Welcome to the Philippines where I feel like Spanish and Asian culture decided to have a kid and make it a country. As a squad we are working with Kids International Ministry this month. Ministries include; tutoring at schools, feeding street kids, working in nurseries, construction work, fighting against human trafficking, prison ministries, pregnancy care centers, and of course bringing Jesus into all of it.
The first day we arrived was an unscheduled day of rest- lets just say that jet lag is not a missionaries best friend. With all the excitement of being somewhere new, I along with some of my teammates felt the strong tug on our hearts to go and explore Manilla, Philippines. Here is the thing, the streets are loaded with kids- they are everywhere just roaming about. Sometimes they just run and jump into an Americanos arms, sometimes they follow behind you, and sometimes they ask you to teach them how to dougie, sometimes they just wave hello and beg for a picture of them beaming with joy. Yes, all this happened to me today.
So at one point in my journey I came across a little girl in a white tutu, it was quite ironic because her name was Angelina. I quickly remembered the little mouse cartoon from my childhood “Angelina Ballerina” as this little girl wanted to spin and dance. At this point my team was about to go on a few mile walk to figure out our surroundings. Angelina the Ballerina embraced my arms and insisted that I carry her on this journey. Exhausted as I was I loved every step of carrying this sweaty, laughing body that was full of joy. That was until we finally made it back to our neighborhood to find an angry mother glaring at me looking for her child. Yes, it probably did seem like I was a kidnapper of a four year old. Later on I found out from my squad that the mother had been looking for her child for quite sometime. I was slightly confused by this because street kids freely roam about without an agenda or a care in the world. When the child was taken from me she looked slightly disappointed as she was carried home. But all of this is besides the point.
This scenario made me think however. How often in my life I have wandered into the next phase (in this case it was a group of Americans), but for many of us it is distractions of everyday life. While in the midst of our pondering we have a God who searches for us and brings us back to Him. Often when He does I am slightly angry because it pulls me from the temporary fun I am in, but He is bringing me into a better place. This situation was such a reminder for me to just stay alongside my dad because the consequences of sin and loosing Him are just not worth it. On this race I pray my eyes are on Him, and after this race I pray they are glued to Him.
1 John 2:6
“Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked”.
