Here it is, the first blog of many to come. I know a lot of you have been waiting for an update on what’s happening so I’m going to give it to you. It all started with 48 hours of travel over the Pacific Ocean, from LAX to China, and then from China to the Philippines. After landing, my team and another team climbed into a bus for another two-hour ride. Our destination, KIM (Kids International Ministries.) KIM is going to be our host for the next three weeks. For three days my team and I will do ministry at KIM’s home office. There is a children’s home here that we have been spending time at helping the caretakers with the babies and playing soccer with the older kids. We are also helping with a feeding program that brings food and medical relief to the extremely impoverished people in the surrounding villages. Today was the first time I have ever seen what third world poverty actually looks like and let me tell you, it looks absolutely nothing like what we see on TV, it’s MUCH worse! It’s hard to understand how bad it is until you actually see it, and a lot of times, smell it. This morning Jess and I worked the medical station, which is nothing more then a black toolbox with some basic supplies in it, and we encountered a mom with a baby boy that almost tore my heart out. The boy had a simple fire ant bite on his ankle that has turned into a life threatening infection and the only medical attention he will receive is what I can give him. After saying a quick prayer Jess and I began to try and treat the wound. The only thing that kept going through my mind was “ I’m not a doctor, what can I do?” but we had to try. Using a clean wipe and a disinfecting solution out of the med kit I began to clean the wound. After squeezing out a large amount of puss and pulling away the dead tissue we place an antibiotic ointment on the wound and bandaged it as best we could.
I’m not telling you this to say that I helped a baby, I’m telling you this so that you know how bad the living conditions are here for the locals. We take for granted so much all of the simple things that we have in the states, even something as simple as clean water to wash a cut. These people don’t have those things and because of that a little boy is in a very bad place from a little ant bite.
Please stand with me in prayer for the people of the Philippines, even if it’s just one time. They have such big hearts; even with so much against them they still hold onto their joy. The kids are always smiling and laughing and they seem to bring joy to everyone that is around them.
