During launch our team had an assignment. Make a team video with the prompt, ‘Things I never knew.” That’s what we came up with. It shows a lot of crazy things here in The Philippines.
Since my last post, I have gotten to do some really fun things. We were able to sing karaoke at a woman’s 57th birthday party (its in the video). We ate a banana wrapped in tortillas and fried! I drank a sprite in a bag. Last night we traveled into Manila to go to the mall…ridiculous how American it seemed. Jeff and Colene’s son, Kirk, plays basketball for Ateneo University here in the Philippines and is basically a celebrity! His team played last night in a Final Four game! I felt like I was at a D1 game. It was awesome! All of the staff at K.I.M. was able to come and they all had jerseys and t-shirts! The really cool part was that the game was at Araneta Coliseum…which I learned is where Thrilla in Manila took place. Pretty legit! Next game is Saturday!
Today is when we officially started ministry. My first job was to go sit at the hospital with a beautiful little boy named Cedric. He is 7 weeks old and has been at the New Faith Family Children’s Home for a little over a week. They took him to the pediatrician and found out he had a hernia. Then when they were running tests to prepare him for surgery, they found so much more. He has a heart murmur, pnemonia, jaundice, anemia and trouble breathing. At this hospital, he is staying in an adult size bed, with an IV in his foot, laying on a pillow because he has to keep his head elevated for his breathing. My job was to take care of him. I fed him, burped him, changed him, and rocked him to sleep. At one point I had to massage his hernia back in, which I’ve definitely never done before. It was a little scary and really sad because it felt worse before it felt better. Me and 6 other girls are taking shifts at the hospital until he gets out, and then will continue to care for him at the Children’s Home. My next shift is Wednesday night…all night. 12 hours. Which turns into 14 because its an hour drive to the hospital. What’s sad is this is Cedric doing really good. When his mom ‘dropped’ him off and left, it took them close to 3 hours to clean him. I don’t know his mother’s story, but the fact is this little boy was not being cared for…and now he is. Praise God for the KIM. This whole community is caring for him. I had the first shift with him and probably got asked by every single staff member about how little Cedric was doing. Pray that he continues to get better! I’m attached! He definitely pulled at my heart strings. I’m realizing how hard it is going to be to leave each country. I know that God is working in these people through all of us and that we are planting seeds. Somehow, that doesn’t make it any easier to leave…
GOD IS GOOD!
