!
Just wanting to let you know that we are all having an amazing time together. God works in strange ways and that is exately what he is doing on our trip. By the grace of God we are all so close already and able to surrender up our past and be vulnerable for one another.
However, to really describe our times together is impossible, but here is alittle of what we are all going through. The first word to mind when thinking of our trip is far is humbling. You never really know how well you have it until you are brutally confronted with reality. The first night in Cebu I realized that this trip was going to be life changing. The culture shock we were all struggling with is hard to comprehend. From the smell of poverty on every street, to the makeshift homes made of tin sheets and cloth clustered together in remote parts of the city, to the naked children running around with scraps of garbage in their hands for toys forms the Filipino lives that we are trying to work through. But despite living in nothing their belief in God still is stronghold. I can't really explain how much I have been impacted by the children. I don't know if its there little toothless grins smirking up at you or their big watering brown eyes staring back at you. Each time entering into a new community i think it will be alittle easier leaving then the time before. Howvever, in that short amount of time that we are with the children they touch my heart in ways that have never been done before and makes it almost impossible to leave them. Their openness to everyone is remarkable and even though we can't communicate well there is a mutual understanding of appreciation on both ends.
For me speficially though Riverside seemed to really touch my heart. It was our first time meeting the Filipino children and we all didn't really know waht to expect. I kinda figured that they would be shy, but they were the exact opposite of that. We were on the street and they had all come running up the hill to greet us. Everyone had atleast 5 children hanging from every part of their body. We all just talked, played tag, sang the numerous American songs that they surprinsgly knew better than me, and just embraced each others presence. After that I was practically running into the other communities were were going to!
Once we think we have seen it all we are continually shocked with more poverty in these childrens lives. Busak was our first time going into a community where people lived. Homes shackled together, hoards of flies swarming around, and rabed animals all just reaffirmed the nothingness that these people were living in. The feeding at CCAC just showed us the happiness of children despite their situation. They all had thier bowls and spoons ready for the feeing and were all willing to share with the kids that had nothing. Lorega was even more poverty stricken community we have been to. The people of Lorega live among a grave yard. A tomb might be a bed or a dinner table for the night. It just once again reenforces how lucky we really are and how much God has blessed us and continues to bless us to the day.
We have one week left of ministry. We had two days of rest and we are preparing for the hefty schedule we have for the next cople of days. We are all excited to get back out on the field and excited for the ways God is going to continue to work through us!
It's impossible to know the definition of poverty until you experience it firsthand. Surrounded by people who are thankful that they have a gravestone to sleep on instead of a mud puddle, I decided, as my teammate put it, that I needed to rethink the meaning of wealth.
Lorega is basically a group of shacks built in a cemetary. It is inhabited by people who have lived there for their entire lives and don't know what it means to consume 2,000 calories in 24 hours or to have a clean pair of underwear every day. Since it's illegal to live in a graveyard in the Philippines, the people that live there don't know how long that will continue to be their home. However, they live their lives not in fear of the future, but in thanking God for each moment He provides for them.
These people know how to praise God with very little. With the guidance of a missionary years ago, they learned about Jesus and how much He cares about them. Instead of being angry at Him for not giving them enough material things, or questioning how He could love people who live among the dead, they decided that they wanted Him to provide for them. And the people of Lorega definitely have God's joy.
The kids, like all Filipino children, are so precious. Because their parents choose to spend money on drugs or are too lazy to work, they have to grow up in a cemetary. They live their lives in almost constant sickness or disease. Yet we were able to give them joy, to show them hope in the midst of their poverty. We were able to show the kids what some of their parents had discovered in earlier years: the love of Christ. As we played with the kids, the smiles that lit up their faces showed true joy. Those are smiles that I will remember for the rest of my life.
The hardest part of children's ministry is saying goodbye to the kids. They've clung to you, taught you their language, and played games with you for over an hour, and then you have to leave. But even though I might never see some of those kids again, I know that my team's love impacted them. God used my team to show those kids that though they might live their whole life in a graveyard, they don't have to stay there when they die. They can be with Him in heaven.
The people of Lorega have their own definition of wealth, a definition that is far better than the world's. The Christians that live in this community praise God for each thing they have. The know He'll provide. To them, wealth is the knowledge that God is all they need.
