Its Tuesday at lunch and I am bloggin on the crazy American/Filipino's computer while we are eating lunch........
Last night was a late night for us and the computers were shut down when we got back to the hotel......I must stop you at this point and warn you that the past few days have been QUITE emotional.....you may to grab a tissue.....
Yesterday(Monday morning) we visited a Filipino prison......While we were there we had the honor of witnessing the baptism of 30 Filipino brothers who were there.....The pastor who baptized them was a former Filipino prisoner who was saved at the prison and now is a prison minister as well as a pastor at a local church........From the moment the baptism started I could not control my tears....To see the faith of these men who committed their lives to Jesus be baptized was the most amazing thing that I have ever seen.......They were baptized in a cement prison bathtub....The preacher stood outside of the tub and dipped them under......
While they were baptizing, this song was playing....the words said this....
"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound .......My chains are gone..I've been set free... My God my savior has ransomed me....."
Chris Tomlin never knew that his song would be played at such an appropriate place......While those men were confined to prison for their crimes, Jesus had set them free.....WOW!!!!!
After the baptism, Jun Lo, one of the other great people we have met here, asked me to speak to the prisoners...I could hardly get the words out....I told them that I looked forward to meeting them all and hearing the story of their redemption in heaven......
When we left the prison we headed to the Leprosarium, a hospital for victims of Leprosy and their children.....In a one room school house still decorated for Christmas, we gave out shoe boxes to the children of the patients.......I CAN NOT WAIT TO SHOW YOU THE PICS!!!!!!!! There was this little chubby kid who reminded me so much of myself...He was a camera ham and had the cutest sun glasses........
Last night we went to a place called Mountain View...It is the highest point around, and the air was very fresh and cool....A nice break from the hot and HUMID air of the day.,.....
This morning I had the most moving and heart wrenching experience of my life.......We went to the children's ward of a Philippines public hospital......It was so hard to see.....I can hardly type without crying about the tragic situations I saw,.......2 ties during my visit I had to leave the area and just break down.....
I first encountered a little guy named Charles...He had Pneumonia and was on a respirator.....He had been there for 3 weeks...The church was paying for his respirator....The family could not afford it...Pastor Les said it costs about 4 dollars a day.......He seem to getting better...As I laid my hands on him to pray I could feel the congestion in his body....He struggled to take every breathe....I went to buy some medical formula at the pharmacy for him, along with some diaper rash cream, but none was available.....His mother said he was doing better, but did not know if he would survive...He was just a few months old.....He smelled like a little baby in spite of his sickness.
The second baby I met was Chris.....He had been in the hospital for 8 months....He had chronic diarrhea.....That had led to other complications......The prognosis was dim....
I saw another 16 year old, I dont remember his name......He was literally about to die at anytime.....
I held anothe little baby who was just 20 days old...Her fever was so high she literally burned my skin as I held her......
Just moment after I left the room for the last time, my heart was so overwhelmed I could not speak or do anything but call out the name of the only helper I know....My eyes are filled with tears as I write...I hope yours are too.....Please pray that God would lead me as to how I can better help!!!!!!!!
God is so faithful to me, and I am so blessed beyond measure......It is hard to accurately put into words how wonderfully amazing he has been to me and to all of us....
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