A Few Days Late

I wrote this on the 19th- we haven't had internet... so it's a little late. 

I am about to just ramble. I have so much to say because today was such a blessed day!!! I started out the day going to the doctor’s office with Mimay who is now 41 weeks along. We were going to have a biophysical done and found out she is having a girl! One thing I am so surprised about here, is that in the states we would have parties about finding out the sex, and tell everyone and get excited. Well, we when we were walking back through Pandan she saw her husband and told him and they just kept walking like it was no big deal. So odd to me, but it must be a cultural thing! But I did get to walk Mimay to her house while I held her little 1 year old daughter. The daughter clung to me and put her head on my chest and I think I melted a little bit! I got to ask Mimay about her life. The most amazing part to me (and so humbling) was that she loves living here even though her home has no walls (basically it’s a porch) because they don’t have enough bamboo yet. But she is happy, and has a beautiful family. I hope I got to show her God’s love today because she sure reminded me of storing my treasures in heaven and not on earth! 

Double teaming a patient with my wonderful teacher

Rain doesn't stop us

Health area for the outreach

After this I went to bible study where 17 women showed up & about 15 little kids running around us the whole time! We talked about how Jesus calls us to have faith and there can be power in our faith if we only pray and believe! He says we can direct the mountains to move! Powerful! As I sat in this circle of women, I realized that I know most by name by now. This made me incredibly happy because even though I don’t know what they are saying half the time, I know that they know me and I know them, and that we pray for and with one another. It is easy to get to know this community because even though there are 198 families in Pandan, you walk through the streets every day. And as you walk through the streets, you say hi and stop to talk to everyone multiple times a day. The word chica-chica here means like gossip or small talk. I can totally see why that can go on in a community like this where there is constant talking to everyone throughout the entire day!

Also as I walk down the street, I often get told “Ate Whitney, you are beautiful,” (geez, I will miss all that when I get back to the states ;)), but I always reply with “Dili, you are gwapa (beautiful).” They smile and we continue this game back and forth until I finally conclude it with “We are both guapa because God made us in His image.” I do not know if they understand me or not, but it is a true statement that is also a good reminder for myself. [Funny side note: they think my taas (long) nose is a thing of beauty, they all mention it. I tell them in America we have surgeries to get our noses to look as cute and little (gamay) as theirs ;) ] My signature thing with all the kids here is high fives (which they call “up here”). I use my height and make them all jump to hit my hands though. This usually ends up in a group of 10 kids trying to hit my hands all at once. So much giggling and so many smiles with no communication. I love it!

The Outreach

Nehemiah girls preparing to hand out the food rations

Today is worship and wash Wednesday, so I took all my nasty laundry (believe me, by now it is nastttyyy) to the river. Ate Alma has really taken on the role of my Filipino momma (Miss Patti is my American momma in the Philippines ;)). She helped me with all my laundry again!! Ridiculous! There was a girl who is 10 years old next to us doing the laundry for her entire family. She was straight muscling tshirts and shorts with her soap and brush, completely focused and content. I thought about 10 year olds that I know in America that throw fits and defy their parents about simply picking up their toys! And this little girl was slaving away at her entire family’s laundry with a smile on her face!!! BUT as I was standing in this crystal clear water, listening to worship songs, surrounded by these hard working Filipinos and I was praising God for allowing me to be where I am. Praising Him for the people around me. Praising Him for loving each and every one of us, as different as all of us are. I know that I came here to serve and show people God’s love, but my goodness, I feel like my cup is filling up and overflowing from all that I have seen and experienced and that God is doing!

Today I got to experience my first outreach. This is basically where we go to a surrounding baraguay (village/community) and provide healthcare, tell them about Jesus, perform dances and sing songs and distribute food. I don’t even know where to begin with this story because my hands are so excited and wanting to type everything at once. Let me start by saying that I for sure want to be a nurse. We started taking patients in and were straight taken over from people needing their BP checked or blood sugar checked or had a fever or an infection or any other odd ailment. I think I checked about 30 BPs tonight and took about 15 blood sugars. I got to treat some high blood pressures, some low blood sugars, a fever, see a shingles outbreak on a little kid, some goiters, a major infected wound from post surgery, and more. But I also got to pray over and with every patient. It was powerful. It says in Matthew that where two or more are gathered in Christ’s name, there Jesus is. Well, Jesus was there tonight. The Healer heard our pleas. There was such God given peace in the midst of complete chaos going on with all the patients. I loved every single second. I could have stayed there for hours upon hours seeing more people. Miss Patti was wonderful. She had a smile on her face the whole time even though she had the tougher job. Her medical assistant (and who I almost feel is a sister to me here) Grace and I were screening patients and would send the huge problems to her. She taught me the whole time. It was unbelievable. I just can’t quite find the words I want to use to let you guys experience what I experienced tonight. After all the medical work (it got too dark, we were using cell phones for light to continue seeing people), I played the “up high” game with these kids. They loved it. About 30 of them surrounded me and I said “well alright” and slapped my hands together and they all mimicked me. It was so funny and precious. They even ran after my motorella while I was driving off. It totally rejuvenated me!

The outreach

Checked so many BPs... Thanks hiltons for the supplies :)

Smiling probably because i don't understand her

Notice how packed it is

Pastor and the missionary who donated for the outreach

  

Oh yeah, I don’t think I ‘ve talked about motorellas here. Motorellas are motorcycles with like a cab attached to it that people can sit in the front and back of. They are super cheap to get around in (7 pesos per person… less than 25 cents in US) and completely gas efficient. They replace taxis here, and I love them.

Well I have more I could ramble about, but if I ramble too much, yall might not keep reading so that’s all for tonight! It’s my usual bedtime (8:30 ;)). Internet isn’t working here tonight so I’ll post this in the morning.

Thank you all for your prayers. God is huge. God is making His presence known here in the tiniest/poorest villages I’ve seen and He is making His presence known in America. Ah- one last thing. I was reading in Matthew 24 today. I challenge you to read it and then tell me you don’t feel like you have to tell everyone about Christ and His offer of salvation. The ending is coming like a thief in the night, we have work to do Christians. 

I've mentioned basketball practice, so Miss Patti caught a few pictures from it

Yes, all the kids play with no shoes and we play on a dirt court. I have gone butt down a few times trying to stop :)