Hi! Once again, this blog is coming over a week after I have already left the country, buuuut here is a bit about life lately…
Route change
I have shared a bit about this on social media, but my teamies and I chose a route change to the Philippines! A handful of us have been dreaming about bar ministry and traveling to the Philippines since the beginning of the race, and we got to see those dreams realized this month!
During PVT, Jessie and I got to eat lunch with the Philippines manager of Bella Goose and talk about the possibility of doing ministry with them. We fell in love with the idea and started figuring out how to make the trip possible. After talking with our mentor, the team, and working through logistical details (thanks Jessie and Amber), it was in motion!
Ministry
Orphanage: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings we went to an orphanage to read scripture, sing, play, and tutor. These kids nestled their way into such special places in our hearts with their playfulness, sweet spirits, remarkable understanding of their identities in Christ, and love for all of our favorite musicals. We got to hear their dreams, share our own, and experience such sweet juxtaposition to our night ministry.
Walking Street: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights we spent some time in prayer and worship before going out to Walking Street, the highly concentrated strip of bars where we are located. Our nights out looked different nearly every single time. We would split into small groups, trying to be strategic based on follow-up connections with friends or promptings from Holy Spirit or in attempts to be allowed into the bars (if all Asians tried to walk in together, we often got stopped by bouncers because we didn’t look like tourists, which led them to assume we would not spend money). Sometimes we went in the bars, sometimes we stayed outside (sometimes following Holy Spirit’s lead, sometimes because the bouncers wouldn’t let us in). Sometimes we talked to the working girls who became our friends, sometimes we sat and prayed without speaking out loud to anybody. Sometimes the nights were fun and light-hearted, sometimes they were really, really hard.
Debriefs and follow-ups: Tuesdays and Thursdays were spent debriefing our nights out on Walking Street. We got to share what we did, who we talked with, who we prayed over, how our hearts were impacted. We got to take the hard things and exciting things to our team, and together we got to take them to the Lord. After we finished debriefing, we spent the rest of our day hanging out at Bella Goose, building relationships with our new friends who worked there, and making ourselves available for follow-ups in case any of our friends from Walking Street decided to take us up on our offers to hang out in a setting where they were off the clock with no need to perform.
Praises
We got to see what happens when we pursue the desires the Lord puts on our hearts – funds were provided, relationships were built, walls were torn down…good, good, good things happen when we walk in obedience and faith, wow
Ministry partners who became real-life friends
Witnessing the Lord opening (literal) doors for us in ministry
I got to meet some of my family while in the Philippines!!
Prayer requests
The girls we befriended from the bars would walk into freedom
The men on Walking Street would also walk into freedom
We would finish our race with endurance and pursue healthy transitions home
