I am reminded more and more what a huge heart my God has for the world. If I know what my heart feels for these beautiful people I've only known for five days or so.. to think of how His heart must swell with love for them--God who knows each person by name, knows their lives and their hardships and their joys and their longing for a relationship with their Creator!
We got to see again an eagerness to dive into God's Word. We had a few
people approach us about Bible studies before we even got around to
getting out and trying to go find them. There were a good number of
older kids (12 and up) who would tag along to all the Bible studies,
too. One day I went and sat down with two of my little buddies, opened a
Waray Bible to some passages in John and showed them what to read and
they ate it up and asked me if I would "teach" them the Bible again
later. Truly that is a living Book!I love waking up in the mosquito net sandwiched between my teammates, Jessie and Hannah. I love our morning routine of heading down to the river with basins, laundry detergent, shampoo and soap to do all our laundering and bathing. I love when we catch fog lifting off the river in the mornings. I love rice, and eating it three times a day. I love the chaos of Bible studies where mothers breastfeed without warning (or cover), where animals run in and out of houses where we meet, where kids accumulate in doorways, where things get lost in translation and yet God moves hearts. I love the sweet ladies who let us pick papayas and lemongrass from their yards to cook with. I love the kids who teach me their words and how to whistle through my hands and never get tired of using all the English words they know (which are: "hello, what's your name?"). I love our ballin' Filipino team members and the jokes they crack and how everyone on our team starts using each others' catchphrases.
All of these things--grace upon grace upon grace upon the ultimate gift of grace that is Jesus.
PRAYER
- For God to go ahead to the next few barangays, tilling soil. Pray for soft hearts!
- For strength and continued sustenance in these next few weeks
- Always for continued grace and love and unity within our team
- For wisdom and boldness