The transition from Malaysia to the Philippines has been one
of the hardest for me on the race. It
was difficult to leave because of the relationships that our team had built
with our contacts and the families we lived with in the jungle. I left Malaysia pretty certain I will return
sometime in the future…at least in some capacity…even if it’s just to
visit.
But the race continues to move forward and we now find
ourselves in the Philippines working together as an entire squad. This month we are living and working at a
children’s home in Malaybalay that is run by Kids International Ministries
(KIM). This is a relatively new location
that KIM has moved into and there are a lot of things that we get to help out
with while we’re here. One of our major
resposiblities is taking care of the babies that they have on site. Currently they are short staffed and the
people that normally take care of the kids do not get any days off and have
very little time to relax. While we’re
here we are doing 24/7 care for the babies so that the workers get a chance to
breathe again and even take a vacation. There are also toddlers and younger children we help out with and look
after during the day.
He came to the children’s home a few months ago with his two
sisters. Their mother has been diagnosed
insane and their father doesn’t want them. Before we got here, the workers told us that Andrew was unresponsive and
wouldn’t interact with anyone. After
being here a couple days we started to see some changes in his behavior. He now loves to hang out with us, smile,
laugh, and play with the other kids that he lives with. It has been so amazing to see life come back
into him. Last Sunday, Andrew and I hung
out during the morning church service and became buds. He liked turning the pages in my Bible and
“accidently” dropped into the dirt quite a few times. Andrew’s life is just one of many that have
been profoundly impacted by the ministry that KIM does in the Philippines.
Our other major project is finishing up the construction of
the buildings they have started building on the property. We’ve sifted sand, made concrete, painted,
spackled, sanded, built fences, landscaped…just to name a few. Our main push is to get one building
completed before another team of volunteers come in and to finish the kids
complex before about 500 kids come for a weeklong camp.
Of course there are other things going on here where we live
and also in the surrounding community…hopefully I can share some of those
stories later. Till next time….
