Never before have I felt such love radiating from such a small child. Never before have I felt so welcome and utterly accepted. Never before have I just wanted to leave my old life for good and give my whole being to loving on the children of the world.
Yesterday, on the 19th of September I found love in the middle of a dump. After traveling for over 2 hours in a bumpy Jeepney (these are the colorfully vehicles that line the streets in the Philippines and are decorated with pictures of Jesus, horses, band decor, lions, interesting phrases, and whatever else), I felt so motion sick, and the smells and heat from the surroundings made me want to nearly vomit. But, as soon as we stepped out of the car and walked into the door of the PCF church, I was greeted by the most beautiful little girl I have ever met. She was 11, and her name was Leslie. Immediately, she shook my hand, looked up into my eyes and asked me if I knew that Jesus was Lord. Her lovely brown, knowing eyes were filled with the greatest joy I have ever before seen. She just gazed into my soul, and it was as if she could read my every thought. Taking me by the hand, she took me to the front of the church and introduced me to her sister, Jasmine, and a bunch of her other friends- Lorenzen, Sassy, Cecil, and Bambi. They asked me ALL about my life, we took some funny pictures together, they asked for my email and facebook account, and then they proceeded to tell me how to say tons of words in their language of Tongalan. At first, they tried to teach me verbally, and let’s just say I felt like the worst student ever. I couldn’t say anything right, and they were giggling hysterically. Leslie wrote them all down on index cards I had in my bag, and they again watched me try and speak their language. Here are some fun phrases/words I learned:
Kaibiga n ako ng Dios = I am a friend of God
Magkaibigan habang buhay = best friend forever (try saying THIS one!!)
heart = puso
salamat = thank you
walanganoman = your welcome
mabutay (ma booty) = good
Once the service started, I sat between the group of girls, and during all the songs, Leslie continued to stare up into my eyes every other second to look at me joyfully. Behind me, my teammate Samantha had 5 little kids hanging on her. Ahead of me were 3 and 4 year old children dancing around and lifting their arms into the sky. It just left me astounded and thrilled to see kids so small so fully in love with their savior. After songtime, Leslie and most of her group left for children’s church, but her older friends still surrounded me and kept me accountable to not falling asleep in the heat. 😉
After the message, which was in Tongalan and all about music in the Bible, there was a feeding for the 300 or so children. They devoured their fishy tasting rice and stuffed what they didn’t eat into little baggies to take home. I tried to eat the same thing and nearly gagged again. I could barely handle smelling the food, let alone tasting it. Even cleaning off the gunk for the washers to wash made me nearly lose it. But when I looked around, these kids just LOVED the food. The 15 year old girls who volunteered were getting down and dirty to clean up. They didn’t seem to mind the smells or sights or anything. This kind of convicted me. Here these kids LIVE in a dump (the roads are a foot deep of mud and junk and there is filth everywhere), and they seem so happy, so filled with joy. I feel like the biggest wimp ever. I just pray God can help me fully forget the filth and dive full into this ministry. I cannot WAIT to go back!!!! I cannot WAIT to love on Leslie and her friends even more!!! I cannot WAIT to get down and dirty in the dump and show God’s love to the least of these!!!!
