We have officially been at our new location in the Philippines for a week and a half, and we love it! We are doing “All Squad Month”, which is where our entire squad of 34 people gets to stay together and do ministry together this month! Woohoo! We are so loving being with the whole squad this month, and getting to build deeper relationships with everyone, and not just our team.
We are working and staying at Kids International Ministries (K.I.M.) in Manila. It is an incredible organization that is doing so much to serve and love it’s community well! Their goal in doing all that they do here is to “CHANGE the cycle of poverty” by providing education and so much more to those who cannot afford it. But I love how the director of K.I.M. put it. He said, “We don’t necessarily want to break the cycle, because that’s not quite possible. Life is full of cycles. We want to CHANGE the cycle of poverty and hopelessness. So we are being that change in this community by providing opportunities and new hope!”
This month we have so many options as to where and how we can serve the people in this community. We can choose anything from the following opportunities: Construction and manual labor, teaching, assisting in classes, helping take care of sweet little ones at the Children’s Home, working and assisting at the pregnancy clinic, taking all of the community kids swimming at the pool in the compounds, helping with marketing and media projects, going out to the local villages and neighborhoods to feed their communities and share God’s word and love… I mean, the opportunities are truly endless.
Our first week here, Justin and I both decided on construction and manual labor. As you can imagine, this was a risky and bold move for me (Tessie), as it is not quite where my expertise are. Lol. But, I had the choice to change it at any moment, and I didn’t. Because I must say, I LOVED it.
I loved the challenge. I loved being stretched out of my comfort zone in a new way. I loved building relationships with the crew that we were working with. I loved that our team was truly able to help the crew get the job done quicker. I loved the incredible arm workout I was getting 😉 But mostly, I loved walking past the babies and being reminded that this labor of love was for them.
We got to help start a project in building what will soon be a closed in / outdoor play area for the babies and toddlers so that they can get fresh air, but also be in safe quarters. We also got to help with a side walk that would help make it safer for those walking back and forth to school and work. Then we were able to put fresh coats of paint on the Children’s Home. So lots of productive things happened our first week, which felt great! I think another thing that I have loved the most about serving in manual labor, is being able to see the the progression of our labor come to fruition, and to see how excited Pastor Nick (our boss) would get every time we finished a project.
We are now finishing up our second week here, and this week we all ventured out in trying a little bit of everything to see where we would fit best the rest of the month. So far this week we have brought in the community kids for swim time, which is what they live for! Sweet things! I have gone to the Children’s Home to help care for babies, serve the workers in cleaning or cooking or whatever they need help with. We have gone on community outreaches to the “Squatter Communities”, where we go and feed the hungry, pray for the sick, provide medicine, share God’s word and love, and play with the children. I have also jumped on the marketing team here to help with video projects, website updating, and helping to create more updated visual content for K.I.M to put on their website and social media outlets. If you know me, you know this is right where I belong! I am excited to be able to share and use my gifts to be able to help an incredible organization in this way.
We are busy this month. We are putting our hands to many different things, and we are seeing God’s hand in it all simultaneously. God is doing really cool things here, and we are excited to be a small part of it!
Overall, our first week and a half was full of productiveness, joy, sore bodies, sun burns, chaco tan lines, laughter, cemented and painted clothes, deep conversations, basketball breaks, water hose cool downs, beautiful stories, swim time, love, and well, God.
Thank you for taking the time to read and walk this journey with us!
Some prayer requests for this month:
1. For our squads health. Most of our squad has been dealing with a lot of sickness. I was sick this past weekend with a fever and sore throat. I am feeling a lot better, but many of my squad mates have been pretty sick, and have had to go to the hospital. Just pray for overall healing and for their health to be restored quickly!
2. For God to lead us as we start to do more community outreaches in Cuatro this month. We are truly asking the Lord to lead us to where He wants us to go.
3. For us to be fully funded by April. We are currently 94.47% funded! Praise Him! But, we are still $1,925 away from being fully funded. God provided $32,875 in just 7 months, so we are not doubting His ability to bring in the rest by April. If you feel led to partner with us, and want to help us stay on the field to serve communities around the world, share the gospel, and impact lives, then you can head over to our home page where you can give. We couldn’t do what we are doing, and impact lives around the world without you all.
We are trying to blog weekly to keep you all updated, so if you want to be notified by email or text when we post, you can subscribe to our blog to keep up with our journey and see what we are up to!
Love you all!
-Tess and Juss
