Extravagant Love

“If our hearts can be stirred with such a deep love for others in a single moment, how much more does the One who formed them in their mother’s wombs love them!?” 

Hello, friend! My squad arrived to the Philippines on May 16th! We have been involved in Ministry here for the past 5 weeks.

Arriving and adjusting to a new country and new ministry weren’t the only changes my squad faced though in May! We also had our first team and role change! Now, instead of having three teams, my squad only has two.

On team Fruit Salad we have Michael (team leader), Aaron, Amanda, Lillie, Ava, Mandy, Abby, and Jessie (alumni squad leader).

On team Still Waters we have John (team leader), Brice, Coby, Ella, Sarah, Alex, myself, and Elijah (alumni squad leader).

(Still Waters on our first day on ministry in the Philippines!!)

Amanda took my place as logistics with Ella, and Abby and I were raised up to take the place of our alumni squad leaders, Elijah and Jessie.

Team Still Waters was sent to Manila to work with a ministry called Kids International Ministries (K.I.M.)! The work that God is doing in the Philippines through K.I.M. is nothing short of incredible!

K.I.M. is a network of smaller ministries that all come together under one big umbrella. This ministry is truly its own community which is widespread through various parts of Manila. K.I.M. is a collaboration of tons of local and foreign missionaries and local Pastors that all come together to make as big of a Kingdom impact as they possibly can.

The culture they have established and that they continue to cultivate at K.I.M. is reflective of the church from Acts. There is truly such an overflow of the Holy Spirit and such an evident outpouring of joy and it is infectious! Every single person who enters K.I.M. feels it and walks in it!

It was absolutely a privilege and an honor to be able to serve alongside this church body. Their passion and radical love for the Lord that drives them in all that they do is so incredibly beautiful! This ministry and the people here have touched my heart deeply and the Philippines very quickly became my favorite country that we have served in this year!

The Lord really stirred my heart for the Filipino people in a way I had not experienced in Thailand or Malaysia. I have never loved a country from the moment that I stepped foot into it like I have the Philippines!

K.I.M. is involved with jail and juvie ministry, Youth Lab (youth and young adult ministry), a pregnancy clinic, school, Adonai Home (a home for abused and pregnant teens and adults), girls and boys homes for youth they have taken in and care for, construction and automotive ministry, raising money for a hospital they plan to open, children’s shelters, feedings, and tons of outreach into the local communities through the churches of Pastors who partner with them.

One thing that the Lord really highlighted to me through my squad’s time in the Philippines is extravagant love. This was mainly done through feedings. Out of everything that I have done on the Race so far, and all of the ways I have served, participating in feedings touched me deeply and stirred my heart in such a unique way.

Feedings are a community outreach K.I.M. does every single day that is mainly operated by local Pastors. Each Pastor is in charge of a section or neighborhood of Manila. They enter these communities, build relationships, give free food (either a rice soup called Lugaw or a chocolate rice porridge called Champorado) to those in need, share the Good News, and over time, disciple the people who live there. Once they have cultivated enough of a relationship, they begin to church plant in that community.

During our time in the Philippines, Still Waters was able to participate in lots of feedings all over Manila. Sometimes these feedings were in the communities, sometimes at a jail or juvie, or sometimes they were at a children’s shelter.

Each time we participated in a feeding, no matter where we were, we would share a Bible story or message, a testimony, worship, pray over the kids or adults, and then serve the food which we transported in a 5 gallon bucket.

We would then open up the bucket and grab a scoop and the children and adults would line up in front of us holding whatever was accessible to them to receive food. Some held bowls or plates, some a mug or cup, some a container or small cooking pan/pot, and some would only have a plastic bag.

We then would give each child or adult 1-3 scoops depending on how many people they were receiving food for. Sometimes we would have toddlers that would come up for us to receive food for not just themselves, but their entire family. Watching a child that could not have been more than 3 years old walk away with a container full of hot food to bring back to their family crushed my heart every time.

