Brandon Heath- Give Me Your Eyes
All those people going somewhere
Why have I never cared?
Give me your eyes for just one second
give me your eyes so i can see
everything that i keep missing
give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the brokenhearted the ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see
Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah
Step out on a busy street
See a girl and our eyes meet
Does her best to smile at me to hide what’s underneath
All those people going somewhere
Why have I never cared?
Give me your eyes for just one second
give me your eyes so i can see
everything that i keep missing
give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the brokenhearted the ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see
Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah
Step out on a busy street
See a girl and our eyes meet
Does her best to smile at me to hide what’s underneath
Today I had the privilege of going on two “feeding trips” with the KIM organization. Daily the ministry makes two trips one @ 10am and one @ 4pm. Today we loaded up two huge tubs full of food, loaded it and ourselves into a van and drove out to the slums of the Philippines. I have been to very poor sugar cane villages in the Dominican Republic, and very poor villages in rural China…..but I have NEVER seen the level of poverty that I experienced today first hand. It is so hard to even put into words the children that I saw and the living conditions (literally living in trash). Many children had very little to no clothing, most had no shoes and many sores on their legs and arms.The kids came swarming up as we brought the food into their proximity. Literally tons of children came out of alleyways and shacks to receive food. The ONLY meal these kids received was the one we brought to them. The very first feeding this morning simply broke my heart. I felt helpless even though we were bringing food I felt overwhelmed by the level of poverty and sickness I was surrounded by.
The incredible thing though was how hopeful and cheerful many of the kids were. They LOVED our cameras and wanted to take TONS of pictures and laugh with us and give us hi fives….everyone we encountered said “Hello” and everyone we gave food to was SO grateful and thankful. An older lady came and gave me a kiss on the cheek saying, “Thank you for coming…God bless you!” Here I was coming to bless them, and by this small gesture I was blessed more than I could’ve ever imagined! I was so incredibly encouraged by the children’s smiles and apparent joy at our being there.
Today I also got an opportunity to visit and observe in a classroom at the Cuatro Christian School (next door to where we are staying @ KIM). A girl came up and gave me a huge hug when I left and said in my ear “Today I am happy…because I have met you!”
So even though I honestly felt so helpless today to the bigger issue of extreme poverty…just “being there” giving “Hi-fives” giving smiles and a warm meal to many kids….really did bring Christ’s love and joy to the Philippines today. I feel so grateful to have been a part of bringing the Kingdom to these children today.
Here are a few more pics from the day:
