Well I know it’s been a while since I have posted a blog so I thought I would catch you up.
I feel so many different emotions as our time in the Philippines has come to an end. First of all I never thought it was possible to have a group of people (my squad and K.I.M staff) become like family so quickly and to feel so much love for them. These verses hit the mark on what God has been teaching and growing in me the past couple months:
Philippians 2:3-7 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in the very nature, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
Living 24/7 with over 20 people is a daily challenge but it’s also amazing. It has taught me that showing love to the people around me means putting them above myself; it is a constant struggle and I learn from it every single day. There are days when someone can really test my patience or days where I really don’t want to share part of my only chocolate bar (chocolate is gold here people). Having all squad is also awesome because if someone is sick or not having the best day, there are 30 plus brothers and sisters to lean on and get encouragement from and I must say after the race I will definitely miss living within this community. Now a new chapter is beginning in Swaziland.
My first morning in Swaziland I wrote this in my journal; “I am in awe. I am currently sitting on top of a rock on a mountain; looking out I see the mountains and fields of Swazi. I hear birds singing, cows mooing, and my squad mates laughing in the distance, and I couldn’t be more content.” Our ministry for the month of December was on top of a mountain where we were surrounded by Gods beautiful creation, two hours away from civilization, and if it rains (which it does often) there is no way of getting into town because of the muddy roads to get off the mountain (there are many horror/funny stories to tell of the times where it was quite sketchy getting into town). Being surrounded with this beauty and not having the distractions of city life has given me time to reflect and has taught me how to be still before the Lord. El Shaddai (the name of the ministry) is an orphanage that has kids from the ages of 6 to about 18. There is over 50 kids here, each with different heartbreaking backgrounds; some of them have been abandoned, beaten, or sexually abused. Each day we got to show love to them and when they looked at me with their big brown shining eyes I fell more in love with them every day.
Christmas. This Christmas was by far one of the best I’ve had. To start off, we do home visits where we go to a home and bring them food, learn their story and just share Jesus with them and our team had gone to one week before and we asked if we could come back in a week and make lunch with them and they said yes with big smiles. So a day before Christmas Eve our team made the hike to their hut, our arms loaded with goodies. There was about 4 adults and 7 kids who lived here and we made spaghetti for them, talked with them, and then had a little bible study. Our team has also bought snickers as a little treat for them, so after they finished their meal we gave each of them a snickers bar and their reaction has me trying to fight tears from falling down my face; their faces lit up and they had the biggest smiles ever. The fact that something so small and inexpensive to us made their day and probably their whole Christmas moved me so much and will be something I will always remember. Then Christmas morning came and with it I thought I would be sad and homesick, but there was no time for that. Our squad did secret Santa and I woke up to my secret Santa gift sitting beside me, a sweet note from my teammate Marita, and a cute Christmas cup with goodies in it from another teammate Kristen. We had a great Christmas breakfast and at 9 am our squad was off to the chapel where presents were sitting there for all the kids, some from the ministry and some from us (each of us had a 10 dollar budget for our buddy). All the kids came pouring in with anticipation on their faces, ready to open their presents. As my buddies name was called he went running up grabbed his presents, ran outside and found a spot to open them. I must admit I was a little nervous about David not liking his gift, but as he opened it and pulled out a big bar of chocolate, marbles, a deck of cards, and a race car he had a big ole’ smile on his face and it made my heart full with joy at the thought of making his Christmas just a little better. We ended the night with a big amazing dinner, a bonfire, worship, and star gazing. At the end of the night, although I wasn’t with my family back home, my heart was filled with joy thinking of the kids’ big smiles when they opened their gifts and spending Christmas with over 30 people who have become family. Well sorry it’s been so long since I have blogged and it’s all over the place but now that you’re all caught up on what’s happening here, I pray that you’re Christmas and New Year was blessed and that all is well. Love you guys!
