Philippines:
Well,
two 8 hour flights and one 2 hour flight brought us to the island of Mindanao
for the month of February. 31 racers in all took that flight, and have the
amazing opportunity to work all together for one full month. 5 teams, one
ministry site, one month!
I was
stoked to find out that Blake and I would be in the presence of 7 men for the
month! Couldn’t wait! Well, my hopes were rewarded because this has been an
amazing week and a half thus far.
The men
have started our own Bible study and are running through the book of Joshua.
Each time we get together ends up being about an hour to an hour and a half,
and we stay on subject for the most part! HA
Ministry
here is a bit hectic but you have to love it. We are partnered with K.I.M.
(Kids International Ministries). Though we are staying on campus with a small
orphanage of about 24 to 27 kids (a few new babies just arrived), they are not
our only ministry. Ministries include the orphanage, a basketball team, prison,
inner-varsity college ministry, and another small college ministry.
Today let’s focus on the orphanage…
For the most part the orphanage
consists of mostly boys, but there are 4 young girls running around along with
3 babies, and 5 toddlers that are about a year old.
I have
to give a shout out to our girls for working so hard. The men are taking
shifts, but due to laws, the babies who need 24 hour supervision, cannot have
men watching them from the hours of 10pm to 6am, so our girls have been
stepping up and working nights. They do get to sleep a bit, but sometimes they
are up all night. Thank you girls!
As for
what I get to do… Well, a couple times a week, I get to wake up at 4:50 in the
morning and begin waking the boys up. Usually it starts gently, with good
morning, and maybe giving them a pat on the belly or rubbing their little
heads. Most will get up knowing that they have morning devotion at 5:30 and
breakfast at 6, but there is always one, little Joshua, who LOVES to sleep…
Joshua is probably 5 years old, and sleeps more than my grandma! (Grandma, if
you read this, I love you!!!) Yesterday, as I was attempting to wake him up, he
kept kicking and rolling over trying to stay asleep. Even the house mother
Helen was having a hard time with him. So, I did what I thought was right. At
5:35 I gave Joshua his final warning… “Joshua, if you don’t get up I will put
you in the shower and I will turn the water on!”
With a
comatose look he lye there, still as a corpse.
“Joshua,
I will count to 3 and if you don’t start moving it IS going to happen”
Still,
no movement…
So, I grab hold of his little legs and slide him off the end
of the bed, I cradle him in my arms and begin our march for that cold mountain
water. He knew his time had come. Suddenly he begins to kick and thrash, punch
and bite.
We
march on…
I step into the bathroom, panic rising within the little
boys heart. The showers are out of water due to a water truck accident (tell
you about that later…) but a large 55 gallon drum sits in the shower full to
the brim. I am now holding the kicking Joshua by the feet, John has him by the
arms, and we begin to lower his tired little head toward the water below.
3 feet
from the bucket, 2 feet, 1 foot, 6 inches, and wouldn’t you know it, House
mother Helen walks in… She holds back from laughing, but I could tell she
wanted to, steps in and grabs Joshua by the arm, takes him back to his room and
throws some clothes on him. BUMMER!!! I was really looking forward to dunking
him, but he got the point.. HAHA This
has been a fun month so far. I really do enjoy playing with these kiddos!
