Saturday morning prayers

I went on Nehemiah Teams to the Philippines this past summer. I got the opportunity to share about my summer at my BSM (Baptist Student Ministry) a month ago and was able to start a World Christian Study. It was planned to be a 3 week study (looking at God's Word, World, and Work). There were about 4 or 5 committed people coming every week and really excited to learn about God's heart for the nations. I was so thankful for how The Lord was blessing our time together. 

This past week was supposed to be our last morning to meet together, but as we drew near the end of our time and I began to close out the study, they all just kind of looked at me and said "Well... we don't want to stop meeting... Could we like keep meeting every week and just pray for the unreached?" Umm.. YES. 

I was blown away by what God must be doing in their hearts to want to continue to get up early on Saturday mornings to pray for the unreached. The Lord is so faithful! I just wanted to share with you what The Lord is doing in the lives of a couple college students in Texas and thank you for equipping us to lead these studies and help people see God's global purpose. 

-Kaitlyn

Stephen F. Austin State University

Encouragement

This past week has been one of encouragement. Island healthcare, Mercy Midwives, and Rural Healthcare teams were able to join together for a few days to fellowship and see the sights of this beautiful country. This gave us the chance to rest and regenerate so we can finish our trips strong. It was an encouragement to be with each other and discuss the struggles & joys that we’ve experienced this summer. It was great. However, what we came back to afterwards was even more encouraging!

While we were gone, the ladies we had been ministering to held our usual Bible study... but with even more ladies! At our first Bible study back they told us all about what they had learned. They had studied the story of Jesus calming the storm – what a perfect topic to study with Typhoon Glenda making its’ way through the Philippines. They asked to copy the songs we sing in house church so they can learn it themselves. During this Bible study our good friend joined us so he can continue with them after we leave. We studied Jesus calling His disciples and what it is to be a Fisher of Men. I remember the first time we opened the Bible with these ladies… it was like pulling nails to get them to converse about it! But now it is so wonderful to hear everyone talking and talking about what we study.  We only have one more week with these beautiful people. It breaks our hearts to think about it. However, knowing that they will be able to continue without us gives us great joy!

Please pray this last week will be one of teaching them and trusting... and that they will continue in their faith after we’re gone.

Man can make a plan but the Will of God prevails

"Many are the plans in a man's heart but is is the Lord's purpose that prevails" - Proverbs 19:21

This past Monday we began a Bible study with several mothers who prayed to receive Christ at House Church on Sunday. We were so excited to have a time with just the mothers away from all the distractions and children studying the Word of God! After spending time with the mothers in class, morning exercise, afternoon hangouts and lunch dates we realized that we knew a lot of superficial information and less about the condition of their hearts. We knew that as Catholics they believe in God and that He sent Jesus to take away our sin but what else specifically? The only thing we could think of was the importance of works. So in our excitement to share the Word of God with them we planned, planned, planned! Bible study was to start at 9am, we would pray and then ask the question: How do you think you get to heaven? 

We assumed they would answer through good works so we of course planned our scripture around this answer. We are sure that God was laughing at our attempt to plan how the Holy Spirit would lead. When we arrived, the Bible study didn't start until 9:30 (Filipino time) and their answers were nothing like we thought. Right from the beginning they began talking about purgatory where we reference Luke 16 then somehow we ended up talking about how to pray (Matthew 6) and then idols (Exodus 20). 

The Holy Spirit was there and working in Nanay’s house as we read and discussed Truth. At the next Bible study on Wednesday, our conversation went from the Fruits of the Spirit to a mother asking if it is necessary to worship Mary. Friday, we had the opportunity to share the cost of following Jesus. After much planning and worry over how to gently bring up different topics of Catholicism that needed correction, God showed His sovereignty. 

Each day we can see the Holy Spirit working in their hearts and it is both humbling and a blessing. It is a reminder that not only has God paved the way for us that His Will prevails but that His Word is sharper than any double edged sword. His Word is living and active and as long as we are willing and obedient to open the Bible and read the Scripture then the Holy Spirit is faithful in penetrating hearts however He pleases. Pray that God will continue to give these ladies a heart of curiosity and us the wisdom needed through Scripture to guide them to the Lord. 

