Hello from the Philippines! First of all, I would like to apologize for
being a horrible blogger over the last couple months. I promise to blog more often this month,
which I’m sure won’t be a problem because there is plenty to do this
month. So to quickly recap the last
couple months, the biggest thing was learning how to do relational
ministry. We got to meet a lot of cool
people and just try to build relationships with them while sharing the love of
Christ. It was also a good lesson of
just living normal life and doing ministry.
You know, the whole “life is ministry” cliché that I’ve heard
approximately 2349 times during the Race.
We also, as you may have heard, got to work with crocodiles last
month. Awesome experience. Pictures will be coming soon.
So back to this month in the Philippines. We’ve been here about a week now, and I
absolutely love it here. We’re working
with an organization called Kid’s International Ministries (KIM). The Long family, which consists of Jeff and
Colleen and their 5 kids, has been here since 1991. KIM works
to serve the community, particularly the kids in the community. They have an orphanage (children’s home),
which serves as a home to probably about 30 or 40 children. There are also 5 teenagers who live on the
compound here.
God has perfectly orchestrated my
ministry here this month. Besides
getting to play with the kids at the children’s home and on the streets, I also
get to serve as a kuya (a Filipino term for older brother) to 3 teenage
boys. Their names are Renee (about 16
years old), Benji (about 15) and Jude (about 14). And they are awesome. And I get to spend the whole month hanging
out with them, loving them and pouring into them. I’ll be leading devotions for them, making
sure they do their homework and whatever else they need to do, making sure they
go to bed on time, and of course just talking with them, joking with them,
having fun with them. On Friday, I took
them to Jollibee, a local fast food restaurant, to get some ice cream. It was a great start to building a
relationship with them, talking about how many girlfriends they have, you know,
the usual teenage boy conversations. I
also challenged Renee to a balut eating contest, which will be occurring
sometime this week. Wish me luck in that! Haha.
Be praying for my month with them:
that a deep relationship can be built with each one of them, and God
will give me the strength and endurance to love them the entire month as well
as the boldness to speak the words He wants them to hear. Be praying for them: that they will continue to be grown into men
of God and continue to know Christ’s love for them in a deeper way.
Another ministry that I will be
working in is Children’s Garden (CG). Children’s
Garden is a home for about 20 street kids (all boys) aged around 15 to 18. Before coming to CG, these kids lived on the
streets snuffing glue, running in gangs, etc.
Friday morning, we had our first visit there, where we got to know them,
sang a couple songs of worship, and played charades. It was such a fun time. These kids have so much joy and love to laugh
and joke around. I look forward to going
back there and loving on these boys.
Besides those two ministries, there
are a few other things I might be a part of during my time here in the Philippines. A couple times a week, I’ll be going to tent
communities bringing food for children.
On Wednesday, we had our first visit there, and I got to bond with an
adorable boy around the age of 3. I’ll
also be spending plenty of time at the Children’s home, playing with the
kids. I might have the opportunity to
spend some time at the local school reading to or tutoring kids. And maybe I’ll be manly and do some construction.
As you can
see, this month is going to be jam packed with ministry. And I am so pumped to be used by God in this
community. Not to mention, besides
ministry, there is so much cool stuff to do around here. The other day, we got to travel to a water
fall. The guys got to drive motor
scooters to the waterfall. It was awesome
getting to drive a motor scooter through the busy streets of Manila. Unfortunately, the last part of the trip was
on a gravel road. I have no experience
riding on gravel and so upon making contact with the gravel, I promptly lost
control of the bike and fell. Gonna have
some nice scars on one of my hands and both of my knees to show my grandkids
some day.
Anyways,
that’s a recap of what this month is going to look like. I hope to take plenty of pictures and tell
plenty of stories through my blog this month.
Please continue to be in prayer for us and the ministry that we’ll be
doing.
