Hello all! I am so blessed to write my first blog from the field! I am in Manila, in the Philippines. So far, I have been blessed to do lots of childrens’ ministry. My squad and I are living and working with Kids International Ministries. A big part of their ministry is a childrens’ home just a short walk from where we live. I have gotten to play lots of basketball, hide-and-seek, and tag!
So far, I have two favorite stories of God showing up. The first is about a little boy in the home named Danilo. When I went there to hang out on Saturday, He quickly was just drawn to me. He asked me to play basketball with him, so we played. and played, and played. We played basketball for hours, and it was so great. We joked and laughed, and his smile was so amazing and so encouraging!
On Sunday, our squad went to a Filipino church called Jesus Christ Church in the Valley. They had a service in English, and they had asked us beforehand to prepare about 30 minutes of testimonies, worship, or scripture reading to lead the church. As part of that, I planned to share from Ephesians 2, for less than 5 minutes. Then, literally right before we started worship, a church leader told me that the pastor would not be speaking and that we could lead the whole service! As worship started, I called out to the Lord and asked for Him to speak through me, much more than just 5 minutes. I asked for His words to flow through me and to be just what the church members needed to hear.
God showed up.
He spoke through me in a way I can’t really even describe. I talked about the beauty of churches worshipping God all around the world, and we prayed for the global church. I read a large portion of Ephesians 1 and 2, and shared my thoughts about it. By the time I was done, I had been up in front of the church for over 15 minutes! All I can say is that God spoke!
Tomorrow I will start a more scheduled time of ministry. I’ll be playing with kids at the childrens’ home, helping them learn to read English, teaching them to swim, and also doing construction work to make way for new projects for Kids International Ministries.
Thank you all for your encouragement for me before I left, and for your continual prayers! Feel free to comment on this blog with any questions, comments, or encouragement!
God is showing up in amazing ways every day, and i KNOW that I am in the right place. May He be glorified in all the ways He is working through me!
P.S. Sorry I don’t have any pictures yet; the internet connection is too weak to upload any!
