“You must love the Lord your God with all your HEART, with all your SOUL, and with all your MIND.”
Matthew 22:37
This verse is being spread all through San Roque. We teach them this verse on the first day of camp and recite it every day with a closing song that has this verse in it. They love the song and I can hear them now singing it all day long
Camp 1- Purok 1a-1b:
Our first week of camp was well some what hectic but so much fun! The first day of camp we had over 88 kids, however as the week progressed the number went down because it was harvest week for the community. So a lot of the kids work in the fields to harvest the rice. The first day we started to teach them the theme verse which is Matthew 22:37 and we sing many songs one being the theme song with this verse in it. In the morning we have class with the younger kids up to ages 12, and in the afternoon we have bible study with the young people. With the younger kids every day we teach them a health lesson and incorporate a story from the bible. When I tell you each day you may wonder “how does this story go with it”, but hey we were trying and we only had 4 days to plan so…..it works ha ha. So the first day we teach on keeping your ears clean and share Jonah and the whale, the second day we talk about the importance of keeping your hands clean and tell Cain and Able. On this day we teach them how to wash their hands and we wash them for them, also we cut their finger nails. On the 3rd day we teach on the importance of eating the right kind of food to help you grow, using Zacchaeus. On the 4th day we teach Water is life and safe drinking water is so very important! With this lesson we share the gospel and also the story of the Samaritan Woman. The last day is closing ceremony, we make invitations for the parents to come and see their kids graduate from health camp. They love to get certifications here, it is a big deal. So it was so cute we were suppose to start closing ceremony at 2 but its Filipino time so it didn’t begin till around 3 b/c all the kids were taking baths and dressing in their best clothes! It was so cute and they were so excited to sing all the songs and recite the memory verses for their parents. At the closing ceremony we share the gospel with the parents, we feel like this is a very crucial time b/c this may be the only time the parents hear it. We encourage the children every day to share the story they learned each day with their parents, but we the Holy Spirit is in control, we are sharing and its up to Him from there I love the time with the young people! We had about 6 the first day and now we are doing bible study every day with 4. I become attached to one young girl her name is Angelica, she is one of our only 6 believers in the community. But she is such a strong girl, she really is searching for guidance and discipleship. She is 14 and is the 3rd girl out of 7 kids. Her mom pulled her out of school this coming year b/c they need to send the 2 oldest to college and don’t have the money to pay for her to go to high school. This really broke my heart, b/c she has a heart to travel and she is so smart! I believe she is a blessing form God b/c she has become our other translator, her English is Maayo! (good) Please pray for her and that God bring a way for her to finish school. So the other young people belong to Catholic faith or the Mocadian cult. Again please pray for the young people, they come to all the bible studies and answer the questions after the bible study, so they hear it, but don’t believe it in their heart. So we have been spending a lot of time with them and they travel with us to the different puroks to help with the camps. Also every day at 4 we have bible study on average we have about 6 or 7 but its growing!! Praise God now sometimes 10 or more, we are running out of chairs, so now we are looking for another place to meet right now its in the health clinic.
Camp 2- purok 2
Every morning we walked for about 20 min to this purok. Our first day, we saw all the kids sitting in the hut waiting for us! Oh this made us smile so big, we excited b/c they had remembered from 2 weeks ago! This week went very good as well, we had 21 kids and in that 4 young people. We didn’t become as close with this purok b/c we live in the first place we did camp however these kids were different from the first camp. They were so quiet and respectful! See hear the children just talk all the time when you talk, even in church or a host speaker, so when these kids didn’t, it was so great! This camp was laid out just like the 1st camp and we shared the gospel with the young people so now they attend our bible studies too! I am very excited to go back this week and continue these bible studies and help them see Jesus. Again they know about him, (well some) but they don’t believe him. There is a lot of cults here that have a man proclaiming to be like Jesus so to them he was just another man. Oh its so sad! The enemy has a strong hold on this village.
In purok 2 we entered a house that I had felt an oppression come over me and begin to pray, later finding out they practice chants, along with believing in spirits and ghosts. We have found out more about the Mocadian religion these past few weeks, again I ask that you pray against the enemy and that the Holy Spirit would fill San roque. The other night I went on the top of our mountain and begin to cry for the people, I could hear all the loud music and drinking from up there just wishing they could see the Lord, see what a compassionate and gracious God He is. I wish they could see that you don't have to get drunk all the time and I want them to realize they have a purpose! The verse that kept coming to my mind was that one day all the nations will procliam you are God! I know whatever happens in this village God has already won and that we as believers are called to follow him and trust Him. And that has been my prayer, that me and my team are following the Holy Spirit and our hearts and ears are open completely to Him.
