We have completed language school! I am fluent in Cebuano......ha ha just kidding. I wish we could spend more time learning the language b/c there is a lot to it but only being here four months is not enough time to really grasp such a unique language. I have gotten down short sayings and also I can understand when they speak to me it just takes me awhile to respond back in a full cebuano sentence. I have loved my time getting to know my language teacher and her family. They truly love the Lord and to see thier hearts was such an encouragement to me. I now consider my teacher to always be my Filipino mother! After this sunday we will move from our school and our travels and ministries continue to new and unreached places.
God has really been showing me a lot this week, I realize when I slow down from that busy life style and truly listen for him I can hear his soft voice. He has been breaking my heart in one specific way, and I am asking myself "do I lose sleep at night for the lost? Does my heart break so much that I cry for those who don't have that Joy and Hope that God has so graciously given me?" I know those are hard questions to ask but I don't lose sleep and I don't cry, I also know that is a hard prayer to pray but I want to totally live my life for Christ. Even as I say this to you, I really wonder what if I did this, how would I be a different person. Its an easy thing to say here b/c I may not see these people here again (of course I hope to rejoice with them in heaven) but in my home town can I be the same wittness that I am here? I want to be held accountable to make a difference in Cleveland, Tn the bible belt. For me when I get home I want to give my all to Ocoee outreach to North Cleveland youth, to my community and to my family. With whatever ministry God has you in are you giving you your all? I am praying for you and if your not in some kind of ministry, that He would open the doors to your heart and show you how you can be used.
This past weekend we went back to M.J Santos to work in the Clinic. However we were not able to work on saturday and I was a little upset we couldn't but I needed to "leave room for that interruption!" So on the way there we met a woman who lived in Tungao, which is the next town from us, so we ended up catching a jeepney and wondered around that town talking with people sharing why we were here and hopeing to share how to have a personal relationship with Jesus. We ended up going to fellowship with the woman whose husband is a pastor and their family, we met with the youth of the church and just talked. We really enjoyed the day and to top it off at the end I was able to play "sand" volleyabll with the village people. It was so much fun! They love it, we were suppose to be playing 4 on 4 but they kept telling me to pass and that someone would set it and for me to spike it.....They loved seeing a white girl jump! But I will have you know I didn't go easy on those guys on the other side of the net, oh yeah I spiked it!! Haha It was a great time to fellowship and enjoy time with our new friends. On Sunday we worshiped with the church in M.J Santos which was nice b/c usually we are gone to churches in other villages helping with the services. This Sunday we will visit a church here in the City and stay with a host family in town. So that leads me to some prayer request, along with what is going on this week......
On Monday we start working at the Priventail hospital here in the City. This is a government run hosptial. I have been assign to the ER for the first 2 days, then the ICU for the next, and Friday to the Surgery unit. I am very excited. I would ask that you would pray that the Lord would give us many opportunities to share with the people and that we would have the discernment to feel the Holy Spirit guiding us. Also for protection of our health, and just that we would feel the Holy Spirit at all times! So that is what we are doing for the first week of march.
I wanted to add a more personal note and some prayer requests for my family. During the next few months there is some hard days coming up that will be the first time to spend without dad. So I ask that on Feb 27, March 12, March 24, Easter, and the begining of May you say a little extra pray for my family. For me here I have had those days were all I want to do is cry and the reality and pain of losing him hits me again. I know that he is at peace and not suffering any more and I am so glad but at times selffihsly I want him here with me. I miss him a lot and at times I wonder why I am here going through this by myself....but I know that I am not, that I have the best comfort from the Lord. I believe he is teaching me to trust Him more that instead of going to others for comfort to go directly to Him, and sometimes I don't. But I ask that you continue to pray for me and my family as we heal from this pain and that we would have the opportunity to share our story to bring God the Glory.
I want to say that during the next few months of this trip I am not sure how much I can get on the internet. We will be living in the Communities which doesn't usually have electricity. But Please know that I will update when I can and it has been a huge encouragement to know that you have been praying for me. Also, just to say I love writing these blogs! Again I hope that they can encourage you and I ask that you continue to still leave room for interruption and ask the Lord to put someone in your path today that you can share His Truth with!
