We have been in our first barangay for about six days now, and it has been really exciting! We have met some people who're interested in studying the Bible and getting to know God. We are building relationships and we are hopeful for progress when people come to follow up. I have a positive feeling for the way our first barangay is going, but it didn't really start out that way for me.Once we got off the river we had a Bible study with a group of people almost immediately. Taylor shared his testimony and told the story of the prodigal son, and our translators Mic-Mic and Mac-Mac translated for him. They went on to explain the gospel message even further, and answered some questions. This was great, but I quickly became discouraged. It seemed like it would make a lot more sense if there were seven Filipinos here who could understand the language. I felt like I couldn't be used as much because I couldn't understand everything that was being said. I felt like I could have been used more elsewhere.
My feelings quickly changed after we visited our first couple of houses. One of the first houses that we visited was Ate L. She and her husband, Kuya R, have several kids. Andrew shared his testimony and the gospel message. She started crying as we were talking to her. She said that nobody had ever come to tell her this before. She was amazed that we came all the way from America just to share about Jesus. As we left, she said, "Thank you very big."
I may not be able to answer questions directly or add a lot to the discussion, but the fact that I am here and that a group of us came from so far away to tell one important message could make a difference in somebody's life. God can use me in even the most insignificant ways to plant His seeds so that He can grow them. I'm really excited to see what God does through us for the rest of the summer.