Coconuts, pineapples, beach life, chicken fights, jeepney rides, and plenty other adventurous stuff that I’ll talk about, has been my life so far in the Philippines. When I first heard that we were going to be staying in a city called “Tacloban”, the first thing that came to my mind was tacos and I got so excited, even though I figured out just because tacos is in the name doesn’t mean they have it here aha. Anyways, I’m just gonna jump right into what my life has been like here in the Philippines and how God has been working in my life. Tacloban is a city that was hit by a typhoon called Yolanda 3 years ago where nearly 20,000 people were killed. Tacloban is a beautiful city and the people here are incredible and a sight to see. The smiles, atmosphere, and the land here in the Philippines reminds me of my second home, Brazil. Being here makes me miss my parents and Brazil more than ever. But because the Filipinos remind me of the love and happiness the Brazilian’s gave me makes me feel somewhat at home even though a big part of me that I consider my home is missing(my parents and Jess). I’m loving it here. My favorite ministry that we do is the “feedings”. My team, all 7 of us, hop in the back of a van with two plastic bins that are filled with an interesting type of food (that tastes rather good aha) and head to different parts of the town that contains a good bit of poverty. We arrive, hop out, open up the trunk, and all the kids and adults fall in line behind us with containers and we fill them up while some of us are playing with them while they are in line waiting. There was one day last week where we had a volunteer feeding day where we didn’t have to go. At the time I was like nah, I’m just gonna stay back and chillax and catch up on that 32 hour bus ride we just had (seriously) with some sleep and movies and read my bible. But I felt God pushing me and wanting me to go. Then I thought, I didn’t come on the race to sit on my bum and be lazy when I could be going out and sharing God’s love that He gave me to others! So I went even though most of me wanted to stay back but I listened to God and He definitely rewarded me with an amazing day. A day where we got to share God’s love by filling up containers with food and getting to see a smile come upon a kid’s face. A day where God used my height to entertain the little kids by climbing all over me and laughing and comparing their heights to mine. A day where I walked through the forest with a kid on my shoulder. A day where I got to explore and swim at waterfalls and play with the kids. A day where God made His existence known to me just by His beautiful creation. Life in the Philippines has been amazing. I have days where I randomly decide to ride a water buffalo on a feeding trip. Days where I get to adventure out with my team in jeepneys that make memories in and of themselves. Days off where we get to adventure to the top of a mountain and make PB&Js in the middle of the lake on a floating canopy. Days with my family(team) and beautiful sunsets every night. And nights of night swimming under the “Super Moon”. Ahhh life in the Philippines is great. But I sure do miss my family and Jessica… but God’s taking care of that and helping me:)
But to keep spreading Gods love, in the Philippines and soon to be South Africa, I still need to raise the rest of the required money to continue out this amazing journey God has me on. Thanks for all the support that has gotten me this far, it really means a lot:)
