The Philippines was my favorite month on the race. Some guys from N squad told us about a ministry they worked with the previous month and loved so we checked it out. It’s called “Children’s Garden” and is and orphanage type house for teenage boys. There’s about 20 of them who live there and they all have a story. Everone I heard was hearth wrenching. Physical and sexual abuse, starvation and being sold for money to buy drugs were common testimonies. Yet there weren’t tears from the kids or breaking down, but often smiles and laughs admits such remembrance of pain. The passionate powerful and in incomprehensible redemption of God was evident in their hearts and lives.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.”
for they will inherit the earth.”
God had brought each one of them out of hell and into the kingdom of heaven and His Word calls them Blessed. We were privileged to spend a few weeks with them singing and worshiping God sharing stories and scriptures, visiting their family’s and praying with them and just playing games and teaching each other games from our different cultures.
A few nights we were able to go to a street where many children as little as six years old to teenagers hung out and huffed glue out of plastic bags. The kids were impaired to say the least, just out of it, high as a kite. They were prisoners to an addiction, starving for love, compassion, joy, touch, and nutrition and food. We got the privilege to spend some time playing with them sharing stories, singing songs and giving them some food. Some of the Children’s Garden teens were with us. They had been in those kids shoes and walked and slept and lived for years, they could relate and they could share their story of Gods love and redemption and freedom. We could only try to show some love and give some food for a short time and move on but the CG kids really connect with them and I pray will continue to now as were are no longer around. They are the future of Gods love incarnate in the Philippines we were just blessed to be able to disciple and pour into them for a little while during our time there and I thank God for that. (If you’d like to see some pictures and to read more details about the Kids from the garden and the street you can check out Phil and Lucas Blogs http://philhenry.theworldrace.org/ http://lucastillman.theworldrace.org/ )
Those days of life in Manila just made sense, it had a purpose it had an effect that was bigger then me, the Spirit was present and it actually lined up with scripture “pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to visit widows and orphans in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. I’ve had thoughts of moving back there. It made living a life in America for the pursuit of pleasures for myself even the seemingly pure ones like a steady job and comfortable living and a family seem not so glamorous. It made giving 10% or even 50% of my money, or time, or service to he service of the Alpha and Omega like settling for less then heaven. It seemed like settling for hell with a little bit of heaven.
The idea that heaven and hell were mutually exclusive and that heaven was to pure to contain even the slightest molecule of hell and that never occurred to me because I want to partake in the Kingdom of heaven but I wasn’t and still am not willing to let go of some of the things of hell that I am still holding on to. Its sobering, It’s powerful, its unfortunate, but it at least makes sense. Settling for less then Gods best doesn’t. Calling myself a disciple or even a little Christian without living like the ones in the bible and Jesus himself the majority of the time just doesn’t make sense. It’s not about living perfect and it is a process and a walk a journey and not a destination but until I am willing to release every right, every possession, every sin, every hindrance, and become a slave to Christ the reality is that there’s a limit to growth.
“let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
I’m not sure if I’m ready to fully take up my own cross, scorning and shame for the Joy that is to come. I still focus mostly on the joy that is immediate. I can only pray that God would lead me there and I would continue to takes steps of faith being encouraged by the lives of men and women who truly give their entire life to the service of God our Father who is most worthy. Thank you for your prayers. God bless
