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.
All Glory to Him,
Margo
