Hey there!
This blog has been a long time coming and it is finally here!
Philippines update
So I have been in the Philippines working with an organization called Wipe Every Tear. This organization offers an aftercare program to women who have been prostituted. They also provide preventative care for girls who have thought of working in what they call “the bars”. For the first few weeks of being here in the Philippines, my team spent a lot of time in the safe houses.
Out of the three houses, I work in Faith house, everyday, getting to know each girl, hear some of their stories and loving on them for who they are, not where they have been. We teach devotions every night at 8 pm where we have been walking them through the book of Ruth, teaching them how to understand scripture and apply it to their personal lives as well as their relationship with Abba.
The basis of this aftercare program is education. The girls come out of the “bar” scene, where they were once call girls and dancers, and are given the opportunity to finish their high school education and receive a college education, all expenses paid for. Full ride scholarships! Each girl gets sponsored, as well, for her living expenses, and other various expenses. God wants his princess taken care of and like you and I both know, GOD DOES PROVIDE!.
Another ministry opportunity we had was to host our Beauty For Ashes retreat! I don’t wanna brag but it was AWESOME! The level of vulnerability with these girls far exceeded my expectations. Some told of their view of God, some told of their families, and some told stories they never thought they would. God did an incredible thing that day. I personally witnessed one of my girls, who was very close to my heart, walk through understanding what forgiveness really is. Because I work in her house everyday I have been lucky enough to see the fruit of her choice to forgive herself. Sometimes that’s the hardest part, right? To have the courage to forgive ourselves. Yet, He is faithful to continually renew us every day that we choose to be called His Beloved.
Another really great opportunity we have had while being here in the Philippines was to help with H squads Parent Vision Trip! When I was on my World Race, I did not get to attend PVT because my family was unable to come. So I was blessed and honored to be a part of H Squads. PVT is a chance for parents to come on the field during month 8 of the world race, and work alongside their son or daughter in ministry! A lot of times it’s life changing for the parents to see their young so on fire for what God is doing in their lives. H Squad worked with Wipe Every Tear doing what they call “bar ministry”. I got to help lead teams into the bars. The experience was, at first, a lot to comprehend. Here I am leading racers and parents into some of the most lust filled places in the philippines. There is a curtain draped over the doorways, so you can not see in until you’re IN. Forty to fifty girls, on a small stage, doing an organized dance, on display, for any person from the outside world to see. Green lasers are being passed from hand to hand calling individual girls from the stage to come accompany the one calling. Scantily dressed, the girls turn their back hoping they don’t catch the beam of green light calling them to a night filled with pressured affection from men looking for the freedom to abuse the innocent.
You can only imagine what these girls must have felt to see a bunch of women coming in and offering them an out! Offering education, a safe place to live and become all they had hoped and dreamed. By the end of the weekend we had an entire chartered bus full of girls ready to come visit the houses and see if what we were offering was true. I never, in all my life, would have thought that I would be in bars and clubs, where the innocent were being victimized by poverty and forced, by poverty, to sell their bodies. I never thought that I could love people so much. I never thought I would have the strength to look past all of the perversion that the devil wants us to fear and see people the way Abba sees them, as innocent and pure. I’ll go into the bars over and over again. I will love the girl who has no other choice, I will love the lady/boys who just need someone to remind them that God loves them. I will love the “happy ending” girls who have to make money to send it to their sick relatives. Loving beyond their circumstance is real. It’s possible. There are no limits to God’s love. Now, thanks to Wipe every Tear, there is a way out! There IS another choice. They HAVE a future!
Well that’s a little bit of what I have been doing here. Thank you for your prayers and blessings and financial giving! As you know I still have three more months here in Kingdom Journeys, and I’m behind $3,500 dollars to reach my final deadline! If you feel led to invest in what I’m doing to bring kingdom, please click on the support me tab and give! I would be extremely grateful! Also, please share my blog with your friends and family! Spread the word about what I’m doing!
With love from the Philippines!
Liv
