Hello from a very happy Kate Paulson!
I am in a brand new continent, at a new ministry site, and in my very last country of the World Race!
Very exciting. Very crazy.
I haven’t written an update for several weeks and I wanted to talk about the transition from Africa to Asia, because, aside from flying home, it was my last major travel day.
TUESDAY, 9AM.
We cleaned and mopped and packed and waved goodbye to our home and hosts in Heidelburg, Western Cape, SA. Driving to Johannesburg where we would join the squad family in excitement and anticipation. This first leg of the journey took 21 hours. A haul. I genuinely mean it when I say I crawled off that bus feeling like I had been hit by a bus, train, semi, etc…anything large and metal.
WEDNESDAY, 12PM.
Johannesburg –> Hong Kong
A twelve hour flight would bring us one step closer to month 7! One of the hardest parts of travel day is trying to align your sleep schedule with the new time zone. I had slept as much as possible on our bus ride the night before, but in order to adjust to Manila’s time I should have slept yet another 8 hours on our flight to Asia. That didn’t happen. I caught maybe 45 minutes of a nap, and accepted the exhaustion that would hit in a few hours.
THURSDAY, 6:30AM
Touching down in Hong Kong for a two hour layover was a strange, joy-filled, unexpected moment. I was suddenly filled with an inexplicable and deep love and awe for Asia. I have never felt a pull to this side of the world. I have never envisioned myself living in Asia. I didn’t know I would adore it as much as I do.
THURSDAY, 9AM
Hong Kong –> Manila
A quick two hours and we were home for the next three months! It was a quick, bitter-sweet goodbye in baggage claim as we all split up into three groups: Our men, off to “manistry”, a month to do gospel work and life as disciples and brothers together, teams Semper Fortis, Hephzibah, and Abundance women going to Kids International Ministries in Manila, and teams Vessel, Agape women, and my gals (and myself) from Kairos heading to Grow International in San Mateo.
THURSDAY, 12PM
A Filipino man named Rudi meet us at gate 9 and drove us to a mall in Antipolo for our first Asian grocery store experience. More brands of rice than I have ever seen in my life filled nearly three whole isles. We found food we recognized and hopped back in the van, eager to have a place to call home and a bed to sleep in.
FRIDAY, SATURDAY
Our hosts so kindly let us rest and fight off jet lag for two days. We found our way around our stunningly beautiful new home. We are surrounded by jungle mountains in the upstairs of a church building. Mama Jo, pastor Roldan’s wife, cooked us incredible home cooked Asian meals with a smile. We went back to the mall for a few hours to explore and get a feel for Filipino culture.
SUNDAY, MONDAY
We have been doing ministry for two days and it’s been beautiful. There a little kiddos that live on our street that come over to do handstands in our yard. We had a training for a VBS that is coming up soon, we got to participate in church, and varnish some furniture around the property!
Our ministry for this three weeks will be mainly construction, some kids ministry, and some relationship building/outreach with the town.
We live in a gorgeous place and the people we live with are the most kind and the most hospitable.
After we spend three weeks here, we will all meet in Manila for a sweet and all-too-short week fo doing ministry with our Parents! We will be working with Wipe Every Tear doing potential bar and sex- trafficking ministry. PLEASE cover us in prayer as both of those options are intimidating and raw.
Then the girls of team Kairos will be traveling to The Children’s Garden of the Philippines to meet our guys and team Abundance!
I hope in reading all of this through a screen you can hear some of my excitement, feel some of my joy, and sense my anticipation for the miraculous things God will do here.
Please be praying for just that: the miraculous. The unfathomable. The ridiculous. The undeniably God-breathed.
Thank you for all your support, all your help in getting me here, and your encouragement in reading my blogs, commenting on them and sharing them. It’s humbling and motivating.
Love and hugs from the Philippines!
-k
