3.4.10
Today I got a manicure…
(Technically this is a picture of me having my feet nibbled on by fish as a method of exfoliation in the Singapore airport… but it is almost the same thing as a manicure…)
And was blown away by the woman of God who sat before me,
scrubbing my fingernails while telling me her story.
Her name is Minda. She has lived in the Philippines her whole life. She grew up in a province 24 hours away from Manila. She has lived in Cainta, Riza for many years now with her husband and four kids. She told me her kids’ names, three of which I remember-Hadassah (Esther’s Hebrew name), Hannah and Daniel. She spent time researching her children’s names because she wanted to raise them up in greatness, to be servants of the Lord. So she named them after Biblical heroes, people who put God before themselves and did great things. Who saved a nation, who committed their only child to the Lord, who faced lions and lived. All of whom SPOKE TRUTH to their nation and lived lives honoring the Lord.
It turned out I had read with Hadassah at the school library that afternoon. She was so smart and an excellent reader. I was encouraged to know her mom knew Jesus and was raising her in a Christian home.
We had a long conversation about many things but two stick out.
1) Minda has never left the Philippines but she still believes (and I agree) that she is a missionary in her neighborhood. She prays for her community and shares the love of Jesus whenever possible.
2) When I asked her what suggestions she had for fun things to do, I think she might have misunderstood, because she went on to tell me how to pray for this neighborhood. Maybe she did understand and felt it was more important to share with me the needs of this community, which is totally cool. After all, I am here to serve the community, not to have fun.
So how can you be praying for Cuatro? Pray for soft hearts. Pray for people to come visit and share God’s love. Pray for the relationships between husbands and wives. Pray that love would be restored there. Pray for the children.
Pray that they will come to know God. Pray that Filipinos (who are mostly Catholic) would come to know Christ and the Lord in a personal relationship. Pray for healing to break out. Pray for freedom. Pray for an outpouring of God’s spirit of love, truth, healing, and grace.
PS-The reason I got a manicure is because it supports women in the community. Our contact’s daughter, Josey, went to cosmetology school and now has trained seven women from the community to do nails, foot spas, massages and hair cuts, as a way to provide for their families. Just a day of work is enough to feed their families for a week.
