We have been in the Philippines for a week, but it has been so busy it feels as if we’ve been here a month. None of my days have been the same, but I expected things to change a lot once we got here. I’ve learned not to really make concrete plans the last few years as The Lord has a tendency to completely upend my expectations the more I try to schedule things, and He proved it again when we finally landed in Manila after traveling for 34 hours.
Our plane touched down in the Philippines around 3 o’clock in the morning and we were picked up by some of the KIM staff and brought to their center here in the city. When we arrived we were fully prepared to pitch our tents in a field, so we were a bit shocked when we saw the facilities here. There are showers, beds, pillows, 3 hot meals a day, and pool…with a diving platform…and a water-slide. Yeah, definitely not what I expected from our first World Race location. It took us all a moment to take it in. This place is every kid’s dream. It soon became clear that it had been designed for exactly that purpose.
Our ministry here in Manila mostly focuses on serving the kids in the local community. Some live up at the Children’s Home where KIM has established a house for children who are orphans or whose parents can’t afford to take care of them. There is a school, a church, a clinic for pregnant women, and another home at a different location for young girls who come from an abusive background. The director of KIM and our host here in Manila has invited us to stay and serve in the city for a couple more weeks before we move onto Tacloban.
Right now my schedule is filled with various ministries. I have been working in the pregnancy clinic talking to young moms, providing check-ups, sorting medicines, holding the newborns, and helping to lead a women’s Bible study with another missionary here who holds studies at the clinic three mornings a week. I have also spent time tutoring kids in reading at the school, going with my team to bring food to a few of the poorer neighborhoods throughout the city, and going to the older girls’ home to hang out with them. However, I spend most of my afternoons at the children’s home in the nursery playing with the toddlers and helping the staff feed and get them ready for bed. A couple of days ago I was sitting with the kids and they were starting to go nuts so I started singing “In the Jungle” like Timon and Pumba and my teammate Kaitlyn joined in. They immediately quieted down and then swarmed us on the couch wanting to hear more. Needless to say I now spend most of my time with them teaching them songs and I love it 😀
On Tuesday afternoons and Saturdays I am in the pool with my team teaching kids from the community and the children’s home how to swim. Jeff is really passionate about teaching kids to be comfortable in the water since most of the people killed in Typhoon Yolanda drowned when they panicked in the water. Some of the kids are really nervous around the pool, and I love seeing the look on the their faces when they finally learn to swim away from the wall. One of their favorite activities is jumping at me from the edges of the pool yelling “CATCH ME TITA!” (Tita is a name for aunt that they call us as a sign of respect). One of my favorite moments was when one little boy ran in the gate and placed his baby duck in my hands asking me to hold him while he went swimming. I thought this might be normal, but the look the staff gave me when they saw me holding the fluff ball told me it wasn’t. The center’s bulldog, Tyson, also started following me around thinking to make Rico’s pet his snack but apparently I’m a good duck sitter because I got him safely back to his owner at the end of the swim lesson.
So now that I have put the image in your head of me holding a duck and being pursued by a bulldog named Tyson all the while trying to oversee a swim lesson, I will switch gears and tell you that this week has been busy, exhausting, exhilarating, and a tremendous blessing. I never dreamed that we would have this much to do here and I love working with the kids 😀
I could keep writing, but my blog would turn into a book. Thank you so much for reading, and please comment below or email me if you want to! I would love to hear from you 🙂
God Bless,
Taryl
