Today I woke up to a cacophonous choir of children singing very off key, but singing unabashedly nonetheless in the distance. I checked my wristwatch. It was 5 am. I slumped out of bed, tip-toeing quietly as the blue light of dawn filtered into the room and reflected off of the white tiles of our 12 person bedroom. Outside, on our balcony, which faces the children’s home, I journaled and listened, extending my hand out to pray blessings over the voices singing out to God across the way. Dad, you have made your household SHINE with the light of your face.
I STILL CANNOT BELIEVE I’M HERE.
I have to remind myself everyday that I wake up, and I have to rub my eyes every so often to make sure that the beautiful people and the beautiful landscapes and the beautiful dream I’m living won’t fade away into ripples of my imagination. Yet every time I open my eyes, I’m shocked back into reality.
We arrived in “The City of Golden Friendship” (aka the general region of Mindanao) Tuesday morning and immediately took a sizable detour (More on that, later). Sitting in the back of a jeepney and poking my head out of the open sides like an ostrich coming out for air, I had the constant urge to sing the instrumental soundtrack of Indiana Jones. Mindanao looks like a film set. No photograph, no poetic description, no guttural noise of intense happiness could convey to you how absolutely beautiful this place is. You have to see this for yourself. Beauty has a new standard after seeing this place. It took us about three hours to get from where we were (I honestly have no idea where that is) to Malaybalay, where the New Faith Children’s Home is located. Our accommodations are wonderful, and way beyond expectation (of course, it’s easy to be above expectation when you expect dirt for a bed and insects for food), and the people here are miracle-workers, living out their lives tirelessly to care for these children. Most of the construction work and property beautification have been completed by former World Racers, so it’s really exciting to see just how much one team can accomplish and to carry on that tradition of serving God is doing so much through this, and I can’t wait to see what we do with the torch.
Which brings me to what you probably want to hear most about. The kids. They are overwhelmingly adorable. Most all come from really tortured backgrounds and deserve better lives than where they came from. It’s really a blessing to be able to be here and pour into them. We have daily shifts to be in the home to take care of them, and during our down time, we’re free to work on other projects, which I’m excited to begin. A former World Racer has a new ministry for troubled youth that she’s just getting started. The kids here are so happy and full of life. We’ve only just arrived and they run around in this blissful freedom that I had forgotten about, being a city girl. How strange it is to sleep 40 feet from grazing horses and goats, to look outside and watch toddlers play soccer on the field, and to live in a place where the air smells like nectar and trees.
I’m here. I’m here. I’m here.
