If I am being honest, writing and reading are not among my favorite things to do. I am learning though the importance of keeping up with what is going on here as we live day to day on the World Race. A small part of me is somewhat starting to enjoy journaling. It is so important to keep a record of what the Lord is doing here, because one day I will be able to look back and remember everyday of this amazing adventure.
So, here I am, in my bed in San Pedro Laguna, Philippines. The funny thing is, this is starting to become normal to me. Sweating like crazy 24/7, taking freezing cold showers, eating LOTS of rice, walking multiple miles each day to reach our destination, living in close community, dying to my wants and desires, learning to love my family (team) I am working with, and never knowing what tomorrow will look like. I feel like a local. The people treat you like family and know you by name.
(meeting with the city counsel about our ministry)
One of my favorite times during the week is on Sunday nights, we eat supper with our host families. Each Sunday night, Matt and myself (because we live as a pair with a Filipino family) sit down and have supper with Romel (father), Vilma (mother), Ynna, Lizzet, Jael ( the 3 daughters) Ace, and Rain (the 2 sons). It is such a blessing to get to spend time with them. I love to hear their stories and be able to be part of their lives. Here in the Philippines, people realize the importance of close family. It means everything to them to have time with each other and really invest in each others lives. Its awesome to see how they make it priority and are so thankful for their time together. It makes you feel at home.
We have had several different ministries that we are involved in with the organization, “Food For The Hungry.” Our biggest ministry days happen on Wednesday and Friday. We have to opportunity to go to the local school and teach Bible stories, play games, and build relationships with the students. Then on Saturday we get to work a VBS kind of program with the kids, and a program in the afternoon with the older youth. Its a blast getting to hang out with the youth and love on them. It was sort of frustrating the first 2 weeks because we spent most of our time in meetings. Our team was kinda wondering, “ok God, why do you have us here?” The longer we are here though, the more clear it becomes. This is the first time the World Race has worked with this particular ministry, so its awesome to know that we are being part of opening a door for future racers.
(2 of the kids we work with)
I just feel blessed to be here. This is something that some people only dream of!
Thanks everyone who has been lifting us up in prayer. We really appreciate it! Keep the prayer coming because we have already been hit like crazy with lots of trials. One of our all girls teams was working at a dump site for their ministry and several of them got salmonella and were in the hospital. We got word this morning that one of our girls found out her Mother passed away un-expectedly yesterday. We have a few teams in a “closed” region of the Philippines, and we need to continue to pray for their safety, and just a few other things. So, again, prayer means so much to us and keeps us all going, so don’t stop praying! Love y’all.
(team Rescued Identity "hanging out")
