HELLO!!!
To everyone that is keeping up with my journey, I would like to update you on what ministry is looking like for us. And just a forewarning, it looks a little different than what I thought it was going to be.
When signing up for this trip, some of the ministries that were listed that we would be working with are actually located in Manila and not in Tacloban (these are two different cities in the Philippines), so we are too far away to help with them on a daily basis (but we might be taking a trip up to Manila to help??!!! stay tuned.) Anyway, we are only serving here in Tacloban, but the Lord is good and has placed us exactly where we were needed. We have scheduled ministry Monday through Saturday, but we live by the motto “Life is Ministry, Ministry is Life”, so there is never a time we are ‘off’ of ministry. Whether I am at a feeding at a local school or riding on the back of a trike talking to the man that is driving us to the coffee shop, it is always a good time to tell someone about Jesus.
We have two feedings a day in different parts of our community or communities surrounding us, sometimes on a different island! This is where we bring Lugaw (a soup) to people in need of food. Then, we lead a Values Class where we teach the kids at the local school about Jesus and sing songs. These are some of the sweetest moments throughout the week because the children carry so much joy and love to play with us. They also love singing and shouting the name of Jesus!
We also do ministry in the prison, we help with bible studies, we teach bible stories at a school for some youngins (like 3 years old!! so sweet), go on prayer walks, we help with cleaning for our host family, help with AWANA on Saturdays for the local kids in our community, and we are painting a room in our house that is used for children’s ministry! This pretty much sums up our ‘scheduled ministry’, but there have already been so many moments that we have taken advantage of to minister to people outside of these times, and those bring the sweetest memories! (Be on the lookout because later today I am going to post another blog on one of those moments!)
I want to give a special shout-out to everyone that has supported me in getting here. This is what you gave towards. This is what you prayed for. The Lord is here, He has invited us into ministry with Him, and the Holy Spirit is stirring up these communities with the name of Jesus. THANK YOU!!
Mahal Kita friends,
Sam
