Balut Base

We just left Balut for another base in the Philippines called Antipolo, so I thought I would take some time to reflect. Our time at the Balut base was amazing.  It was in a part of town called Tondo.  If you watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_Ht_19N8Uw you will get a glimpse of what it is like here.  This is a video called World’s Toughest Place to be a Bus Driver.  It really shows the type of people we are ministering to and what life is like for them.  During out time in Balut, we were so busy.  We spent most of our time in the permanent housing of Smokey Mountain (an old garbage dump that the government has turned into housing) and then the new dump village where people have build homes that they can scavenge for things to sell.  I am going to do a quick run down of the different ministries we were apart of.

Feeding Programs: We did this for children in the dump village and families who had children with TB (Tuberculosis) and their children who have TB.  People from our group would get up at 7am prepare the food and then we would go run a program for the kids: songs, Bible skit, and short Bible teaching.  Then they would get to eat.  It was amazing to have so many people come for obvious reasons, food, but then want to hear so much more after.

Elementary Program: This program was every Saturday morning for kids who are sponsored through YWAM Balut.  The sponsorship provides for all of their school needs.  We would start with games, then do songs (always with hand motions), a Bible skit, and then a teaching.  We would end our time praying for the kids and playing with them.  I did the teaching for the kids the second Saturday and it was really good :) It made me miss elementary education.

TB Bible Study: This was once a week and was for the families of kids with TB, who are getting treatment through YWAM.  It is kind of like a support group, but so much more.  Typical set up is worship, testimony, and teaching.  There is at the end lots of prayer and fellowship where we got to minister and encourage the parents and play with their kids.

High School Ministry: This was a huge part of what we did.  Friday nights were a small group ministry for kids in the permanent housing of Smokey Mountain.  Then there were two different ones on Saturday: one at permanent housing and the other at the dumpsite.  We did two different programs based on the two different groups that planned.  All three had worship and teaching.  The small group ministry was very personal and filled with application.  The other two had games for icebreakers and testimonies.  I taught the first Saturday about grace and mercy and I shared my testimony this past Saturday about how being holy is not the same as pleasing others…that has been a huge lesson for me.  By the end of our time, I had a group of students who want to be teachers asking me to pray for them and their college entrance exam.  They are normally so shy that this is HUGE!

College Ministry: This was on Wednesday nights and we only got to go once, which was a bummer.  We had worship, a skit called the sin chair, two testimonies, a teaching, and then prayer small groups.  All of the girls in my small group were 16 or 17.  They start college very young here and it was great to really connect with them.  I got to hear about their struggles and pray for them.  I also shared about how God can use whatever you do with your future for His glory.  We are called to serve Him and show His love where ever we go and whatever we do.  It was great!

Day Care Program: This is a two parter.  We helped to care for babies that are either level 2 or 3 malnourished.  Their parents drop them off there in the morning and then pick them up at night.  The day care helps to get them better and develop them.  It is partly how YWAM Balut came to be and is therefore one of their oldest ministries.  The other part is a Bible study for the mothers of present and past babies in the day care.  I did the teaching the first week we were there.  I spoke about God’s love.  When I first started to plan I didn’t fully realize that was where God was taking me, but it was perfect because the testimony that Joy and Ali shared matched perfectly.  So good!

Home Visits: We spent a few hours every other day visiting people that have been connected to these programs at one point or another.  The main purpose was to go, pray, and encourage.   We would average 5-10 homes in a day.  It was so good!  On one specific day, we were visiting families of the elementary ed sponsored students.  We went into the home of a boy named Jovani, which made me think of my Italian roots and my students from home.  We started by talking with him and his mother.  At one point, the mother shared about her struggle of being a different faith background from her husband.  She had prayed to statues in her past and had never been told that she could pray and speak to God directly; in fact that is what He so longs for.  I shared more and she asked more questions.  She accepted Christ that day.  When I was praying with her she started to cry and when I asked her why she was crying, she said it was because she was filled with joy. I then started to cry…of course.  SO AMAZING!

