Galatians 6

Tonight my devo was Galatians Chapter 6 followed by the next chapter of The Circle Maker. (I'm loving this new book by Mark Batterson, seriously, you can't go wrong with more prayer in your life!)

You know sometimes when you read the Bible and you think, "I have no idea what I just read or you wonder what you were supposed to get out of that entire chapter of "Begots?" (I skip those by the way!) Well, tonight, wasn't one of those nights. God seemed to be speaking so clearly (because you know other times, He mumbles and is just sooo confusing!) i.e. other times I'm distracted and not really listening so well.

Tonight this is what I wrote in my journal: Try not to become distracted by how amazing my handwriting is!

 

Then when I read the Circle Maker it said, don't just read the Bible, Pray the Bible! So... 

Father,

 Help me to restore others gently and be gentle in my interactions. (Everyone in my life will probably Amen that one!) Guard my heart Lord, put your biggest angels there and around my mind as well.  When I note sin in others help me to remember, if not for grace therego I! help me to carry other's burdens with YOUR strength and not my own.  Open my eyes to their needs even if they won't tell me what they are. Make me aware of my motives and intentions and how I affect those around me. May I do nothing out of selfish ambition. Help me to carry my own load with YOUR strength and with grace and efficiency. And without complaint. Father, since I will reap what have sown, I pray that You'll go thru and pull up all the weeds for me so that the good won't be choked out by all the ME that is there! Help me and all the wonderful people that I get to work with not to grow weary in doing good for others, I pray we don't get distracted or lose sight of what You want from us. Help me to take every opportunity to do good for others, may it become a habit, like second nature for me. When I get bogged down with silly, insignificant stuff, remind me that what really counts is a NEW CREATION! 

 Just felt like I should share this. 

Human Trafficking: Huh?!?

   This is the response I get when I mention human trafficking (Huh?!?) and then I go on to tell them that the Super Bowl is one of the world's largest human trafficking events.  (What?!?!) typically accompanied by a look of disbelief.  But unfortunately it's true, falling just behind the Olympics, the Super Bowl is a hot spot for human trafficking- the selling of women and children for sexual acts.  Foreign women and children are flown in to the Bowl to answer the high demand each year.  Our own children are not safe from this fate either.

  This year our interns partnered with FREE International and the Indianapolis PD to "Tackle the Traffickers," and over 60 arrests were made! We also took to the streets to help the potential victims of trafficking, stickering over 40,000 bars of hotel soap with the Rescue Hotline #. 14 of the 65 missing children in the booklet we took around to the hotels, motels, & underbelly establishments of Indy, were recovered Super Bowl week. Some were runaways looking to survive, some were children that had been kidnapped and were being exploited, and some were recovered at the coroner's office.

   Unlike the Super Bowl, which comes just once a year, human trafficking is not a once a year problem in our nation, but a daily one. While you won't find "Fight Human Trafficking" in our Convoy of Hope's mission statement, you'll find it with some of our partners and closest friends like FREE International and Project Rescue.   Indirectly, Convoy of Hope has a huge part in the fight against human trafficking as more and more feeding and sustainability programs open around the world, poverty stricken families will no longer be faced with selling their children because they are unable to feed them & children can stoping having to "work" for their next meal. We find many children who are recipients of our children's feeding initiatives that know firsthand what human trafficking is, how prevalent it is, and how horrific that knowledge and experience is. I know this is a sobering post, but we serve a God of Justice, Rescue, & Redemption.  Over the next few weeks I will post some stories of the children of trafficking that I've had the privilege of working with recently in the Philippine Islands, I won't post the horrifying details of their past, but will tell you all about who they are today because of God's rescue, grace, and mercy in their lives. Trust me it's good stuff! Pray today for justice & hope for our children!

My 5 year old Arch-Nemesis!

                 Doesn't she just look precious?! Well, that was my first thought too! BUT. You see when we arrived in Cebu, where we would work and call home for 3wks, teen boys came to help with our luggage and teen girls came to show us where we'd be staying.  "What's your name? How old are you? Are you married?  Why not?" And on and on and on! Lots and lots of attention to say the least, but I noticed some smaller kiddos, around 4 or 5 years old that didn't even seem to notice our presence just a few yards away.  So, I slipped out of the crowd and attempted to join them.  I was met with about the same warmth and enthusiasm as if I'd tried to join a group of high schoolers at the cool table in the school cafeteria today! There were even a few rolled eyes!

