Well we’re going on our third week here in the Philippines, and honestly I could not feel more fulfilled. For morning ministry my team has been working along side teachers in a local school, grades 4 through 8. We have had the wonderful opportunity to teach, to tutor, and to just sit in class with all the kids. Relationships have been built, deepened, and it feels as if we have known these kids much longer than just two weeks. As for afternoon ministry, we walk over to the school again where we play basketball, volleyball, or just hang out with the same kids from school, and the surrounding slum community as well. Relational and presence ministry, where we just get to know a variety people and show them community and love, has personally grown to be my favorite form of ministry.
There is one girl in particular that I have grown to truly love, and her name is Althea. She is a sweet 7 year old Filipino with a heart full of joy and a mouth full of rotten teeth. I always find her playing in the streets, or occasionally she’ll wonder to the school yard to play with her friends. I don’t know much about her besides her home life in the slums is not ideal for any family; not to mention her two older sisters live in what is known as the Jaz Home, which is for girls who have been sexually abused. Althea also has several younger siblings who do not live at home because her mother is not able to provide for many children. Althea’s broken English makes it difficult to learn about her family. Our communication typically doesn’t go much farther than a hug, or running around playing, but I believe I have learned more from her about God’s love than I have from anything else.
One of the first nights we arrived in the Philippines all the guys were having a devotion when our squad leader challenged us, as men, to really portray the love of The Father; this is our responsibility as men of God. So many girls, such as Althea, do not know what it’s like to have the love of a Father because the only dad they know is the one who has either always been absent, or been the cause of pain, abuse and brokenness.
Through me trying to show this little girl the true love of the Father, I myself have realized the extent of the Fathers love for me. God wants us to run to His arms, to sit by His side; He wants to listen to how our day was and be that voice of comfort when things didn’t go well. Our Father wants us to trust him when he asks us to jump because He’s standing there with outstretched arms ready to catch us. Sometimes He will let us walk alone and it may feel as if He has disappeared, but He is never far. Our Father loves to watch us grow in these times and is always there to hold our hand if we stumble, or carry us if the trials of life have left us cripple and paralyzed. Our Father loves us now and forever! Our past has been forgiven and forgotten, and our God’s love is not circumstantial but rather unconditional. Our Father wants to explore with us to show us new heights and depths of Him, He wants to laugh with us and just be a part of our everyday lives. Nothing fills the heart of the Father like His sons and daughters living life amongst His manifest presence.
It is so easy to forget that God is our true Father and undermine His immeasurable and unconditional love for us. There is so much power in God’s perfect love and it’s in the love of the Father that we should find our fulfillment and empowerment. This is the Father’s desire for all His children, that we may know His heart, and experience His love.
Zephaniah 3:17
“Jerusalem will be told:
“Don’t be afraid.
Dear Zion,
don’t despair.
Your God is present among you,
a strong Warrior there to save you.
Happy to have you back, he’ll calm you with his love
and delight you with his songs.”
