Our ministry has kicked off for the Philippines and it seems like we will be in the bars less than I expected. Let’s talk about what we have done though. 

The ministry hosts a 2 AM breakfast for girls working at the bars. The community is also very poor with a lot of beggars, so other individuals do come through as well. We serve people food until 5 AM and talk to them. Not as intensive as being in the bars, but there is still a depression lurking in the background. I’ll ask what someone’s favorite food is, and they will say “whatever I get”. I’ll ask for fun things to do in the Philippines, or what they like to do for fun, and the people won’t be able to give an answer. There is also a language barrier to the whole ordeal as some don’t know English. Also bar ladyboys show up. They are by far the most shy, and often laugh nervously, fiddle with their hair, or run outside to smoke and not interact. I can’t imagine the amount of psychological trauma they have undergone to get them to this point. 

We went to a drug rehabilitation center to talk to people and that experience was also pretty sad. In particular, the response the people kept having was they’ve been addicted for so long (10+ years on many of them) and they feel like they’ve failed their family. All of their hearts are clearly in the right place for changes, so hopefully that heart posture will carry over to once the clients get back into the environment where the addictions initially took root. The center does offer long-term care, so maybe some of the people will take that option. 

The boys also went to minister in prisons. We were told most of the prisoners would be in prison for drug crimes, but in the first prison there were some new inmates prior to transfer and boy did I see some stats on a wall. The prisoners are people too; as a matter of fact they are exactly the people Christ died to save, just like you and me. We all are capable of terrible things apart from God. The prisoners seemed very receptive to the Gospel message, and at the last prison most of them told us their names and shook hands with us. Christ is the light in the dark, so I know that fact will be true for all of the people we are ministering to in the Philippines.