Im currently living in a remote village called Bagolog. We sleep in our tents, or hammocks. There’s no electricity or running water so we bring up bucket fulls from the well. Life is simple here, life is good here. I thought I’d give you the inside scoop on what a day in my life currently looks like.
The sun rises at 5:15 I know that because I usually watch it from my hammock. I sleep in my hammock because my tents a thousand degrees and filled with ants. You might think I’d be upset because I’ve awoken so early, but the truth is the roosters been cock-a-doodling since 3:30, so 5:15 isn’t so bad. I get out of my hammock around 6:30, and go for a morning run, sometimes with friends, sometimes with the little boy we’re living with. If I’m lucky enough my morning run will turn into a walk with 15 children who all want to pick me flowers. After the run, I sometimes shower, but usually not because I’ll be covered in sweat again in 5 minutes, eat breakfast, and then do quiet time with the Lord. Mornings are my favorite.
At about 9 my team and I start doing manual labor. We’re building a church and a pond. So far we’ve shoveled and moved dirt, we’ve spent about 40 hours on it so far and have made a lot of progress. Shoveling in 95 degree heat isn’t as awful as it might sound. There is something truly enjoyable about working so hard, you’re drenched in sweat, completely out of breath, covered in dirt, shoveling for so long you have blisters and can’t feel your arms. Maybe I have motivation because of all the possibilities God can move and work through this church, or maybe it’s all the people that could be brought to Christ through this church or maybe both.
We work hard until 1pm then we dump water on ourselves to clean ourselves up a little or maybe just for some cooling relief. For lunch some of us, myself included, go up to the little village, where a lovely couple cooks us lunch. The foods amazing, easily the best we’ve eaten in 7 months, rice, lumpia (similar to a spring roll), meat (chicken or pork, always delicious) and hallo hallo (a local treat of jellies, corn, ice, condensed milk, and lots of sugar. It might sound odd but it’s scrumptious). After lunch we have 2 hours to sleep and write this book (most of us sleep). At 4 we have karate. We practice karate at the church, the church is our only chance at electricity and wifi. So when we get to the church it’s usually a sprint to the outlets, to charge our dead phones and talk to our family and friends back home.
We usually get back from karate at 7ish, it’s already dark, but our headlights bring us some light. We have the best dinner you could ever get on the race with a $2 dinner budget. This includes but is not limited to: fish, shrimp, lots of chicken, lots of pork, crab, watermelon, pineapple, green beans, lots of pop or juice, and lumpia. We eat dinner outside in the dark with our headlamps, there’s a nice ambiance and Jesus is very present.
Sometimes we have campfires but usually we’re exhausted so we head right to bed, at around 8. It’s early but it’s wonderful.
Life here in the village is simple. It forces relationship with each other and Jesus. From the early sunrises, to sunsets, to local children, to the sugar cane fields beauty is everywhere. I love it here and wish I could stay longer.
