The orphanage experience was incredible. Most of us only stayed the weekend with about 8 staying through this week helping with medical supplies and visiting the kids. We played with them the entire time. I fell in love with one girl in particular. Her name is Jessa and she is 14. She and I immediately hit it off. She said she sometimes gets called "Boyish" because she likes sports so much. It's no wonder the two of us got along! I played basketball with her and a bunch of the others. They loved watching me dribble for them. They were so cute. We also played baseball and volleyball with the kids.
The orphanage overlooked a beautiful river with tons of land all around us. It felt like we were in the jungle yet with mountains and palm trees surrounding on every side. We went down by the river and crossed over this bridgeway. Then it started downpouring and we all got soaked. The Filipino children were so adorable, trying to get us out of the rain as quickly as they could so we wouldn't get sick. They don't like getting wet in the rain! It felt amazing though because it was hot out.
We ate 3 great meals while there and the kids performed a little show for us at night. I had the best mangos of all time. They did a Filipino tribal dance and a good versus evil spiritual skit that I've seen in the US before. They were fantastic! I loved every minute of it.
The kids gave up their beds for each of us, which was really sweet of them. They slept in a different portion of the orphanage. The night time noises of the wild was quite an interesting experience. I don't think I've heard that many different sounds while I was trying to sleep in my entire life. It felt like we were in the jungle book! But it was neat sleeping to the unique lullaby and waking up to a loud rooster.
It amazes me how Mr. Tebow has gotten the chance to see many of these kids grow up. He has gone to their graduations, he has seen them receive awards, etc. The bible tells us to look after the widows and the orphans. And it blesses me so much to see people like him start up orphanages and genuinely care for each individual there. As soon as the kids saw him they ran up to him and embraced him as a father embraces his children. God's word says that "In you the orphan finds mercy"(Hosea 14:3). The orphans have found mercy and its wonderful to see they have been raised or put into the orphanage and trained up with Godly principles. I cried as I sat out under the large outdoor pavilion overlooking the gorgeous landscape and heard songs to our God playing loudly on the speakers. It was a privilege to be there and love on each one of them. The scriptures say that unless we are like innocent little children, we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. That verse kept coming to my mind as I was there. Here are a bunch of parentless or fatherless kids that are so innocent and full of joy. God's love just resonates off them. They are the blessed ones that were given a home and family, but we can learn a lot from them. They (as well as the rest of the Filipino culture) do not need a lot to be satisfied. One of the little boys had a shirt on that caught my eye. He was the one who BTEA raised a lot of money for to bring an American doctor over to perform a kidney transplant on. His shirt said "life is hard, that's why I was given a tough shell", with a picture of a turtle. It blessed me knowing all the things he had been through, yet he was so grateful. Eternal life only comes to us if we let go of all our grandiose confusing mind sets and lack of faith and we choose to trust in Jesus with all that we have since he will NEVER let us down. Its difficult for some people to wrap their head around "childlike trust" once we enter our adult years. But it's certainly possible and well worth allowing ones self to fall into the arms of our heavenly father.
"You are the helper of the fatherless. LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear, To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, That the man of the earth may oppress no more"(Psalms 10:14,17-18).
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