Let me give you a little glimpse into our month in the Philippines. Oppressive heat, insane humidity, crazy flies and spiders, dysentery, and sleeping in a shipping container is our day to day life. Sounds miserable right? The truth is I could not be more content. In fact, God has blessed us in so many ways this month. In the mornings, Monday through Friday we help move rocks out of a field. The rock is going to be used to build the outer wall around a new children’s home that will be built after our team leaves. Rock moving just so happens to be in the mornings from eight to twelve which is the hottest part of the day. It’s so funny to see the faces of the Filipino men we are working with as they watch us sweat and burn in the sun and they are all just working away like we would on a nice sixty-five degree day. The work may be hard, but it’s also very rewarding. There is a kind of satisfaction that comes from hard work and I always sleep like a baby at night. We are fed our breakfasts and lunches at the container which is prepared by the sweetest little lady I think I have ever met. After lunch we head down the mountain and into the city of Cagayan De Oro were we work with a local ministry that helps street kids. Most of the kids come from very broken families and sleep in cardboard boxes. The ministry that we are working with gives the kids a safe place to go during the week. They also provide education and feed the kids during the day. Unfortunately there is just not the funds or space to house the kids right now, that is why we are working on the wall in the mountains. As soon as the housing goes up there will be a safe place away from the streets that the kids can stay 24/7. The ministry we are working with is also going to partner with the families of these children and provide job training and counseling to help mend these broken homes. It is going to be hard to leave after making so many new friends, the kids and also the staff of this amazing organization. Even though living conditions may be hard, life itself has a whole new meaning, one that is amazing. The simple things at home that we take so much for granted have now become luxuries; things like toilets that flush, showers, air conditioning and clean clothes. Most of the people here go everyday of there lives without those things. So I challenge you, next time the power goes out and you have to go a day without air conditioning think of the people that go everyday without even the most basic of necessities, like clean water to drink. We have a mighty God and He has the power to change the world but he asks people like you and me to partner with Him to make a difference.
