Sunday In San Fernando

This past Sunday morning began like any other morning. Around 4:30 we woke up to the sound of blaring pop music in the living room of the home where we live. We cooked oats and eggs and then washed dishes and did laundry. We decided to have our quiet time outside in the barangay multipurpose center mainly because we felt like we needed an opportunity to talk with the priest.  

You see, last week we learned that the priest heard that we were staying in the barangay and that he wanted to meet us. So with that news, we wanted to be as available as possible. So call us stalkers, sure… but we had our quiet time where we could clearly view the church. 

Mass started at 9:00 and around 8:55 a man came up to Kristy and me and asked if we spoke Tagolog. We said not very much, of course, and I ran to get Annie so we could talk to this man. We talked with him and introduced ourselves. We told him why we were in the village and what we believed about how salvation is by GRACE through FAITH in JESUS CHRIST. “…not by works so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). He agreed with us!! So we told him that we would like to talk to him after mass was over if that was okay. 

About that time the priest rode up on his motorcycle. We talked with him and just shared the basic information about where we are from and how long we will be in the Philippines. Then he invited us to mass. So we went! We knew that God was opening doors for us and we needed to take any opportunities that He would give us! 

After mass, the priest invited us to lunch. Much to our surprise, he was inviting us to lunch at N.M.’s house. N.M., about one week ago, became a believer and was to be baptized that very afternoon!! 

So we had Sunday afternoon lunch with the priest at the home of one of the new believers that we have been discipling! Talk about bizarre! 

After mass we also talked with the man that agreed that salvation was through faith alone and found out that he is a “faith healer”. So we are going to spend some extra time this week pursuing sharing Christ with him!!  

Later Sunday afternoon we had the opportunity to baptize one girl from our youth bible study and N.M. that was mentioned earlier. 

Wow. God is good. 

In one day God opened doors to share with the barangay priest and a faith healer. Two women were baptized and we finished the night off with three bible studies. 

Praise God for directing our steps.

Praise God for opening doors.

Praise God for changing lives!!

Bizarre Happenings in San Fernando!

Strange things keep happening here and in order to remember them all I keep a tab on my journal with the title: “Bizarre Happenings in San Fernando”. The team and I thought that it would be a good idea to share some of the items on our list for comedic relief 

• People sit down by the spring just to watch us wash our clothes 
• To avoid being a spectacle, we shower by flashlight at the spring before we go to bed. 
• Many people that we invite to bible study respond “later!” and we never see them again. 
• We have a bucket of water that somehow always stays filled. It’s either Kuya that we are staying with that is filling it or God is miraculously keeping it full… It’s very suspicious 
• Solution to any medical problem: Katinko 
• There’s always that one house that blares the radio during the day… we just happen to be living in it 
• Articles of clothing have mysteriously disappeared from our clothes line 
• We found a crab in our kitchen. A real crab 
• It is not uncommon to have thirty children following us at a time 
• Merienda: corn out of a can and graham cracker 
• Somehow Annie ended up calf-high in carabao poop on our way to baptize two women 
• Techno music and or love songs play as we fall asleep at night…

These are only a few of the bizarre happenings here. These moments keep us laughing but they do not sustain us.  Christ alone is our sustainer. He is what gets us through every moment! These funny moments sure do help, though!

Please pray!

We received a text message from the Bicol- Cam Sur team.  Here are some specific ways you can pray for this team over these next few days:

1. Pray that people will fear God, not man. That they will see that God is supreme and has authority over all things.
2. Pray that we will not let us, slow down, or hold back over the next 2 weeks.
3. Pray for healing for Baby V. He has a growth on his back... possible tumor... and is malnourished.
4. Pray for JR, a 17 year old boy who is sick with a high fever. He has been taken to the hospital. Family members believe that this is caused by spirits. Pray they will realize that spirits are under God's authority and that He has power over them.
5. Pray that those attending our Bible studies come to learn about the Lord and not for entertainment.
6. Pray for SP, a lady that has been so interested & eager to learn about God. Pray for the Holy Spirit to move in her heart. Physical ears may fail her... pray that God will open them to hear spiritual truth and that the Holy Spirit will speak to her clearly.

-Annie, Allyson, & Kristy

Rushing waters & Mud play

This past Saturday began like any other day in the village. We started the day with taking our bucket baths and making breakfast (oats and eggs to be more specific). Then, it started raining. Although rain is not an out of the ordinary occurrence during this time of year, today was different.

