From Colleen: Day 4 in the Philippines

Today was a great day. In the morning, all the kids & I practiced the worship songs that we would be singing in the afternoon at the dumpsite. Before we began practice, I gave a brief teaching on why we worship and how our worship can change an atmosphere. The kids here at WHY (Wesley Home for Youth) are very drawn to music, as most Filipinos are, so I am hoping to provide a means for them to continue learning worship songs once I get back to the U.S. One boy at WHY, John Michael, has a great singing voice and is quickly picking up guitar skills. Not only that, but he seems to really enjoy worship. I’m hoping he can really develop his gift in this area and lead the kids in the area of worship.

After lunch, we crammed about 14 people into our jeepney & headed to Arnell’s office to load up the truck with supplies. From there we went on to the garbage dumpsite. Many people live either in or near the dumpsite in order to scavenge for items that they can sell. This is their means of survival and the way they provide for their families.

First we stopped at an area right outside the dumpsite. There we handed out school supplies, snacks, and juice, and had a time of worship. We also gave out Bibles in their language, which is Cebuano.

Then we walked over to do the same for the families living in the dumpsite. One girl, Maricel, is wheelchair bound. Her legs looked completely crooked. I assumed she was born this way, but after talking with her older sister, I discovered that she fell in a deep hole and was injured. My guess is that she broke her legs, they were never treated, and the bones grew back together crooked. I had the opportunity to lay hands on her and pray for healing in her legs.

After the dumpsite, we went to a nearby squatters’ area. Many of the families here also scavenge for items at the dumpsite as well. We met one 13 yr. old girl who is the sole provider for her family because her father died last year. She heads to the dumpsite after school to scavenge for items. We got to give out supplies and Bibles here and have a time of worship as well.

During today’s ministry, we also got to meet the children who have applied to come to live at WHY.

Out of the seven we met, we can select only 2 children because that is all the space we currently have.

After dinner we celebrated Jolly’s 12th birthday. He is one of the boys here at WHY, and I must admit he’s one of my favorites. When he smiles, his whole face lights up. I’ve been helping him learn some chords on the guitar, and he is a fast learner. He’s already learned about 5 different chords in about 2 days time. We celebrated with him by having cake and Ube (which is a fruit here) & cookies and cream ice cream.

 

Since WHY is still in it’s beginning stages, we are really praying about what we can establish here to bring more structure and spiritual growth for the kids living here. Please pray that we find a way to meet these needs. This next week we would really like to focus on identify the kids’ biggest needs both here and at the local school, finding ways to meet those needs, and finding people from local churches or ministries here who can continue to invest in the kids once we have gone back to the U.S.

Thanks so much for your prayers and for taking the time to read about my time here. I will try and keep giving updates as much as I can.