The Philippines has been an amazing place to serve the final month of this journey. I love the food, the beauty of this place, and most of all the Filipino people. I have enjoyed the unique opportunity to work with a variety of different ministries here through connections with various partner ministries. I was able to be involved in multiple ways . . . all in support of the ministries that are serving the” least of these” in this place.
Whether I was doing manual labor on “the wall”, herding the toddlers together at Awana, or handing out rice packages to families at the Saturday feeding program, my work was in support of the Mt. Moriah Camp ministries. They are here serving the physical and spiritual needs of the poor children, youth, and parents in the surrounding community through their various programs.
Whether I was helping the toddlers with dinner and their night-time routine, leading a girl’s devotion time, or assisting the social worker with organizational and administrative tasks, my work was in support of the New Faith Family Children’s Home. They are providing a safe, loving, & Christian home and education to 23 neglected and abandoned children.
I was blessed to serve in all of these ways and to play a role in building up and encouraging these ministries. I was happy to utilize my gifts and abilities in support of worthwhile ministries and it felt good to have something to offer. However, the greatest blessing to me was found in an unlikely ministry where I felt completely inadequate to offer anything to the ministry.
I had the privilege of partnering with a local pastor on several occasions to do house visits in some of the surrounding communities. It is through this ministry that I was exposed to more aspects of the culture, made a connection with the hearts of the people, and gained a deeper insight into the issues that they face. Poverty, lack of education, and abandonment are all issues that we quantify in research and reports but they become more real when you put faces to them. As I sat on the floor of a bamboo hut where a family of 10 lives in 2 rooms without electricity or running water my heart broke for the parents that struggle to provide basic needs for their children and for the 8 children that are unable to attend school because of the cost. In another humble home I held the hand of a pregnant woman that expressed fear that her husband is planning to leave her and her 4 children for another woman (an all too common occurrence in this place) while her friend shared that her husband had left and that the struggle to provide food and education for her daughter has become too much and she has attempted suicide three times.
These are just a few accounts of the realities of how these issues of poverty, lack of education, and abandonment are affecting these people . . . these people whom I now know. They now have names and faces and I share a memory with them of our interactions. I have heard their stories and they have heard mine. I have held their hands, wiped their tears, shared truths from God’s word with them, and prayed with them.
It was such a blessing to me to connect with these people and be given a glimpse of their struggles yet as I prepare to leave my heart aches for them. Solutions still need to be found for them. Please join me in praying for God to reveal solutions for these dear friends and in prayerful consideration of what if any my role and your role might be in that.
