Our time in the Philippines is quickly coming to an end. I am going to miss this place so much. The last three months, in Africa, I got to this point where I was ready to go, ready to move on to the next place, but I’m not there yet with KIM ministries. This place really feels like home and I have made some deeply rooted connections with these people here that I can’t stand to see break apart on Saturday (thank goodness for Facebook!).
There is one girl in particular from the JAZ house that has just touched my heart. If you read my last blog, it talks a little bit about her story. Basically their family exists because of rapes. The grandmother (who is the sweetest thing and has also become a good friend of mine this month) had been raped multiple times and has 3 kids from 3 separate rapes. One of those daughters is this girl’s mom, who was also raped and had this girl, girl A we’ll call her. Girl A was subsequently raped about a year ago by her mother’s boyfriend and when the grandmother found out about this, took her into her custody. She was living in her grandma’s home, but they didn’t have very much money. They lived in a one bedroom house that is smaller than my living room back home, which is where grandma still lives today and I have been to. Girl A started coming to Josie Long’s bible study when she moved here and this past July, when the JAZ home opened, was one of the first girls to move in. She now has a standard size home, along with the other 25 girls and 2 house moms, clothes, food, a shower, school outfits, schooling and everything a 13 year old girl could need! The grandmother is employed at KIM ministries as one of the women, trained my Josie, to cut hair, do massages and the like to raise enough money to get by. Girl A and I began our relationship right from the get go and I learned her story from Ate Josie (Ate means ‘big sister’ and Tita means ‘Auntie’. I am called both of these and you might hear me reference them a few times). Since then I have visited their home, heard about their family, loved them and gotten really close. Today Girl A hugged me for about 20 minutes as we both started crying, realizing that I have to leave so soon. I want to be able to look her in the eye and tell her ‘see you later’ or even promise that I can be back again someday, but the reality is that I don’t know if I’ll ever see them again. I want to help their family in any way that I can and I am going to be a sponsor for her when I get home. The girls in the bible study, as well as the Angels at the house, (there are over 100 of them) all need a sponsor for $40 a month to pay for their school fees and the food we give them at the once a week Bible study (rice and some sort of meat sauce). Although, the girls that live at the house need an extra $40 a month sponsor to pay for the living expenses, clothes, food, utilities (which are RIDICULOUSLY expensive here) and the like, Girl A has neither of these. The girls are able to get by with the things they have now and are going to school because of other donations and support from the Long family and other KIM donations, but they need their sponsors.
If anyone wants to help me sponsor this girl, up until I can start sponsoring her from my own pocket when I get home, I would be SO grateful! I would LOVE to start helping her as soon as possible, but there is no way I can do $40 a month with no income. I will be getting home in August and getting can take over payments then, but if anyone can start supporting her now that would be amazing! Email me at [email protected] if you are interested and want more information! There are also tons of girls without sponsors that need help, if you are interested. The Josie’s Angles program is saving lives, physically and spiritually and is an amazing thing to be apart of! All of these girls have crazy stories of where they come from and what their background is, Girl A is in a majority of girls with hard pasts that the Lord is rescuing them from. If you want, you can also email me and I can share a few more stories of the girls that I have gotten to know as well.