God has really been teaching me these past few weeks to become a World Christian which is a christian with a global persepective. I can't wait to share more on that and what God is teaching me so that I can pass that to you and help challenge you!
This is are last weeks in the village so please keep me and my team and the people of San Roque in your prayres! Thank you and I look forward to sharing with you all God has shown me and hope to encourage you by becoming a World Christian! I love you all and please know I pray for you as well! God is strengthen me in that area too! :) Power of prayer is huge and I am so humbled to know I can go before a God who cares and listens!
In His Embrace
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news!
“How are beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news!”
Romans 10:15
This verse was literally going through my mind as me, Stephanie, and Faye Ann (our Filipina friend/partner) hiked 3 hours to a village to share with the parents and kids about whats going on in the next few weeks. We were covered in mud when we returned home that day, but we loved it! We decided to visit every house no matter the distance to ask and tell each parent about the Health Camp. So on Thursday and Friday we went to all the Puroks ( it’s like a neighborhood inside a town) to also get a count of every child in the Barangy (brgy) to know how much supplied to get. So why this verse kept coming to mind is even though my feet we covered in dirt, God still calls them beautiful!
On Wednesday 3/31, we moved to our village which is called brgy, San Roque. We there soaked because it rained the whole motorcycle ride which was over an hour up the mountains. After a long talk between the village officials they came to a conclusion of where we could stay b/c at this point we didn’t really have a place But God quickly provided us with a family. They are a very sweet family, Ate Linda, Uncle (we call him) and their daughter Ann Ann, who is 16. However we soon found out that they belong to a religion called Moncadian, it’s a mix of spiritism, Catholicism, and animism. I know and believe God has placed us here for a specific reason to share about Jesus but also allow them to see how we live out our daily lives. I pray that they will see something different about me and my team. They will see that the Holy Spirit lives within us and that we can show them how Jesus loves. We are blessed to stay in their house for they provided a room and allowed to become a part of the family. So I joke with Ate that she has become my Filipina mother, she just laughs and smiles We pray for this family continually and I one of my prayer requests is please pray for my host family.
These next 4 weeks of ministry are going to be very exciting and I am so blessed to be used by God! This past week we have spent much time in prayer and planning on what to do. So with knowing how many kids we are now having we were able to really get an idea about how the camp would flow. By the way the first week of camp we have over 130 kids and the next week around 30! The camp we are having is a health camp which we will talk about the prevention of infection and sicknesses, ex. washing hands, clean your ears, and cleaning your teeth but with each lesion we have added a song and a bible story. This camp is ages 5-9 and will do it in the mornings. In the afternoons we will have ages 10-16, so we decided to do sort of a VBS with added worship and bible studies, also can’t forget the fun games! Along with that we are going to be having bible studies with the adults throughout the week. We have already had two and the first time we only had 5 and the second time we had 9! So we are really excited about doing the bible studies and discipling the believers. In this village there are only 4 believers and there are no bible studies or discipleship other than Sunday morning. So our goal before we leave is to have a bible study started and being led by a Filipino. We have already built some relationships with them and I got to play a 2 on 2 game of volleyball on sat night! It was so much fun however they don’t play exactly the right way. So during the time I am there I hope to teach them the right way
So prayer requests for the next 2 weeks of ministry:
- Please pray for our host family
- The bible studies with the adults, that their hearts would be open to the truth and the other believers would be strengthened.
- The children would hear the gospel and they would retain the information given of the Health camp.
- The youth would be receptive and accept us.
- Just asking doesn’t mean we are not safe but the safety of our team. We do have a lot of drunks in our town so we are not able to go out at night.
- And that the Holy Spirit would give us guidance and direction.
- That God would fill the village and his message would be shared!
I know it has been a long time since I have written and the last time was before we went to Las Neives. That week was a hard week with many trials but again God gave us strength and courage to get through that week. The next week we were able to go to Davao to visit our supervisors and it was so nice! It was good to have a break and relax getting ready for the next 5 weeks of ministry! In Davao we were able to go to the beach with white sand!, do the longest zip line in Asia, and go souvenir shopping! Also the best part was to spend time with our supervisors and just be encouraged by them, along with having American meals! We miss those American meals ha ha rice is every meal here! So God allowed that visit at the right time and we left Davao so encouraged!
