In my last blog, I describe a little bit about the ministry I’ve been working with the past two months. I’ve been living at and working with Children’s Garden of the Philippines; a safe home/orphanage for former street boys and orphans. At Children’s Garden life is fun and crazy and something exciting is always happening. I get to hang out, and just have fun with 16 boys everyday. It’s a blast. Here’s what a normal day looks like. Granted some days are different and exciting, but some days are just normal life.
Between 6:30 and 7:30- I wake up and start my day. I live in a house a couple minutes down the road from the boys home with 9 other girls. It’s two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom. Some girls sleep on mattresses in the the living room, multiple girls sleep in a bedroom the size of a typical bathroom in the states. It’s cozy to say the least, but it’s a lot of fun. I head downstairs to the kitchen/living room/“bedroom,” area and have a devo. Then I eat breakfast that our “house mom” makes for us. It looks a lot like bread with peanut butter, bananas and coffee, pancakes, French toast, pan del sal (a breakfast bread in the Philippines), and eggs and toast. A whole lot of carbs, but what more can ya get with 2 dollars for 7 girls?
9:00- Around this time I hop on a tricycle (a moto with a side car,) and head over to CG for the day. It’s about a two minute ride and 5 cents per person. We get dropped off in front of CG, and walk in the door and get greeted by “good mornings,” high fives, and sometimes the boys start wrestling and fighting with you in that exact moment. Walking through the door in the mornings is always one of my favorite moments. From the doorway just observing what is laid out in front of me for the day. Sometimes it looks like boys screaming and yelling about something exciting, sometimes the house looks calm and relaxing, sometimes boys are just doing all sort of things. It’s a different picture to place myself into everyday.
9:00 to 12:00- Before lunch looks similar to almost the rest of the day. Just hanging out with the boys. Playing game after game of uno, Jenga, monopoly, go fish, you name it we play it. It can also look like going on walks around the neighborhood, going to play basketball, walking down the street to buy 5 cent donuts. It’s fun, something new happens everyday. You never know what you’re going to get.
12:00- LUNCH TIME! Traditional Filipino food. Lots of rice, lots of pork, lots of oil, not a lot of fruits and veggies. Sometimes we do get Filipino mangoes though- such a treat.
12:30 to 6:00- This time looks a lot like the morning. Hanging out and having fun and loving Jesus! Some days the girls go do jail ministry where we visit the the local jail to share testimonies, devotionals, and just have fellowship. But mostly just with the boys.
6:30- Dinner time! Again traditional food, lots of rice- it’s never ending.
7:30- This is when we hold a devotional with all the boys. Different world racers hold them just about every night. We teach them about real life things, things that they can relate to. And sometimes we make them fun, like a couple weeks ago for my devotional I held a talent show, that included prizes. It will forever be one of my favorite nights on the race. It was such a joyful evening.
8:30 to 10:00- Usually anytime in between these hours I head home. Some girls go home earlier, some stay later. It just depends on the day. Most nights the later you stay the more likely you are to get shoulder, head, and hand massages from the boys. I swear every Filipino knows how to give good massages. It’s a blessing.
And once I head home all the girls are usually gathered in the living room laughing or talking for an hour or two. My night usually ends with a shower before laying my head down on my bunk bed in a blazing hot room before dozing off to sleep.
These two months have been so fun. Not only can I not believe they’re basically over, but I also can’t believe this is the last ministry site I am partnering with. This life has been far too good.
