I seriously can’t say THANK YOU, enough! Here I am getting to continue onto month 4 in Thailand because of your generous giving. I’m so excited I get to meet more and new people through you helping. More than meeting them, getting to share smiles and more of Christ’s love with them.
I have one final deadline by March 1st and I am only $5,000 dollars away from meeting it and being fully funded! If you or anyone you know would like to partner with me on this journey feel free to donate through the link above ?? I am so excited to continue on and even finish with your support.
Let me paint the picture of how, when, and where this blog is being written. I love to try and bring you all along for the ride that is my “Race” through all these blogs, so here it goes.
I’ve just come from spending about 18 hours in the Manila airport; which included trying to sleep a bit, being somewhat successful. We took a 3.5 hour plane ride from the Philippines to Bangkok, Thailand and now I’m on a 10 hour bus ride up to Chiang Mai for a few days of debriefing the past two months with my squad. Travel days are long and taxing on the body and mind but hey how else can you travel on a budget to 11 countries in 11 months, right? So here I am writing to you all on a dark bus anxiously waiting to get to our destination so I can sleep in some form of a bed!
These past 24 hours I have had a lot of time for reflecting the close of my time in the Philippines. This past month has been one full of small moments. There are plenty to tell you all, some that need more explaining than others, but nonetheless full to the brim with small stories that I clung to at the time knowing God appointed and made those specific moments for me to enjoy and smile at with Him.
Working at the ministry my team did, Kid’s International Ministries (KIM), there were almost an infinite amount of opportunities for us to reach out to those in the community. We got there and our contact said “Whatever you have a passion for we’ve got a ministry for it.” I didn’t even get to do all that I wanted because I would have been spread too thin.
Sample platter of ministries I participated in:
Pool ministry: that’s right KIM has an outdoor pool, complete with 3ft, 5ft, 13ft, a slide, and a 20ft high jump. We brought street kids, boys and girls older and younger, into the pool everyday for a two hour block to learn to swim and just have fun at a nice clean place.
Hope Alive Clinic. A Christian pregnancy clinic where we did a Bible study and stretches just before their weekly checkups two days a week. I, a social work major in college, learned how to give shots, measure uteruses, and find the heartbeat of a fetus. Just call me “shot girl” or “nurse Holly,” either is fine.
Feeding Program. There were numerous but I normally went to one in a fishing village named Angono.
Volunteering in the nursery at the orphanage run by KIM up the street from us. The kids were as young as 3 months to 5 years old and there were about 15 of them all in a confined area with 2 workers 24/7. All by the way are just waiting for adoption or to grow up in the orphanage.
The JAZ home. The self proclaimed Josie’s Angels. Josie, in her late 20s, started a home for girls in the community. There are 35 girls with an age range of 12-20 and all of them have had their parents sign them over to Josie and the social workers that help with the process. These girls come from extremely broken homes, with pasts of physical and/or sexual abuse and just poor living conditions. One of my teammates and I had the privilege to spend a week and a half staying with these girls from about dinner time to saying bye to them before school the next day. Nightly devotionals, some Filipino TV, youtube karaoke, bedtime and wake up calls were pretty regular and routine while Josie was away.
Street Kids. Just spending any spare moments we had with kids that hang out outside of KIM looking to be picked up, spun around, and just looking for extra love outside of some of their broken home lives. Most of these kids also came into swim everyday.
I tried to make these descriptions concise so if you have any extra questions about any feel free to ask!
Now that all of the context and background stories are in place I’d love to share with you all of the “small moments” that make up a big month of ministry.
Holding a newborn. Seriously an infant no older than an hour! Our second day at the clinic a woman delivered a baby and I got to hold her baby! What?!?! The huge blessing of a new baby boy on this earth and God had me there in the moment to love and hold this baby! Saying a little prayer for him and new (teenage) mama made me so happy.
Hearing the words “Tita, catch,” or any form of that. All of the kids called us Tita. It’s a word used for an older, respected women. It’s like saying Auntie or Sister. Being in the pool everyday, the kids got more and more brave everyday. Using the slide alone was daunting but if “Tita Holly ” catches you it isn’t so bad ?? I would catch those kids all day, everyday if I could. The pool built so many relationships and I am so grateful for that. I also really love hearing the babes call me Tita, even if they don’t remember my name!
My new friend Jobel. I was playing with some street kids one day and just heard a bunch of kids saying “Tita” and pointing. I fix my attention and hear him crying and holding his hand. All the kids were gathering around him and just looking. He is about 8 years old and just sobbing. I scooped this sweet boy up and took him to a different part of the sidewalk, away from everyone, and we sat there. He cried for a good 10 minutes as I just rocked this eight year old and he finally calmed down. I found out he had smashed his fingers in a gate but it hurt so bad he wouldn’t talk until the tears were gone. Jobel probably doesn’t get much love at home and with the history of abuse in our neighborhood who knows if his mama scoops him up and kisses his fingers when he gets hurt. I loved being his safe place for 15 minutes at least. Just to hold him like my Father in Heaven holds me when I’m hurt.
When he had calmed down his sister came over and started picking at his hair for lice….. I had a choice to get up or just keep sitting with him. I’m pretty sure my choice led me to get one live lice that night, that a teammate graciously pulled out. But no fear my head is lice free now but love outweighs the lice and uncomfortability.
Late night conversations in the kitchen at the JAZ house. Those girls are growing teens and have some attitudes that match ?? Getting closer with them was certainly a process and every moment they would spend with me I cherished. Whether that meant making chocolate milk in the kitchen, sitting on a giant teddy bear hearing about the struggles of their family, telling bed time stories of WR training camp, doing youtube karaoke, or just reading a book next to another girl reading a different book I loved it all. I wanted them to feel loved and those moments said to me that they felt it.
Singing “Holly Jolly Christmas” about 15 times in a row. My last night there I went outside to buy some instant coffee and ended up with a little girl named Princess in my arms. I just started singing “Holly Jolly Christmas” and each time it ended she would simply say “again.” I complied and sang for probably 15 minutes with her in my arms snuggling up, listening to one of my favorite songs.
This is such a small list of moments God orchestrated out this month that make me so happy to look back on. This month was FULL of challenges but today I’m choosing to be thankful and wanted to share with you all. Hope you enjoyed and if you want to hear more than just these moments, because there are plenty, feel free to message me!
An update about this month! It is officially “Manistry.” Which just means all the men are on their own teams and us ladies are sticking together to do ministry. I’m staying with the ladies on team Fiercely Rooted and we are pairing up with 3 other women from team Magnetic Light. It’s definitely change but I’m excited about it. Be praying for the new dynamics and the ministry we may be doing. More updates soon!!
