Maayo sa Dios!

Maayo sa Dios! – Good is Good!

Well I can’t believe the third week of March is already here. It has been very busy these past few weeks and it is going to continue as we leave for Las Neives this coming week. I have felt the Lord’s guidance and I can’t wait to share all about it but I first I would like to talk about the ministries we were able to be apart of.
The first week of March we were at the Provincial hospital in Butuan City,that was quite an experience. The first 2 days I was in the E.R., I watched and observed some of the time but then was able to take the patients vital signs and interview the patients getting thier personal info.I met 3 patients that I came to really care for! And the cool thing was the next 2 days I was in the Medicine Ward and ICU to take care of them! I was able to perform many minor procedures, that…. in the states would be so against the law! I was able to insert and removes IV’s, insert and remove catheters (wow this was intense!!), I removed a NG tube (the feeding tubes) also I fed someone in ICU with an NG tube, that was honestly very emotional for me. It brought back memories of when dad was in the hospital in June of 2008. The way she looked at me and the way it smelled brought back memories that I haven’t felt since that summer. But as I prayed the Lord soon brought enough strength to finish the task, because I was trying to fight away the tears. We were able to talk with many people as we did our daily rounds with the nurses. We again handed out tracts to our patients and talked with the families around them. I was also able to talk with and meet the nurses who were we still in contact with, thanks to Facebook  I will be honest I found discouragement at times because by the end of the week no one had come to the Lord but we were able to plant seeds and share about Christ, so my prayer now is someone would come in and finish the harvest! So we are praying for a team to come!

The next week we moved all of our stuff to our new house at the BOOST. On Saturday we started our training learning about community development basing it off of Nehemiah 2. I really enjoyed learning about this b/c we will be doing this in April and will be facilitating the communities on how to better their community with the resources they have. On Monday we had 2 lectures the 1st was how to grow a F.A.I.T.H garden the words stand for Food Always In The Home. We will also teach this in the community and teach families ways to bring income into the family along with keeping them fed. We learned how to plant okra and also milk the goats! Ha ha that was fun! It made me want to have goats and plant a garden! But NO ROOSTERS!! Ha ha. The 2nd lecture was on the bio-sand filters, when installing the filters they read scripture from 2 Kings 2:19-22 sharing how God cleaned the water by salt which they call the filters S.A.L.T (Save A Life Technology) it is a very simple way to provide clean and fresh water to the communities that our using dirty and rustic water to use as drinking water. We were able to go with the water filter team on Tuesday through Friday and help install in different villages. Here in the Philippines it is required that before you enter into an area you must visit the Governor of that area and once being approved you need to visit the Mayor along with the Village Captains. After doing this Mayor took very good care of us housing us in an air-con hotel! It was so nice to sleep in the cold but however we are not used to it so of course I got a little sick . But each day we went out to install the sand filters in the Communities and we installed a total of 12 in two days. At each community we teach them about the importance of clean water and are able to share the gospel. The way this filter works is beyond what I can figure it out b/c it is so simple but I know that the Lord has a hand on this ministry and many lives are being changed b/c of this. People were dying at least 6 people a week due to sickness of unclean water but with this technology of the filter once it is bought for the community (which is just $45) they have been able to see a decrease in deaths and an increase in lives changed by joining His Kingdom!! I was so honored to be apart of that this past week. Also our last night there we made it a point to have a bible study with the head of health services b/c we had spent much time with her and she was not a believer. So that night we were able to share the Romans Road and she received Christ! Maayo sa Dios! (God is Good!).

“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Eph 2:17b-19

I love this verse b/c it is a reminder to me how deep the Father’s love really is. As I am still learning how to love better and figure out what Jesus’ love really looked like. I have really enjoyed studying and dissecting the books of the Gospel to see how Jesus lived and how he taught. Jesus healed so many and I keep looking at how it was the“least of these” that he loved and healed. That he sat at tables with prostitutes, tax collectors and healed those who in society didn’t deserve to be healed, yet he still saved and healed them. He spent more time with them and shared till God called Him home. As I am here I look into my heart and ask to love the least of these.

I wanted to ask for specific prayer requests for this next week:
1. That our hearts would be open to learning and growing more in the culture.
2. Also for the hearts of those who we will be working with and sharing the Gospel with.
3. For our teams health as we work with those who need medical attention
4. That the Holy Spirit would lead us and be every where we go!!
Thank you for your prayers and I hope to write more next week and tell you how it went! God has been so good and I have been so blessed to be His hands and feet here in the Philippines!
Love you all,

In His Embrace,
Whitney