David and Goliath

What an awesome sight to see and a great reminder to us of how we should approach God. Mark 10:14-15 says “But when Jesus saw it, He was indigent and said to them, “Let the children come to me, do not hinder them, for to such belongs the Kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” We traveled to a near by school to tell and act out the story of David and Goliath. Entering the school we had to step over a huge pile of slippers! It filled us with excitement knowing that we were at a public school about to tell over 50 kids about God. We had never seen such excitement over a Bible story in our lives. Not only were the kids excited to learn about David and Goliath, they couldn't wait to go tell their mama and papa about what they heard. This should be our mindset and reaction about the Word of God! We get stuck in the rut of going through the motions when it comes to reading God’s Word. We are all guilty of it. But what better way to be reminded of how happy and excited we should be to learn more about God than from God’s little children.

Once upon a time in Camiguin..

Our sweet friend wrote a blog for me to share with you all. I hope you enjoy it!

Once upon a time in Camiguin there lived a pretty mom and at the same time a dad to her children because the father of her children worked so many miles away from the Philippines where she lives. Before I forget she is Ate Maricel for long... That's me. 

I have 3 children named Christian 12, John Alfred 9, and a cute little girl Amiah Ace 6.
One day, I think 9th day of June if I'm not mistaken... I was shocked of the shouts of almost all the children in the elementary school just beside our residence shouting "Hi, Hello!" repeatedly. 

I'm wondering "What's that mean? Let me see who is inside in that white service truck." I cannot see it clearly because they were just passing by and by... then that day I just heard a news somebody told me: there's a group of foreign ladies including their translator who chose to visit our place for about two months. And they are staying at the daycare center. Their team is called Nehemiah Team.

On that day, I said to myself.. "Oh man this is my time to shine. haha. It's my time to let my American language out that I hide in my cabinet for a long period of time. That might get rust already."

And that's the reason I go almost everyday in the place where they stay. Because I want you to enjoy your staying here even if i know you're not that comfortable in your situation, the hardships you encounter, there's no bed and there's no air conditioning and mostly poor water supply so we must go to fetch first so that we can have water to use. But I also know you guys have that heart to survive behind your back, there is God. Continue on man!

Babies, babies, babies!

"My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body."  Psalm 139:15

During a fetal heart rate check-up I had my hands on this very pregnant belly searching with the doppler when the baby inside leapt with such gusto that I could feel, see, and hear the baby as he/she moved around inside. In this moment, there was so much life. You could see the joy in the mother's eyes for her unborn child.

Over the past week there has seemed to be a pattern in the work we've been doing: Babies! We've had the opportunity to work with these precious little people both born and unborn. We've taught all we can on healthy pregnancies, breastfeeding, and early child development.  We've taken fetal heart rates, mother's blood pressures, and assisted in infant immunizations. We've watched babies compete for "healthiest baby" at the nutrition day celebration. We got to watch the cutest baby crawling race. All we need now is to see a birth (the whole team is still rooting for that)!

Baby race!

Every time we see a baby or any child under 4 years of age, all we want to do is hold them! They are all so precious and innocent. How much more precious are they in the eyes of their mothers and even still more in the eyes of their Heavenly Father. You have knit me together in my mothers womb. God knew the existence of these children before they were ever a thought in their mothers' minds and stitched them together perfectly according to His will for His glory. 

Now we are blessed to have the opportunity to share knowledge of earthly things with their mothers to raise them physically but also to share the true message of Jesus with their mothers to hopefully raise them spiritually in the Lord. We pray that these precious babies grow up knowing and loving the Lord and fulfilling the Great Commission in response to the seeds that are being planted.

Pray for the mothers who have heard the good news. Pray they will recognize their need for a relationship with the one who created them.

Bearing the Fruit of Patience

Between the rain, the courtesy calls, and public events, at times we have felt as though we were not able to do the task the Lord has called us here to do. This week was on of those weeks in the midst of John the Baptist Day, meeting the Vice-Mayor, and prenatal observance we fear our purpose was not being fulfilled. Little by little though, we see the Lord proving His perfect timing while He is teaching us patience. Despite all of these events that we were afraid of eating our time away our week has been amazing! 

For the first time this week we were able to connect with some of the mothers in our mothers class. The Lord blessed our first house church on Sunday with 23 national adult attendees and we had about 60 very excited kids at Vacation Bible School who got to learn the story of creation. God is slowly revealing the beauty in patience and trusting in His perfect timing. Building relationships is everything here. It's not always easy because of the language barrier but it's how we are best able to share the love of Christ. We have faith in Isaiah 55:11 that says "So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it." 

We pray in all things that we will show Jesus and only Jesus.
We pray in all things that we look to our Guide to go exactly where He wants us to be no matter what it takes.

We love our mothers!

We love our mothers! All around the world there are mothers trying their best to give their best to their children. It is no different here in the Philippines. A big part of the ministry we are doing here is working with the mothers of the community.

