There are a lot of really great answers to the Question, "Why the Philippines?". I myself have several answers to that very question. The first answer is a bit of a story, so bear with me.

When I was 14 my family accidentally went tent camping in a trailer park where people lived. How does this happen you might ask. Well, my mom had a work trip and we couldn't afford a hotel for 6 people. This campsite was pretty cheap, had a bathroom, was close to her work, and even had wifi. I know, I know, the wifi should have tipped us off that something was weird, but it didn't. My family enjoys camping (or tent glamping as some would call this), and it was going to be kind of a working vacation for us.

When we got there we discovered this camp site was on the back end of a trailer park... like, the school bus dropped kids off everyday. We could even see Walmart from our campsite. This wasn't what we had expected for our campsite. The month was October, which in the south is generally a good time to be out doors. However, while we were camping a cold front came through that we were not prepared for. It got really cold, like in the low 40's. We bought some sweats and gloves and were ready to tough it out.

The set up was our tent then a playground then this lady's trailer.

She kept coming over to chat with us, and she was bringing us food too. She talked to us about Jesus and her life in the Philippines, and about her husband being an airplane mechanic. We couldn't figure out why she was being so kind to us and bringing us food. She seamed really worried about my youngest brother who was 4 at the time. We finally realized she thought the only explanation for us camping in this weather for a week was that we were homeless, but by that time it was too late to say anything; we didn't want to rob her of the joy of serving us.

She was so kind and shared the love of Jesus like nothing else I had ever experienced. She told me she was praying for us and how much God loved us, but more than that, she showed us his love. I doubt that I'll ever see Ms Maria and her husband again, but I want to repay the kindness they showed me by loving on their people.

So that's why this trip stood out to me.

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Rebekah Sartain