Staying Busy

I have officially been here for a month now, and it has already been a busy one! My day-to-day schedule is different depending on what ministry I’m working with or what my task is for the day. I think one of the challenges for me has been adjusting to all the different schedules. School is out for the summer, and therefore my schedule will change again once school resumes in June.

Every Tuesday, I volunteer at IT Tender, which is the ministry for street kids. As of right now, I am only there in the afternoons for a feeding program followed by a time of arts & crafts and a Bible study. However, once school starts up, I will be there for a full day, assisting in their pre-school program and teaching the parents of Napocor and Putatan about proper nutrition and hygiene.

My time at the Children’s Home (MCH) is divided between being a house parent and tutoring the boys in their studies. My tasks as a house parent consist of helping the boys get ready in the morning, assisting them with their chores around the house, helping them prepare for their meals, overseeing daily devotionals and when school is in session, walking them to and from school. I also accompany them to the park, where they enjoy playing basketball and tag with the other kids in the neighborhood. Some boys are artistically inclined and like to construct things out of wood, take apart toy cars, and re-build them. Typical boy stuff :) They are a fun bunch, and there is never a dull moment, but they can be a challenge at times.

Because of the life the boys experienced before coming to MCH, they are significantly behind in their studies and lack the fundamentals of basic learning principles. Schools in the Philippines are taught in English, and class sizes range anywhere between 50-70 students in a classroom. Yes, you read that right! (And you all thought we had class size issues in the States.) Because enrollment is so high, students only go half days but receive what we would classify as a normal six-hour day in three to four hours. In my “teacher mind,” that is a lot of material to cover and not a lot of one-on-one help being provided—kids are left to either sink or swim. As you can imagine, the boys from MCH struggle even more because of the knowledge and skills they may lack in their own language to process the information they are given in English.

I tutor two to three boys based on the grade level that they are currently enrolled in. It has already proven to be a challenge because of the language barrier and trying to find different ways to explain various concepts to them. But, it is a challenge that I enjoy, and the boys are also teaching me Tagalog in the process. They smile and laugh as I tell them, “I’ll help you learn English, and you can teach me Tagalog.” They are all eager to learn, and from looking at their school grades and progress reports, they have grown by leaps and bounds. My favorite moment is when the younger boys (6-8 years old) request tutorials with me and are upset when it isn’t their scheduled time; it seriously melts my heart.

In other news, I have found an amazing church, Victory, and on top of that, it isn’t too far from where I’m living! It is a part of the Every Nation church planting ministry, and one of the founders, Rice Broocks, is the author of the discipleship book “The Purple Book.” I have already been able to attend a night of worship and meet some new people as well. My prayer for joining a small group/Bible study was answered immediately after I inquired about one. I cannot even begin to tell you how much of a God moment it was! Unbeknownst to me, as I was talking to an usher and filling out a “connection card” (to receive more information about small groups), the lady who leads my small group was standing right next to me, and we were introduced on the spot. The group that I’m attending meets on Monday nights and consists of single women all around my age. They are all lovely, and I know that this will be exactly what I need for the remainder of my time here.

Thank you, everyone, for the daily prayers and support! Most of my days here are long ones, and they can be tiring, but I know the Father is giving me supernatural strength to get through each day. I caught a little cold right after I arrived, more than likely from jet lag and adjusting to the weather and not, but I am better now…so thank you for holding me up in prayer (even with the little things.)

Things to PRAY for:

• May is going to be a busy month! At the beginning of the month, I have the privilege of attending a Family Retreat with IT-Tender. They will be bringing 20 families from the area of Napocor and Putatan to a Family Retreat Center at a beautiful beach resort not that far from Manila. These families are a part of IT-Tender's Sponsor-A-Child program. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many of these families, and I am excited to be a part of it! Please pray for us as we travel, during our time of fellowship and Bible activities, and that the love of the Father will saturate these families as they return to their everyday life in Metro Manila.

• Towards the end of May, we will take the boys to a summer camp in the mountains, a few hours away from Manila. Pray that this is a time of relaxation as the boys prepare to go back to school and that there will be an even deeper bonding between all of them and a time of healing.

• Pray for me as I attend language school. I will be going one day a week (Thursdays) and hope to retain as much as possible!

• I recently received my approval to extend my Visa for another 30 days. Once my 30 days expires, I will apply for a 6-month visa, which is fairly new here in the Philippines. Pray that I receive approval because not only will it save me money in the long run, but time as I would typically have to go to immigration every 2 months.

• Pray for my eyes, heart, and ears to continuously be open to what the Father is showing me. I know that He will be showing me things in ways that I have never experienced before and that I will also be given insight into situations where I can help people…that I will be 100% in tune with Him :)

Just some photos that I took while I was out and about in Manila.