Thank you again for your support and prayers! I hope to write after the hospital but if not know that I will update as soon as I can!
Love to you all,
In His Embrace,
Whitney
Friday, February 26, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Hatagig lugar para sa mga kabilinggan!
Leave room for interruption:
So many times I am to busy to leave room for interruption. In Mark 1:35-39 Jesus has been so busy and first He needed time with God, he needed that solitary place to just pray. The disciples were looking for Him telling him where he needed to go when he said “Let us go somewhere else to the nearby villages so that I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” To me this is saying that the disciples were trying to take him to many places when Jesus told them I am going where the Lord is going to lead me. How many times have I been focused on going to one place and rushed through the interruptions God placed before me. I am challenged by that here, that I need to focus on every interruption and Embrace it.
In my quiet time I am going through the Gospels. I love it and I am taking each day to focus on God’s teaching and learning how I can apply those teachings in my life.
The Journey:
Well this was our last full week of language school, we have been here since Jan 22. I have learned many things I wish I could say I have gotten the language down but only spending a month in the language is not enough some spend over a year just in school. We have tried to learn as much as we could but I know we will learn more b/c when we go to the Bukid (moutnains) we will be forced to speak Cebuano. Since we have been at language school we have made many friends! Our teacher has become our Filipino mother and we have fallen in love with her family! We have learned to shop the Filipino way, I think I got good at the bargaining and also cooking! Some things we have learned to cook is Adobo which tastes a lot like seasme chicken, Pansit which is a noodles dish, also Lumpia this is a wrap with pork and veggies, and I will have to say my favorite is the grilled fresh veggies! Oh and every meal is rice, however we have stuck to every other day or once a day with rice. So cooking as been fun!
This weekend we are heading to the Bukid (moutains) to work in the clinic again! I really enjoy this and we are able to help physical needs which is very needed. The first week of March we will start working in a local hospital but we will only be there for a week. Please pray for us as we minister there. Also After that week we will train learning much about water filters, gardening and how to conduct health classes along with community development. This past weekend we went to a village called Florida, we led youth bible studies and 6 people came to the Lord. I ask that you keep those people in your prayers as the begin a new journey with the Lord. Also we traveled there by a tree boat! There is not much balance so I am so surprised by the fact we didn't fall in! ha ha that would have been a sight! It was the Aguson River.
I have been learning a Cebuano worship song! The guitar playing is coming along ha ha I love playing just don’t focus on it as much as I should ☺ But we are growing as a team and learning more ways to minister.
We have gotten to walk a lot and just explore talking with the people here! They always laugh at us when we speak to them in Cebuano but its b/c they are excited we are learning their language! This week has gone by fast and time is flying now. We have also gotten to know some Korean missionaries! God has brought many people in our lives to encourage us and keep us going on those days we struggle. I ask that you keep me and my team in prayer, as we travel back to the mountains! I hope to most more next week of our travels and time in the clinic.
Thank you for all your prayers and support once more. It means so much to know people are praying for me! I love you all and i hope your enjoying the snow! It is hot here! We have now hit the summer days! :) Also i would love feed back on my blogs. Things I could do better or things that God has shown you in your time with him. I hope I can bring encouragement as I blog b/c that is one of my reasons to do this. I hope I can!
In His Embrace,
Whitney
Leave room for interruption:
So many times I am to busy to leave room for interruption. In Mark 1:35-39 Jesus has been so busy and first He needed time with God, he needed that solitary place to just pray. The disciples were looking for Him telling him where he needed to go when he said “Let us go somewhere else to the nearby villages so that I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” To me this is saying that the disciples were trying to take him to many places when Jesus told them I am going where the Lord is going to lead me. How many times have I been focused on going to one place and rushed through the interruptions God placed before me. I am challenged by that here, that I need to focus on every interruption and Embrace it.
