With Love Comes Sacrifice!

Many of you are aware of the sacrifices that Doug and I have made in order to do God's work here in the Philippines. But, what you may not be aware of is that our team must also make sacrifices. At Lilia's Place we are blessed with an amazing group of young people who serve the Lord faithfully and passionately each and every day, but for one of them in particular it comes with a great heartache!

In April of 2012 we began searching for that perfect teacher for our new class at Lilia's Place School. The person we thought was a perfect fit was unable to take the job, but Alaric and Irish quickly recommended Marz for the job. Doug and I knew of Marz, but had not really had the opportunity to get to know her. We knew how much Alaric and Irish loved the ministry and trusted that they would only want the best at Lilia's Place and so we hired Marz to be our new teacher.

From the get go, we fell in love with Marz! She had the grit, the tenacity, the love and most of all the humor to do this job! I discovered her humor during last years graduation ceremony. Marz had been with us a few weeks and so I gave her  a certificate of appreciation along with our other team members. I noticed Alaric, Irish and Marz reading Marz's certificate and laughing uncontrollably. Come to find out, I had used her Facebook name Marzam instead of her given name Marcelyn. While most would have been insulted or offended that I had not even known her real name, she thought it was quite humorous and kept the certificate as it was.

It was immediately evident that Marz was a gifted teacher, but the real blessing comes from who Marz is as a person. Marz tackles each and every day as if she is working for the Lord! Her love for God radiates through every task; teaching, bathing a neglected child, cooking because someone has failed to show up for their job, cleaning a restroom, serving meals to the hungry, leading the children in performances, preparing lessons and so much more. Marz is gifted with the ability to love!

Only a few are aware of the heartache that Marz suffers because of her love. Her family is from the island of Bohol and they are a very close family. Marz loves traveling home for birthdays, reunions, celebrations and stolen moments of family time. For all of us in this ministry, family time is precious! Like most families, Marz's family wants only the best for her. A teaching position has become available in her home place and her family desperately wants her to take the job. In this job she would make more pay, have benefits and be with her family.

Marz has spent many hours in prayer and has agonized over her decision but has decided that her talents right now are best used at Lilia's Place. She has fallen in love with her children and the families that she serves. In a marriage ceremony here in the Philippines they use a braided three stranded cord to represent the strength, love and faith of the couple. For me, I see that same commitment from Marz. The three strands are her, the children and God. God has woven their hearts together! He has given Marz a calling and she too is making an ultimate sacrifice.

We ask you to remember Marz in your prayers each and every day as she faithfully serves God and does HIS work at Lilia's Place. Though she has answered God's calling, her heart still hurts and bleeds for the pain it has caused her and her family. Pray also for her family that they find the comfort they need in knowing they have raised a beautiful daughter who is not afraid of doing what she must to serve the Lord and because of her courage, love for God and compassion she is making a difference in lives every single day!

All of our team makes a sacrifice to serve and Lilia's Place is blessed because of their love for God!