Philippines update
The squad made it safely to the Philippines and our team had booked a hostel so that we could get to our ministry the next day. But we came to realize that we either needed to take a 24 hour boat ride or a few hours on a plane to another island called Bohol. We chose the airplane so we were able to get to the final destination sooner.
The team and I arrived in Tagbilaram, Philippines and I immediately fell in love with this country.
The people are the sweetest.
The country is absolutely gorgeous.
The children are beautiful.
This country reminds me so much of Hawaii
And I have fallen in love with the smell of this beautiful place.
This month I am working with an organization called Arms of Love. I’m living with 33 children who have been rescued from unsafe family environments. We have been here a week and this place has completely stolen my heart. I love the Filipino people and these kids are the best.
My new brothers and sisters go to Christian schools and many of them are eager to hear more about Jesus. We were able to visit their school the other day for morning devotions.
This month we will also be working with the kids in learning a song and dance for them to do when new teams come. It’s like a “welcome song”. When we came we were greeted with two songs and it was such a blessing to me. Ashley who is 7 years old and is such a joy to be around. She led us in singing “we are” by Kari Jobe. That’s my favorite song and hearing young children singing brought some joyful tears to my eyes.
We also went out with the house parents to buy paint and we are going to be painting scriptures and designs on the walls in the 8 rooms of all the children who live at Arms of love ministry.
Everyday we take a drive with some staff and head over to the kids school with lunches in baskets. We drive up to the schools parking lot and see the kids run up yelling and they are always excited to see us. It’s one of my favorite parts of the day. As we leave I always try to encourage as the children wiggle their way out of the huge tuk tuk like vehicle to head to their next class.
This month has so much potential. I am so excited about every little part of it.
In Laos, I had a desire to do CGA right after the world race in September, I prayed about it and felt like I needed to start the application process
I applied. Had a Skype interview. Got accepted.
But getting accepting does not mean 100% it’s happening, it showed that it was an open option to do after the race. So I continued to pray for direction and guidance to The Lord who knows my future and wants the best for me. I didn’t find peace in my heart to do CGA anymore right after the race. It’s just not the perfect timing right away but it could happen down the road. The Lord may tell us to do something, we do exactly that and then he closes that door and opens a whole new one and he gives me a new desire and heart for what I would like to do after the race. Which has changed to settling at home, doing school and getting a job. I’m willing to do and go wherever The Lord leads.