In my quiet time I am going through the Gospels. I love it and I am taking each day to focus on God’s teaching and learning how I can apply those teachings in my life.
The Journey:
Well this was our last full week of language school, we have been here since Jan 22. I have learned many things I wish I could say I have gotten the language down but only spending a month in the language is not enough some spend over a year just in school. We have tried to learn as much as we could but I know we will learn more b/c when we go to the Bukid (moutnains) we will be forced to speak Cebuano. Since we have been at language school we have made many friends! Our teacher has become our Filipino mother and we have fallen in love with her family! We have learned to shop the Filipino way, I think I got good at the bargaining and also cooking! Some things we have learned to cook is Adobo which tastes a lot like seasme chicken, Pansit which is a noodles dish, also Lumpia this is a wrap with pork and veggies, and I will have to say my favorite is the grilled fresh veggies! Oh and every meal is rice, however we have stuck to every other day or once a day with rice. So cooking as been fun!
This weekend we are heading to the Bukid (moutains) to work in the clinic again! I really enjoy this and we are able to help physical needs which is very needed. The first week of March we will start working in a local hospital but we will only be there for a week. Please pray for us as we minister there. Also After that week we will train learning much about water filters, gardening and how to conduct health classes along with community development. This past weekend we went to a village called Florida, we led youth bible studies and 6 people came to the Lord. I ask that you keep those people in your prayers as the begin a new journey with the Lord. Also we traveled there by a tree boat! There is not much balance so I am so surprised by the fact we didn't fall in! ha ha that would have been a sight! It was the Aguson River.
I have been learning a Cebuano worship song! The guitar playing is coming along ha ha I love playing just don’t focus on it as much as I should ☺ But we are growing as a team and learning more ways to minister.
We have gotten to walk a lot and just explore talking with the people here! They always laugh at us when we speak to them in Cebuano but its b/c they are excited we are learning their language! This week has gone by fast and time is flying now. We have also gotten to know some Korean missionaries! God has brought many people in our lives to encourage us and keep us going on those days we struggle. I ask that you keep me and my team in prayer, as we travel back to the mountains! I hope to most more next week of our travels and time in the clinic.
Thank you for all your prayers and support once more. It means so much to know people are praying for me! I love you all and i hope your enjoying the snow! It is hot here! We have now hit the summer days! :) Also i would love feed back on my blogs. Things I could do better or things that God has shown you in your time with him. I hope I can bring encouragement as I blog b/c that is one of my reasons to do this. I hope I can!
In His Embrace,
Whitney
Thursday, February 11, 2010
1 month into the Journey
However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me----the task of testifying to the Gospel of God’s grace.
Acts 20:24
This verse has been our memory verse for the week. I am worth nothing if I don’t complete the task God has put me on this earth for. But it is not focusing on the word “do” but to finish the task by testifying the Gospel with love and sacrifice. I know at times we get caught up in our everyday lives but the other day I was sitting in a coffee shop talking with a man about the Gospel and asking him questions about God and I thought why do I not do this at home. Well I ask myself, am afraid of what people would think about me and/or maybe I don’t want to offend someone. But if I memorize this verse that was given to me can I really do what it is asking of me? Can we as believers hold each other accountable for testifying and finishing the race?
