January–March

Hi everyone! My flight is booked for home on April 4, which means less than 1 week left at MH! Crazy! I have been learning my whole time here, but God has taught me 3 lessons clearer than ever in the past 3 months.

SO WHAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING?!

Mango School ended with the end of the school year in March, leaving me with an important lesson (Lesson #1)

In biology, we finished with the immune system (involving games of immunity tag) and flower anatomy! In physics, we finished with projectile motion and a catapult contest.

As I have expressed many times, teaching has NOT been easy and has really pushed the limits on my creativity with activities. However, I am forever grateful for this God-given opportunity. Teaching opened the door to deepen my relationships with the kids and encourage them to have confidence and try their best. By the end, Natcha and Cherry, two junior high students, went from the bottom of our class to the top. When I handed back their near-perfect scores, their smiles were unforgettable. That week, the three of us had spent an hour reviewing the immune system over and over until they understood and remembered. I was so proud of their hard work and newfound motivation. I was simultaneously speechless from awe, was this fruit?! Through His grace, God quickly answered this question.

I realized that yes, this might really be fruit. How cool! But it wasn’t the fruit of my work or God working through only me. All the other volunteers had instilled and encouraged the same message of perseverance into our many overlapping students. Bri, Irene, and I sent that message in the classroom, but another volunteer, Won Chang, had been delivering the same message in a different package. Won Chang, a taekwondo master, has been teaching many of the kids taekwondo for 7 months. He was also teaching the kids perseverance through mental and physical challenges.

While all four of us volunteers had been encouraging perseverance mentally and physically, Pastor Danny tied it all together spiritually. He had been leading a bible study on Revelations, highlighting themes of perseverance in faith. I think this helped ground the kids and focus on putting in their best effort for God and His work. I realized God had been conducting us, His people, to play a unified song about persevering through Him and for Him to the Mango kids. Amazing! Teaching helped me understand more about how God unifies His people to carry out His plan.

flower dissection!

cherry and natcha after crushing their exam!

my lovely physics students

taekwondo after yellow/red belt test!

new Mango kid Noi making me "food"

The end of the school year brings new beginnings!

We celebrated graduations! Leah is moving on to junior high, Tae and Chai Chai will start college, and Alao and June are entering adulthood as college grads. The overwhelming love in the Mango House community really shined during the celebration. Everyone was so proud of everyone, and you could feel it. Praise God for His grace and generosity for these kids by leading them to Mango House. We pray that the graduates will continue to grow their minds to build God’s kingdom. God continued to do His good works by also bringing new children to Mango House! We welcomed a four year old and a baby in the past month and are expecting more children soon!

i will miss this

Lesson #2: Picking up Jubilee, Mango House's 1st baby!

Jubilee is a 7-month-old who we accepted from the local hospital’s social work department. She had been abandoned at the hospital by her parents. Before this, she was born prematurely and neglected at home, only fed water and barely taken out of her crib. On top of that, her father was rumored to be an abuser. Jubilee’s story broke my heart, but my heart broke even more when we met her in the hospital. She was only 9 lbs, so fragile and malnourished. We were shocked to also see her parents at the bedside. Social work had tracked them down and asked them to come to sign off Jubilee.

When I saw her parents, my first thought was “These are the neglecters? Really?”. As Jubilee cooed in the bed, I shared a smile with her mother, sparking strong inner conflict. This woman participated in horrible acts towards this innocent baby, yet at this moment I could easily share a heartwarming smile with her. Though I desperately wanted Jubilee to come to MH to be loved and cared for, I also felt the woman’s sadness. I fought tears watching her weep from afar after saying a final goodbye.

Seeing Jubliee’s parents left me not knowing how to feel, but in discussion with the rest of the staff and volunteers, God provided clarity. Irene, another volunteer, had similar sentiments about how the experience humanized the parents making her feel conflicted. However, she made an amazing point that we are also sinners who received undeserved grace from God, so in a way, who are we to judge? Jubilee’s parents are also people who God gives grace to. I cried a lot that day for many reasons: I wept tears of sadness for Jubilee’s story and its reminiscence of our MH kids' stories, but I also wept tears of happiness for God’s great love. God loves Jubilee so much that he created a path for her to find Mango House, a place where she will be so well-loved. How beautiful.

Jubliee day 1

Jubliee day 24!

Jubliee will be well-loved at Mango House <3

candle workshop + candles designed by Ewa, Juju, and N'Mai!

