Today was Sunday service with Family Circus. They have 6 services over the weekend because they have so many children that come. In order for the kids to get to church they send out Jeepneys to pick them up at their homes.
Each Jeepney brings as many children as they can haul. One of the Jeepneys had 60 children inside.

Each service has about 600 hundred children in an area smaller than our children’s church.

The kids participate in singing, dramas, and games very similar to our children’s church.


We were also able to be there and pray with a family that was dedicating their children to the Lord. Most times it’s the children that come to Family Circus first and then encourage their family to come. They are often times the reason that other family members come to know Jesus. These families know Jesus and want everyone praying with them so that they can raise their children to know Jesus also.

After service Connie got to help with some first aid needs before leaving. The kids often times get infections from a simple cut because they don’t have simple first aid supplies such as antibiotic cream. We were glad that we were able to bring some of those supplies with us to the Philippines.

After service we had a free afternoon to go shopping and eat. We took a Jeepney to a nearby mall and it cost us 7 pesos each way, which is about 14 cents. The malls are very much like home except much larger. Every person is searched before they are allowed in the mall including your backpack. Although we enjoyed shopping we are excited about getting back to ministry. Tomorrow we are going to the ocean to do a little sight-seeing of Davao. We’ll make sure to post some pictures when we return.

Today we were up early and went to the services at Family Circus. We were able to hand out the food for the kids, a roll and a juice pack. The kids started coming and kept coming by Jeepney until the entire place was packed and they brought all of the available benches. You couldn’t move around hardly at all. It was great seeing all of those kids and watching them as they learned about Jesus. They were great at their memory verse songs. The ministry team was polished and the service went smoothly. There was no air conditioning so it was very very hot inside.

While the service was going on in one room, they were pulling bad teeth in the other room. They didn’t even give the kids any anesthesia or pain killer. I couldn’t believe that they didn’t make a sound. They were very brave. After the tooth was pulled they were given a small cup of ice to put up against their cheek to help with the pain.

There were two services in a row and then we held another service out near the ocean in an undercover basketball court. Everything that was done in the morning was now repeated at this location out of the Family circus truck. The kids were very friendly and I was able to play with them before the service. After the service all of the kids wanted to have their picture taken so they made a line and I just kept taking pictures. I would show it to them on the camera, they would laugh and then ask me to take another. Some of the kids were wearing flip flops that were worn all the way through to the ground because they are too poor to buy new ones. There are so many things that we can do to help these children. We can buy 3 pair of flip flops for $1.00 and then Family Circus gives them to the children that really need new ones.

The area that they lived in was very poor. Their houses were very primitive and small. Most of them were on stilts because of flooding from the ocean. None of them had glass windows or real doors like we have. The sides were made of a very flimsy woven wood and most of the floors were dirt. Very different from how we live.