Day 1 recap

A couple  years a go, a hurricane hit Manilla. Beyond the normal dangers of a hurricane, Manilla was particularly vulnerable because of its large population of squatters and poorer people who live in shanties and makeshift homes.

Once the cleanup started, the government enacted a displacement policy (for lack of a better term) for some of these areas. That means that thousands of people were uprooted to uninhabited parts of outer Manilla - disconnecting many of them from public transportation that could allow them to keep jobs.  So many families are stuck here and will be stuck here with little hope of improving their living conditions.

So yesterday morning we participated in a feeding program that reaches out to one of these areas on a twice-a-week basis. We transported tubs full of a rice and bean meal and served them out of the back of a van to hundreds of kids and some adults who brought cups and bowls and anything that could hold this soup.

In the afternoon, our immersion into this culture continued as we visited an orphanage that provides housing and round-the-clock care to girls between the ages of 7-17 who have been abused. After playing some games with them, we took them out to a pizza place for dinner.

Both ministries broke our hearts for these kids who are dealing with and have dealt with so much. It's maddening in some ways to realize these problems still exist in our 2014 world. But it is encouraging to know that God is using these agencies to pierce the darkness. And it is an honor to know that we can join the fight by praying and doing something as basic as playing dodgeball.

My prayer is that Christ's love will continue to reflect off of us the rest of the week the same as it did our first day.