Day 2: Visit to the Orphanage
It's day 2 and the team is starting to find their groove. Today, I had the honor of leading the morning devotion with the passage from Matthew 4:1-11, commonly known as the temptations of Jesus. When Erwin mentioned the concept of morning devotionals, God placed this passage on my heart, and in re-reading the word, it was clear why. Why do we serve? Why are we on the mission trip? Are we putting our needs, desires, and wants over God's? The three temptations in Matthew 4 all reveal Jesus as meek: having the power to satisfy the desires of the flesh, ego, and societal power, but choosing self-restraint and to do as the Father commands of him. Today, we prepared to walk like Jesus at our next stop, the girls' orphanage.
We were given the pleasure of working alongside some amazing men and women of God. Pastor Art serves a church in the heart of Manila, with a ministry focused on children and young adults. The one really overseeing this particular orphanage is Corky Binco, and that would be our first stop today. Corky has a powerful testimony that personally gave me pause for self-reflection. She was an orphan herself, experiencing much of the same things these young girls have. Some of the details, like eating dog food, falling into delirium, and facing extreme poverty, are just a few she chose to share. In the very same shelter where she now ministers, but 40 years in the past, she tried to take her own life three times. How did God bridge the gap between the lowest you can possibly get and living in the joy of God?
It started with one evangelist showing up with God's love, and it took years of God showing up through His people to transform her life.
Being this is my very first mission, I really prayed, thought, and discerned over what God can use me for. Handing out bags of supplies could be done by locals. Coordination and management could take place over Zoom. But showing up and sharing God's love, making one "orphan of man" feel like a "child of God," loved, seen, and special. "These missionaries flew all the way from the United States to see us. To see me." It's about exemplifying that it doesn't matter where you are, who you are, or what you've done. God's love is full of grace and mercy and is accessible to everyone through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. That's our true purpose: to show up, gift them with supplies, put on a silly biblical skit, smile, high five, and show them the grace of God through His creation. In a world that has robbed these poor orphans of so much, I hope to help give back the thing that truly matters, at every site we visit.
The girls performed a very fun, K-pop-inspired dance routine for us (which we later partook in learning), and once we handed them their bags, food, and treats, we headed to the grocery store to help Corky pick up some food supplies. I would love to share with you the faces of these boy and girl orphans, but it would unfortunately put some of them in jeopardy, and therefore is frowned upon by the local government. Once we returned with the supplies, we stopped by the boys' orphanage to say hello, then made our way to lunch, and eventually dinner, where we treated Art and Corky to a fun night out with a live show showcasing the Philippines' rich culture and history. Good news: the Jonah skit was a hit! Those changes were well executed, and we are entering Wednesday with a lot of momentum.
See you tomorrow!
