When I joined the race back in May of 2012 I was super excited about the trip as a whole. However, I wasn’t particularly thrilled about spending four of my 11 months in Asia. I prayed about it – prayed that God would soften my heart for the people of Asia, that He would allow me to enjoy it as much as any of the other countries He had me going to. When I got to the Philippines, I still had a bad attitude towards Asia. I was frustrated with myself because I couldn’t figure out why. I wasn’t able to find any reason why I had this preconceived notion of not liking Asia because this was the first time I’d been to Asia.
After meeting Pastor Jojo and beginning ministry, my thoughts shifted. I began to love him. I began to love the people we were working with. I began to love the kids that would come and sing Christmas carols outside our door repeatedly every night. I began to actually enjoy my time in the Philippines.
I really fought that feeling of love at first. I didn’t want to fall in love with another country on the Race. I wanted to save my heart for Africa. I wanted the goodbyes not to be hard at the end of the month. Again and again God is showing me that I can’t make a difference in people’s lives if there is no love. 1 John 1:20 says “If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?” I have to give these people everything, all of me, in order to show them that I actually care.
The time came when I had to say goodbye. I had to say goodbye to our pleasant little barangay, Can-Ayan, and to those obnoxious little kids singing Christmas carols all the time. I had to say goodbye to Pastor Jojo and his family. I had to say goodbye to William and Tara Miller who were the former World Racers that had organized our month for us. To make matters worse, all of this was on Christmas day.
Speaking of Christmas…We had a wonderful Christmas as a team. We did a white elephant gift exchange which was quite fun. I ended up with a huge bag of Mentos, which was awesome. We also opened stockings and received wonderful gifts from one another.
We had some time on Christmas morning to Skype with our families and friends back home. It was great to see everyone and be involved in Christmas from thousands of miles away. Then we picked up Pastor Jojo and his family and brought them to Pine Hills Hotel in Malaybalay City. He was speechless. He never dreamed he would ever eat here. It was nice by Philippines standards – maybe even by American standards, but I think the most expensive thing on the menu was ten dollars.
We ordered food and then I got them set up on a Skype call with wife/mom. She is currently in Hong Kong working a two-year contract as a nanny. She isn’t able to Skype often because of funds. We got the idea that the kids rarely, if ever, were able to Skype their mom.
Christmas 2012 was one of the best Christmases I’ve ever had. It was filled with joy and happiness. It was filled with love. It was spent with one of the men that truly holds on to God’s command for our lives and his family. It was spent with 6 new members of my family.