I have been challenged with many things already in this first month of being away from comfort and everything I have ever known. Just to name a few: God has challenged me to Embrace this journey but also to really TRUST Him! At first I was a little disappointed that for the first month all I would be doing was language school. (But again very important!) I really believe that this first month has been given to me to truly devote more time to the Lord to learn more about His heart for me and for the nations. He has set my heart towards 1 Cor 13, that if I don’t love than I am nothing! Francis Chan challenges his readers in Crazy love to replace love with your name in verses 4-8. I know that I can never do all those things or always keep that attitude but it is def something to strive for! I want to love these people as Christ does, as he has loved me through all the mess ups in my life, through all the doubts that I have had. My prayer is that I would grow closer to Him than ever before that during this time He would become everything I need and desire and that my desires, my deepest passions, and my dreams would be in direct line of what He wants. If you have a chance read Wide Awake ☺
The Journey:
Well it has been a great first month. My team and I have come across some obstacles but God once again has been faithful. We are still in language school and each week I think I lose the country accent and pick up a Filipino one. Ha ha although I may never lose it because when I say my name is Whitney, there is just something about that name that sounds country like trying to say “ako si Whitney” However I can always make the Filipinos laugh when I am practicing my Cebuano. And I do wish I paid more attention in Spanish class in high school it would have really helped ☺ On the weekends we travel to the mountains, this past weekend we actually got to work in the clinics. It was great, at first the language barrier was tough because we are speaking to them in Cebuano but after the first couple of patients I got the hang of it. I was able to do a minor surgery which was very neat! However I was a bit timid at first but I was praying for strength and asking for my hands to be steady, for the patient’s sake. We are learning a lot about different diseases here so that when we go to the communities we can recognize the symptoms and help treat it as best we can. So along with language studies, we are doing a lot of research. While we are in the city, we like to go out in the afternoons to talk with the people and practice the language.
Cool story: The other morning I was asking the Lord to bring someone into my life that I can share the creation story with. So that day me and Stephanie went out and we ended up talking to a guy for around 2 hours. At first I was not confident with sharing….why because I didn’t know how to start it off but I could just here Jesus saying “Oh you of little faith” I begin praying while having small talk and that is when the conversation opened up and began to get deeper. He never fully committed to following Christ but I believe and trust that the seed was planted and now it is in the hands of the Holy Spirit. I give complete praise and honor to God!
We are finally starting to meet more Filipinos and make friends which is helping while in language school. At night for a pastime we play a game called 1,2,3, pass…it’s a lot like spoons but when you lose you get powder put all over your face! We played last night and I never got any….all the people were out to get me.
So the Filipino’s found that I like to sing so everywhere we go now I am asked to lead them in a worship song. They know a lot of English worship songs, some that are popular are Empty Me, Here I am to Worship, and Light of the World. So we were at church a couple of weekend ago and I started thinking if I could learn how to play here I could play along with the singing at anytime. So God provided the way and the money to buy one here. I got to work on my bargaining skills and got it for a great price! I want to leave it here when I leave so I have been in prayer about who I want to give it to. They love music here so I am hoping I can reach more by using this gift.
Some prayer requests:
-That God would continue to give us boldness as we go out and share.
- Also I have been having a hard time with the loss of my dad, being here without family has been tough but I am depending on Christ to be the ultimate comfort and strength. One thing that happen the other day is I was praying asking God to give me a sign of peace and I was sitting there looking into the sky and a white bird (looked like a dove) was flying in the sky. It reminded me of the funeral but it conformed he is at peace. Also I was talking to Ashley the other day about what God was showing me and a dragonfly sat with me the whole time! I am so thankful our God can show us He cares in so many ways!
-Language school and that we can focus on it.
-My family back at home as some hard days with birthdays and holidays are coming up to be without dad.
- For the Filipino’s we have already encountered and their hearts.
Thank you for all your support, the encouragement I have gotten has helped me in so many ways and I am very thankful for you! I pray that in some way this has encouraged you to love others and step out of your comfort zone. Ask the Lord to being someone in your path today! I love you all and sorry its so long, it could probably be longer ☺
In His Embrace,
Whit
Acts 20:24
This verse has been our memory verse for the week. I am worth nothing if I don’t complete the task God has put me on this earth for. But it is not focusing on the word “do” but to finish the task by testifying the Gospel with love and sacrifice. I know at times we get caught up in our everyday lives but the other day I was sitting in a coffee shop talking with a man about the Gospel and asking him questions about God and I thought why do I not do this at home. Well I ask myself, am afraid of what people would think about me and/or maybe I don’t want to offend someone. But if I memorize this verse that was given to me can I really do what it is asking of me? Can we as believers hold each other accountable for testifying and finishing the race?
