Puerto Galera, my new home. We are living in Pastor Al’s house in a village in the jungle of the Philippines and it is awesome. I have been waking up every morning around 630 to get in the Word and meet with the teams at 730 for a devotional. Breakfast is at 8 followed by two hours of hacking at the jungle around the church with machetes, cutting down trees and vines and weeds and burning the debris in giant bonfires. After another huge meal we do wash our laundry in the river or head over to the beach about a 20 minute walk away and minister to the ladies who work for Threads of Hope. The organization provides them with a job (bracelet making) and an income so they do not have to resort to prostitution to provide for their families. It is gorgeous here and I am trying to soak up every minute.
This month is all about relationships and I love it. Spending time with the women on the beach, empowering them by having them teach us their skills, talking about anything and listening about their lives, it has been awesome. I’ve also learned how to make the “Snake”, “Zipper”, “Wrap/circle” and flat bracelets with words on them.
After a few months of traveling we have gotten very used to ignoring all of the people who try to sell us things and rip us off. I’ve learned how to firmly say no without being rude and afterwards simply ignore these people who are trying to harass and bully us into purchasing things we don’t need and we don’t want… and now I am sitting alongside the women who make the bracelets and seeing the other side of the story. If these women don’t make enough money from their sales their only other option is to sell their bodies to make the money they need to survive. It is so interesting to be on the other side, to see these women as just that, women, instead of just merchants. And to hear the way that people speak to them- like they’re simple children instead of grown women just trying to make it in this world. Eye opening. Humbling. Changing me every day.
The Crash of Love girls, our first day here
Our second day here we saw a group of acrobats training on the beach.
Jumping off a big rock at the waterfall we hiked to.
