Rejoice in the Lord always

This week has been a week of rejoicing and encouragement! We started prayerwalking in the community around us and got to establish a few connections through that. The language barrier has been an issue but again God reminded me "they will know us by our love."
It would be extremely easy to fall into a routine here, but I am praying that routines don't lead to complacency. I work an eight hour shift everyday and due to night shifts I sometimes work 16 out of 24 hours. I have no complaints with my schedule since I do enjoy loving on the least of these (even if it is 7 hours of screaming babies) :)
One thing that really touched my heart this week is the children's prayer before bed. After thanking God for the day and all the people who love them they say "and God please help me to find a home of my own." The first time I heard that out of the mouth of an orphaned three year old I couldn't help but cry. Being here hands on with these little guys gives me a whole new perspective on life. I long to take every one of them home. One the kids, John Mark, will soon be adopted by a family in France. We are waiting on his visa, every night he looks at a photo album of his new family and kisses them good night. It is one of the most precious things I have ever seen. This week we found out one of the children is severely developmentally delayed. He is eleven months old but has only reached the 6 month old marker. He was taken to a neurologist and we are awaiting the official results. He has a 2 year old sister and the Philippines requires they are adopted together so this will make placement in a home tough. Despite the fact the children have no families they are so love here and are some of the toughest, most joyful children I have ever met.
Thanks to my family I am snacking on some yummy American snacks right now (Thank you Aunt Skip and Uncle Mike!!) and the package came just in time! This week our supervisor Andrea is here, along with our media girl Mallory. They are here to document our journey as well as check on us and encourage us. It has been so nice spending time with them and God has really used Andrea's wisdom to teach me. We will miss them when they leave but will see them again soon.
This coming week I am looking forward to more ministry opportunities within local churches as well as to the community around us. Please be in prayer for the following things:
-God to break through language barrier
-ministry and evangelism opportunities
-a Christian translator who can speak English and Tagalog well
-the caregivers at the orphanage and chances to witness to them
-breaking through the "surface" conversations with those around us
We have weekly memory verses and this week one in particular has stuck out to me
"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith of greater worth than gold- which perishes even though refined by fire may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Chirst is revealed" 1 Peter 1:6-7
Friends stay strong in Christ and stay faithful to his work. God has commanded us all to be missionaries wherever he puts us. Beware of the trap of depending on God's promises without following his commands. "I thank God everytime I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this that He who began a good work in you will carry in on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:3-6
Thank you for your prayers and encouraging words!
Brittani Clark