 I was intrigued and would not be so easily discouraged. The smallest of the group was the obvious boss,  the ruler of this roost.  She constantly cut her eyes at me with sassy, somewhat agitated looks, and then would chat to her little posse in Cebuano.  I attempted to eat dinner with her each evening, but she would promptly sigh irritatedly and pick up her tray and move to another table.  It was rejection at its finest.  She quickly accepted my other team mates, but she made her feelings towards me known.  I would not be swayed. She was just too cute!

 Then it happened, one night she rounded the dinner table with a big smile, she had a ball of rice in her chubby little hand and was saying, Ate Mary Beth, Ate Mary Beth. She handed it to me and said, "Eat! Eat!" I said, "Thank you!" and like a good missionary, I took a real bite! She immediately put her hand on her belly and let out a hearty laugh pointing at me, saying, "Ha! Ha! Ha! It's dirty! Dirty! I dropped it on the floor!" Then she scooted off still laughing. Ahhh... this was a game changer in deed! So I met her at her level, I sang Maria loves Kuya Corey and Kuya Adam.. sitting in a tree (she took an extra strong liking to my male team members!) With hands on her hips she declared, "Nooo! It's just a crush!"


I chased her a lot, but she always ran so I thought, I'll play hard to get, I ignored her for a whole day, never looking her direction at any meal or any activity and the next day at lunch it happened, she approached me and raised her chubby lil arms up to me for a hug, I leaned into her and she pinched my cheeks as hard as she could and ran off! (Game on little girl! Game on!)


By the end of our time I did get her to tell me on video that she loved me so much, but it was only because I had stolen her shoes and told her this was how to get them back! As soon as she had them back she said, "No love for you!" Yep! I'm in love! I wonder if can adopt her?

From When Will I Eat Again to Cars or Spiderman?

Isaiah 58 instructs us to:  
Loose the chains of injustice, Untie the cords of the yoke, Set the oppressed free, Break every yoke, Share your food with the hungry, Provide the poor wanderer with shelter, and to Clothe the naked.
                                         
 

It's kind of become our theme verse around here, our heart's cry, our mission if you will.

     Some days we get to do just one of these things, others 3 or 4, but every once in awhile a miracle happens and we get to follow this passage to a T!  On most days we sew the seed of this passage & pray we'll see the eternal results in heaven or maybe get to hear good news of harvest from afar later down the road. It's very rarely that we get to SEE, with our own eyes, the fruits of our labor.  But I like to think there's an exception to EVERY rule (and please believe I can find 'em!) And Jason is that glorious, miraculous exception to ALL the rules.

      In the Spring of 2011 our interns started their journey in the Philippines in a small seaside squatter village called Baseco.  We arrived just in time to help with the daily Convoy of Hope feeding program.  We were very excited and so were the beautiful children. When all the children were just about done eating, a small boy who looked to be maybe 3 or 4, naked with the exception of a shirt, wandered into the church.  He was all smiles, which was odd because he was skin and bones, terribly dirty, and bruised all over. The missionary's wife scooped him up and said, "This is Jason."  The pastor's wife  quickly fixed him a plate and he quickly ate it and all the while they told us his story.

          Jason is actually 6 years old, not 3 or 4.  A few weeks ago he was too weak to walk to the feeding program, he was found sleeping in the street next to his mother who was scavenging for food one evening after the local market had shut down.  Manna Packs (the food we use in our feeding programs) were taken to his home to feed him until eventually this lil' guy could walk to the church where the program takes place every day.  Evidently Jason had been in absentia lately and his bruised body was likely the culprit.  Jason smiled a lot, but he didn't speak so we couldn't ask him.

          **While malnutrition can be the norm in areas like this one all over the world, neglect and abuse are NOT the norm.  Impoverished people love and care for their children just like you do, they just don't have access to the resources we have, not even the basics like clean water and acceptable shelter.

          The pastor's wife grabbed a local social worker and headed to Jason's front door to account for his tiny, bruised frame. His mother cried saying she was unable to care for him and that her new husband didn't want him and was abusing him.  Legal papers were signed right then and there! Beth  scooped him up again, took him and bathed him, and put him in the car with the team to be taken to a new children's home that had opened up just the week before!

