Settling in…

The dust has finally settled. We have been here a few months now and we are slowly figuring out the ins and outs of the Philippines. We have used various forms of transportation, buses, trikes, jeepneys, cars and trucks. We have tried different types of filipino food, we’ve had lumpias, sisig, chicken inasal, pancit, adobo, tapsilog and so much more. 

Where we live is a rural area of the Philippines. We live about an hour or with traffic, sometimes 5 hours from Manila. That wasn’t a joke. The Philippines has a huge gap between the extreme poor and extreme rich. Where we live is a small town with a McDonalds (Evelyn calls it McDo) and Jolibee but when you travel into the city you can find almost every American chain you can think of. There’s even a Texas Roadhouse! The gap between wealth is so extreme. We have met people who’s special event would be going to Jolibee’s once a year. The cost would be equivalent to $2 to $3 for a meal. It’s very common for Filipinos to only eat meat once a week. 

One of the ways we feel we can have an impact is by opening our house to anyone and everyone. We want our house and home to be a place of refuge not only for us but for anyone that needs a place to rest. We want our house to be a place for someone to have a good meal, rest and to feel loved. There is such a need for people to know and feel what a loving family is. We are wanting to start a couple of new small groups and open our home. We will provide a meal, a place to rest and a bible study. Within our neighborhood there are a lot of different families with young children. We would love to be able to bless our neighborhood and the locals who live near to us. I remember when I was in High School, my parents created an environment that if I ever wanted to invite a friend over, no matter the time or for however long, they were okay with it. One summer I remember a friend who actually stayed for an entire month straight. If you can pray that the Lord will provide an “endless supply of food” as we are wanting to provide an open door and open fridge policy.

Personal Prayer Points for at the moment:

• We are praying for finances to be able to buy a car as it will open up so many doors for ministry as well as being much safer for our family, especially Evelyn.
• For our new small groups
• For us to find someone who can teach us Tagalog
• That we would hear the Lord clearly as to what ministries we should invest our time into as there is such a deep need all around.