In case you know nothing about me, I'm not a pastor, preacher, theologian, or an intellectual of any kind. I am, very simply, a man who wants to be like Jesus. The problem is: I fail miserably at it.. We are all failures when put up to His standards, but we are still loved, unconditionally. Since I first visited this country, it has been my desire to tell the "lost children" that they are loved, even if they fail and even if their parents have abandoned them or they feel dirty and sinful and if the life they have on earth seems dismal and without purpose. We were sent here to serve and I try very hard to be humble, in the Philippines. It is easy to be arrogant here, because people expect that out of foreigners. Kneeling and washing the feet of the people is a great opportunity for me to "practice what I preach". (Not literally, remember, I'm not a preacher). Matthew 20:28 teaches us all a great lesson, telling us: "even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Let me put this out there right now. Even though I'm a retired firefighter, I do NOT plan to give my life as a ransom for many. I'm fully cognizant that I am not THE Son of the Living God, but I am one of his children.) As I was looking at the Bible story (John 13), we can only imagine what a "tuff road" it must have been to walk the dirty, rocky, muddy roads of Palestine. Much like the Manila streets, where these kids came from, before they ended up "here". Fear was probably a common emotion for them both then and now. From the first pair of little feet that I washed, I felt the rough, calloused skin on some of them and saw the scars, and felt the marks from bites, rashes and who knows what else. Within the first few minutes, it was hard to hold back the tears as I washed each little precious foot. In my mind I was seeing the kids walking the streets late at night and being victimized. No one caring for them in any way unless they wanted something in return. Seeing and feeling things that children should never be part of. It is an uphill battle, but we are all here for a reason. Some of us are goers, some are senders and some are other things, but it takes us all. A whole village of God's people to raise His children.
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AuthorThai and I came to the Philippines in August of 2012 to work with the kids here. Archives
October 2017
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