I’ve officially been in the Philippines for three days now, and to be honest, it already feels like it’s been a week. We’ve been busy prepping for SLAM, which is happening this weekend. I’ve already been to the city twice, visited the women’s jail, and made a few late-night stops at 7-Eleven for Cornettos. The biggest challenge so far has been getting over jet lag, something I didn’t expect to hit me so hard. I’ve been running on a lot of coffee and prayer to push through.
If you haven’t seen it on Instagram, I recently shared about visiting the women’s jail in Tacloban. I had the opportunity to lead a couple of worship songs for the women there. It’s surreal to be living out stories I’ve heard my mom tell for years, except now, they’re becoming my stories. One of the songs I sang was Fall On Me by NEEDTOBREATHE. The Lord brought that song to my heart one night during bootcamp. I hadn’t heard it in years, but it became such a sweet moment where God reminded me to trust Him, and to truly fall on Him this summer.
But He’s teaching me that falling on Him doesn’t just mean depending on Him in hard circumstances. It means surrendering my agenda entirely, so I can walk with Him. God desires to walk with His children, to teach and guide them, and because of that, I can fully give myself over to Him. He has never failed me, and He never will.
This is the message I was able to share with the women in the Tacloban City Jail. It was humbling to look into their eyes and speak that truth. I’m learning that we’re not here to save, or to offer advice from our own strength. We’re here to be vessels through whom God speaks.
That realization does two things: it relieves the pressure to have the “right” words when speaking into pain we may never understand firsthand, but it also reminds us of the responsibility to have God’s Word stored in our hearts. So when the time comes, we’re ready to be His mouthpiece.
As life continues on, I’m falling more and more in love with Tahanan and my friends even more. Life, though filled with challenge, is so happy here because each of these women (and Kuya Clark) are FILLED with the joy of the Lord. This tahanan is unique and something I havent quite experienced before. God is present within this community and is doing a magnificent work that is only something He can do.