So as most of you know, my Philippines trip got extended.
It started with my travel partner, Kelsey, picking up dengue. This caused us to delay our flights. A few days before we were supposed to leave again, the doc came in the room and told her she had rubella, so we delayed our flights AGAIN.
On this second delay, I was given the opportunity to go with a local Filipino church on a medical mission to an island that was devastated by Yolanda. After lots of prayer and confirmation, I decided to go.
I am so thankful I went. Although it was an extremely challenging week, the Lord showed up in many ways, as always. Over the next few posts, I will share the story of how the Lord directed each step and came through with each prayer.
As I was packing the night before MY 3AM flight, I felt the Lord tell me to trust He would take care of my every need. Not to worry about bringing my sleeping pad or food. Umm… seriously? This was hard, but I did it because I love watching the Lord show up.
Once we all arrived at the Tacloban airport, we headed outside to get a 4-hour military escort across the island to a town called Guiuan. The ride was bumpy to say the least. I felt like I was getting pelted in the back with two by fours. Our tired bodies were slamming back and forth against the wooden benches because apparently our military driver thought we were on a NASCAR track not a half washed out road.
I was exhausted from staying up all night and starving because I hadn’t eaten yet that day. I finally asked the Lord for food. It couldn’t have been two minutes later before someone offered me lunch. I smiled know He answered that selfish prayer.
Once we arrived to Guiuan, we were told only 3 of us could go to our final destination, Homon Hon island, that night. The others in the group needed to sleep at the “Pulis” station and could go in the morning. I was told I was one of those three.
As we got to the doc, to catch the boat out, I understood why only 3 of us were allowed. I knew it was going to be a small boat… but the boat was a stinkin’ canoe… with a motor.
Ummm God… excuse me? You are asking me to take a canoe for 3 hours across the Pacific Ocean? And not only that, the sun is setting so… in the dark? His reply, “yep, trust me… this will be good”
From that moment on, I had the song Come Away with Me stuck in my head and that is exactly what I did. And just like the song says, it was wild, great and full of God and probably one of my favorite nights in my life.
The Lord wooed me like never before, as we headed straight toward an island devastated by Yolanda. I don’t think a producer in Hollywood could have come up with a more romantic scene than we experienced that night.
So, there we were in a canoe, riding off into the red and orange sunset, with the island in our distance. The colors were so radiant all I could do was stare. As the sun continued to go down, orange rays lit the sky.
Once the sun went down, it got really dark… and then I flashed back to my present self. Oh goodness, I realized I was in a canoe in the middle of the Pacific ocean and there was no light around and with every wave, I was getting slapped in the face with warm salt water.
Soon enough, stars started coming out… millions of them… I got lost in the scenery again as I talked to God and stared in amazement. I asked Him for a shooting star, and less than a minute later I saw the longest one I have ever seen in my life. It had to have lasted 3 to 5 seconds. Oh it was amazing.
As I flashed back to the present, I realized our driver could see nothing. He had no clue which direction the island was in. Then, God in His perfect timing, lit up the sky. It was heat lightening off in the distance and every few minutes it would light up the sky to guide us directly to where we were supposed to doc.
As we were nearing the island, we saw a light in the water, then another, then another. Then next thing you know, there are hundreds of plankton lighting up the water beside us. I felt like I was in Life of Pi. It was beautiful.
Once we finally arrived, it was high tide, so we had to jump into a foot of water to climb onto the broken doc. We then proceeded to grab our bags and climb halfway up a small mountain to get to the roofless church we would be staying in. We were offered dinner and a place to sleep before setting up the clinic early the next day.
I could go on and on about that night, but I will just end by saying trust Him when He said “come away with me” made for a wild, great and beautiful trip.
I will go more into the details of the trip and what we did when I blog tomorrow. For now, I just want to encourage you guys to trust His plans… his adventures are so far beyond anything we could imagine.
