Sweet Agape

This week at the student center, I met a girl whose name was Sweet Agape. Isn't that beautiful? I have a feeling I will remember the name much longer than I will the face.

We have been in Rizal, a province where the new YLSC is all week but we are back in Manila for the weekend, so I have access to the internet! I'm having a hard time sleeping tonight and for some reason one phrase keeps going through my mind over and over. My heart beats for things I can't see and breaks for things I can. I'm sure I've heard that somewhere sometime before, but I can't remember where. And I don't know if I've ever REALLY thought about it, and I definitely know that it's never been true in my life. But I keep thinking about how true it really is. Our world is so full of things that break my heart. When I'm home, I see greed and selfishness and people who are without hope and who are broken-I see people here who seem hopeless and broken, too, but they face completely different struggles everyday-they find themselves needing food and clean clothes. It's heartbreaking, and if I dwelt on it, it might be more than I could handle. Oh...but then I think of the things my heart beats for-I think of Who I was created to praise and the hope that brings, and even though I can't see these things, I hope for them, and I wait for them, and I know them to be true!

I know that wasn't really an update of what's been happening, but it's what's keeping me awake when I should be sleeping, so there you go...

Anyway, we were moved to another location this week. It is a brand new student center, so Monday there were only about a dozen students or so. We spent the week walking around the town to the colleges and handing out flyers and magazines and inviting them to the center. Something must of worked because by Thursday, there were 86 students who signed in! This was such an encouragement for us because every student who comes in and goes through orientation to become a member, we get to share the gospel with. So if nothing else, they are exposed to it then-after that, they have the opportunity to come to the weekly programs or get involved in growth groups. They have options that were unavailable to them last week, and that's exciting to me! I spent the week just trying to get to know students and playing uno and doing a puzzle and teaching them new, loud (of course) games. One of our main goals, aside from witnessing, is just trying to get the students excited about the center so that there will be a foundation built. I can already see God doing that and it's amazing to watch!

Every morning we have a bible study time with the lady who is over the center, Naynay Jo (naynay means momma). She is an absolutely amazing woman of God, but we are talking about the characteristics of God and how we are called to imitate these and develop them in our own lives. She has so much wisdom by just picking this as our first topic to study. She knows that we are probably a little uncomfortable with the language barriers and cultural differences and a little homesick and it would be easy to start counting the days till we see our families again, but she also knows that we were called here, and we have a much larger purpose and if we are to be effective in our ministry, we must develop love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Or at least that's what I'm getting from it.

My trip is already half-way over. God has been teaching me so much. It's amazing how getting out of your comfort zone a little will force you to grow...