Hello from Kids International Ministries in Manila!
E-Squad is ready for a month of ministry, as we partner with a handful of missionaries that have all come to call the Philippines home here in Cuatro.
When you walk through the gates, it’s evident that generations of people have developed a deep connection with this community. Every detail has been a labor of love. From the window boxes, to the pool that the neighborhood kids swim in during the afternoons– every piece of KIDS has been carefully thought out.
Learning about the efforts of those before us, gives me a picture of what Nehemiah must have felt as he built the walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah worked for years, building what the Lord set before him, without ever knowing all the ways God would use those projects. He was faithful to the work and God ended up using his projects to know his people!
My prayer is that we’ll have kingdom vision when we’re a part of these projects. That each project our hands touch will bless the long term vision of KIDS.
KIDS has four main ministries: the children’s home, the teams that come serve, the community projects and the school.
In community projects: we go out for daily feedings to serve food and offer prayer to those who need it, work in the pregnancy center for mothers in the community, work on construction projects around the Cuatro base, and help around children’s home in anyway needed.
On Thursday I got to work in the Pregnancy Center, that gives weekly checkups and vitamins, as well as emotional and spiritual support. KIDS recognized a generational cycle in the community that has developed broken families. I learned that beginning care for children before birth is a way to provide reconciliation and provide a future for the kids that live in Cuatro.
If you know me, you know I HATE hospitals and am probably the least equipped to step into the role of ultrasound technician, but on Thursday that’s what I became. As I laid hands on 10-15 local women’s stomachs, feeling around for the babies that will arrive in the weeks to come, I couldn’t help but feel the burden they are taking on.
Many of these women cannot afford a birth certificate for themselves, let alone their children. In the Philippines, one must have a birth certificate to receive a legal marriage license. Without legal marriages, many families don’t stay together. Girls often look for older men to get out of their home lives and find themselves trapped in situations worse than before.
I’ve learned what an endless cycle it is.
That’s where the Pregnancy Center comes in.
KIDS began noticing local women starving themselves near their due dates to make their deliveries easier. Those children weren’t developing mentally and physically, and proceeded to struggle in school. KIDS saw an opportunity to step in at the beginning of each life and provide opportunities to change their families.
When the women arrive, they interact in a bible study before receiving ultrasounds, vitamins, and protein. It’s a place created to meet their spiritual and physical needs. We get to look each woman in the eyes and care for them, and tell them about Jesus. We get to tell them about a future they may have never dreamed they could have. We get to tell them about freedom.
I don’t know what God’s going to do this month through the Pregnancy Center, but I’m expectant. I can’t wait to get to know the women that walk through the doors, to pray for each family’s future, to learn each woman’s name.
I’m thankful that the Lord has decided to make me a little uncomfortable. It seems like the uncomfortable places are the places that He has a little more room to move around in. It’s the places I have nothing to give but my obedience. It’s the places where He equips the called.
Thank you, thank you, thank you to each of you for your prayers and support! I am truly overwhelmed and in awe that I’m $730 away from being fully funded. My gratitude is overflowing. This journey has truly blessed me in ways I could have never imagined.
Please pray for opportunities to bring long term feeding programs in new communities around Manila this month. KIDS hopes to partner with churches in unreached communities with food and supplies, for long term spiritual impact.