Friendship Evangelism: This just means making friends and getting to know them and showing Christ’s love through the way we carry ourselves.  The place we did was at the local hand out…the round about.  There are places to sit and everyone goes there to hang out.  There are people playing badminton, dancing, visiting, playing music, training their dogs, etc.  It was very eye opening to just go and it be normal to just strike up a conversation with a total stranger.  It was refreshing in fact.  The last night we did this I met a woman named Bang and her son Rain.  I prayed for him because he was sick.  I then met her one friend who was drunk and her other friend who was a tricycle driver, Johnson.  He was an interesting guy and very intellectual, it was mentally exhausting, but it was a great opportunity to have God speak through me and give me the words.  Please be praying for them.

Well that is what we did in Balut…hope that sheds some light on the past few weeks.  Write more soon :) About a month left, I can hardly believe it!

  

Kimberley’s Update

The moment you were waiting for is finally here…an update on outreach.  Outreach in the Kimberley’s was amazing!  I was so blessed and my heart will be forever changed.  At first, I was scared and focused on the question, “What if I actually don’t like working with Indigenous Australians?” I have had that calling for years now, but what if as I am doing it I hate it?  Well it turns out I LOVE IT!  Our time went by so fast and I wish we could have stayed longer.  In order to keep this somewhat short, I will give one highlight from each town we were in.

Kununurra: I was asked to speak at a church BBQ.  It was very casual, but I still prayed about it and really asked God what he wanted me to share.  I got to share about the fact that God would call someone from the other side of the world to minister to them.  I really spoke about how this shows the love of Christ to them and how they are not a forgotten people, but one that He wants to lavish with love.

Fitzroy Crossing: We worked with a sporting festival and then did ministry in smaller communities.  The most meaningful time for me was the last day of the sporting festival.  I was helping to run a kids program: games.  On that day a girl named Rowina was stuck on me like glue.  She asked me a million questions.  Part of the sport festival’s request was that we not share about our faith unless the kids ask, so it wasn’t planned, but she asked me about my tattoos and that led into talking about Christ.  It was so good and she asked me a million questions about me, life, my faith, etc.  She just wanted to be loved on and cared for and I was happy to do that.

Noonkanbah: We went to this very, very small town to run the kids program for a church conference.  The best part, besides afternoon swims in the river with the kids, was the last night of the conference.  I was speaking about how God made each of us with care, love, and being an individual.  What I said was so led by God and was amazing.  I shared about my history of being bullied for being different.  I shared Psalm 139 where it talks about being woven together in your mother’s womb.  I showed a bracelet that I had taken a lot of time to create.  I spoke about how much care I had put in and how much more care God put into creating each one of us.  I then had the kids share about one thing that they like about themselves, since being shamed is such a large part of their culture.  We ended the night by dancing to the song “Mean” by Taylor Swift.  The kids loved it!  About 15 of them later chose to be part of God’s family.

Looma: Twice we got to go down to the river, very far away, and play with the kids.  I really loved playing with the kids and just going where they go, jumping where they jump, and playing what they play.  It was always Miss Miss and Watch this Watch me do this.  It was amazing to really give them time and love them the way they deserve.  We spent almost all of our time with these kids…if they could they would have slept in the youth center with us. 

Broome: There were a lot of great ministry times with the church, but my favorite day would have to be my birthday.  I will admit that is me being a tad selfish, but it was a great day.  I started the day out by skyping my parents.  We went to church, we had a prayer meeting after lunch, and then the guys who live next to the church (youth pastor and his two friends), threw a BBQ for our team. This is how my leader Matty and I spent our birthday (same day!).  We had sausages, bits of steak, pork of some sort, CAKE, and other goodies.  I got to run into the ocean with my clothes on (twice), have a moonlight swim, be driven on the sand, have a night birthday drive through Broome with tour, car dance party (safe I promise), and a volleyball game where I got super sandy.  It was a great way to spend a birthday and I had amazing people to spend it with.

Those are the towns we were in and the highlights of my trip.  I have added some photos and have way more on facebook.  So check them out.  More updates to come…we have Internet in the Philippines because we are on YWAM bases.  Thanks for reading.