We experienced our first typhoon! We celebrated this “first” the way any normal women would... by playing in the mud! We had been waiting and waiting for a time to play in the mud and this was the perfect opportunity. After our “mud play” as Annie would call it, we bathed (AGAIN!) and then prepared for bible study. 

Like most of our bible studies, we had about a thirty-minute walk to the house where it would be held. This walk usually entails crossing a creek that on a normal day reaches a little higher than your ankles.  Many people along the way told us that the creek was high and that we probably should not cross it, but we had a bible study to get to! When we got to the creek, we realized it had risen to the height of our thighs and it was still raining heavily. We prayed over the decision on whether to cross or not and decided to continue despite everyones warnings! Finally, soaking wet, we arrived at the location of our bible study.  The man we were to have bible study with, W.P., greeted us not with a hello but by saying “It is raining! Wow, what a huge sacrifice for you to come here!” We did not feel it was a sacrifice at all but still told him that we wouldn’t miss it! Later, we found out that he had a meeting that day for work during the time of our Bible study, but because of the rain he chose not to attend. Wow. What a blessing in disguise.   

After Bible study, we headed home. When we got to the creek, it had risen from thigh-high to over our heads. The water was swift and very intimidating. We had some friends take us to a different route to avoid having to cross the creek that had transformed into a rushing river. Our detour lead us with the necessity to cross over a spillway. 

If you’ve never walked over a spillway, you haven’t lived…. Just kidding. It was scary. The waters were rushing but by the grace of God we arrived back home soon after. 

This day was strange and atypical but it was great. We were tested in our faith and in our dependence on the Lord! He is our protector when the waters get rough and he cares about the little things… Like us being able to have mud play.

-Allyson & Kristy

Prayer: Woah... God is GOOD!

Prayer has been a huge part of our time in the Philippines thus far. We pray often: when we wake, while we wash clothes, walking to and from Bible studies… Prayer keeps us focused and unifies us with Christ and each other. 

One morning, Kristy, Annie, and I were having group time. We were talking about how much more powerful it is to pray in our own “heart language.” Before this conversation when Kristy and I prayed, Annie would translate. This day Annie closed one of our Bible studies with prayer and after she had prayed I felt lead to pray as well. This time, I prayed without Annie translating. As we were leaving, Annie turned and looked at me and said, “WOAH, God is GOOD!!”  

Apparently, our prayers were identical, only in different languages. We were amazed.

Later we remembered the conversation from that morning. We were reminded that we have the same Holy Spirit dwelling inside us! Language does not separate us. We serve the same God and He speaks through all languages in every nation! 

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.  –Romans 8:26-27

Greetings from Cam Sur!

Only a week has passed and we have already felt the Lord working in and through the people here.

The LORD has orchestrated everything perfectly. It's funny how we try to plan our days but HE directs our steps. He puts beautiful and unexpected moments in each day.

We along with our wonderful translator, Annie, have had the opportunity to teach some Bible stories this week.

Our first full day in the village, the woman that we are living with lead us to a girl recovering from pneumonia. Her home was the first home that we visited upon our arrival and we decided that we would prepare to have a bible study just in case. Once we were in their home, we asked if they would like to study with us while we were there. They said, "Sure, how about now?"... Of course, we were quite pleased with that answer! :)

The next study, one of the family members asked why our bible stories are not longer and if we wouldn't mind having longer ones! Needless to say we had two that afternoon and prepared for three the next day!

The beauty of the whole situation is not only did God bring us to this family, who is eager to learn and ask questions about who God truly is, but we were brought to this home solely through God’s leading. During our time here, our team has two central sites to focus on ministry, which consists of 300 families, and this very house does not reside in either of those sites. There is no doubt in our minds that it was clearly through Gods leading that we ended up in this family’s home. We praise God for allowing us to be used in the hearts of those He is already beginning to touch.

Thank God for unexpected precious moments.

The Filipino people that we have met with have not heard the gospel presented in this way before! Their faith is works-based and they learn by passed on traditions from their ancestors. Please pray that they will continue to have questions and that the Holy Spirit will break down decades of religious barriers.

We serve a BIG and MIGHTY God. He is able.

Ephesians 3:20-21

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen."

Allyson and Kristy