I think I will always have a heart for the Philippines. It was my first mission trip back in 2013. It’s also one of the reasons why I picked this route. I’ll tell you the Philippines didn’t disappoint.
My living condition was in middle of a small village called Balabag. We had no electricity, we had no running water, and you had to go through a road up a hill on a motorbike to get there. The drive was an even crazier time since we were in a middle of a typhoon and it rained everyday. Not to mention there was a hole in my tent.
Even with those conditions, I felt peace among the locals and with the ministry. Our ministry was to build a church and get to know the people in Balabag. Our plan was simple, pray in the morning for a door to be open, and walk through the village meeting everyone we could see. In the middle of this village was a basketball court and a volleyball court and in the evenings we would play with the kids.
On the first couple days, we had a huge turnout of people gathered– it was about 70 or more men, women, and children there. With this time we got to love, pray, and listen to people. I got to love and minister the older gentlemen. I only know how to spell out one of the names and that’s Noy he was one of the men that I got to minister to. I think even with the language barrier just by having fun with them talking about Jesus to them I could see the change in their life’s in everyone.
Sometimes I feel like a month is not long enough, but God does wonders in the short time that I have in each country. We had a 3 day event that we got to minister to hundreds of people and share testimonies, and what it looks like to be men and women of God. It was a struggle to hear the stories of what these kids are dealing with, and to be vulnerable with strangers. Kids dealing with suicide, depression, families torn apart. There’s no greater feeling when you share the gospel and see lives change, to see hope restored and let them know that the church loves them. God could move mountains in such a short time.
