Pasta Failures & Becoming A Basketball Player

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:26

I learned two things this Sunday, (1) I’m never touching a pasta recipe again & (2) in the Philippines I’ll inevitably become a baller. These are two facts that are undisputable, but before I get into the background of this weekend, and the events that led me to these claims, let me give a quick rundown of some of the other things I did this past week.

This week has been one of continued conviction. God is slowly but surely pressing in on my heart the call to pick up my cross, leave all behind, and follow him. I don’t know how he wants me to pursue this call yet, I don’t know where he wants me to go, but I do know that whatever I’m called to, I have to spread the good-news. While being here, especially this week, God’s given me 2 things abundantly. One is extremely Godly people surrounding and pouring into me including my team and the leaders and pastors/missionaries that I’ve talked to about the call to missions. And the second is solid quiet time alone to pray, admire God’s creation, and lift up these paths to him. I trust that I will make all things clear but in the meantime during this season of growth I’m staying present and soaking in the culture, the poverty, in some aspects the languages, and in all aspects the food.

I have tried so many new foods, and I’ll try not to spend a crazy amount of time explaining all these taste changing experiences but let me at least give you some brief highlights of what I’ve tried so far.

Fruits: I’ve only had two particularly distinct fruits in the Philippines thus far one being Durian which tastes like sweet chicken and has an awful aftertaste and the second being Mangosteens which has definitely been everyone’s number 1 favorite so far. Mangosteens look somewhat like a purple tangerine, and they taste very unique for most fruit, but regardless of their differentness they are absolutely delicious.

Meats: So many meats. I’ve had tons of variations of chicken but some of the distinct delicacies I’ve had so far were snake (specifically python), an entire fish head (eyes included), and most recently Balut which is a 6-week-old duck egg that has been boiled with the duck in it, and I’m pretty sure (out of all us Americans) I was the only one able to keep it down.

Failures: Never again will I touch/try to cook a recipe for my team again. Man, I messed up. Earlier this week I had excitedly made the plan to try and cook a meal, specifically “pasta carbonara”, for my entire group after we got back from ministry Sunday night. I got permission, bought the groceries, and hurried in the door Sunday night with a plan and a purpose to make some people pleasing pasta. Suffice to say not all went according to plan. Some specifically key moments were doubling/possibly tripling the amount of salt for the recipe, dropping half the pasta in the hand washing sink, and then spilling the overflowing pasta over the pot in trying to mix in the carbonara sauce. What a mess. I took it pretty hard seeing everyone at the table trying their best to eat the absurdly salty food before them, chugging their water and pinching their noses. But eventually half of it ended up in the trash and the other half was left out for the stray dogs/cats that prowl all over Davao. In the end it was just another happy accident (Bob Ross) but, in all seriousness, I do hope to eventually redeem myself in the kitchen and make some food that my entire team can ediblely enjoy.

Along with trying many new foods I’ve also had to adjust to some new sports including basketball. I’ve never been good at basketball other than a random clutch shot here or there. But this past weekend was something different. As an American you get a ton of attention, somewhat similar to what a celebrity might experience, and one of the perceptions that has been most prevalent to me thus far is that Americans are good at basketball. Every time I walk by a court, doesn’t matter if it’s mid game, doesn’t matter if I’m holding stuff in both hands, they always urge me to take a shot and so far I’ve sucked. So many airballs/backboards hits. But this past Sunday, after not being able to follow up at some in home bible studies, I ended up off to the side as my teammates lead the children’s ministry. I watched as the shirtless Filipino’s, passed the kids, played some intense games of basketball and decided I wanted to put some sort of work in. I hopped in on a 3v3 game and at first started pretty slow with most of my time to time shots bouncing off the rim, but finally they started dropping in. After that I was on a roll, defense of lock, multiple smack downs, and nothing but net shots from outside the 3 point line. So much fun. Apparently these guys play pick-up every day so that means I’ll be playing every week when I come to see them on Sundays, so definitely looking forward to that. Also another massive benefit of playing basketball this Sunday was an easy opportunity to share the gospel. After playing 5 games I quickly snagged some water, and was chatting with the players about my life and what I planned to do in the years to come. I mentioned I wanted to do missions and after one of the unsuspecting teens asked me what I meant, I told then a quick abbreviation of the story of the gospel that had changed my life and had spurred me on to missions. So cool that God opens these paths. Praying for more opportunities to share the gospel with them these next 2 Sundays while I’m still in that area.

Finally, 3 other really cool experiences this week was white water rafting with my team on Monday, an early morning run on Thursday with a beautiful sunrise and a double rainbow right above the ocean, and on Tuesday a pretty hefty earth quake. So many cool things to see and experience, can’t wait for all the things coming next.

Lastly, some weekly prayer requests, just for;

• God to continue to make clear his call
• For reliance on him in all forms of ministry
• For the half year students to trust God as they choose to leave or stay at the the end of AOT training

May God be glorified in all that we do. And may the holy spirit fill you with power and authority as you live out the great commission, wherever you are, until the Lord returns in glory to take us by the hand and lead us home to our father that loves us, Amen.