Ministry/ Team Activities
Hey everyone!! Greetings from Manila.
Lets see…as a team we were pretty busy this last week. Colleen and Jackie have continued doing an awesome job teaching down at the school. They have been working hard with Lindsey and some other volunteers trying to get ready for the upcoming x-mas program. Sarah has spent a lot of time working up at the Children’s Home playing with and loving on the kids
there. We have also still been taking some of the kids from the Children’s Home swimming on Tuesday and Thursday. As a team, we got the chance to make dinner for the Long family and some of the other volunteers that we work with. Danny and Kyle have been working hard on the septic project and are close to finishing up. As a team, we were able to purchase 2 goats, Billy and Shakira, for Sherwin’s family thanks to some amazing people that donated money to us on http://www.becomeless.com/. Last Sunday Lindsey and Sarah accompanied Jackie on a cross town adventure to meet some of Jackie’s extended family (her brother’s wife’s parents) and see where he will be living when he moves to the Philippines someday with his wife! As a team we got to go on a little adventure to an island called Corrigador. We spent two days touring the island, which was a big part of WW2, and then we spent a night sleeping under the stars and enjoying each other company.
Coming Up
The beginning of the week starts out with ministry that we have already been doing. Jackie and Colleen will help at the school, Sarah and Lindsey will work at the children’s home, and Danny and Kyle will be doing some painting.
The rest of the teams come back this week. We will have our squad join us on Wednesday and the June squad will arrive on Saturday. It will be a full house here at the OMF house. We will do activities put together by Jeff as a whole squad. Next Sunday we are going to have a major program with all 52 of us world racers at the children’s home. It will be exciting to see how everyone works together to make the program work.
What we are learning and Prayer Requests
I love how in each country we go to; we meet people who are eager to see God’s Kingdom established on Earth. They don’t ignore the poverty or injustice around them. Instead they find ways to relieve it: starting children’s homes, food programs, sponsorship programs, making available education and job opportunities. We have each been blessed by the things we have seen and for the opportunity to be involved in the work. Recently our team was able to give 
two goats to a family that our team has become close with. After much prayer and discussion this seemed to be the most efficient way to provide a source of income for the family. Thanks to those who have donated to our website becomeless.com and made this gift possible! If you have not checked out the website yet please do. We don’t want to hog all the joy received in helping others and want our friends, family, supporters, and anyone who wants to be involved to have that opportunity.
This past week we were in awe of the beauty around us at Corrigidor Island. From the endless ocean to the endless starry night sky filled with shooting stars. It is wondrous how huge our God is! He created all of this beauty and delights in everything he created. He delights in each constellation, in the fish swimming, the spider spinning its detailed web, the ostrich running so fast it “laughs at horse and rider” (Job 39), and he delights in you. He delights in you and me! He loves us and delights in us! I think this will be something our team will continue to learn and re-learn each month throughout this year and throughout the rest of our lives. The vastness of God’s love for us is beyond measure and when I try to think about it; I am left confounded and in awe. It blows my mind if you will.
We continue to wrestle with the injustice that affects our friends in this community, and are learning to have hope even when situations seem hopeless. We are also enjoying those moments when we know something Good has been done. For example, putting in the sewage system to help prevent disease in this community and prolonging life or celebrating Christmas with the children and being there as they open their gifts with so much joy. Also, those little moments when you hug a child and tell them how special they are and that you love them or tuck them into bed with a bedtime story. Those are good moments when you know God is using you to show his motherly/fatherly love to each of those children.
As a team we are learning the blessing of community and trying to overcome our individualistic mindsets. We are choosing to love each other inspite of those times we annoy each other or differ in opinion, and are becoming more like a family. God is molding us into a community full of grace and love.
Please pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is heaven. Pray for our team that we would grow in grace and love for each other and those we meet along this journey. Pray for the children’s home and pray for wisdom for the leadership there. Pray for continued health and energy and passion in this race. Pray for courage and wisdom and love in each of us, and that we would continue to depend on God for these things and not ourselves. We love you all and pray you take time this Christmas holiday to experience God’s peace and know that he loves you and delights in you. I pray that in this busy season you set aside a time of solitude to bask in his “mind-blowing” love.
Cultural Quirkiness
Lice…..haha?
Some might argue that lice is not a laughing matter…oh but it is! Our time in the Philippines has shown us that lice is not as scary as it seems. Picking lice is actually a pass-time here! When we walk down the street we see people picking each other’s lice all the time! Even in school, kids sit and pick each other’s lice…here is a picture of a lice-picking train in the middle of kindergarten.
