God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them.
Bono
Feeding po! Feeding po! Are you hungry? How many people are in your family? How old are you? What's your name?
Those are all phrases and question we ask the kids we see daily during "feedings". By saying "po" at the end of a phrase, sentence, name, salutation, etc. you show respect to the individual(s) you're speaking to.
This month we've had the chance to choose which ministry we want to invest in here in the Philippines. We've had the option to pick between working at: the children's home, birthing clinic, angel's home, tutoring, social work, or feedings. After praying about it I didn't get an answer to a "yes" to anything, but my heart definitely skipped a beat (in a good way) at the thought of being able to help at the feedings.
I have worked in a soup kitchen before so I assumed it would be something like that. The coordinator let us know the purpose of these feedings were to nourish children that wouldn't normally receive nourishment (or enough at least) otherwise. If children don't get enough nourishment, their brains stop developing. If their brains stop developing, they cannot learn as easily as they are supposed to. If that happens, they may get stuck in a cycle of a life in the slums.
KIM (Kids International Ministries) doesn't believe that is any way for a child to live or grow up though. Hence, the feedings.
Day one: Tent City. The homes in tent city were built by the Filipino Red Cross after a typhoon ruined the tents (which were home) to many in that area. As soon as the big green van holding the americans and, most importantly, the food started to pull up: kids from ever direction started to run towards us with empty bowls and cups ready to be filled. We immediately started exchanging hellos, names, and high-fives. We prayed for the food, served the people, and made new friends. What I didn't realize until much later though was when we were filling up their cups & bowls we weren't just filling up their stomachs (although they probably were really hungry). Mother Teresa once said:
The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.
I didn't realize that with every smile exhanged, every high-five given, every moment spent with each child, every genuine moment of compassion we shared we were loving these children as children should be loved. These kids definitely hungered for food, but their hugs and acts for attention screamed "LOVE ME".
I continue to go to the feedings twice a day almost every day of every week. We cover about 5 – 8 communities a week (some get visited twice a week). The communities include an evacuation center where families have gone after the typhoon for shelter, a couple basketball courts around the area where a lot of the kids from the street hang out and a neighborhood right down the street from KIM's headquarters.
Each time I have gone and go, I meet some of the most beautiful children I've ever met. Their eyes glisten with joy. Their laughter is more contagious than the common cold. The love they have and are willing to share is genuine and pure. Even through rotten teeth, their smiles are the most beautiful smiles I've ever seen. These are God's children.
AIM has a passport team here as well, so I've been able to collaborate with a couple fellow missionaries in bringing a fun way to worship with the kids during the feedings. We have had the chance to play live worship music and sing with the kids as well as play Hillsong Kids songs through a speaker and dancing with them. These kids seriously love "Our God" by Chris Tomlin and "One Way Jesus" by Hillsong.
God is revealing to me this month how much He really does love His children: both the full and the hungry. He manifests Himself in a way I've never encountered before through these children.
KIM has people come almost completely year round so if this has tugged on your heart at all maybe pray about coming? Check it out here!
When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her. It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed.
Mother Teresa
