I can’t get enough of this place! Even to be back in the Hong Kong airport, a place that I’ve flown through so often over the last 2 years, made me feel a bit like I was home. I might have even spoken to a group of perfectly matched Korean school children, wishing I hadn’t forgotten so much of the language already; (my head still spinning from all that Spanish over the last 3 months.) To see little Asian kiddos everywhere in their ridiculously cute everything from head to toe made my heart skip a beat the moment that plane touched the ground!
Okay, so The Philippines is a lot different than Korea, and each country in Asia is so *very* different from the next, but there are a few nice similarities…
The floors in our room are a cool, tiled white. In typical Asian fashion, we take our shoes off before we enter the home. Last night, we had noodles and veggies, that looked an awful lot like one of my favorite Korean side dishes, chop-che. Even now as I write this, there is a woman across the room, spooning the contents of her soup bowl into the side of her white rice. I can’t help but smile.
This month, we are at another orphanage, with Kids International Ministries on the southern-most island of the Philippines, Mindanao. (The name of the city we are in is Malaybalay, for those of you Google-earthers!)
Already I’m loving this ministry! The kids are so precious, and its so awesome that a lot of them speak English. They study it in school, even though in the home and to each other, they speak their native language. This makes connecting with them so much faster and easier.
There are about 30 kids total more or less, two of them babies which I can’t get enough of! It’s such a crazy thing when someone spits up all over you, and you just want to go back and hold them again. (After a quick clothes change, of course!)
It’s the little things in life, ya know? Whereas last month we were sleeping on the ground, this month I am blessed to have a soft bed. There is an array of veggies and fresh fruit at every meal. I’ve been running in the mornings up and down the gravel road that is the entrance to the orphanage. In the afternoons, we dig holes for the soon-to-be soccer field. At the end of the day, I am worn out and ready to go to bed, but sleep has been well earned! It’s a fantastic start to a new year, and sure to be an amazing month!
Be sure to drop me a line sometime!
Grace. Peace & Love from The Philippines!
