Well, it seems that after three months here in the Philippines, my time here is coming to an end. The time has absolutely flown by, and I am going to miss my family and friends here so, so much. While I am very excited to see my family again after being away for three months, I am also very sad to be leaving. We leave for Manila tomorrow at approximately 7:00am, and will catch our first flight at 5:00pm to Taipei.
I have been blessed in so many ways during my time here. The way we have been welcomed into the Arcano family, the incredible church that showed me what community really is, and the love and support of my team is something I will remember and treasure for the rest of my life. We have been very engaged in the short term style ministry - focused on different events, but have also had a very good taste of what long term ministry can look like, and the day to day life that goes with that. We were welcomed here with opened arms, and we are leaving with many sad good-byes.
I am looking forward to debrief, and reconnecting with my family and the other Trekkers, but I will miss it here in the Philippines a lot. This morning I spent some time journaling and debriefing on my own; attempting to sort through some of my thought before leaving. I am very much at peace with the last three months. It was an absolutely incredible experience, and I have learned many valuable things.
Over the course of the last three months, I have been forced to depend on God in a way that I never have before. There have been moments when I've questioned if missions is really something I could do for the rest of my life. At the end of this three months I've realized that it's not something I can do. But it is something that God can do. And I've learned that through depending on Him, He can do great and mighty works through anyone who will allow themselves to be used by them. So in answer to my own question, yes, I do think missions is something I will be doing for the rest of my life. I think I have also come to a greater realization in the past three months of how much dependency on God that will require. But then again, when you have no control and it's purely God, that's when things get fun.
I've made mistakes along the way, but I've realized that God takes us as we are and uses us - all our fears, failures, and short-comings. I am looking forward to seeing what God has in store for me next, and what opportunities He will lead me to. And so, I would like to end my time here in the Philippines the same place as where I started.
"The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him." - Nahum 1:7
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