Last night I encouraged the team to stay in bed as long as they could this morning. The team is getting tired in the afternoons, and much of that is because we are sleeping less than favorably. Since we don’t have power, we opened the windows, and without the ambient noise of the fan and the air conditioner, the outside sounds surrounded us. This made sleeping a little more difficult, but nonetheless, we got a good night’s sleep. Thanks to Kendra, the kids have discovered where we are sleeping, (she was reading in her bed with her flashlight on, and the kids were watching), so at first light, they are yelling for us to come outside and play.
This morning we ate
breakfast, did our devotions in Philippians, and then loaded up to go to one of
the child care centers here in Manilla.
We drove about 30 minutes or so, and arrived in this little center. They told me that they had about 60 kids
there. We went in and sat down with the
kids who were having an English lesson.
They finished their lesson and then asked us to share our “presentation”
– which was rather interesting since we hadn’t actually prepared a presentation
for them. However, the team jumped right
into action. Songs and games and a word
of encouragement came from the group as we interacted with the kids. They
shared a song and a game with us as well.
It was a great visit.
From there we went to
Jollibee – a fast food restaurant here.
Some had spaghetti, some had chicken, but I had an Aloha burger –
Hamburger with pineapple, bacon, and some delicious sauces. It was a great lunch, followed by ice cream
(that we purchased at a supermarket and ate back at the center).
The afternoon was back to
much of the same games and activities with the kids. The team is really loving playing with the
kids. Today we did face painting, took
individual pictures of a lot of the kids, and sang songs and played games with
the kids. Many of the adults stand back
and watch as we interact with the kids, and want to know why we are here. Kendra
and Harrison had the opportunity to share the gospel with more of the kids on
an individual level today, and that was cool to hear.
This evening the kids from
the church came by, so we spent a couple of hours playing with them, talking
with them, answering and asking questions about them, and just encouraging each
other in Christ. It is great to see that
the next generation here has some solid believers.
Tomorrow is more of the
same, but we really don’t know exactly what we will be doing. This type of situation is unsettling for me,
but I am reminded that God did not give me the large group I originally wanted
to go on this trip, and how difficult this situation would have been if there
were 20 people here. I am always amazed
when things don’t go the way I wish they would, or had planned them to go, but
they end up so much better than I could have dreamed. This trip has been a perfect example of that
so far, and I am just waiting to see what God has in store for tomorrow.
We will see – I am looking
forward to rest now. One of the
difficulties with situations like this is that from 6 in the morning to 7 at
night the kids are right outside asking for us to come out, so we have to make
sure we take time to rest when we need it, but also balance that with the
desire to do as much as we can while we are here. The team is tired, some have had periodic
headaches, Dee was dizzy and nauseas this morning, and Ashlyn has had back
pain. Yet in all of that, God has been
honored as the team has pulled together to help those who are struggling, and
no one is complaining.
Tomorrow is another day –
thank you God for the strength for today.
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