I want to start off by saying that God is good. I have experienced and grown so much over the past few months. I know that what the Lord has been teaching me will stick with me for the rest of my life. Spending 3 months here in the Philippines has helped me understand the culture and get to know the people so well. The people here are so genuine and kind. For instance, we can be riding on a jeepney and have full conversations with people; they are so interested in why we are here and thank us for caring about there people and helping them. We are obviously foreigners here, but everyone I have met loves that we are here and welcomes us with open arms! I’ve seen people living in poverty that have so much faith in God and love for people. There have been little kids running around with no clothes on and we have the opportunity to wash them and give them a shirt and some pants.
We meet orphans who come up to us and ask us for money and instead of shoving them away saying “I don’t have any”, we get to take them into a jollibee (fast food restaurant) and treat them to a meal or walk them to a 7/11 and buy them some snacks!
I’ve learned that people buy specific lotion and body wash to make their skin whiter, karaoke is taken so seriously, and there is no shame when taking selfies in public here! I love Filipino food; it is delicious (My favorite is pansing).
Out of everything that we have gotten to do while living here, my favorite is we prepare lugaw and get to travel to many different schools and feed the kids. 
We ride in a light blue van to the feedings and when we turn down the road that the school is on, we can here them yelling “The lugaw is here! The lugaw is here!!” Along with the excited shouts, we see kids running from all directions carrying their cups to be filled. To the kids at the schools, this blue van represents the food that they will be eating for that day. In the same way, we as Christians represent Christ wherever we go. So when people see us, they should see God’s love through us, knowing that we walk in His grace and forgiveness, and see that we live different than the way the world lives.
I have most definitely not always done the best job at representing Christ in everything I do; I’ve let sin and my own selfish desires hinder how I’ve treated people and it has kept me from putting others first. This is an area that I have grown in and can grow in even more and I strive to live in a way that I represent Christ well and continue to follow his plans for my life and not my own.
On a different note, I will be seeing my parents in a few short days and I am so excited! They get to dive into what I’ve been doing here and we are going to be doing ministry together! Being away from home has been tough, but I am so thankful for the world race family that I have been given! Please pray for the parents traveling to the Philippines over the next few days, that they will all arrive safely and that we will have a great week altogether! In the meantime, here is a picture from the grand opening of the church that we got to help build over the last few months!
