This past month has proven to be an amazing month of God showing up all over. I feel like so much has happened that it has been hard to keep up with the memories. The first week of the month we spent with Mary and Mac’s teams at the Kid’s International Ministries base in Manila. Our teams were overwhelmed at the various ministries available to participate in in the community. As our teams sat in on our cultural orientation the ministry contact stated that we were not there so that we could serve him; we were there to serve the Lord. There were many ministries that KIM works with, but he made sure that if we felt God was calling us to another area of ministry and we wanted to gain experience in that area he hooked us up with another organization while we were there. He said that we were there to serve the Kingdom, and that’s what he wanted to enable us to do. What a guy! 🙂
At the end of the month the teams in Manila had particpated in:
– Food distribution programs
– Medical assistance at local “tent cities”
– Discipleship programs with teens
– A children’s home
– Teaching Art and English classes at a local school
– Working with a local Christian magazine Jeepney on articles and photography
– Helping with child sponsorship setup
– Mentoring Josie’s Angels, a group of 50 girls ages 11-16
– Prostitution ministry
– Prison ministry
– Basketball ministry
– Baseball ministry
– Construction projects
– Preaching in a local church
Week Two of the Philippines the five of us (Tim, Lauren, Abby, 
Scotty, and I) took a 5 hour trip to the island of Mindoro. The two teams working there were working with Threads of Hope in Puerto Galera. The gorgeous location was a bit deceiving- masking the real need for hope to be brought to the people on this island. Words cannot express the inner battle faced during the month of ministry for these teams, but one of my squadmates, Dex, explains it better than I ever could in his blog: http://dexmeeks.theworldrace.org/?filename=hanging-by-a-thread and I would encourage you to read it.
Scotty, and I) took a 5 hour trip to the island of Mindoro. The two teams working there were working with Threads of Hope in Puerto Galera. The gorgeous location was a bit deceiving- masking the real need for hope to be brought to the people on this island. Words cannot express the inner battle faced during the month of ministry for these teams, but one of my squadmates, Dex, explains it better than I ever could in his blog: http://dexmeeks.theworldrace.org/?filename=hanging-by-a-thread and I would encourage you to read it.
The days consisted of morning “karaoke-style” praise and worship and a few hours of manual labor: moving boulders up a 
hill, clearing brush off hills with homemade rakes, etc. Afternoons were spent with the Threads of Hope women on the beach- building relationships and helping them make bracelets. Evenings were spent playing organized sporting activities with the local children, vacation Bible school, and bonfires with the local community.
hill, clearing brush off hills with homemade rakes, etc. Afternoons were spent with the Threads of Hope women on the beach- building relationships and helping them make bracelets. Evenings were spent playing organized sporting activities with the local children, vacation Bible school, and bonfires with the local community. Week Three we flew to Mindanao to meet up with the remaining 5 teams that were serving alongside the other KIM base. These teams spent the mornings planting Philippine-style sod on a soccer field and taking shifts in the children’s home. Evenings and nights were spent on the sod field, prison ministry, gang ministry, and working in the children’s home.
One of my favorite days in Mindanao was the day that I went to the prison with a few other Racers. We had a chance to sit on a bench outside the women’s cell and the teenage boys cell (they were next to each other) and talk with them about their families, hear their stories, and laugh with them. We taught the ladies a praise and worship song and pretty soon we were sitting in a prison singing to the Lord. Who would have throught? In talking with one of the volunteers we found that many of the women had been in prison for a few years already and had not even received their sentence yet. Can you
imagine? On top of all that, on our way out almost every cell that we passed stopped us and asked if they could sing us a song before we left. So here we were in a prison in the Philippines and grown men, women, and teens stopped us so that they could sing various Christian songs as a thank you for us coming to visit. I couldn’t help but smile from the overflow of my heart as I stood in amazement at my surroundings. Only God could make this happen. 🙂
imagine? On top of all that, on our way out almost every cell that we passed stopped us and asked if they could sing us a song before we left. So here we were in a prison in the Philippines and grown men, women, and teens stopped us so that they could sing various Christian songs as a thank you for us coming to visit. I couldn’t help but smile from the overflow of my heart as I stood in amazement at my surroundings. Only God could make this happen. 🙂So January was a great month! We stayed busy hopping around to each team, but it was so worth it and I wouldn’t have had it any other way! We eventually had to pack up and head to the airport, and that is where we said goodbye to Tim, Lauren, and Abby. I am forever grateful for the wisdom and insight they were able to impart to us this month. On the way to the airport I remember sitting in the bus and it finally hit me. Not so much the part about Scotty and I leading the squad- that was more of a gradual process, but it was finally hitting me that three of my closest friends on the squad were getting on a place to head back to the States…
So that is a recap of the Philllies…and there are lots more experiences to come! 🙂