        We drove out of the province and into the busy streets of Manila, I can't imagine what his little mind must have been thinking, but he didn't cry or look distressed at all. We took him to the Mall of Asia, in hindsight this may not have been our greatest idea as it's one of the largest malls in the world, but he didn't seem bothered.  New clothes were held up for him to choose from.  It was Cars over Spider Man from under-roos to t-shirts! We had lunch at a sushi place were the sushi comes by on a conveyor belt (this was a big day for ME, so I can't imagine for him!) He ate a full plate of chicken strips, which in hindsight was a little much for a little boy who doesn't get to eat everyday, which was evidenced by the puking incident that later followed, but still he never cried! By evening he was in his new home. In one afternoon his worries went from, "When will I eat again?" to "Should I pick Cars or Spiderman?" (I'd call that a good day, but it gets better!)

  One year later, a different set of Convoy of Hope interns, last full day of our trip, Beth and Steve Dailey picked us up and took us to a children's home and out the door ran a beautiful, happy, and healthy 7 year old Jason.  He jumped into Beth's arms and said with a smile, "I've missed you! I love you!" He showed us all around his home, he was so excited. He now speaks English and Tagalog fluently and will soon be adopted.

A glimpse into his heart:

   His mom at the children's home told us, that last week they took Jason back to his home in Baseco to try and locate his birth certificate.  Jason's biological mom greeted him and said in her language, "You may not remember me..." Jason cut her off, and said in her language, "Of course I remember you, I pray for you everyday."  Jason is special.  Jason is a miracle. Jason is why we do what we do. I cannot imagine what God must have in store for this little guy, but I am honored and humbled to have been a small part of His heavenly Father rescuing him and changing his life forever. A huge thank-you to missionaries Beth and Steve Dailey and Pastor Nolei and his family who are there in the trenches daily for all the Jasons still out there. And a huge thank you to all my supporters, without you we wouldn't have been there on that day and I'm not sure where Jason would be on this day! Salaamat pos!

Tent City: Sometimes it's Good When the Church People Don't Show Up!

White shelter box tents as far as the eye can see, tethered 18" apart from each other. A laminated piece of computer paper is attached to each tent listing the surname of the families making this tent home for the past 4 months and likely many more to come. Children run about carelessly, laughing, playing as if their lives hadn't been turned upside down 4 months ago when a flood took their homes and everything in them including some of their loved ones. Truth is, there were no complaints from the adults either. While some tents were found without any furnishings, I was astonished by the ones that had been made into homes, swept linoleum lined the floor, a tv surrounded by neatly lined books on either side. Six sleep mats stacked high to make for day time seating. The seating, along with cold coke and crackers were promptly offered to the white stranger at their door. They asked me for nothing except prayer for needs and good health other than this, their response was, "We're okay, Salaamat (Thank you) for coming!"  The community that had been established out of tragedy was astounding! Alongside the pastor and youth of his church we prayed with them and invited them to a service later that day.

         Later that evening, the church was filled to capacity, so much so, the kids and youth were taken outside for an impromptu service of their own.  We had a great time of worship and intern Corey preached an encouraging message from God's word.  Even in the heat of the night, the people came forward for prayer and to commit their lives to Christ. The atmosphere was festive. Afterwards, a spagetti dinner and glass bottled cokes were served to all in attendance. I found out later that one of the families in the tent city donated the cokes from their "sari sari" (family store) and on top of that one of the other families in the tent city, already members of the church, made all the spagetti we were serving!  Unbelievable! "My kitchen is just too small!" just isn't a good excuse when this Ate (pronounced Ahh-tay, it's a term of respect for women older than yourself in the Filipino culture) cooked for over 100 with no kitchen at all!


          We gathered at the end of the evening to tell Pastor Irwin and his family good-bye as we would soon fly back to Manila, I asked him, "Pastor, how do you think it went?" His eyes lit up with excitement. "Great! I just wonder where all the church people were?" I looked at him puzzled (the church had been full) to which he responded, "Nearly every person here was a visitor from the tent city!" Amazing! So sometimes it's good when the church people don't show up, where would we have put all the visitor's! (Don't use that as an excuse not to go to church this Sunday, because if the church people hadn't shown up in that tent city, the tent city wouldn't have shown up in that church!)

           Food, Fellowship, and the Freedom that only Christ can bring! A successful night indeed.