Hello from the Philippines….month 11. I can't believe it's here. This place rocks. Before coming on the Race when people asked me what country I was most excited about, my answer was always India and The Philippines! India has always interested me for many reasons but The Philippines, the only thing I knew about it was that my grandpa was in the Navy and he and my grandma lived in Manila for two years. But for some reason I was stoaked to come here. The Lord has already done so much since we have been here. This month our squad is split up into two groups. We are all working with KIM, Kids International Ministry. Started in Manila and now they have another site on another island, only a short flight away, called Mindanao. 3 teams are staying in Manila and mine and another team are in Malaybalay, Mindanao. First we flew into Manila and it was great. We stayed at the site there and spent a few days resting, getting caught up on things, and seeing KIM at work. We got to check out all the incredible ministries they have there. I am excited to see my squad mates at the end of the month and hear about all the incredible things that happened. At first I was a little sad to be leaving Manila but now I see what a blessing it truely is. I LOVE THIS PLACE! It's the perfect set up in my opinion. We are living at Mt. Moriah Camp in a summer camp style dorm. The land has a children's home, a huge basketball court, soccer field, and volleyball court. It's primarily used for the childrens home but they host sports events and rent out the place to churches for conferences and events. "Town" isn't in walking distance but it's not too far either. The perfect distance away to get internet, snacks, etc. The scenery is beautiful. We are surrounded by mountains, and it's much much cooler than Manila. It still gets hot but finally a month where we don't constantly have sweat dripping off of us haha. I feel such an overwhelming peace and joy here. There's something about being out in nature that I feel so close to God and can hear his voice clearer than ever. He's been giving me lots of sweet revelations lately that I am so thankful for. It's a pretty sweet story about this plot of land. A couple named Glen and Grace own it and they have such a heart for the Lord and they have story after story about how the Lord has provided for their every need. There's even an example of how Grace had a fruit orchard and God told her to cut it down and put in the soccer field. She talks about how hard it was but how worth it it was to be obedient and how the Lord is blessing that decision daily. One day I sat listening to Grace talk and I was left in tears thinking about how faithful and good our God really is. The faith that woman has is encouraging and challenging. Through her and this place the Lord is teaching me a lot about trust and dependence. It's so good. I love learning all I can from her.
Our main ministry this month is working in the children's home just about a minute or two walk away. The kids are precious (more about them later!). So we take shifts helping the incredible house parents that work there. I love it. Our first week here we helped out at a sports camp/tournament held here at Mt. Moriah put on by a local pastor. They had everything already set up so we helped keep score, get to know people from the community, and serve in whatever way we could. It was a blast. They even had 19 salvations. Praise God! For the next two weeks we are loving on the kids here, hanging out with another Pastor friend of our contact- helping with Bible studies and house to house visits, painting a section of the children's home, and whatever other random opportunities come up 🙂 I love everything about this month. It's such a sweet way to end the race. I am so thankful to be here.
me and my wonderful squad leader Michelle 🙂
