Jillippines Update 2

First, the pictures:

Jill with Maria*** (not her real name), who recently tied their shirts together to keep Jill close.

And now the update (from the end of last week):

I love these girls. Can I have them all? Really. They are so sweet and affectionate. They just gravitate toward us, giving us hugs, and telling us, "I love you so much!" They are so thirsty for love. They miss their families, but I am thankful that they have a family here--and several of them have told me that they are as well. Pray that God would comfort them--they want so much to have normal loving families, but so many of them don't have them. It humbles me to think how I have been blessed.

We had a great time today. We played a game a little like Marco Polo after breakfast. You blindfold someone, and the others tease and run away. I was it way too many times, and the kids took great pleasure in running up and poking me and watching me fumble my way around the room.

They call us girls "Ate" (Atay), which means older sister, JD "Kuya" meaning big brother, and Brant they call, quite comically to us, "Lolo," which means respected elder. When we come into a room, they enthusiastically call to us and ask us to sit next to them. "Ate! Ate! Ate Jill!"

We have been giving lots of hugs. They love to be held. One little girl in particular gives me 20 hugs a day and always tickles me afterward. Hug then poke.

We've been singing lots of songs. I think I told you that even though about half of them don't know English, they still sing lots of English praise songs. We taught them "Every Move I Make" and "Be Glorified" with all the hand motions, and they LOVE it. They walk around all day singing these two and beg to sing them at every devotion time.

A couple of the girls told me their stories today--it breaks my heart. I do not understand the pain these girls have had to experience. After one of the girls told me all about her past, she told me she was thankful that God brought her here. She told me that she used to hate God and Jesus, but God brought her here and showed her his love through the Caseys and others. She told me she used to get up at 3 am just to be able to borrow a Bible. How much we take for granted.

Another girl told me that she had been so blessed by us being here. She said, "You bless me because you sing with such joy. There is no one like you in my village."

Next week we will be helping to run a camp--lots of games, dancing, singing, and general craziness. I might not have quite as much time to communicate. Know that you are in my prayers.

A New Face

We are calling this the "Grandma Grin":

Does this look like the same child?

Jillippines Update 1

To those who might be wondering or worrying: yes, Jill made it safely to the Philippines. I'll let her tell you about it in her own words, via an email she sent to me:

We arrived in Manila yesterday afternoon, and stayed in a Balikbayan hotel (for returning Filipinos). It was very nice. We crashed about 8 p.m. and got a nice night's sleep. About 8 this morning we headed to the airport. Driving around in Manila was quite the experience. There were people everywhere--walking among the cars, jammed into what they call Jeepnys--open air extended jeeps that function as taxis.

Our flight to Cagayan de Oro landed late morning. It, of course, is much smaller than Manila--more comparable to the Molokai airport. We walked down stairs onto the tarmac from the plane. We've been riding around in the Nehemiah House Jeepny. Don't tell my mom [ed. note -- Hazel do not read this next part] it doesn't have seat belts, and the back is open. We are never going very fast though, as the streets are crowded and people just go where they want.

Mike pointed out on the way home that it is a study in contrasts. Millionaire estates across the street from shanty towns. Open markets and a mall that rivals Pearlridge. He also said that for all the warnings about Mindanao, Cagayan de Oro is the safest city in the Philippines. He said that we can very safely walk to the market--we could even take a jeepny ride if we were feeling brave.

We got an extremely warm welcome from the girls. They are beautiful, and I love them already. They opened the gate-- yelled "hi!" and smiled. When we climbed out of the van, they put our hands to their foreheads to offer a blessing. They prepared a beautiful meal for us, complete with a cake. They even did two dances for us to praise songs. Some of them speak English, and some of them do not. They are teaching us words here and there, but I keep forgetting them. We have been very warmly received and are thankful for the time we will get to spend with them.

They have a lot of free time in the next two weeks, so mostly we will mostly just be playing games, hanging you [ed. note -- I hope she meant "out"], and studying the bible. I am very excited.

She asked for prayer for her stomach -- it was already acting up. Other than that, please continue to pray for her earlier prayer requests.

