Sunday, October 3

One of our coworkers invited us to their church today.  We (the other interns and I) were so honored to receive the invitation and gladly accepted.  This person asked if each of us would be willing to offer a 5-10 min encouragement to the church..once we made sure this would not serve as as the sermon for the week, we agreed to speaking.  As we entered the church we could just feel the joy and contentment of the people around us.  There was even a sign on the wall with our names up welcoming us to the church. The experience reminded me of similar stories I've heard from other people visiting small rural churches in another country or on a mission trip or something when they say they've never seen people worship God like this before...it was so lively, so real and so genuine.  Amidst being so poor, and having to travel long distances...the people were so content and welcoming.  There was just a spirit in the church that was unexplainable.  

Afterwards, we joined the ministry team to visit the homes of an area called San Isidoro.  This is a place where around 5,000 families had been displaced last year due to Typhoon Ondoy.  Several of these families houses flooded so much water actually covered their roofs.    In this displacement area, people lived side by side with no electricity....which is just unimaginable in somewhere as hot as the Philippines.  Many people were begging for prayer for sicknesses and it seemed as though denge fever was prevalant.   In some ways I don't know that my brain could process what was going on...it kind of felt like the kind of experiences you see celebrities having...taking pictures surrounded by beautiful smiling children.  The other church members kept thanking us so much for joining them, but i felt like I had done nothing.  I was the one gaining exposure and learning so much about what it means to be content and at peace regardless of lifes circumsances. I told them they are the ones to be thanked for so faithfully serving the people of san isidoro every week. We were again asked to also speak words of encouragement here, and then later on at a children's bible school.  We weren't prepared for these mini sermons, but we figured out something on the fly.  I don't know how much language was a barrier anyways....and this sounds so cheesy, but I have to say it...we did speak the language of love through smiles, hugs, dancing, and whatever minimal conversation we could attempt.  As we drove away the kids followed us to the car telling us they loved us.  It was incredible.  I'm sad I hadn't done/seen this sooner.  That said, I really think Filipino children are the cutest in the world.  Since I don't have children yet, I can say that....right?