Beginning of the Art ministry!

Shortly after school ended for the kids, I was asked to help start an art ministry at Mango House! Ewa and Juju, who were also my students, wanted to get more involved in Mango House’s ministry through art. My role is to mentor them in how to do art for God through ministry. Doing art for God has been a big lesson for me as well, so I am excited to pass the lesson on to these two girls. We’ve already gotten started, including creating candles to give to teams as gifts and repainting the iconic MH wall. I am excited to share more in my next letter 🤗

Saying goodbye to Irene

Just as my time is coming soon, Irene’s time came to a close here at Mango House. I am honored to have served with Irene and learn from how she serves with her unique gifts. Irene is a thoughtful, deep thinker. I learned a lot from her wise perspective and her attention to detail with the kids. I am excited to watch her become an amazing doctor and kingdom builder!

Bri, Irene, and I on our last visa excursion (1/2 day in Singapore)

GCC x NGC x MH!

my beloved kids <3

Hosting a team from GCC (Grace Community Chapel) New Jersey + Sydney, and NGC (New Gate Church) from Colorado!

Just this past week, we hosted a 19 person team from 3 different churches, including 3 pastors. This team prepared workshops ranging from electricity to nail art to how to teach bible study, really showing kids how a wide range of gifts can be used for God’s kingdom. They did such a wonderful job and really blessed the kids at MH. They also organized a retreat with the theme of perseverance (amazing, right?)! Many of the team’s sermons, seminars, and small group times really touched the kids. Juju even committed herself to Christ during the retreat! I am grateful I got to witness how others had cared for the seed planted in Juju by sharing God's love with her. Let's pray her faith continues to grow!

Lesson #3: Serving with GCC x NGC

The first two days of GCC and NGC, all the older kids participated in the How to Teach Bible Study workshop, so the volunteers were asked to help the younger groups in their place. I was with the youngest group, and oh my goodness, after the first two days of managing 11 kids under 10 years old and even translating for them, I was wiped. My battery was completely diminished. Then, came the retreat. I faced a choice: serve the older kids in the youth group or continue to serve the little kids in VBS.

I really wanted to serve the older kids and encourage some to take the next steps in their faith, but God was pushing me towards VBS (which also needed more help). Already exhausted from the first few days, I turned to God for guidance. Why was I so drained? He told me I was serving from the wrong place: I was serving out of a place of my love instead of serving from God’s love. My love is not perfect, but God's is. Suddenly, instead of seeing the biggest (but cutest) troublemaker in MH (if you know, you know), I saw God’s beloved child who He gave everything for. In my head, I could hear Irene’s voice when we picked up Jubilee, “Who am I to judge?”

Finding this distinction in my heart completely transformed my service. I was still beyond exhausted, but my heart was full. The kids also started to respond better and my love for them only grew more, even in their bad moments. Though God grew my heart while working with little kids, I could tell he grew my heart bigger for everyone around me.

I booked my flight back to the United States!

I will be coming back on 4/4 and have the amazing opportunity to escort N’Mai to Chicago. N’Mai is a high school senior and aspiring dentist! She will shadow dentists in Chicago for 2.5 weeks before visiting DC & New York to meet the other MH kids visiting America! I am excited for N’Mai and pray that her time in America will be fruitful. June, a recent college grad, might also come if her visa works out. If so, I would get to host her throughout April! I am so grateful to God for this opportunity to continue serving Him through Mango House even after departure.

N'Mai!

HERE ARE MY PRAYER REQUESTS!

Alao, June, and Mary, three girls at MH around my age and now my dear friends, will be heading into adulthood! Alao and Mary will study in America for 1 year and June will enter the workforce. Please pray for wisdom and guidance for all 3 as they embark on the next steps in God’s plan for them.
The GCC retreat was spiritually impactful for many of the kids. Please pray that these impacts and new habits are not temporary but will continue to grow and flourish.
This will be the first time N’Mai will be in America without anyone from MH. Please pray for her peace of mind, a fruitful journey, and smooth travel as we head to Chicago!
These last days are BUSY, so please pray that I stay present during my last days at Mango House.

Thank you so much for reading and for your consistent prayers throughout this journey. I will likely send out one last letter after I leave. I feel deeply blessed to have served at a place like Mango House, to have so many dedicated supporters, and to have made new connections with God's people from all over the world! His kingdom is so big and full of life. Until next time (from America oh my gosh)!

Izzie / Isabella

Warmest,