Saturday and Sunday Oct. 27 & 27

We got up at two AM to catch a plane to Mindanao.  We arrived there safe and sound and proceeded on a three hour drive to Mt. Moriah Bible Camp.  We had been visiting this camp since 2008 and had worked on some construction there.  When we arrived …………………….WOW what a change.

Each of our previous visits have had additions.  This time, we were just blown away.  The bamboo buildings had been replaced with and roofed basketball court that is used for play, seminars, Awana, feeding and meetings.  And next to that was being constructed a cooking and dining hall the same size.  We had also started working on a church our last visit and that was completed and an addition was in the works.

As exciting as that was, meeting the believers who donate their time to go on morning outreach trips, return to put on the Awana Program and meet afterwards to worship.  The desire to serve Jesus just made their faces shine.  Some of them had just recently given themselves to the Lord and many were involved in campus and outreach ministries at school. 

We shared our testimonies with them so they could better know us and then they shared with us.  It was a great time of seeing God work through His dedicated believers.  Many of them have sacrificed jobs to serve.  Some have been shunned by their families because they want to serve God.  Others have given so much more than I could imagine for the Lord.  I can honestly say, it puts my faith to serve in question.

We spent time with Glenn and Grace Ayala, the founders and inspiration for the ministry.  Their belief that God will provide everything we need is the foundation of their faith.  The incredible stories God’s faithfulness in making sure all the ministry needs are met inspire all who hear them. 

One such story was the Christmas program they put on last year.  Grace was planning for about eight hundred adults and children based on the year before.  She was getting a count as people arrived.  First there was four hundred, then six hundred, then eight hundred, then one thousand and so on until nearly two thousand, four hundred were there.  Now there was some real concern.  Chicken pieces were cut in half or thirds.  Then more rice and noodles had to be cooked.  More trips to the store, if there was money.  The outcome was all food and everyone went home with a small gift.  Yes there was worry but most of all, there was faith.

All that we saw and all that we heard and all that we shared brought our faith in God to new heights for me. Faith can move mountains.

Dave  

Thursday and Friday Oct. 25 & 26

We left early in the morning to head up north to the province.  To you foreigners, that’s going to the country.  We were heading to visit Dave’s family for two days.  Brigitte was introduced to the province life and met many new friends.

As she would say, we went to a home to say hello and had something to eat then went to another home to say hello and had something to eat and so on and so on and so on.  That is the custom here.

We had some rain from the edge of a typhoon cell but it did not affect us to much.

The visit was way to short but this was not the purpose of our trip.  We made it back home safely.

Dave

Wednesday Oct. 24,2012

Today started out with a visit to one of the water stations. We had one of the elders of the station area telling us about how blessed they feel to have water available to them without buying it from water trucks in the street.  Many of you know the story of these people spending one third of their income for water.  Our church now provides funds annually to establish a new water station each year.  As these stations are installed, the ownership and control is given to the community it serves.  It is up to them to control and pay the monthly usage charge.  This particular community decided to increase the price of water by a few pesos and use the extra for needed improvements.  The woman telling the story told us that because of having the water station, they have been able to create a concrete play area for the children, pup up light poles and lights for dark walkways and pay for the electricity. All this while paying less for water than before and all because  water was brought to them.

As we returned to our LMC home, as we call it, we stopped at the children’s home to visit with the workers.  They are so happy and excited that we remember them.  What a blessing they are to the children. 

It was 9:30 and time to leave to help with a feeding for homeless and displaced families from the last typhoon.  Some of the homes are still under water and these people will need help for quite a while.

After returning home and having lunch, I had a chance  to visit Errol.  He was a teacher at one of the local school.  Because of errors of his actions, he was released from teaching.  His heart was heavy and hurting.  We talked about love and forgiveness and that God is the only judge.  After sharing, we prayed and he was encouraged to seek God and accept the consequences of his actions.

We next went shopping for items we needed.  After each showing of the Jesus film, we give those present a gift of an apple and cookies.  It is a treat for them.  We also went to the grave of a boy named Michael.  His mother’s name is Malou and she does the cooking and takes care of any need we have.

Our day concluded with a visit to Josie’s Angels.  We spent time with the girls playing, trying to make journals, singing praise songs and praying.  Some of these girls do not know Jesus so we hope to reach out to them.  

Jazz Home and CCC School

October 22nd Philippines, Jazz home

Nellie and I went to the Jazz home, it stands for Josie’s Angel’s Zone. These 29 young girls range from 8 to 17/18. We stared out with a pizza party for them and then painted t-shirts that we had brought along with fabric paint. They had never done anything like this and WOW, what great creations came from them. Many put on bible verses, some were very simple and some were over the top busy with scenery words and there name’s.

Brigitte


October 23rd, Philippines, CCC School

We stared out our day by getting ready to show the Jesus film to the young moms off the Quatro community. One of the new ministries her that was started not too long ago by the nurses is a maternity ministry. This will help them to be more proactive and have healthier baby’s so that they have a better chance in life.

It seems there are always new ministries that pop up through the K.I.M. organization. There are so many people that need help, all you have to do is turn around and there are more.

At 2 pm Emily Miles (some of you might know her) picked us up to go to the bank and to the store for more snack’ and juice as we were to show the Jesus film in her community. It was a great night being with her, her team and the lord in our presence.

The Philippine Mission Team

Monday, Oct.22, 2012

Monday, Oct.22

Well, we made it. It seems the hardest part of the trip, so far, is getting the blog sight to work.  After analysis, and the help of Joel Johnson, we are up and running. My prayer is we can keep it going.

The trip was fine but< just like as always, long.  We arrived at 10:30 PM on Friday, that is, 11:30 AM your time the day before.  We were welcomed by Jeff Long and His Wife Colene.  It is nice to see a friendly face and not have to worry how we will survive.

Saturday we renewed old friendships and met new people.  As life goes, we have lost friends to this world but can rejoice in knowing we will see them again in heaven.  We found that more people remember us than we thought.  We pray that we can influence them for Jesus.  What a blessing to already have that connection.  We met with the pastors of the two churches and arranged a schedule to show the children and adults of the area the Jesus film and the children's version. We went shopping for snacks and fruit to hand out at the showings.

Sunday arrived and it was off to church.  We went to the services at both services and praised the Lord with old and new friends.  The people were thankful for our attendance and were looking forward to more interaction.  After a quick breakfast, we prepared for the children showing.  Like a boy scout, we had to be prepared. We were ready to show the film and the computer projector did not work.  A quick run back to our place and a new laptop was ready.  Of course, I did not know how to set it up.  Again God was faithful and provided the pastors son who is a techy and fixed to up.  We had 130 children watching the movie and like children, all was chaos.  It was surprising to see that at scourging and crucifixion, all the children were quiet and focused on the story.   Later, we showed the adult version to about 100 people and after both showing provided a small snack of fruit and cookies.  As we walked back to ' home'  all we wanted was sleep.

Now, today is Monday and we are getting ready for another busy day.  Please pray for the people of the Philippines and their need, both in this world and their salvation for the next.

For the team, God Bless
Dave