I remember the day I heard about the Typhoon hitting The Philippines; my heart went out to the people. Thousands of miles apart, I was yearning to help them. I said a prayer for them and I told myself that I would never be able to make it. Three years later, I stepped on to Philippines ground in the city where the storm hit the worst and was able to help with my hands and feet.
Twenty six of us from the O Squad were told that we would be doing disaster relief, children’s ministry and feedings at KIM Ministry in the city, Tacloban. Even though the typhoon hit three years ago, I began to prepare my heart to see broken down villages with debris laying everywhere. Considering it was the largest typhoon ever recorded I thought it was going to be terrible however, it was different than I thought.
Even though the effects from the typhoon were still apparent, it was not what I was expecting. It was a lot more developed and cleaner than I thought. It was quite amazing to see the hope that Filipinos had. They clearly have a strong determination and are continually working hard into cleaning and re-building their city after the typhoon had hit.
I was working at the Lighthouse, also known as Kids International Ministries. They named the ministry Lighthouse not because they have a Lighthouse but because they want to bring hope and light to the communities around them. And that is exactly what they do. They do feedings twice a day for communities all around, Bible stories, Vacation Bible School for the kids, construction and church planting.
Here is a list of what we were able to do this month:
We built a bamboo hut for Sunday School.
Dug a water well.
Took part of telling Bible Stories and preached the gospel to local communities.
Took part of local feedings And of course, getting to play and to know the kids in the area.
Overall, it was an incredible month. The Lord blessed us with seeing a lot of fruit this month. We saw kids giving their lives to Christ after sharing the gospel. And even had some kids hear about Jesus for the first time. Amen. We saw our hut we built being used for Sunday school. And the joy that we got from seeing the children’s smiling faces as they ran to greet us as we gave food and as they would run after us saying goodbye is something I will never forget.
Also, the Landscaping here in the Philippines is something I never want to forget. The bright green rice fields, the emerald blue water, the never-ending palm trees and all the local stands on the sides of the road are definitely a sight to see. I would go to watch the sunrise sometimes just to remind me of how good The Lord is and what a beautiful creator He is. I also, really enjoyed getting to know the locals. The Filipinos are what they call the Mexican Asians. They were colonized by the Spanish so some of their traditions and parts of their culture stayed. The Filipinos are very welcoming; they treat strangers like family and will give you anything even if they don’t have a whole lot. Reminds me of how The Lord welcomes us, He always has open arms no matter who the person is.
As I sit here in the airport on my way to Africa; my emotions are getting the best of me, after four months of spending time in Asia, it’s hard to say goodbye. And It is hard to think that the race will be ending in less than three months. This will be my last flight on the race besides the flight coming home. My first stop is in Rwanda then will be busing to Uganda and then lastly, Kenya. Going to Africa is something I always dreamed of I will be sure to keep you all updated as much as I can but the internet situation will probably be nonexistent.