I have been challenged with many things already in this first month of being away from comfort and everything I have ever known. Just to name a few: God has challenged me to Embrace this journey but also to really TRUST Him! At first I was a little disappointed that for the first month all I would be doing was language school. (But again very important!) I really believe that this first month has been given to me to truly devote more time to the Lord to learn more about His heart for me and for the nations. He has set my heart towards 1 Cor 13, that if I don’t love than I am nothing! Francis Chan challenges his readers in Crazy love to replace love with your name in verses 4-8. I know that I can never do all those things or always keep that attitude but it is def something to strive for! I want to love these people as Christ does, as he has loved me through all the mess ups in my life, through all the doubts that I have had. My prayer is that I would grow closer to Him than ever before that during this time He would become everything I need and desire and that my desires, my deepest passions, and my dreams would be in direct line of what He wants. If you have a chance read Wide Awake ☺
The Journey:
Well it has been a great first month. My team and I have come across some obstacles but God once again has been faithful. We are still in language school and each week I think I lose the country accent and pick up a Filipino one. Ha ha although I may never lose it because when I say my name is Whitney, there is just something about that name that sounds country like trying to say “ako si Whitney” However I can always make the Filipinos laugh when I am practicing my Cebuano. And I do wish I paid more attention in Spanish class in high school it would have really helped ☺ On the weekends we travel to the mountains, this past weekend we actually got to work in the clinics. It was great, at first the language barrier was tough because we are speaking to them in Cebuano but after the first couple of patients I got the hang of it. I was able to do a minor surgery which was very neat! However I was a bit timid at first but I was praying for strength and asking for my hands to be steady, for the patient’s sake. We are learning a lot about different diseases here so that when we go to the communities we can recognize the symptoms and help treat it as best we can. So along with language studies, we are doing a lot of research. While we are in the city, we like to go out in the afternoons to talk with the people and practice the language.
Cool story: The other morning I was asking the Lord to bring someone into my life that I can share the creation story with. So that day me and Stephanie went out and we ended up talking to a guy for around 2 hours. At first I was not confident with sharing….why because I didn’t know how to start it off but I could just here Jesus saying “Oh you of little faith” I begin praying while having small talk and that is when the conversation opened up and began to get deeper. He never fully committed to following Christ but I believe and trust that the seed was planted and now it is in the hands of the Holy Spirit. I give complete praise and honor to God!
We are finally starting to meet more Filipinos and make friends which is helping while in language school. At night for a pastime we play a game called 1,2,3, pass…it’s a lot like spoons but when you lose you get powder put all over your face! We played last night and I never got any….all the people were out to get me.
So the Filipino’s found that I like to sing so everywhere we go now I am asked to lead them in a worship song. They know a lot of English worship songs, some that are popular are Empty Me, Here I am to Worship, and Light of the World. So we were at church a couple of weekend ago and I started thinking if I could learn how to play here I could play along with the singing at anytime. So God provided the way and the money to buy one here. I got to work on my bargaining skills and got it for a great price! I want to leave it here when I leave so I have been in prayer about who I want to give it to. They love music here so I am hoping I can reach more by using this gift.
Some prayer requests:
-That God would continue to give us boldness as we go out and share.
- Also I have been having a hard time with the loss of my dad, being here without family has been tough but I am depending on Christ to be the ultimate comfort and strength. One thing that happen the other day is I was praying asking God to give me a sign of peace and I was sitting there looking into the sky and a white bird (looked like a dove) was flying in the sky. It reminded me of the funeral but it conformed he is at peace. Also I was talking to Ashley the other day about what God was showing me and a dragonfly sat with me the whole time! I am so thankful our God can show us He cares in so many ways!
-Language school and that we can focus on it.
-My family back at home as some hard days with birthdays and holidays are coming up to be without dad.
- For the Filipino’s we have already encountered and their hearts.
Thank you for all your support, the encouragement I have gotten has helped me in so many ways and I am very thankful for you! I pray that in some way this has encouraged you to love others and step out of your comfort zone. Ask the Lord to being someone in your path today! I love you all and sorry its so long, it could probably be longer ☺
In His Embrace,
Whit
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