Who was I kidding? Two months is not a very long time. Not
at all. And seeing as we are trying to reach 5-6 barangays (villages) along the
river in that time span, that leaves less than a week to spend in each one.
Just enough time to put names with faces & families with houses & get
our feet wet talking about what it means to know & follow Christ. Just
enough time for goodbyes to get tearful. Just enough time to leave lots of room
to wonder whether decisions were authentic & will last.
In this last barangay we saw the Gospel received by many with great joy. We saw a hunger for God's Word. We watched a whole group of women get all excited about baptism and--of their own volition--propose that we hike a ways to a nice beach, all of us & anyone who wants to come, and celebrate their baptisms & share a meal afterwards. So on a gloriously sunny day in the middle of rainy season we did just that. That was one of my favorite days. Of my life thus far.
Things I've learned:
In this last barangay we saw the Gospel received by many with great joy. We saw a hunger for God's Word. We watched a whole group of women get all excited about baptism and--of their own volition--propose that we hike a ways to a nice beach, all of us & anyone who wants to come, and celebrate their baptisms & share a meal afterwards. So on a gloriously sunny day in the middle of rainy season we did just that. That was one of my favorite days. Of my life thus far.
Things I've learned:
- pretty much all the names of body parts in Waray, courtesy of the faithful mob of kids that follow us around every waking moment;
- that I love jackfruit;
- that peanut butter truly does go with anything (but also that Filipino PB blows American PB out of the water. The ingredients label reads like this: peanuts, sugar, ...);
- to be okay with perpetual sweat and stink;
- how to imitate some of the phrases our ballin' translators use a lot;
- that there are some things, like halo-halo, that are worth the slight risk of diarrhea
Gifts of grace in my Filipino life:
- some of the most spectacular daily miracles (sunsets) I have ever seen;
- the first cold thing I've put in my mouth in two weeks;
- team time in the river as we all bathe/swim/jump off of overhanging trees;
- downpour heavy enough to shower in (which, of course, we girls did);
- lots and lots of shared laughter and singing.
Please continue to pray:
- for the new believers we've had to part with--that they would be fiercely hungry for God's Word and that they would READ and that their roots would go down deep & strong & they would grow grow grow;
- for team unity;
- for continued health & safety.
grace & peace- Ruth