Wendell, Me, and Joshua trying to look cool.
It All Started With A Playlist
When I found out that my team’s first ministry assignment was at Children’s Garden (CG), a boys home in the Philippines, I was ecstatic. I’ve always felt drawn to boys…not in a creepy way or anything. HA. But really, I am extremely passionate about seeing boys grow up to be men of strong character.
The streets of our home in Antipolo are constantly bustling. Over 1.5 million children live homeless in the Philippines; and many of these children grew up orphanages/fatherless homes, were abused by male figures, or simply rebelled for reasons unique to each child. It is heartbreaking to witness, however CG is taking action to make a lasting impact in the lives of the boys they are raising.
Within the first few days of being in the house the boys were starting to warm up to us, but naturally there was still some hesitation that was clouding their full personalities from showing. On our way to doing outreach at a children’s ministry, my teammate Miguel connected to the bluetooth speaker.
“Kiki, do you love me? Are you riding?”
Drake filled the van and although I could tell the boys were a little thrown off…they freaking loved it.
…Wait, can we listen to music we actually like with these people?!
Their faces lit up and walls instantly dropped. There’s one boy in particular that took full advantage and started requesting more of his favorite songs right away.
Thus was born, the “Joshua” playlist on my Spotify account. The conglomeration of American Top 40 and Filipino rap makes for one of my more eclectic playlists, and it’s awesome.
Lately, it’s been hard to fully make it out of my room in the morning without hearing, “Stella, play No Brainer” or “Stella, Company!” It’s hilarious and sometimes frustrating to listen to the same songs on repeat, but, the broken English conversations and bonding that it leads to is well worth it. It’s awesome to show them that we’re all just normal people who love God and want to share His love with them. We demonstrate that they are allowed to be themselves around us and it had opened the door to deeper relationship.
Anything Short of Sin
At my church back home we have a saying that “We’ll do anything short of sin to reach new people.” Living out that motto has led to some of my greatest relationships. Here in the Philippines it has looked like playing my first full court basketball game in ten years, failing miserably at trying to speak Tagalog, and fumbling on the words to Boyfriend by Justin Bieber in an effort to look kind of cool to a bunch of teenage boys. It leads to them opening up about their stories, laughing at my crappy dribbling skills, impromptu photoshoots, and simply wanting to spend time with me and my teammates.
Adonis, and Chandel, and JR at a reach out ministry basketball game.
A Closer Look At CG
One of the most special things about CG is the generational leadership that the director, Sharon Wark and the staff have cultivated. Some of the men who once lived in the home have returned to work there and mentor the boys. They have created a culture of leadership, discipleship, and discipline. These might not sound super exciting, but the reality is they’re all necessary in order to lead the boys into manhood. For some of them, it is their first time learning to read, do multiplication, and clean up after themselves.
The staff and volunteers lead reach out programming in prisons, orphanages, and for the homeless around the city. They make it a point to include the boys in reach out ministry to expose them to what living for Jesus is truly about; rather than just forcing the Bible down their throats.
Kids at a local Kid’s Ministry that CG puts together.
Now as with anything, there is no perfect system. Throughout the years, boys have run away decisioned to live on the streets instead of in a structured home environment. But nevertheless, the staff still welcomes them to come for home cooked meals and they encourage the CG boys to hang out with them.
Street boys who once lived at CG in their dugout. (Blog about them coming soon.)
When There’s Connection, The Rest Will Follow
I never would have guessed that Bodak Yellow could flow so smoothly into Reckless Love, but the best part of inviting boys into my Spotify account has been how receptive they are to switching to worship music at any given moment. For many of them living at CG has been their first exposure to the gospel. And while some seem to really get it, there are others that struggle to fully embrace the opportunity to explore a relationship with God. Nevertheless, there is something about music that brings us together and it has been a great tool to connect with the boys on a deeper level–especially considering the language barrier.
I get behind Paul when he says, “…[he] becomes all things to all people so that by all possible means [he] might save some.” I Cor 19:22. This does not mean to compromise values in order to trick people into adapting your beliefs. But rather, I think Paul is making the case that we must be willing to meet people where they’re at in order to expose them to the fulness of who Jesus is.
Impromptu mall photoshoot with Joshua, Me, and Renaldo.
Thanks for following along my journey!
Follow me on Instagram if you’d like to meet some of the boys and see what daily life is like here in the Philippines.
IG: @stellaagee
