Is This Real Life?

It doesn’t feel real. I’m sitting here after saying good bye to our ministry contact, Sharon from Children’s Garden. And it still hasn’t hit me. Tomorrow morning I will be on a plane that will begin my over 24 hour traveling venture that will end up bringing me to Malawi, Africa. AFRICA.
 
I just can’t believe it’s already here. The last and final country before I arrive home. But before I talk about any of that let me tell you about the Philippines. For those of you who have been reading my blogs regularly, you may know of some of the ministries we were able to serve with. But even so, there were so many amazing opportunities that my team was blessed with both ministry wise and opportunites to explore the Philippines that I was not able to share in all of my blogs.
 
From the very first day arriving at Children’s Garden when I unexpectedly went to a wedding and helped with lighting, to doing bible studies with women in prostitution weekly; doing outreach with street kids who meet outside of Jollibee every Thursday night where we have church and feed them a meal; spending time with women in the Antipolo City Jail; going to Ondoy village, a refugee community built by the Red Cross after a major typhoon hit the Philippines in 2009; doing devotionals throughout the week with the boys at CG; spending time with street kids in front of Shopwise, the local grocery store, and singing worship songs and getting to know them. Spending time with the precious kids at Destiny Orphanage a couple times and hearing the heart-wrenching stories of their pasts. Being able to spend time with women in a local community who make Threads of Hope bracelets. And literally so many others.
 
As well as ministry we’ve also been super blessed to be able to explore the Philippines a little bit and see how amazingly beautiful and sick it is here. By going to Subic Bay, where we went to Tree Top Adventures and went on a canopy tour and zip lined through the trees. Jumping off rocks into Duranak Falls. As well as, seeing the Taal volcano in Taygaytay where we hiked to the top of the volcano and saw an amazing picture of God’s glory there. (Honestly one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen). Spending a weekend in Puerto Galera, another island where we were able to go snorkeling, explore an underwater cave, hike to a waterfall, and sell bracelets for a local vendor along the beach, a friend we call Millie.
 
And none of these things even includes Children’s Garden. The boys and staff of CG will forever be in my hearts. The impact that they have made on my life is irrevocable. After spending any small amount of time there, it is so painfully obvious how immensely Christ-centered everything at Children’s Garden truly is. The staff pour their hearts out constantly to all the boys and are fighting for the growth in their lives daily, whether it be physically, financially, or spiritually. Children’s Garden will always have a place with me and I have no doubts that I will very soon be returning.
 
Which is why I come back to this moment of, “It doesn’t feel real.” When we said goodbye to Sharon tonight and as I sit here writing this, it still doesn’t seem real. It doesn’t seem real that I wont wake up tomorrow morning with 20 boys singing “Our God is Greater” and playing guitar at 6:30AM. It doesn’t seem real, that I wont be eating rice at every meal. It doesn’t seem real that I won’t be riding trikes and jeepneys at least five times a day. It doesn’t feel real that I will no longer be hearing Tisoy or Samuel tap my arm and whisper, “Ate, can I borrow?” There are so many things about my everyday life here in the Philippines that have become so normal and it will be weird that tomorrow that all changes.
 
But, I know God has huge plans for me in Africa. Not only me but my team. (Team Fearless baby) And not even just my team, but my squad. Even though it is bittersweet leaving the Philippines, I am confident that my relationship with the Lord will continue to be pushed, tested, and grow more dependent. Whether it be riding elephants, dancing with African mamas in the hot Malawian sun, preaching to a congregation, or fighting off poisonous snakes (please Baby Jesus, no.) God’s got my back.
 
And one thing to remember, is just to honestly love every second of what I’m doing and remember that this what I’m doing IS REAL LIFE. Whether it feels like it or not.
 
 
**Just a quick update for those of you who don’t already know. The new ministry contact that I will be staying with for the next 3 ½ months is called Zehandi ministries. It is located in Senga Bay, Malawi. Instead of being placed with just my team, we will be all living together as a squad once again at Zehandi. And as far as what we know about our ministry details, we have been told that we will be helping with construction and manual labor to build a Bible school for pastors in the mornings.  I think we will also be able to have some outreach opportunities in the afternoons as well. **