Philippines!!
Thirteen days in the Philippines! Wow is this place hungry for God!! It has been a pretty full on 13 days, but has been amazing to see God work amongst it all. So we left the campus at 5am (means I woke up at 4:30am, not ideal) and we left the airport around 7am. We arrived in Honolulu and had a long layover there of 6 hours but we did some pretty cool things there. We did a treasure hunt, where we ask God for a picture or person or something they are wearing and then go and find that person and pray for them or just tell them how much Jesus loves them. The first one Delany and I did, the lady didn’t speak any English which was hilarious, we starting to talking to her about the picture we got for her and at the very end she was like, ‘no English.’ Was a very good start to the treasure hunt but I was sitting on the toilet and was like ‘ok, God there has got to be someone else’ and as soon as I said, that I got a picture of a handbag, and as soon as I got out, there she was, washing her hands! I got two words for her which were ‘Beautiful’ and ‘Striking’, and I when told her, she said that she has never heard that, before which was crazy ’cause she was gorgeous! After that I got the chance to pray for her. It was a great start to the Outreach Phase! After our super-long layover we went to Burma for, like, 30 minutes and then to the Philippines. We didn’t get to where we were staying till midnight due to traffic.
Where we are staying is a room with yoga mats as beds, a bucket shower, and a toilet that doesn’t flush (have to pour water in it to flush it). When we got in I was like, okay so this is where we are staying for 2 months, this is going to be great. But when you look at it we are so blessed to even have that, and to be able to stay in one place and not have to move around. So the living situation took a little getting used to, but totally I’m good with it now.
This week was door-to-door in different areas. It was so amazing, and I saw some pretty incredible things. I was still really not a fan of door-to-door, simply because I didn’t love it and just struggled with it so much. But that all changed when I had a really good quiet time that day, and I think that really helped me change my perspective on why I was here, and what I was actually doing here. I read Luke 9 and 10 that morning, but chapter 10 really spoke to me. In verse 3-9 it says that we are lambs in the midst of wolves and are called to go out and spread the word, to find the person of peace and stay with them, for they are people who really want to know more. Then in verse 17-20 it talks about how after finding that person of peace, you feel joy as many come to the Lord and get healed. Jesus saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven – we have authority to overcome all things of the enemy and nothing will hurt us. Then on the flip side there is also (verse 10-12) if we go into an area and don’t find that person of peace, and no one receives you, not to get weighed down by it. Simply wipe off the dust from that town and move on for it is in God’s hands now. So that made the whole Ministry of doing door-to-door so much easier.
We went to an area called Novelty. Ashley and I were together and honestly, here I fell so in love with the people and Jesus so much more. We met so many amazing people who I will never forget. Ashley was ministering to some kids (telling them the story of Jesus) and I went to this older lady who was hunched over and was just not looking good. So I went up to her and was just talking to her, asking her how she was, and how her day was, and I ended up finding out so much about her (she was so sweet). I found out that she had a bad fall about a year ago and that caused her back to be hunched over. So I asked if she believes in Jesus and that God can heal you? She said that she believes in God and has a relationship with Him. So then I just asked if I could pray for her and I prayed and nothing happened, so then I got Ashley to come over and pray with me. After the second time she started feeling better but still not healed. So we prayed again, and as we were praying all the kids laid their hands on her as well. After the third time she stood completely straight, was no longer hunched over or in any pain. She started walking and she was so happy! Ashley and I couldn’t believe in, was so incredible that God can actually move in us like that!
It will be so exciting the rest of the time!! I can’t wait to tell more!!