Another Day in Manila

The team is back in Norco, and life continues in Manila. Today was another typical day in Manila, in that it came before I was prepared...as if I could have been. It started quickly with filling in on a 5 minutes notice for the school chapel. Then later filling in for the workers bible study at the YunJin Ministry center with equally short notice. However, neither of these were the most challenging tasks of the day. Around noon a few people and I traveled further into the city to visit two families. We got connected to these families through a children's feeding ministry done by a staff member of K.I.M. Our Norco team got acquainted with the children of the families while we were all here, so today I had wished they could be a part of this. A few volunteers at K.I.M. and myself took groceries and medicines to the families. One of the families has a little girl who is no older than a year with boils on her head. We entered into the little hut that housed four different families and visited for a bit. The kids all gathered around, smiling shyly. We prayed and were on our way to home number two. If the first house was not enough to make one pause, the second house would surely stop you in your tracks. After a walk through staggered shacks we made our way into a very dark make shift house. There was no lighting, just a glow from a pot heating on the flour with some coals. We handed over the groceries and met the children. Then I met their father. This is where my heart broke. The fraile man lied huddled in the corner on a thin straw mat slightly seperating him from the damp concrete. He mustered what strength he could to sit upright. Miles, the K.I.M staff member who operates the feeding ministry, shared some words then told me that he has been suffering from a sickness in his lungs. He showed me the injections he takes regularly. He could not have been older than forty, with a wife and young children, but his ailment sucked whatever youth was left in his body. He, though, was happy to see us. I still do not understand why. In that moment I felt as though he, for his fervor, was much stronger than me. The night before his family shared a meal of a pound of rice and two eggs, and yet he wanted to get up and greet us. I thought of Matthew 5. We prayed. Then we said our good byes and was on our way. I was not prepared for this. I don't think that this event will ever leave my memory. Please keep the people of Manila in prayer. Poverty is not a choice here, it is a way of life.