Tough Little Girls

I think I have successfully mastered the names of all the 18 girls! Makes me feel much better being able to call girls by names, even if we can't communicate anything else between us. Yesterday we took 6 girls to the dentist to have teeth extracted (it's common here)! It was crazy to see how the hospital system works here. We walked into an office, a girl gave her name and sat down, was given some numbing meds and WHAM! Pulled that tooth right out, put some cotton in and they are set to go. Tough, tough little girls!!!!

After getting their teeth pulled. 

The night before last, i was sitting on the front porch and one of the girls came up to start talking to me. She started with really simple and common questions like "what is your favorite color," and we eventually got to questions with a little more meat like when and how I became a Christian. I got to tell her about how my parents taught me all my life about God and what He has done for me. They taught me right and wrong and I knew Jesus died for me. But I also got to share with this girl how when I went to college, I turned my back on all that I knew and on God, and did what was right in my own eyes. BUT that God didn't give up on me. He kept pulling at my heart and pulling at my heart, and when I finally crashed and fell, He was right there to catch me. And that I have begun to change the way I think about God. He is no longer jsut the rule enforcer or God who was far far away. He has become my savior, my comforter, my friend, my constant companion, my father, my provider, my strength. Anyways, she went on to ask me more about my "backsliding" which I was open with her about. I asked her if she was a Christian and she told me her testimony. It was so similar to mine. But then she told me her story of how she was battered and abused by someone, which is how she got here. She has decided to see the whole thing as a good thing because it has saved her from the road she was going down. I made sure to communicate that God did not cause the abuse or want it. That it was a result of a fallen world and man's sin. But how incredible that such a wonderful girl could turn this situation around in her mind for good. What a big God we serve! I got to pray with her after and now I feel connected to her. It was exactly what I love to get to share and experience hurt together, and work through those emotions and talk through the results. She also shared with me her desire to go on to be a psychiatrist for people with similar problems but that she didn't think it would happen because college costs too much. In my head, I began to wonder how much a college education here could really cost and the effect it would have on her life and those she helped. Surely there is something we can do!

We got to sleep in this morning til 5:30am because it's saturday. Yes, i said "sleep in." :) I woke them up for GST (God's Special Time), but yesterday I saw how sleepy they were throughout GST, so I played some music and we stretched and did some yoga moves! Started the day with some laughter and smiles. I had the girls read Psalm 139 and write down two things that God says about their worth to Him. I asked them to keep it in their pocket throughout the day and read it occasionally to remember how fearfully and wonderfully made their were and how much their Creator has loved them from the womb til now and forever. Things like this sound wonderful in theory, but i am not sure how much they fully comprehend what I saw because some speak english and some don't, so a girl translates for me. I just have to hand it over to God to open their hearts, ears and eyes.

This was a sign at the mall. I thought it was too funny. This is literally a constant game I play of- try to figure out what they meant to say. :)

Donated supplies!

Precious girls! 

After breakfast, we started our general cleaning day. I did my laundry with the girls and it took2 hours of bending over a cleaning pale and scrubbing. Laundry day no longer means separating the clothes and having to remember to switch the loads. It means, rinse them all, then wash them one at a time by applying some soap and scrubbing inch by inch around the whole piece of clothing! Then rinse, then rinse again, and probably turn it inside out and rinse again. Then wring with all the power you can muster. My, oh my. It's tiring! :) BUT there was one little girl who kept coming and hugging me from behind every 5 minutes. Precious! This I can happily do without having to understand Visaya.

This is a Jeepney. They are a very common form of transportation here. This one happens to be Nehemiah's Jeepney but most are public. It holds wayyy too many people. There's always room for one more (not). 

Laundry time

Everyone helps in laundry

more laundry

this is the funny girl of the group :) there are many funny ones actually- she just had everyone's attention at this cleaning time :) 

And we wonder why they are so strong :)

wringing- very important step in laundry

All done today! 

I never stop drinking water here- so hot (init)! 

Building forts out of their foam mattresses while they wash their sheets!! 

Some interesting things I have learned:

-The fishier the food, the better. if you can see the eyeballs of the fish you are eating, and the tail-- you have one good fish.
-There are over 7 different kinds of bananas here- red, green, yellow. Some in ketchup, some you cut up and eat with chicken.
-"nu-uh" means "yes" here. Quite the opposite effect in my head!

I am also fighting a cold. Weird that I can get a cold in a place that I am sweating 24/7, but sore throats and runny nose and headaches are not confined to the cold weather I do suppose. And I am in a place where it seems that endless energy would not even be enough, so my prayer request is for health and energy!