My Sabbath in Prison

[New Faith Family Children’s Home, Malaybalay, Philippines]

 

This past January I spent serving in Malaybalay, Philippines at a Children’s home. My days consisted of either digging holes to plant patches of sod for a future football field or attending house duty at the home. I would arise early at 5 am to wake up the boys for 5:30 am devotions followed by prodding them to bathe before school, change into their school uniforms, and eat breakfast. My first morning shift was quite funny. The water was shut off at the main house which left the option of bucket showers by the laundry area. My friend Aimme and I chased the boys with bars of soap and buckets of cold water. Laughter infused the air, cold water drenched my clothes, the pitter patter of feet running around around awakened my senses, and the number of boys who actually received a bath still remains unknown. After baths and breakfast, all the kids would pile into the van for their 10 minute drive to school. It didn’t take very long for a few of the boys and girls to extend me an invitation to ride along with them. One of my favorite memories was a little boy holding a small action figure outside the window allowing the plastic toy to come alive for a few moments in time. I am always an encourager of creativity so of course I played along with him. He passed the toy across the van and I held the figure in flight out the window so he could experience the blurred scenery on the other side.

 

[storybook wonder. reading with the kids in the afternoons.]

 

 

[Community feeding project during AWANAs]

 

Outside of my normal routine at New Faith Children’s home, I received the opportunity to serve lunch to children from the community at AWANAs and visit a local prison. On my last Sunday in Malaybalay, I went to the local prison to visit the women and encourage them. On my way to their cell, I passed by the cell of minors. One of the Philippino contacts asked my teammate Krystle and I if we would like to share a Word with them. I didn’t have a devotional planned, but I agreed to teach. The Lord gave me the words that I needed in that moment. It was a beautiful picture of how the Bible is a story of redemption and how we each are invited to partake in the story of redemption. These teenage boys sat attentively in chairs and listened to Krystle and me share the Word of God through the cell bars. I could see their hunger for the Word. One teenager, Keeh-Kam asked me about difficult passages in Scripture and their meaning. We walked through Old and New Testament passages. I encouraged him to look at Scripture in its context and to keep asking the hard questions for these questions will draw Him closer to the Lord. I told him that I do not have all the answers, but the Lord wants him to seek His face for wisdom and discernment and it will be given to Him. I encouraged him that although he physcially is behind bars, he is more free than most people living in the world because he knows Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.

[stamps to enter the prison]

 

The story c o n t i n u e s . . .

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Fundraising needs update for Team Pneuma: My teammate Jessica Flowers needs $1175 to make our next deadline by March 31. To support Jessica, go to jessicaflowers.theworldrace.org and click on “support me” on her page.

 

My teammate Rachel-Duff Banks and I will be fully-funded if all of our honored committments follow through. Our needs are:

$2710 rachelduffbanks.theworldrace.org

$1048 jacindakoziara.theworldrace.org

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