Month 7: The Philippines!
Wednesday, March 2nd: Flying from South Africa –> Dubai –> the Philippines found Y-squad in a confused and jet-lagged, 2:00am “whatever-put-me-anywhere-I-just-need-to-sleep” state.
When we woke about 11 hours later, it became obvious this would be a month we were not expecting. Typically, the World Race includes one all-squad month (40-50 people doing ministry together). The rest of the time, we’re serving in smaller teams of 5-7 people. For a variety of reasons, our squad got to have all-squad Months 2 & 4.
Before arriving in the Philippines, we were under the impression we would all be serving in the same city. Turns out we’re all serving the same church — a church that has never hosted a World Race team before, let alone an entire squad.
The Filipino people are unendingly warm, kind, friendly, and servant-hearted. I can’t speak highly enough of them. The church was about as surprised as we were about this all-squad situation, yet they served us every morning and every night to ensure that our needs were met.
At the mention of all-squad month, some Racers rejoice — while others cringe. I’m somewhere in the middle.
I treasure the opportunity to serve with my squadmates that I may never be on a team with. I also cringe at the thought of living in a house with 41 other people: there are people sleeping on their sleeping pads in every room and on every floorspace — even the common rooms. Everyone’s using the same few bathrooms while water to flush the toilet only runs 12 hours a day. If you don’t want to see anyone, you basically just need to sit in a corner and face a wall while you read. Trying to find a place in the morning to spend time in the Lord’s presence is filled with constant interruptions. Forget the “instagram-worthy” pictures of your Bible, journal, pen, and coffee in a serene environment…if you do find a place to be alone, more than likely you’ll soon be joined by 5-10 curious Filipino kids asking you your name.
Amidst trying to stay sane, we’re trying to corral 40 people into a structured schedule as it was being made. Friends, the structure and efficiency of the US is not the norm. Despite our host’s best efforts to schedule us time to speak in the public schools, usually we arrived and miscommunications necessitated that we make and execute a Plan B on the spot.
Or, we leave late after our host because 30 people waking up and being ready by 7:45am is really difficult (let’s face it, everything with a large group is really difficult), and I lead everyone to the wrong elementary school and we miss our morning ministry completely. We end up sitting on the side of the road for an hour because the only local phone we brought is out of minutes. That happened.
It’s hot and humid. Everyone’s sweating and usually just walked 30 minutes in the sun. Air conditioning is not a thing here. And now, Lord, you want me to follow Your Spirit’s leading? I don’t want to place myself before you and take the energy to depend on You right now! What I want to do is go in and teach what I was told to plan: a 7th grade PE class, not a 10th grade math class.
And despite the frustrations, we surrender. We go in.
And the Lord swings the door wide open for us.
As we accepted His invitation to enter into elementary and high school classrooms with no plan, He gave us opportunities we would hardly ask for or imagine. As we played games with the students, the Principals began asking our host, “Aren’t they missionaries? When will they preach the Gospel?” Public school Principals were asking us to tell these kids about Jesus!
Praise report: Some of the elementary kids hardly spoke English. My team was in a 2nd grade classroom one morning trying to share about Adam and Eve, sin, and Jesus. We had prayed right before going in for open eyes and ears to discern the Lord’s plan. As we talked, I kept thinking, “This is not working. We should act this out.” Next thing I know, my teammate Emily turns to me and says, “Allison just said she thinks we should act this out.” Thanks, Lord! It was complete confirmation of how to communicate this message. We used volunteers from the class to act out the stories and we were able to communicate!
Being in Bulacan, we felt like celebrities. They don’t get a lot of Americans there. The Lord used the attention we drew as a platform for conversation and invitation. As the month went on, we began to plan a performance at the town’s outdoor Plaza stage downtown. It became clear: if there was a reason for all of us to be together, it was for this night. We joined together with the church we were serving with. They taught us their cultural dances and we included the youth in our skits and dramas about the Gospel. On our last Saturday in Bulacan, we put everything together into a 2-hour presentation at the town Plaza. A few of my squadmates very boldly shared their testimonies, and another shared the Gospel at the end.
Praise report: THIRTY people came forward in response to the Gospel message and trusted Jesus as their Savior that night!
pc: Kuya Allan
This is the essence of the World Race: partnering with local churches and seeing more people come to understand the redemptive and transformative work of Jesus Christ!
Sometimes on the Race, you wake up and realize you’re about to walk out another all-squad month. Sometimes in life, your plans are flipped on their head. In the moment, surrender and dependence sounds simply frustrating; yet because we all — Americans and Filipinos alike — surrendered to the Lord’s plan, 30 more Filipino people in Bulacan know Jesus and are able to begin the discipleship process with other locals from Moriah Baptist Bible Church. Praise Him for that!
