He Knows Their Name

So I haven't updated in a while, and I'll explain why towards the end of the blog because I'm trying to figure out how to write it with the emotions we were all feeling so that it's impacting. But as to the last few days...


My schedule is very long. We usually get up about 3 or 3:30 AM, and we have breakfast and are on the road by 4 or 4:30. We ride a few hours out in the jeeps, in pairs of two, each pair with two Filipino pastors who are our translators. Once we are a few hours out, we visit about 10-15 schools each day per pair, making our way back towards our hotel as we go along. It's very rewarding work, sharing the gospel with each school, but our schedule is definitely tiring. We don't return to the hotel until about 5:30 at night, and then we eat dinner, have our team devotions/nightly meeting and go to bed around 10.

So far, the largest group of children/teachers the I have shared the gospel with is about 2,000 children. It's funny, but when you're getting up with your translator to speak, you really don't even notice the difference between the groups of 500 and 2000. The energy of the kids, and the way they just can't stop smiling at you is so infectious. They treat us like we are celebrities. I've been asked for my autograph, they take pictures of me with their cellphones, and they run after the car as we are leaving. It's the cutest thing. I was driving home yesterday and I had my head out the jeep window just enjoying the air, and there was a group of kids walking home from school, and I didn't really remember them because I had done so many schools, but they recognized me and we're shouting "Hi sister Hannah!"

Here in the Philippines, things are a LOT different than the US. For example, you don't ask someone if they have a bathroom, you ask them if they have a CR. (CR meaning Comfort Room). There is no such thing as speed limits or tickets, in the words of Joel, one of my translators yesterday "The cops figure if you want to stay alive, you can drive slowly. If you want your life to end early, drive fast!" Whenever we go to a fast food restaurant, it's considered rude to wait for the food, you have to let them bring it to your table, and you NEVER clear your own food, they do it for you. The culture is very different, and it's really fun learning about all the differences. 

I had the most amazing birthday ever. All the Filipino pastors sang Happy Birthday to me in Tagalong, the main language spoken here in the Philippines. My team got me a cake, and a card, and we just had a lot of fun celebrating. Even the kids at the schools were singing Happy Birthday to me, which really touched me :)

The reason that I didn't update yesterday was because of something that happened last night. The team went out for dinner to a pizza place in one of the local shopping centers. One of the girls on our team saw a little girl who we had seen standing out in the streets all day. She went out and brought the little girl in to eat dinner with us. She was 8 years old, and she sat and ate with us. As we ate, she informed us that she had no parents, and she didn't go to school. She was such a sweet little girl, so when our group leader pulled us aside and said he thought she was a slave, it was shocking. He said that we might have done damage to her by bringing her in because if her owner got upset with her, he could hurt her. We watched carefully the rest of dinner, and sure enough, a guy walked up to the door and signaled to the girl to come. She shook her head, and I saw a genuine look of fear on her face. We eventually decided to give her some money and a bible tract, hoping that if she took money back it would help. We had to leave her sitting on the curb, and as we were leaving, we saw the same man approach her as she was sitting on the curb. My heart broke watching her, because I just couldn't bear the thought of an eight year old girl being a slave. It was an emotional night when we got back because it was the reality that human trafficking exists, and that precious little girl probably lives a horrible life. I had heard about it in churches and at conferences, but I really never took it seriously until I saw it for myself. If you could pray for that little girl, her name is Rema.

We kept telling ourselves that Jesus knows every child in that situation, and he has a perfect plan for all of them. It didn't make it too much easier to see, and my heart still aches for that sweet little girl. I ask myself what she did to deserve the life she's living, and I don't have the answer to that. But I do know that God is in control, and he is watching out for Rema.

Sorry for the depressing post, but I wanted to make sure that everyone was aware of what goes on, because I know I wasn't. Thanks for your prayers, the trip is amazing, and I'm loving every minute I spend here.

Hannah