52 women gather together with us three times a week to learn basic nutrition for both mother and child. They also learn basic home keeping skills. These beautiful women are so eager to learn and I love their enthusiasm! They show such strength everyday. They smile and laugh all the time and are such a joy to be around. Not only are they willing to learn, they are also willing to do! Three days a week they join the team at 5am to go jogging. I can hear them outside my window ready to go before I'm even out of bed. If there was anything that could get me out of bed that early, it would be the motivation of these ladies.

They laughed and smiled the whole time we were jogging up and down this beautiful mountain. While I was ready to give up on a steep hill, the lady next to me said the first English words she had said to me since we met, "I'll beat you." and we raced from there! The ladies cheer each other on and are so encouraging to each other - laughing the whole time. We lead them in relays, playing basketball, and stretching.

They are interested in our lives. Where we come from, how old we are, schooling, etc. They ask many questions! This is a great opportunity for us! It opens the door to share our lives and what God has done in them. They listened intently last week while Erin shared her testimony.

We are so excited to share the love of Jesus with these ladies and pray for their hearts to be opened to the Gospel. I praise God for the precious moments we spend with these precious mothers.

Pathways

"This is what the Lord says, 'Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it'."   -Jeremiah 6:16

On this mountain there are many paths. Some made of grass and others made of dirt. It would be easy to get lost or turned around if you don't know the way. Today we were challenged with the task of going house to house, taking blood pressures, and sharing the Word of God. 

How could we be effective when we do not know the way?

How could we know where the houses were without someone showing us? 

We needed a navigator. Someone who knew the way. We found this in our dear friend who lives next door. This sweet lady sacrifices her days to hike up and down these paths with us, showing us the way. Because of her we have been able to care for many people. Something we would never have accomplished on our own. 

This got me thinking of a verse in Romans that says, "How then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?" (Romans 10:14-15). Just as we needed someone to show us the way, these people do too. I pray we can have the same servants heart as our dear friend had while hiking those paths today when we go out with the help of the Holy Spirit to show the way to Jesus.

Sunday in Butuan

This past Sunday, the different healthcare teams took a break from orientation to visit the churches in the city. My team, along with the other island healthcare team had the privilege of going to BOOST for church.

After a time of sharing testimonies, we had the opportunity to take the kids to have Sunday school. This was such a joy! Erin shared a very enthusiastic Creation Story with the children and Gwen translated. It wasn't until we went outside for games that the children really began to come out of their shells. We introduced the game of Duck, Duck, Goose to them. They loved it!

It was so much fun to watch the kids laughing and playing together! 

After about 38 rounds of this game, we went back into the church for worship. It was an amazing time of worshiping the God who had brought us all together! 

Arriving in Paradise

We have arrived in Camiguin!! The journey was long, but we arrived safely! From Butuan, it only took two jeepneys (the first broke down), a bus, a boat, and a help bus! I have never traveled by this many different types of transportation than I have since I left America. Speaking on behalf of the team, I would say the boat ride was our favorite. It was two hours of the breeze in our hair and staring out into the ocean while basking in God's handiwork. 

We spent the next couple of days doing some final orientation on the local health care and doing courtesy calls. God taught me a lot about patience during these couple days. I was more than ready to be settled in one place for the rest of the summer. But God has shown me the importance of these two days! Because of the courtesy calls we made, the leaders of the island have been so receptive of us. They have done everything to make us feel at home and safe.

On June 12th, the independence day of the Philippines, they invited us to go to their parade. It was so cool to see all of the festivities taking place! When the parade began they invited us to walk with them and even hold their flag!

It was such an honor to represent the Barangay of San Isidro! This is just one instance of how they have made us feel at home. Since we arrived they have shown us nothing but kindness. They bring us water when our water is off, they bring us firewood, they hang lights, and so much more. Our neighbor directly next to us has gone above and beyond for us. Her name is Nanay Rufa and is our "Person of Peace". She is an incredible woman who sacrifices a lot to help us out. We are so very thankful for her! They know what it is to love your neighbor. They have shown so much love. I am falling more and more in love with these people every day. 

Pray that we will continue to be learners of the local culture and share the same kind of love that has been shown to us.

Dream Team

Meet the teams! There are the two health care teams serving on Camiguin Island, Philippines. First we have...

Team leader: Erin

Filipino translator: Gwen

Members: Deborah & Rebekah

And...

Member: Emily

Team leader: Ena

Member: Katlyn

We are all so excited to be serving the people of Camiguin Island!