Days 1 & 2
Day 3 Today we visited a local church ministry for street children. The ministry is called Mission to the World Philippines Foundation. We visited a girls home called Peace Home, where abandoned girls with different backgrounds (some of them are absolutely horrifying) live. There was a boys home called Grace Home that I didn't get a chance to visit, but some of our other team members did. At the Peace Home, the girls are provided food, shelter, and counseling. One really cool thing that happened today was that I found a violin and guitar to play music for the children. This story is actually really cool, and it was an amazing reminder of God's faithfulness. Prior to the trip, Jenna Smith and I were talking about potentially bringing instruments to play music for the kids. After much thought and consideration, we ultimately decided not to bring anything, simply because of the added luggage. However, we both prayed that we could somehow find a violin or guitar so we could still share our talents with the kids. Today, one of our team members, Bailey, was playing with some girls. All of a sudden, one of the girls told Bailey that they had some violin and guitars that they had never opened, and they were wondering if anyone on our team knew how to play them. Bailey immediately rushed to get me and Jenna, and it was at that moment where I realized how amazing God was. Jenna and I performed some of the girls' favorite songs, and it was incredible seeing their joy as they sang along. After a wonderful lunch at the shelter, the girls and our team headed to a park and met up with the boys home (Grace Home). This park had some rides for the kids to ride on, and it was sort of like a really nice carnival, only it was permanent. At the park, I was with a young boy named Michael. Michael didn't speak English, so it was very hard to communicate. But we still had a lot of fun, smiling and laughing as we rode rides together. I later learned from talking with some of the leaders of the ministry about Michael's tragic past. Michael was 7 years old, with a mental age of 3. He was physically abused as a child, with scars and burns all over from people burning him with cigarettes and hot coals. He also became an alcoholic, as his guardians had forced him to take shots of liquor. His front teeth rotted away due to the alcohol. I am glad that I didn't know about Michael's past when I was with him at the park, because otherwise I think I would have thought about it way too much. I never would have guessed that Michael had such a terrible past; he was calm for the most part and acted like any normal 7 year old. It is amazing to see the work of the Grace Home and how God has worked through Michael to help him recover. As we traveled to the park, located about an hour and a half from Manila, from the girls Peace Home, we saw some extremely impoverished areas. I think the most eye opening part was the fact that there were such nice, and clean stores quite literally across the street from some filthy shacks made out of scrap metal. The division of wealth was extreme, and tough to comprehend at first. By the end of the trip, I sadly was used to seeing all of it. Day 4Wow. Today was an incredible day, filled with so many amazing memories. It started off with going to a church service that our youth Pastor, Jay preached at. Our youth group was invited to perform a couple of special songs for the service, so we formed a mini band! It was pretty cool. Nick played the drums, Shannon played the bass guitar, Mikayla played the piano, I played the violin, and Ellie and Kennedy sang. We basically had no time to prepare, but we did our best and people told us afterwards that it didn't sound too bad! After the church service, we went to lunch at Pizza Hut (I know, kinda silly). At lunch, a pastor from Georgia, Dee, was prepping us for what we were about to see. He had been to the Philippines several times before and he knew the local ministry workers. Our next stop was the squatter villages. Once we arrived to the first village, I was absolutely heartbroken. So much poverty, so many kids, so much filth. Broken glass pieces were literally everywhere, and children who had no shoes on were playing and running around. One kid literally had no clothes on. I had never seen anything like it, and it was incredibly hard playing games with the kids and not thinking about what we have in America compared to what I was seeing right in front of my eyes. After some games, I shared the Gospel with the kids and then some of the members shared their testimonies. Another group of members were serving some food and drinks to the kids, which was also tough to watch, as many of the kids were fighting each other for it. You could tell they were desperate for the food. This village was probably the worst village we encountered the entire trip. As we departed and headed off to our next destination, another church inside a squatter village, I couldn't help but ask myself why I was given a second chance. Being adopted, I was asking myself a lot of questions internally about why I was one of the few who got rescued. The reality is, had my American parents not come and adopted me, my life could have very well been similar to the kid's lives at the village. It is tough to think about, and I can only thank God for my incredible fortune of living in a loving home with everything I need. Once we arrived at the church, we were asked to play a song as well. This time I played the guitar, and because there was no pick for me to play with, I ended up using a credit card! I was also asked to perform a fiddle song, so I jammed out with the Orange Blossum Special. The locals seemed to really enjoy that. After I performed, some of the local teenagers performed as well. One teenage boy rapped about Jesus in their native language. Although I couldn't understand anything he was saying, it was cool to see his passion. He had actually been part of a gang a year ago, and this church reached him and now his life has completely changed. Another group of teenagers danced to a popular Christian song which was cool as well. Their dedication was inspiring to see. After the church service, I met some of the performers, and they were some of the kindest people I had met. They were very encouraging and it was very humbling to see their humility. They call me "Chinaman." At first, they were pronouncing it like "cinnamon." But once we realized they meant China Man, it was great! Day 5Today was a much happier day. I got to teach one of the girls how to play Jesus Loves Me on the violin! Her name was Daizy, and she was enrolled in college. She caught on extremely quickly, and seeing the joy she got from playing was one of my favorite parts of the trip. Our entire day was spent at the Girls Home. The girls thought it was funny to make fun of my eyes, so they looked at me, pointed at me, and said "Your eyes.... so squinty!!" We had the opportunity to walk some of the girls to their school, which was about a 5-10 minute walk. The streets in the Philippines are almost always crowded, and so it is a very dangerous walk for the girls. Once we arrived at the school, I noticed how different it is compared to schools in the US. There were classrooms literally outside, with gates acting as the walls to separate