The Orphanage...

The Saturday we spent at the orphanage was probably 1 of the 3 most God-powered day I spent in the Philippines. (now don't get it twisted..I know He powers all---so leave your hate mail to yourselves...lol)

A little background. I knew that Brother Bob lived on this orphanage compound and so I emailed quite a few months before our trip to see if I might be able to spend a day, or at least a few hours, with the children there. Due to their feelings about "foreigners" coming the response was difficult to read. It sounded more like I should come with basically nothing planned and nothing expected--but that I would be able to spend some time with the kids. We had a large bag of donated craft items that I planned to take anyway. I figured if nothing else I could leave them with the orphanage. I was told that the orphanage itself had just about 35 children living there, but a school was also on campus and with outreach efforts there was up to maybe 60 or so. Marlon agreed that it might be fun to spend some time with the kids there, but really made no promises either way, mostly because we weren't sure what he might have planned that day.

On the 2nd day there, I met with Bebing, a woman who helps to run the orphanage and activities. It was then that I realized she had let all of the children know that on Saturday there would be a "Children Fellowship" day from 8am to 4pm with special guest from America, Mindy! :) Basically a one day vacation bible school. I smiled, paused, took a deep breath and said--Let's get to work. That evening we impromptu planned a day full of crafts, worship, teaching, indoor and outdoor games, question and answer and food. She agreed to purchase all of the other items we would need and Brother Bob agreed to personally fund it all. She also said we should plan for about 80-90 children! Marlon agreed to come and help with games as well as a lesson for the kids since Brother Bob had no specific plans for him that day. What happened in between that meeting and Sat. was some intense prayer on my part. Our prayers were answered in ways that I never could have imagined.

When I arrived at 8am (they didn't want me to come early to help set up---hey I could handle ministry like that...lol) there were already about 50 children there. We had decided on some worship time first so that as the children trickled in they wouldn't miss out on intro/interview time. I taught them some songs I've used in Kid Zone here along with the movements and they loved them. Very quiet and shy at first I found a great way to connect. All week they had been giggling at me in the back of that tricycle as I went from Brother Bob's house to the main road past the school. I told them that I knew they had all laughed, waved and said hello to me all week so there was no reason to be shy now! By the end of worship they were chattering, laughing, being just silly kids. The age group was 7-16 so I had to appeal to a very broad group. We spent time in prayer, I talked a little about our life in the US, Marlon gave a teaching on David and Goliath (which worked sooooo well due to his size--guess who was Goliath...lol) The kids ate it up. Then I took the lesson and delved even deeper to make sure that the kids fully understood it and how to apply it to their lives. We had question and answer time and I tossed candy out for correct answers. We paused for snack and had grown to just under 100 kids!!



Next we had our craft time. We had decided on beading, paper airplanes, drawing a picture to go with the lesson, making a bookmark, making a card for someone you love and a cool hot iron bead melting thing. Every single child made at least one piece of jewelry. All of the boys...all of the older kids. They were so excited to choose their favorite colors...to see them proud to have something their own-it brought tears to my eyes. About 30 minutes into craft time, one little girl-Christian-brought me a card. She had made her card for me. Such a big hug. I will remember the feeling of that hug forever. What then progressed was a ton of the kids making cards for both Marlon and I. I think we have about 30 cards on our table right now. This time was laid back and relaxed. Of course the wild dogs and chickens came to join us as well...lol!! Bebing told us how great it was just to see the kids laughing and enjoying themselves.




We then broke for lunch. We had chicken, vegetables, rice, bread, fruit and juice. Marlon and I, as the special guests, were presented with a special lunch served on special plates and with our own desserts. We were told that for many of the outreach children this may have been their first real meal (other than rice) for the whole week. We were also told that due to some exams at school, many of the children would be leaving after lunch.


After lunch we had another time of worship. We recapped the songs from the morning, they taught me a few and we came together with a few songs we all knew to truly lift our voices in praise! It was amazing. Then came indoor and outdoor games. We did some fun relays with balloons, then a bunch of different games-some that we used in Biloxi and some we just made up as we went along. It was such a fun afternoon. I wish our 4 kids could have been there for that time. Even though our number did drop a little is sure didn't drop much! After games we had a small snack and then someone from the school took a group picture.


We ended the day with sharing time and letting the kids ask us questions about the US, our family, our lives. We also shared some pictures with them of our family. Many hugs and kisses and laughs later, we ended the day a little early at 3:30 so that we could be well prepared for a reception at Brother Bob's house that he was hosting for us with members of the ministry.

I pray for each of those shiny, smiley faces. For those whose names I remember...Margel, Denzy, Quinzey, Chrisian, April, Cemberlee, Lois, Jay, Jomar, May, Juliet, Femma, Cindy...to the many whose names I can't...may they feel our love, but more importantly God's love each day. May they draw close to Him and rely on Him to help them conquer any obstacle they meet. Keep them safe, provide for their needs. Allow them to live full, peaceful lives never taking their focus off of God.

Alright...one more break and then I'll finish up the last few days of the trip. Thanks to all who are continuing to read...it means a lot to be able to share it.