Yo! I just want to start this off by thanking all of the individuals and families that have helped me get here. We have raised about $10,000 so far and that is astounding! Thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!
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After almost 40 hours of travel, we made it to the Philippines. The journey began in Atlanta, off to LA, then to Taipei, into Manila and finally into our village of Antipolo! The travel was exhausting, but enjoyable. We luckily got a 12-hour layover in LA to kick off this trip, so naturally, we hit up the beach! It was a good way to jump into a year long adventure, and it was nice to relax a little before a 14 HOUR flight to Taiwan! Although LA and the beach were fun, I was so excited to get to the Philippines to meet up with our ministry hosts and begin serving here. Stepping off the plane in the Philippines, I remember thinking about how normal it felt, how I didn’t feel anxious, or scared, I was just so ready to begin serving. I wanted to get this thing started! Finally, I was at the starting line and we were off!
So, month 1, we are in the Philippines, my team is serving at a ministry called “Children’s Garden of the Philippines” here in the city of Antipolo, it is so dope here, so pretty, so much community. This ministry serves to help disciple former street kids by giving them a place to stay, food, and an education. The boys that live here range between 12 and 18, they come from so many different walks of life. Most of these boys were homeless prior to staying here, they were thieves, drug addicts, beggars, and unloved. These boys absolutely love to be loved on. They love to hang out, they love to talk, make jokes, play basketball, and just enjoy life! They want love, they want a family, they just want to be seen. I love being able to spend all day with these dudes here, they just brighten up the day with their playful demeanor and loving attitude. I am seriously so thankful that this is the ministry that my team and I have been placed at, it speaks right to my heart. I love to love on the lost, on the broken, the hurt, and to see frowns turn to smiles, CG is so dang cool!
*Yo, peep this view*
Day 1 all I really did was eat and sleep, it was really needed. After 40 hours of travel, I think it’s safe to say that I was a tad bit tired. The next morning, we went and explored the town a little bit and started ministering to the boys. In other words, we played basketball with the boys. Don’t get it twisted though, although Filipino people are rather short, these boys can BALL! They are obsessed with basketball, like they know all the players, know all the moves, and have some of the smoothest jump shots I’ve ever seen in person, it’s friggin insane! These boys literally play basketball during any bit of free time that they receive, it’s their passion, it’s one of the few things that really brings them joy and it’s so obvious! They just love to play it. In the front room of CG, there is a wall with a picture of each boy, under the boy is a profile, with their b-day, favorite hobby (all of them say ‘basketball’), food, Bible verse, etc. There is also a part on it that says, “favorite thing about Children’s Garden,” in that section, it is almost unanimous that every boy’s favorite thing about this place is that they now have a family. And they recognize that their family isn’t just blood, but its those ride-or-dies that you are surrounded with. The people that support you and love on you like nothing else, and I am honored to say that, for at least this month, I am part of that family.
*Just some of the boys ballin’ out*
Other parts of ministry include going and talking with street kids, helping with feeding programs, and showing love to the unloved. I love it here, I love being on the field and jumping deep into the lives of these people. Our team gathered one evening after figuring out our ministry schedule, the things we need to be working on, blah blah blah. During that conversation, our team leader mentioned that our hosts wanted one of us to preach this Sunday. He said, “normally, I would just jump in and do it, but I feel like God doesn’t want me to right now, does anybody feel like God is asking them to preach?” As we went around the room, everybody kept saying they don’t feel called to do it this week, that they would pray about it, they would wait to see what God said. Meanwhile, I am sitting in the corner and I can clearly hear God asking me to preach, preaching is honestly one of my biggest fears. I am not comfortable even speaking into a microphone… So, I made an excuse explaining why I shouldn’t preach. As Sunday rolled around, I had a sermon planned and by the strength of the Lord, I preached. Facing my fears was not something that I had planned on doing during this trip, but at this point I think its inevitable. Let’s not be fearful, let’s be obedient to what we hear the Lord asking us to do. That’s how this whole thing started, I didn’t even want to go on the dang World Race, but here I am, and on Sunday, I surely didn’t want to preach… but I was obedient, and there is no better feeling than putting your trust in the Lord and seeing fruit grow. I am thankful that I got the opportunity to face my fear. Do I think I will be preaching again anytime soon? I sure hope not. BUT, if the Lord is asking me to, you better bet that I will be standing in the front preaching my heart out. So, I would love to encourage you, be obedient to the Lord no matter how scary. Let’s face some fears, y’all!
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Again, thank you so much for your support. I am about $9,000 away from being fully funded. Your donations help to go and keep me here on the field, showing love, ministering and doing whatever I can to spread Kingdom wherever I go! If you would like to donate, literally everything helps, just press the ‘donate’ button at the top of the page. I have also been really active on Instagram (@miiggy.smalls), so give me a follow on there if you want to check out how the journey has been going!
Much love!
