Blessings upon blessings

This blog is gonna look a little different than what I’ve been posting lately. I’ve been posting updates about the ministry that I’m a part of but this blog is gonna be an update on my journey with the Lord and what the Lord is teaching me through the ministry we have been doing.

While at our mini debrief, before coming to the Philippines, we had a teaching from one of our squad leaders that was titled “Faith.” During this teaching, he had us do an activity where we did “By faith” statements of ways we have stepped out in faith and ways we would like to step out in faith. So here are the ones that I wrote and I hope it gives a glimpse of what I’ve gone through on the race so far.

About my faith on the race so far:

• By faith, Mandy has walked through healing, hardship, and forgiveness. She has trusted the Lord with her heart and pain while allowing Him to work her toward forgiveness.
• By faith, Mandy has stepped out in boldness and newness. Doing new and uncomfortable things while trusting the Lord to guide me. Some Examples: praying in front of church, leading things for ministry, praying and believing the outcome
• By faith, Mandy has trusted the way she feels and acts on it. She allows her emotions to be seen, heard, and validated. She advocates for herself when things are needed.

Another cool thing that happened while heading to the Philippines was while looking out the airplane window, which I don’t do often, I was looking at the city and what was to come, not really sure what to expect or what was coming. I started to get teary eyed because the Lord spoke over the city to me. “There will be blessings here.” Which, looking at this now, a week later, I know that this is gonna come true. We have been here for just over a week and I already feel at home, comfortable in ministry, and know God is doing amazing things here in this nation.

Just a glimpse into ministry here, because I’ll post more later: we are working with Wipe Every Tear which is an organization that helps women that are affected by sexual exploitation, trafficking, and poverty. We also have the opportunity to work with their church partner, Church So Blessed, and do a variety of ministries there.

Some testimonies from the week of ministry we have done so far: During our morning breakfasts that are from 1-5am, we had the opportunity to serve these women food and talk with them. It was helpful to see them outside of the Red Street, the street they work on, and get to sit down and talk with them while also serving them in a tangible way. God really highlighted to me the way that these women just want to feel loved and cared for. I can’t wait to get to know them better as we are here.

Another thing that happened was while at a drug rehabilitation facility that Church So Blessed goes to share the word of God and pray over them, we got to hear stories of the women that are there. This was one of the first times that I became teary eyed and sad on the spot for someone else. The Lord truly broke my heart for these women and their stories. They just want to be loved and capable of survival without having to rely on not great ways of receiving income. They want to be able to provide for their families and themselves. It truly broke my heart and made me realize that the Lord loves us even in our most vulnerable and lowest places. If we can be loved in that circumstance, how much more does He love us day to day.

I have loved it here in the Philippines and can’t wait to continue ministry here. We have been here for a little over a week and it feels like we have been here so much longer. God is good and the harvest is ready.