Sitting in the van I get my umbrella ready to avoid drenching myself in water. It’s raining a lot. I’m fine with that. There is something so calming about the rain. I’m not quite sure what i’m getting myself into but that’s okay because I signed up for this. I signed up for sharing the love of Jesus even when I had no idea what that might look like. My teammate Meagan and I follow the rest of our team while huddling together under the umbrella. As i’m focusing on the muddy uneven ground, avoiding the puddles, and trying to navigate my way around getting soaked by the water running off the roofs I forget to look up. I can see Daisy (a lady we met earlier that morning at church) up ahead leading the pack, I’m following her a lot like i’ve followed Jesus to this point. I know we are going and I know I trust her but I have no idea what any of the rest means.
I see Daisy stop and I look up, finally. I see a group of little girls and boys between the age of 7 and 13 standing in this door. They are filled with joy, their eyes are beaming as they ask us where we are from. We tell them and they tell us how beautiful they think we are as we quickly reciprocate because being around these girls even for a minute, you see their beauty. It’s so undeniable. I’m surrounded by poverty. Like the kind of poverty you don’t truly believe is there until you see it with your own eyes. We set off down the next path, this time I looked up a little more. I could see people peaking out of the spaces where their doors once may have been. I flash them a smile and instantly feel pain. We kept walking and finally make it to the door. I shook off my umbrella and climbed a narrow set of stairs to a floor (that we later found out a whole family lives on) and set down in front of 10 or so little boys and girls. They are were looking at us with so much love and desire to hear what we had to say. We sang with them, we told them stories, and they sang for us. Just watching them can change your life. They live in poverty and face trials that we probably can’t even imagine every day and they have more joy in their hearts and faces than I have seen in a long time, maybe ever. As we close, say our goodbyes, and climb back down that same narrow set of stairs everything has changed. I have seen Jesus in their eyes and I have seen love in it’s purest form.
We head back to the van and it sets in. I have been on the Race officially for 14 days and this transition has been the hardest transition I have had to make in my life. Leaving my uplifting family, amazing friends, and ONE in a million boyfriend was just downright hard and I didn’t come into it lightly but I set off on the adventure with my head down knowing God has something for me. A lot like I had my head down on that path, I knew God was taking me where he wanted me to go and although I was trusting in that, I wasn’t looking up.
I would have missed the joyful smiles and beautiful hearts that have come out of such brokedness. I would’ve missed the young girls in such a desperate need for love and just to hear they are beautiful. I would’ve missed praying for the man sitting on the bridge clinging to his injured daughter with such desperation in his eyes. I would’ve missed A LOT but God woke me up today from what I saw yesterday and days before that and I am so unbelievably thankful. This mission trip has already taught me SO much and I hope that you will follow this journey and GO with me and be blessed because this life is pretty darn AMAZING!
I’m reading the book “Love Does” by Bob Goff and something I picked out that spoke to me, he says, “I used to think you had to be special for God to use you, but now i know you simply need to say YES”. . It took me fundraising, selling off my belongings, and flying from the USA to sitting in a coffee shop in the Philippines to finally say YES. I can’t wait to continue to update everyone!! Thank you for all your prayers and LOVE!! <3 With love, Darlene.
X
