As tough as my month in the Philippines was, it was an incredible month of ministry. I believe we accomplished so much in the Kingdom during our time there.
During the month we partnered with Kids International Ministries (KIM) and got to participate in several different parts of their ministry.
New Faith Family Children’s Home – Orphan Ministry
Our main ministry of the month was living and working at a children’s home. There were 35 children living at the home, and only four main staff on duty. The kids ranged in age from 3 months to 16 years.
Basically we were always doing ministry because every constant interaction with the kids was an opportunity to show them God’s love and teach them what it means to follow Jesus. For example, any time someone got hurt or we didn’t feel good we would ask them to pray in order to teach them that they have power to pray for the sick and hurting.
But other than that our ministry duties were separated into the girls’ side, boys’ side and nursery duty.
Having duty on either the girls’ or boys’ side meant waking up with the girls at 5:30 a.m., making sure they did their morning chores, getting them all showered and dressed for school, eating breakfast with the kids, walking them to school, doing their laundry, cleaning their rooms, eating lunch with the kids, picking them up for school (there were 4 different pick up times), supervising the kids as they played, making sure they do their afternoon chores, eating dinner with the kids, getting the kids showered and in their pajamas, sitting with them at devotions, putting the kids to bed by telling them a story and praying with them.
And nursery shifts meant playing with the kids, making sure they didn’t run out onto the balcony, disciplining them with time outs, feeding them bottles and food, cleaning up poop and pee off the floor, changing their diapers, cleaning up after them, holding them, changing their sheets after they peed their beds all the time, giving the kids showers, and putting them to bed. The smallest baby of 3 months had to be fed and held every four hours, which meant staying up during the all night shifts.
So basically I learned how to be a mom all month. (And to my own mother – I have never appreciated you more.)
Every shift we worked was about 8 hours long – either 5:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m. until 9 p.m., or 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. And because there were only 6 of us, we basically had some kind of shift every day.
Usually other missionary teams did devotions with the kids, but I did get the pleasure of leading several devotions with the kids and speaking truth into their lives.
Also another highlight was that I got to plan two parties – a princess party for the girls and a day of champions for the boys. Both events were so much fun! For the princess party, we did the girls’ hair and makeup and nails, decorated cupcakes, danced, watched a movie, and made crowns. My team mate Sara gave a devotion to the girls’ about how they were God’s princesses and then my squad mate Adam showed up as “Prince Charming” and talked to the girls from a guy’s perspective. For the boys’ party, they competed to win “day of champions.” Some of the guys from my squad played sports and games with them, they ate cake and candy, and watched a movie. It was a lot of fun!
We also got to pour into some of the staff who live at the children’s home and constantly pour out to those kids.
Street Ministry
During our month in the Philippines, we were constantly walking back and forth in between the children’s home and the mission base. One day God spoke to me, and told me to open my eyes to all of the people he wanted to touch in between the orphanage and base.
So another thing we did for ministry was intentionally getting to know the local street vendors and pray for them.
We also experienced a woman having her husband’s wake for days in the middle of the street. One night we stopped to talk to and pray for her. From then on, we always said hi to her, checked on how she was feeling and just loved on her. At the end of the month she invited us to visit and pray over her home.
Prison Ministry
One of our days in the Philippines, my team mate Katie and I got the opportunity to visit a women’s prison for Bible Study. It was such an incredible experience because the women there were seriously amazing and so eager for the Lord. It was beautiful to see how God was giving them true freedom even though they were still in prison.
Katie and I both got to share our stories. God totally used us. He used Katie’s story because many of the women could relate, and the Holy Spirit totally spoke through me because I told it in a completely different way than I ever had before. I told the women about how my parent’s prayers had made all the difference in my life and that it’s partly because of their faithfulness that God has allowed me to do so many great things. Apparently many of the women are mothers who struggle because they can’t physically be there for their children, and encouraging them that their prayers for their children could make a difference was huge for them. Then we got to hug and pray for each woman. It was beautiful.
More than ever, God continued opening my heart for prison ministry through this experience.
Children’s Garden Street Kids Ministry
One day, me and three of my team mates visited another ministry that works with boys who have been taken of the streets. My team mates – Katie, Lynette and Sara – shared their stories with these former street kids and encouraged them. Then we all got to pray for the kids in small groups and talk to them in depth. It was a cool experience.
Feeding Ministry
KIM does daily feedings in extremely poor communities across Manila. I only got to attend one feeding, but many of my squad mates went daily. Basically we just visited the community and walked around announcing that it was time for the feeding. Then we distributed food and vitamins, and some nurses attended to those needing medical care. We also played with the kids and prayed for those who were open to prayer.
That basically sums up what I did all month! But some of my team mates had the opportunities to help at the local birthing clinic, attend outreach events for street kids, and visit Manila’s red light district to do prostitution outreach with a separate ministry called Wipe Every Tear.
