Men may doubt what I say, but they will believe what I do.
This first year of service here in Sulong Ipil I have felt different. People here were not respectful. They did not greet me even when I greeted them first. Then, school days came. The children were of the same attitude as their parents. They just looked at me and had nothing to say. Even a smile from them was unusual. My co-workers and I decided to make some activities to build closeness with our students. God performed a miracle and opened the closed minds of our students.
After three months of praying, we began to see changes. Most of our students started showing their love to us by hugging before going home. They knew how to say something during class or after class. We built these relationships with our students through prayers. The time for our year end program came. As teachers we prepared something to draw our student’s parents close to us. We did our best during that party. The parents and teachers enjoyed that day.
The next morning I was happy to hear the students’ positive feedback from their parents. From then on I heard greetings from the villagers, especially parents. With no hesitancy even a blind woman hugged me. My heart is bursting and bubbling upon hearing the changes of the people here.
My co-workers and I visited each house with our students. We checked their health and offered songs and prayers. We tried to be good examples by showing them in doing. We prayed they would believe not only by our speaking, but by our actions. As missionaries, we will try to set a good example by our actions. Let us, with joy and happiness, count our daily labor as a blessing.