Philippines Mission Trip Update
“…for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” – 2 Tim. 1:7
Magandong umaga! – “Beautiful morning!”
It’s amazing what the Lord can do in a mere four days when you’re pushed out of your comfort zone, stretched in unfamiliar ways, and pushed to love others across cultural boundaries. In the time we have been here in the Philippines, the team has experienced a local Filipino church service (which was awesome), helped with a building project here on the Action Philippines campus, and gone out into the community to witness what the Lord is doing in and through the Brand New Day Ministry (a ministry that focuses on street kids). We’ve been busy, but so very encouraged by what the Lord is doing here in the lives of many young men and women through all of the different ministries. One of the team’s ministry opportunities we’ve coined “Missional Martial Arts.”
It’s worth noting that before we left for the Philippines, Nathaniel and Samuel Tillman had never been out of the country, never flown on an airplane, and had never shared their testimonies in public. Despite their nervousness about all of the new experiences, the “boys” have surrendered to the will of the Lord, and He is using them in some spectacular ways! Little known even to us, both Nathaniel and Samuel are very experienced in Karate and Ju-Jitsu. Since being here, they have stepped up and lead three separate classes thus far, teaching everyone the art and skills necessary for self-defense. The response has been wonderful, as each group has soaked up the training and left with huge smiles on their faces (especially because they got to see Nathaniel and Samuel spar for a couple minutes!). Not only have we seen the “boys” grow in huge ways as they lead these classes, but the nature of the classes have helped to break down the walls of the cultural differences between our team and the students. God uses any means for the message of His gospel to go forth, and to glorify himself. We are seeing that, and we are praising Him for it!
As God has been working through these ministries, there are a number of things that we as a team, and as the church, need to remember to pray for. The first of which is for Melita’s health. There is a large praise that Melita is doing much better than previous weeks, but she still has a long road ahead of her in terms of recovering and regaining her strength. Please pray that the Lord would continue to help her and Gary. Please also be praying for a particular young man named Carlo (who helped us translate during one of our ministry times) who has a failing heart. Specifically pray for the funds for his surgery ($30,000). Lastly, continue praying for us as God continues stretching us and using us for His kingdom and glory.
Grace and Peace, family.
Carl, Justin, Nathaniel, Samuel, Ryan, Emily, Cassie and Becca
If you would like to see more pictures of our time in the Philippines, Justin has been keeping a great photo album on Facebook and posting new pictures every day. See the album here. 40 new ones were added just over an hour ago! (It’s possible you will need a Facebook account to view the pictures.)
Categories: Evergreen Connection