Pretend today is your birthday. What will you do? Will you
spend time with friends or family? Will you open presents; will you have a
special cake and blow out candles?On my birthday, I have learned to look forward to all
these things.
While working in the nursery at the Children’s Home in
Malaybalay, I got to know one of the awesome workers named Gerlie. We were
talking one night during my Monday shift and I happened to ask her how old she
was. Through broken English she explained that she would be 27 on that
Wednesday. Thinking I misunderstood, I asked again about her birthday and she
reaffirmed that it was in two days. Right away I started firing off questions
about what she would be doing and how she would celebrate. She shyly replied
that she was scheduled to work for the whole day. I asked if she would at least
have a cake or celebrate with the other workers and she replied that SHE HAD
NEVER HAD A BIRTHDAY CAKE BEFORE!!!. I replied that maybe she would have a cake
one day and she just smiled, looked down, and said, “Maybe…”
Of course secret mission: “Buy Gerlie a Birthday Cake,”
began immediately. I was going to be out of town on Wednesday, so I got the
word out about the cake. When I got back into town the night of her birthday I
was told that she not only had one birthday cake, but two! One had been shared
with the staff and kids earlier and the second one I was able to take over in
the evening. Gerlie kept saying that she was embarrassed (she’s very shy), but
I could tell she was so excited at the same time. She just kept smiling and
covering her mouth and looking at the cake. She even called one of the other
workers over to take a picture with me and the cake.
Flash forward to the prison.
I found out that it was Mika’s (one of the ladies from the
prison) birthday on our last day to visit the facility before leaving the
Philippines. Of course this party would not be without cake. Especially since
we had found an awesome store called Cake Boom with the most delicious
chocolate fudge cake.
Birthday party number 2 was so much fun. It was the first
day the guards let us take all 9 of the women and all 10 of the minors out of
their cells and onto the basketball court. We played Filipino games for a long
time, enjoyed cake and Coca-cola, engaged in a mini Bible study with one of the
boys, and then closed by praying for one another and our parting. It was by far
the best visit we had at the prison. I even got to play a game of basketball
with all the minor boys (They were very sweet and passed me the ball a lot even
though I am terrible!!).
I never thought that sharing birthday cake with someone
could make me so excited. I know it sounds cheesy, but for a few minutes I felt
so connected to someone I could hardly understand. My birthday is coming up in
June and I’ll be somewhere in Africa. I don’t have any idea if there will be
cake around, but whether there is or not, I know I’ll be thinking about the
time Gerlie and Mika shared their cake with me in the Philippines.