the classes. I couldn't imagine trying to learn in the heat, let alone the loudness and the distractions all around. After taking the girls to school, we returned to a wonderful meal prepared for us at the home. As soon as we finished lunch, I headed outside to start painting the playground. It was a simple task, but I could tell it meant so much to not just the girls, but the staff members as well. As we were painting, I got to know one of the sweetest girls I have met in my life. Her name is Girly, and her story is absolutely heartbreaking. She was left to die on the streets, with no name and no records indicating her age. The only reason they guessed she was 20 years old was because a dentist who looked at her teeth guessed that. Girly was incredibly shy, and she was still in 3rd grade. As a young girl, she had been sexually abused as well. She is getting counseling at the Girls Home, and the staff have said she has made a lot of improvement since they first took her in. Day 6Today we went to 2 different squatter villages, and we also went to a street at night where many kids go to since they have no home. At the first squatter village, I met a kid named Rainer. (An amazing story about how I remember his name will come later in the blog). Rainer didn't speak a ton of English, but we still played basketball together and hung out. I visited his home, and met his mother, Edith. She was a sweet lady, and I shared the Gospel with her and prayed for her and her family. This particular village we visited had about 100 families. We headed to a mall to grab some lunch after the first village. I was at a restaurant with our team, and I ordered a delicious pork entre. In addition to the pork, I ordered a side of fried rice. We got the order to go, so we were given the items in a to-go bag. Once we got to the place we would eat, we started handing the food out. In the Philippines, white rice is similar to bread in America; it is often times served alongside the meals without an additional cost. So, there were packages of white rice in the bag. At first, we were impressed with their generosity, considering there was a lot of “free” rice. However, once the bag was emptied, I realized I didn’t have my fried rice that I ordered. We were confused for a little bit, and then one of our team members asked how many packages there were in the bag. I told them five, and then another team member made the connection: the person I ordered thought I said “five rice” instead of “fried rice.” I guess I need to learn how to enunciate better! As soon as we finished lunch, we headed to the second village. This village was in some pretty bad shape as well. A lot of filth and bugs. However, this village had one of the most joyful kids I have ever met in my life. He had the biggest smile, and just loved everyone he interacted with. His laugh was contagious and his love and joy he had was simply amazing. His name is John- John, and although he didn't speak any English, we communicated through laughing and smiling. Our last destination was to meet some street kids. This was a tough time as well, because we would hear story after story that just broke your heart. We met a young girl who had to drop out of school because of family issues. A lot of the kids had terrible wounds on their legs that needed medical attention right away. I bandaged some of the wounds up, and while I was helping them, I would ask how they got the wounds. The kids would either not respond, or they would lie, saying it was an animal bite. Based off the wounds, I knew for a fact they weren't animal bites. I started wondering if maybe their parents told them to lie about their wounds in order to cover up the fact that they are abusing their children. I also learned from a local missionary that many parents would drug their kids and send them out to the streets to beg for money. The drugs would make them look sicker, which the parents hoped would make the people more inclined to donate. The drugs obviously had a terrible effect on the kids, and many of them have mental disorders because of it. While with the street children, I spent the majority of time with a young boy. If I had to guess, he was 3 years old. He didn't speak any English, but he was very calm and gentle. At one point, he decided to lay on me, which at first I thought was weird. But then I realized that my body could potentially be the most comfortable thing he would find to sleep on all night. I noticed his stomach was starting to get a little round, and I realized that it might be due to malnutrition, which was incredibly hard to think about. One cool thing that God taught me today was that God knows each and every one of those kids. He knows their pain, he knows their suffering and he knows their names. I was having a tough time remember all of the kid's names, and I realized that God knows them. Day 7Today started off amazingly. Last night, as I was praying for the kids I met, I couldn't remember the name of the kid I met at the first village (Rainer). So I prayed that God would somehow reveal the boy's name somehow, whether it be through a dream, or something. In the back of my head, I thought it was practically impossible, because I was the only group member who spent much time with Rainer, and so know one knew it. However, this morning one of our team members, Olivia, received a friend request on Facebook, and a message that said "Hi, this is Rainer, where is Marcus?" That was an incredible moment for me, realizing that God provides. One of our team members, Ellie, brought up a good point that not only did I get the name, but I also got a way to contact him. We are now friends on Facebook. She said that shows how God provides abundantly, which I definitely experienced first hand. Our day mainly consisted of working with a local church and visiting the homes of the members of the church and praying for them. We went to a village where many of the members lived. This village was situated on a mountain, so houses lined up the mountain. When I say houses, I mean shacks. It was a tragic visual of the parable of building the house on rock or soil. The houses were on unstable foundations, and so we prayed for the safety of the village. The villagers explained that whenever it rains, the sand underneath that the homes are built on could easily collapse. I also learned that this village had a big problem with drugs, and that many of the kids were negatively affected. Today was the last day we did outreach, and so this is where I will stop the blog. We had 2 more days, one of which we spent at Corregidor Island, and the other we spent encouraging the local leaders. Thank you so much for reading about my experiences. This trip was life changing in so many ways, and I learned so much over the course of the trip. Seeing Christ's work half way around the world was incredibly humbling; I play such a small role in God's big plan.
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Marcus MillerHello! Thank you for checking out my blog. I graduated from Johnston High School in Iowa back in 2015, and am attending the University of Iowa, where I am studying political science and ethics and public policy. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Archives
May 2018
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