There are tons of opportunities for us to help out with while we are here; below are little blurbs about each ministry with a few pictures.
JOSIE’S ANGELS (JAZ HOUSE)- Josie Long, the oldest daughter of the Long family who created and runs KIM ministries, opened a home for young girls in the area. She had started a BIble study and did a few home visits, but soon realized that many of the girls home lives weren’t safe or weren’t able to provide them with the things they need (food, shelter, schooling, Jesus, etc.). Her father asked if she wanted to open a home for them, which completely took her by surprise. So, she went to see her sister in Australia to think about this and the Lord quickly turned her fear into a passion. The home opened this July and now provides shelter, food, school fees, love, etc. for 26 girls ages 9 to 17. I come here every morning from 8am to 11am and lead a Bible study of the Psalms with them, help them read and practice their English (which you HAVE to be fluent in here if you want a job when you grow up), help them get ready for school and love them. Some of these girls have been through tougher things in their short life so far than most of us have in our entire lives. One girls entire family has come to be because of rape after rape after rape. This family is absolutely amazing and, although came to be from horrific circumstances, has grown into this God fearing loving relationship and people that I just adore. A couple sisters were raised as boys because their parents decided they couldn’t love them if they were girls and another girl was sold when she was younger to a horrible man who abused her. Most of these girls weren’t provided with food or love and have been abused emotionally, physically and mentally.
FEEDINGS- Every day at 10am and 4:30pm we go out and feed people in the poor communities around Manila. Some of the areas have been disaster stricken, called “tent cities” and are so flooded you literally have to raft around from place to place. Every day there is a different place to feed, but we pull up to the same area, yell “FEEDING!!!” a few times and people just start running with tupperware and plastic bags in hand. Jeff has tons of connections and, because of these, is supplied with dried rice and vegetables for free in order to do these feedings. Although, they started out with a notice of a need and a selfless offer of all the rice KIM ministries had to offer, until the Lord began providing more food than they ever expected! The nurses on our squad and a nurse from KIM comes with and fixes up minor and major wounds for these people too. One man we went to go see had a bug bite on his foot that he scratched an became infected. Since he had diabetes, it didn’t heal very well and ended up turning black, his skin turning into much and his nail looking like it had exploded… probably the grossest thing I had ever seen. He didn’t have money to go to the hospital, so the nurses cleaned it up, re-dressed it, prayed over it and went home hoping a miracle would happen so this man could keep his toe (in the US this would have been automatically amputated it was so bad).
STREET KIDS – Every Thursday (and sometimes Wednesday) we head out to Santa Lucia where there is a large population of children that live on the streets. We get to hang out with them for hours, playing on the street, loving them, letting them fall asleep on our laps, coloring with them and just talking, being a friend. We bring them food and most of the time this is all the food they will get in the day. Honestly, I know this sounds cheesy and cliche, but looking into the eyes of these little kids, full of hunger and tough, tough stories just changes your life, I don’t understand how it couldn’t. Last time I went I was especially loving these little 8 year olds sniffing glue on the side of the street. They sniff glue as an escape, but also to keep warm and be able to fall asleep. I let these high little children fall asleep on my lap while they twitched and slowly fell into a sleep coma. These little children are precious in the Lord’s eyes, these kids are seen as rats of society, dirty, unclean, yet they are precious little children born into such a horrible and tough life that is so hard to escape from.
If you watch a video from my last blog you can see a Christmas party we were able to throw for these kids too. This ministry has been one of my favorites and is just heart breaking. These kids are so full or love! As soon as we pull up they are expecting us and run to meet us while we are pulling up, running alongside the truck and trying to hop in. They do the same thing as we leave each time too. Some of these kids are 12/13 year old prostitutes, a lot of them are, or will be, pregnant by the age of 15.