I have no pictures from the Philippines yet, but she did send a couple from the airport in Taipei.

This is the Taipei 101, the tallest building in the world before the Burj Dubai overtook it. Don't be fooled -- Jill is standing in front of a picture of it in the airport.

Jill and Melissa in the airport, saying hello from tomorrow.

Prayer Requests

Well, I'm just about 36 hours away from leaving for the Philippines. This spring has been such a whirlwind, it is has really snuck up on me. Then again, I suppose these things always seem to. It's not like when I was a kid waiting for Christmas. Since I became an adult, I never seem to have time to prepare for holidays and trips. All of a sudden I find myself on a 10 hour flight.

For any of you that might be reading that don't know, I am going on a mission trip. It will be my first. I know that I have a lot to learn, and I have lots of concerns about the trip (mostly about leaving Ava behind), but I am very excited. I am so thankful for this opportunity to go. I will be going with a team that will be ministering to girls that have been abused. What they have endured brings me to tears when I think of it. It is humbling to me that I get to be involved. I know that I cannot tell them how to deal with their pain and grief because I cannot even fathom it. I feel so blessed to be able to go and learn--to share the love of Jesus with those who are broken and to see how God restores this broken world. I count it a privilege.

I have done a lot of thinking and praying about this trip. I was hoping that those of you who are so inclined might join me. Here are some prayer requests.

• That God would be glorified in the work that goes on there.
• That we would be used to share the riches of God's love with girls who need it.
• That the Holy Spirit would empower us to do the work that he has us to do.
• That the good news of Jesus sacrifice and God's grace would take root in their lives, transform their hearts, and give them great joy despite their suffering.
• That our team would be unified and our love for one another would be evident.
• That God would fight for us as we experience spiritual warfare.
• That I would be humble and teachable, and that I would learn more deeply how deep God's love is and how wonderful his gospel is.
• That God will watch over my little girl while I'm away from her, and that I would be at peace in His call to go.
• That our group would be granted safety while we are there.

Thank you, thank you for your prayers. I will leave you with a scripture that I have been mulling over the past few weeks. It speaks of God's grace and his ability to restore. It seems especially appropriate

Isaiah 61:1-4
¹ The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,

² to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,

³ and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.

⁴ They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.

Over Sharing

In my post the other day, I neglected to mention that Ava loves to share. Sort of. She will hold up various items and make a little baby noise with a question mark on the end of it, as if to ask, "do you want this?" About half the time, she will actually give you whatever it is she is offering. The rest of the time she takes it back. She loves to share toys, books, cheerios and anything else she comes across. I was in the apple store the other day trying to get my laptop fixed, and she shoved a mum mum in my mouth. "mehh?" she asked. I tried to refuse, but she was not satisfied until I took a little bite.

Today I took her to Ross. While in the dressing room, she ducked under the divider, grabbed a hanger off the floor, and offered it to the lady in the next stall. Luckily she was understanding, and just laughed. Precocious she is.

Ava's Current Cuteness

With all the family in town and our trip to Chicago, I have neglected to post some of the adorable things that Ava's been doing lately. Here goes:

• She points. At everything. And squeals: "AhhYAH!"
• She's very conversational. Her noises, though still not very intelligible, are more intentional. She is also very LOUD. I think we might have an Addy on our hands. :)
• She stands much more confidently on her own. Yesterday, she was dancing. Usually once a day, I can convince her to take a few steps toward me on her own. She definitely prefers to walk--she only crawls when there's nothing to pull up on.
• The fascination with my mouth continues. If she's tired, she almost always puts her fingers in my mouth for comfort. It's like an on off switch. She'll be her normal squirly self then put her fingers in my mouth (or I'll put them in my mouth for her if I'm really desperate), then she puts her head down on my chest and breathes deeply. If for some reason I pull them out or they come out, her head pops up off my chest. She even does this at the grocery store. People laugh when they see us, and I sound like I'm at the dentist whenever I try to talk to someone.

That's all I can think of at the moment. I wanted to let those of you who aren't here have a little update. She's really lots of fun these days.