We are going out into the village for 2 weeks at a time so the next time we have internet access is at the end of April. So then I hope to tell everything that God has done in the camp, VBS, and bible studies.
Thank you for all your support and prayers! Again it means so much to be supported back at home, I know your prayers and comments have given me so much encouragement in the good times and those times I have struggled! I look forward to sharing all that God has done during this trip in person! Love you all and again thank you!
In His Embrace,
Whit
Romans 10:15
This verse was literally going through my mind as me, Stephanie, and Faye Ann (our Filipina friend/partner) hiked 3 hours to a village to share with the parents and kids about whats going on in the next few weeks. We were covered in mud when we returned home that day, but we loved it! We decided to visit every house no matter the distance to ask and tell each parent about the Health Camp. So on Thursday and Friday we went to all the Puroks ( it’s like a neighborhood inside a town) to also get a count of every child in the Barangy (brgy) to know how much supplied to get. So why this verse kept coming to mind is even though my feet we covered in dirt, God still calls them beautiful!
On Wednesday 3/31, we moved to our village which is called brgy, San Roque. We there soaked because it rained the whole motorcycle ride which was over an hour up the mountains. After a long talk between the village officials they came to a conclusion of where we could stay b/c at this point we didn’t really have a place But God quickly provided us with a family. They are a very sweet family, Ate Linda, Uncle (we call him) and their daughter Ann Ann, who is 16. However we soon found out that they belong to a religion called Moncadian, it’s a mix of spiritism, Catholicism, and animism. I know and believe God has placed us here for a specific reason to share about Jesus but also allow them to see how we live out our daily lives. I pray that they will see something different about me and my team. They will see that the Holy Spirit lives within us and that we can show them how Jesus loves. We are blessed to stay in their house for they provided a room and allowed to become a part of the family. So I joke with Ate that she has become my Filipina mother, she just laughs and smiles We pray for this family continually and I one of my prayer requests is please pray for my host family.
These next 4 weeks of ministry are going to be very exciting and I am so blessed to be used by God! This past week we have spent much time in prayer and planning on what to do. So with knowing how many kids we are now having we were able to really get an idea about how the camp would flow. By the way the first week of camp we have over 130 kids and the next week around 30! The camp we are having is a health camp which we will talk about the prevention of infection and sicknesses, ex. washing hands, clean your ears, and cleaning your teeth but with each lesion we have added a song and a bible story. This camp is ages 5-9 and will do it in the mornings. In the afternoons we will have ages 10-16, so we decided to do sort of a VBS with added worship and bible studies, also can’t forget the fun games! Along with that we are going to be having bible studies with the adults throughout the week. We have already had two and the first time we only had 5 and the second time we had 9! So we are really excited about doing the bible studies and discipling the believers. In this village there are only 4 believers and there are no bible studies or discipleship other than Sunday morning. So our goal before we leave is to have a bible study started and being led by a Filipino. We have already built some relationships with them and I got to play a 2 on 2 game of volleyball on sat night! It was so much fun however they don’t play exactly the right way. So during the time I am there I hope to teach them the right way
So prayer requests for the next 2 weeks of ministry:
- Please pray for our host family
- The bible studies with the adults, that their hearts would be open to the truth and the other believers would be strengthened.
- The children would hear the gospel and they would retain the information given of the Health camp.
- The youth would be receptive and accept us.
- Just asking doesn’t mean we are not safe but the safety of our team. We do have a lot of drunks in our town so we are not able to go out at night.
- And that the Holy Spirit would give us guidance and direction.
- That God would fill the village and his message would be shared!
I know it has been a long time since I have written and the last time was before we went to Las Neives. That week was a hard week with many trials but again God gave us strength and courage to get through that week. The next week we were able to go to Davao to visit our supervisors and it was so nice! It was good to have a break and relax getting ready for the next 5 weeks of ministry! In Davao we were able to go to the beach with white sand!, do the longest zip line in Asia, and go souvenir shopping! Also the best part was to spend time with our supervisors and just be encouraged by them, along with having American meals! We miss those American meals ha ha rice is every meal here! So God allowed that visit at the right time and we left Davao so encouraged!
We are going out into the village for 2 weeks at a time so the next time we have internet access is at the end of April. So then I hope to tell everything that God has done in the camp, VBS, and bible studies.
Thank you for all your support and prayers! Again it means so much to be supported back at home, I know your prayers and comments have given me so much encouragement in the good times and those times I have struggled! I look forward to sharing all that God has done during this trip in person! Love you all and again thank you!
In His Embrace,
Whit
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