First, I appologize to everyone for not posting more blogs. Honestly, I don't like writing them too much. :-/ But I know you all love reading them and you like to know what kinds of things we are doing out here.
This month is going by too fast. We arrived in the Philippines on the 3rd (where did December 2nd go?!) and were immediately taken in by the church!
Our ministry site is a 14×14 foot church room in Southville 3 near Muntilupa just outside Manila. I was shocked to see how huge this place is. Southville is a government project where tons of lower-class families live (I don't remember the count, but its high…maybe 10,000 or 100,000…I don't remember–either way, that's a ton of families). Our contact, Pastor Edward, has us doing a door to door ministry. This is super relational as we have gotten to know quite a few of the families and people in our area. I LOVE it. And there isn't so much of a language barrier because most people know English here!
We go out in groups of 2 or 3 and walk around the blocks and introduce ourselves and tell people what we are doing and how God has moved in our lives. We pray for people and invite them to the church's bible studies, but mostly we build friendships. Nathan and Angela go visit an older lady who has had a stroke recently. She doesn't know English, but they are there almost every day to pray for her and sit to visit with her. Angela and I have a friend, Regina who is 8 1/2 months pregnant. She has 3 other children and her husband/boyfriend left her to fend for herself. She lives with her brother (who asked me to marry him and says he will wait for me to come back to the Philippines so we can get married hahaha). We try to visit her often and build friendships there so she can see Christ in our lives as we get to know each other. They both attend the Catholic church regularly. Several others have build lasting relationships around the area.
Last week, we (I mean the boys) helped with some construction at the church. We expanded it about 4 feet (which is a lot in that small area) and moved the bathroom. It has been a fun week getting to know some more of the members from the church. Jhay is our age and he feels like he is a part of our team and we feel the same way. His daughter, Kiena, is absolutely adorable and I told her that I'm taking her home with me. 🙂 I spent a lot of time with her this week while her dad was working at the church.
Quite honestly, the Philippines has captured my heart in a most extreme way. The culture is so different here, but the people are amazing. I really wish I could post some pictures on here, but the internet is not the greatest and it takes a long time to upload them to the blog. I'll try and copy and paste some here at the end and see if it works.
Continue to keep us all in your prayers. My teammates Jen and Josh are still working on fundraising and still have a ways to go. Please help keep us all on the Race by donating!! I have just over $800 to go to be fully-funded.
I hope everyone is in the Christmas spirit!! It is hard to feel like Christmas here since I'm in 80-90 degree weather, but I just have to keep reminding myself that is not what makes Christmas. It is all about one man: Jesus. As you go about decorating your house, buying your gifts, and making preparations for family remember that morning when the Creator of the Universe lowered Himself to a mere human because of His great love for us. How are you showing Him how much you love Him? Don't be the seed planted among thorns "and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word and becomes unfruitful". God bless everyone and I hope you have a very Merry Christmas! 🙂
<3
🙁 It isn't working….
