Joyful nation

 After arriving on Friday I got the opportunity to go Friday night and speak at a youth group and talk story with them. Walking to and from the youth group was the first of Manila we really got to see. We went by smokey mountain which is literally a mountain 5 stories high of garbage and it catches on fire "smokey mountain". We went through some poorer areas and got to see the people. They all would smile and say hi to us because it's really rare to see a white person in these areas. At the youth group it was amazing to see everyone. Even with having so little they were all smiles. They had four teams and even before they would play a game the team would huddle and pray. When we got to worship every single one of them was fully engaged and dancing around it was incredible.

Sunday morning we went to a church in squater village. It is the poorest area in Manila the sewage is all over the ground. Electrical wires running wild and the water is pumped in from the unsafe river. The homes are literally slabs of bricks put together. As we walked through we had be careful they told us it was one of the most dangerous places. We walked into the church and everyone is dressed up. They were all smiles and filled with the joy of the lord. We started with worship and they had dance crew for every song sung and they would all dance around to every song sung. Then I got to get up and share with the church about purpose and hope. Then uncle Paul shared about his past year. We ended with them asking our DTS to join there leadership team in praying for those who wanted prayer at the end of the service. They also prayed for our team and blessed us and welcomed us to their family. Afterwards we socialized with them and took photos and talked. It was so amazing to see the joy in them and love in them. Even though they literally have nothing. I honestly can't wait for January when we get to come back to this area and join side this church.