Justice and Grace (Update)

Hi!

We have finished out first week, and everything has been great!

This week we have . . .

• · Bagged cement and hauled it up to the 4th floor of a new building that is being built here

• · Have been getting to know the 7 “older kids” that live here. Their school got canceled on Friday because of the typhoon so we got to take them to the mall for some hang out time.

• · Got to watch a Buhay Sports basketball game! Brandon got to gear up but it ended up not being a good game for him to play in. On the way home we got caught in a typhoon!! We had to trek through knee deep water in the city amidst the crazy rain and wind! My flip flops kept falling off so my amazing and strong husband carried me through it! Quite an experience to say the least—and incredibly humbling as well.

• · Wet to a feeding in an area called Tent City. This was an area that got completely destroyed after a typhoon a couple years ago. The Red Cross came in and provided tents for about 500 families; these tents have now been turned in to houses. Two images will not leave my mind from this experience—(1) the sweet little boy, maybe 4, run up to the van as we drove up with his bowl in hand ready to get some hot food, shoeless and pulling his shorts up b/c they were too big, and full of smiles, (2) another sweet boy who was running away from the feeding station with his bowl empty b/c we ran out—he seemed fine, I don’t know maybe use to it, but I felt as though I could feel his true heart at that moment—completely crushing. This has probably been the most impactful thing for me so far. K.I.M (Kids International Ministries who we are with) does feedings there on Mondays and Fridays, and we are looking forward to returning. Some sweet girls invited a couple of us girls into their home and were so hospital, we look forward to following up with them next week.

  · Organized and repacked 1,500 boxes that were donated—full of clothes, food, medical supplies, etc. in the pouring rain!

  · Painted some rooms in a house that is being remodeled for Josie’s Angels. Josie has an incredible ministry—she has reached out to families in the local community and has “rescued” girls who have bad home lives. She has been blessed with a home to house them—25 of them! Through the blessings of supporters, these girls are provided safe living, food, clothing, and schooling. ($40 a month for anyone interested!!) It has been a blessing to us to be a part of preparing this home. Today, Nikki, Kelsey (an adopted teammate) got to return to the home and do some detailed painting. Nikki is painting an amazing mural in an entry way, and Kelsey and I got to work on some bibles verses that are being used as borders.

  · They guys are having a “sleep over” with the 3 boys here tonight (Saturday)—hopefully that is going well!

  · Tonight us girls—Nikki, Meghan, Kelsey, Julie, Jaine, and I (we have so enjoyed getting to know some other people who are serving here) got to go into the city for a girl’s night!

And many other things in-between, but I think that has been the main stuff! Our team time has been great and we have felt uplifted, humbled, and so thankful on a daily basis. God is working powerfully in each of us and in all different ways. We have been reminded of God’s justice and grace. It is hard to understand why so many people are unfortunate and lacking “things.” Here in the Philippines there is no real middle class. You either have money and live very comfortably or you live in some kind of shelter in areas called Squaters where you don’t own the small space you are inhabiting, so it can be taken from you at any time. We continue to struggle with understanding the living situation here and keeping in mind the real need. But, God is always just and faithful—this truth has different meaning now.

Chad thought of an amazing way to share the good news! Everyone around the community always wants their picture taken. So he thought that we should edit the photos of them with a bible verse on the picture and give it to them! Amazing! We have a pretty awesome team! You can be praying for that as we will be preparing those. We are going to do the same thing for many families in Tent City. Please lift this up in prayer!

We love and miss you all! Please keep praying for us!

Andrea, Brandon and the rest of Team Awesome!!