God weighed it on my heart as I was scooping food into bowls to allow love to guide me into doing everything I could do to make each child and adult feel as loved and seen as possible, even if our interaction only lasted a few moments or if I wasn’t sure if they spoke english. Whether that was through a smile, hug, asking their name, playing a game, picking them up, telling them about the love of their Heavenly Father, or praying with them.

While it was incredibly beautiful to be able to meet a physical and a spiritual need at the same time in those we ministered to, feedings were simultaneously a time where our hearts were stirred with intense love and compassion while also being broken and grieved over the pain, hopelessness, and poverty that we often saw in children and in adults.

No matter how many times I helped with them, I was overcome by His love for His children each time. It was so incredible to experience more of the Lord’s heart for His people and to be invited into His pursuit of them!

I am completely in awe of the extravagance of His love! The Lord truly goes above and beyond in revealing His love to His children! This leads me to a testimony from one feeding that we did in particular.

~

My team had just finished acting out a skit about Jonah and the whale and was beginning to pass out food. Because it was all being handled already, I was standing off to the side trying to figure out where I could go that would be of the most help. After realizing that everything was already being taken care of, I decided to pause and ask the Lord what He had for me to do in that moment.

As I was praying into that question, my eyes wandered over the crowd of kids in front of us and a little girl, who was standing by herself by the basketball hoop, caught my eye. She looked like she wanted to be with the other kids but like something was holding her back. And I knew, as my eyes were drawn back to her from the rest of the crowd, that He wanted me to go up to her, so I did.

She was a little shy but oh so very sweet and precious, and instantly, in the span of a few moments, my heart was stirred with such an intense and deep love for her. A love that was beyond what I could ever hope to explain or comprehend. And as I felt my heart swell, I was faced with the question, if our hearts can be stirred with such deep love for others in a single moment, how much more does the One who formed them in their mother’s womb love them?!

In that moment, as I looked at her, overcome by love, I could feel His presence so strongly, as if He was standing right next to me, smiling down at her too, one of His arms around my shoulders and the other around hers.

During our short time at that feeding site, God put it on my heart to continually seek out and pursue this little girl with tenderness and intentionality and to lavish every ounce of love upon her that I possibly could.

No matter how many times we got separated or how much the other little girls tried to pull me away, the urge to seek this little girl out in particular pressed on my heart. She blossomed under the love I showed her, growing in boldness and curiosity and beginning to ask me questions and open up more about how she was bullied. She began to want to hold my hand, hug me, and put an arm around my waist.

Eventually, despite my desire to stay and love on her more, our time came to an end. But even after I had already said goodbye to her and gave her a hug, as I got ready to follow the rest of my team and leave, I had this sense that the Lord was not finished. So instead, I made my way back to her and knelt down in front of her, grabbing her hands.

As I looked into her eyes, words entered my heart. Words of truth and love that He was speaking over her began to flow from my mouth. As I spoke, telling her about her Heavenly Father who loves her, and how much she is valued, seen, and loved, I could see the truth take root in her heart as her eyes filled with tears and she began to cry.

I was able to give her one last hug before leaving but seeing the impact those words had on her and how they touched her heart deeply made my heart ache.

What a beautiful thing it was to have been invited into God’s pursuit of that little girl! Out of all the kids that were gathered on that basketball court for a feeding (there were probably around 60) the Lord intentionally sought her out, just to reveal His love to her.

I am so grateful to have been able to love her, even for such a short time and I pray that her life is forever marked by how God pursued her through me and that she felt His love through mine!

(A picture of us together!! She is so cute!!!)

Through my time in the Philippines, the Lord truly opened my eyes to the extravagance of His love. It overflows in compassion and grace. It pursues radically and selflessly, freely giving and pouring out without reserve or hesitation. It endures, pursuing relentlessly and continually. It redeems, restores, and revives.

Witnessing this depth of love and by default, learning more about His heart for His children, has truly marked my heart and life forever and has transformed the way that I love those around me. Instead of conjuring up my own love for others and acting from that, the experiences I’ve had here in the Philippines have rooted me in God’s boundless love and taught me how to act from that! Praise God!

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

Ephesians 3:14-21

Thanks for reading!

Joyfully His,
Areonah