Precious in His Sight: June 2011

Monday, June 20, 2011

These are the toddlers we have spent a lot of time with this week. They are precious and very spoiled surprisingly! We were not expecting that, but they definitely know how to work the system if you know what I mean. They do, however, still need to understand the good news more than in the songs we sing at devotion times. And they need families. They love to blow kisses before bed time, they love to laugh, and they love to smile and take pictures.

Sweet little one from New Faith

At Saturday Fellowship

One of my favorite kids ever... Mom, Dad...this is who I want for Christmas! :)

Sleepover with our big girls!

These boys are crazy and adorable! (The sign means guapo to them, which means handsome)

We have had a crazy week! There has been a lot of confusion (yes, even frustration), but a lot of new and exciting things. We have had the opportunity to share testimonies, lead devotions with the kids, talk about our favorite Bible verses, sing praises to God, change diapers, feed babies, tuck the kids in goodnight, and finally sleep! It has been busy but fun. We've run into a few critters such as the rat/mouse (okay, we haven't actually seen him, but we've found his little presents...), HUGE toads, a snake, lots of geckos, lots and lots of flies, lice, and large cockroaches.

We're getting used to the culture, had a little taste of culture shock this week. Trying to remind ourselves that our ways are not necessarily "right" when it comes to raising babies and children. Pray for patience as we learn more about the national workers, the kids, and this culture. It can be a bit overwhelming at times, but I know there is a reason we are here. We have had an awesome time bonding as a team (with the addition of our American friend, Christina...who has seriously been the biggest blessing from God!) and getting to know the kids at New Faith Family Children's Home.

This week has brought a lot of challenges, but the Filipinos rewarded us with Coca-Cola... and fruit salad... and potato salad... and chocolate cake... and Christina brought us ice cream! We had a sleepover with the "big girls." We've been able to spend quite a bit of time with the older kids, which has been a great time! The boy I want to bring home with me the most told me he loved me on Tuesday. I had to choke back tears to tell him "I love you too." He then says, "your voice...I like...it's just so cute...like a mouse!" Haha, I love this little guy. It's scary and sad to think about leaving them. I'm missing them already...

Monday, June 13, 2011

Update #1

Maayong Gabii!

(Good evening in Cebuano/Bisaya)

After some intense security training and some fun team building in Alabama, we headed for the Philippines on June 7th. Main points of orientation: Bless God and take courage. Worthy is the Lamb. Be a loser for Jesus :)

We arrived Davao City, Philippines on June 9th and traveled to the children's home in Malaybalay on the 10th. This country is beautiful! Lots of green scenery and mountains. It's fairly cool where we are, and it rains everyday. It's refreshing though...and muddy!

Filipinos constantly smile, love taking pictures, are very hospitable, speak English very well, love pale skin. Needless to say, we all get along just fine ;)

Day 1: We went to Gaison (the mall) and took pictures with some Filipinos. It was quite funny. The mall was overwhelming because it was 5 stories tall and huge...and crowded with a ton of Filipinos. We definitely stood out. We went to Penong's for supper. You're supposed to eat with your hands, but we decided to play it safe. Filipinos eat with the spoon and use the fork as a bulldozer to push the food onto the spoon. It's pretty nifty and we're enjoying it. They don't typically use napkins or drink with meals in order to get the most food and not fill up on water. We had chicken and rice...the first of many such meals.

Day 2: The Lord is a brilliant Creator! The ride to Bukidnon was absolutely beautiful. Lots of mountains and curves and potholes along the way. We are very impressed with our living conditions, we are definitely blessed! It's just like living in dorms, only a bit more dirty.

Day 3: Woke up to the kids down the road singing praises to Jesus. Beautiful. We had Saturday Fellowship today. This is where the leaders go into the community and bring children (often very poor children if not street children) to the camp on site. We share the gospel with them and provide a meal for them. One of the many things that broke my heart today: When passing out the Soyjoys, kids were hiding them or stuffing them in their pockets and asking for more because they knew they would need it for later. This may have been the only meal they've gotten all week.
Also, one of our children at the home, who is special, is the sweetest child ever. He comes up and says "Ate, Ate!" I said, "What's my name?" He said, "Ate Juu...elle!" I said, "You can say Ate Jo" He said, "Ate Jo, Jesus loves me!" I said, "Yes He does! Maayo Kaayo" (That means very good!) He said, "Ate Jo! Jesus loves YOU!" This was an amazing moment.

During Saturday night devotion time with the kids, a faith family from down the road interrupted (to Americans, it would have been interrupting...but not at all to the Filipinos!) It turns out it was a member's birthday, so we sang him 3 happy birthday songs! My favorite was "we wanna wish you a happy birthday...we wanna wish you a happy birthday...from the bottom of our hearts" (to the tune of the Christmas song). We then worshiped the Lord with the kids. One guitar. No hymnals. No projectors. No speakers. No microphones. Just lifting up our voices to our God through songs. Moments like that make the heat and exhaustion worth it. But really, Jesus makes everything worth it. He is the worthy Lamb.

Kids are starting to open up to us. Huge praise! Oh! and we found my luggage on day 1 :) no worries!

Day 4: Church is held in a bamboo shed type thing. Babies/toddlers/kids just kinda run around or sit in everyone's laps. Shared a testimony in church. Talked about Colossians 3:1-3, getting rid of my idols and surrendering to the Lord everything. Only HE can satisfy, and only HE deserves our everything. HE deserves worship for HE is the worthy One.

At church, they sing in English, which is really neat. In Sunday school, Benhard shared from Judges 7 about God's plan. His plan is best, it is different, declared, and distinct. Because God is God and we are not, He requires surrender, submission, and steadfast faith. Pastor Larry shared from Ephesians 4:11-16, the edification of the Church to reach maturity. The Church must be the hands and feet using our gifts to be fed, protected, and growing. Simple statement He made: I do my part, you do your part, and the Body will grow.

Parts of two hymns we sang that morning:

In my heart there rings a melody
There rings a melody with heaven's harmony;
In my heart there rings a melody
There rings a melody of love!

'Twill be my endless theme in glory
With the angels I will sing;
'Twill be a song with glorious harmony
When the courts of heaven ring.

Thus might I hide my blushing face
While His dear cross appears,
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
And melt my eyes to tears.
But drops of grief can ne’er repay
The debt of love I owe:
Here, Lord, I give myself away,
’Tis all that I can do.

CRs are short for comfort rooms, what we call restrooms in America. Make sure you bring your own tissue. Highlight of my day (one of them!) I went to a CR and they had toilet paper! Wonderful! Seriously, you kind of miss comforts...and CRs are anything but comfortable!

The Lord is working on our hearts and I'm so excited for what is to come! It is now dinner time so I will post again next week hopefully. Look at the pictures below or on my facebook!