Monday, June 2, Subic Bay Children’s Home/Subic Bay Baptist Church ((Subic Bay)
Muriel has been a wonderful part of our team and has been a blessing to many as she really conveys her Tagalog well! Thank you, Muriel for our update…
Welcome to Subic Bay Children’s Home, the destination we’ve been looking forward to and where the two-week trip will spend the remainder of our time. We woke up at an unfavorable hour to dogs barking and roosters crowing but the rain lulled me back to sleep for a little longer. Around 9:30 am, we dashed through the rain to the dining hall for breakfast. Sweet little faces with wide eyes peeked through cracked doors to shyly wave at us. We met Mr. Fulfer’s family (his father began the ministry) as well as Abbie and Grace, two PCC students from last year’s mission trip. After breakfast, the children came in and arranged themselves as a choir. It was surreal to realize that these kids came from the same type of places that we had just visited–children rescued from rough backgrounds and home lives. And here they were, precious children, from 6 months to 18 years old, singing songs for us about family and Jesus’ love. As they introduced themselves, many girls wanted to be teachers and missionaries when they grew up and many boys said soldiers, pastors, and pilots.
Eagerly they came up to us, all smiles. One little 8-year-old boy, Mark, snuggled up beside me and showed me his Abeka phonics book. I also talked with a 15-year-old boy named Jasper. He asked me several questions, including when I trusted Christ. He got saved two years ago. We talked about favorite Bible verses; Mark chimed in with Psalm 23. What a joy to be with these rescued, blossoming little souls.
After lunch, we loaded up in two vans and headed for the Olongapo District Jail. We shook hands with many women and men. The women I spoke with were mothers. Molly spoke with a young girl, only 19. The people were beautiful; may Jesus turn around their lives. As we began, the rain started to dump, making a racket on the tin roof, bụt the Lord allowed it to subside so we could be heard. Brandon led an easy game of Bible trivia, asking questions like, “Who besides Jesus walked on water?” I heard mumbles of “Moses?” or “Noah?” before one prisoner came up and enthusiastically said “I know, I know! Pedro!” Hee hee hee 🙂 We gave our introductions, Sophie shared her testimony, and Mr. Fulfer preached a very fitting devotional on renewal-renewing our hearts, renewing our minds, and renewing our goals. We held hands with and prayed over the prisoners after the message. Alyssa sang her solo acapella before we handed out food and juice. We quickly loaded into the vans and left. We finished out the evening by driving to the Odek’s house for dinner and fellowship. Praise the Lord for all the blessings He has heaped upon us. “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him” (Ps. 34:8 KJV). Please continue to pray for good weather and soft hearts. Apart from Him, we can do nothing (Jn. 15:5). I am so excited to, Lord willing, disciple and build relationships with the children here and with other groups we interact with this week!
