Butuan City area teams: Good Bye!

A great way to say good-bye to friends & national partners.... share a huge pizza! 
Pray for our national partners as some will be returning to the areas where we worked this summer to follow up on new believers. 

-Tropical Harvesters Teams
Island Ministry Team
Butuan City, Philippines

Prayers & Pictures from Island Ministry

So proud of the Island Ministry ladies. They are hardworking and it has been a joy to transfer with them to their second area and enjoy the mountain breeze. 
Pray for them as their area is incredibly blinded to the truth of the Gospel.

-Colleen, IMB Journeyman
Island Ministry Team
Philippines

Coconut water anyone??

Cooking dinner

What a view!

Local scenery

Cooking with Ate

We climbed the mountain!

Finding Faith

Never a shortage of kids hanging around

This week started with a short relocation for the Island Ministry team to a barangay (village) close to the one that they’ve been serving at in weeks prior. With moving to a new location, the team had the opportunity to go out and repeat the first steps of ministry; relationship building. While meeting the people of their village, it became quickly apparent that this area is heavily populated with members of a local cult. Because of the strong beliefs of this cult, many of the residents in this village are reluctant to listen to what the team has to say about salvation in Christ.

After praying for encouragement during this difficult start of the week, the team ran into something unexpected: a born-again believer living right behind where they’re staying. Ate J lives with her husband, son and grandma in a small, rented house. She excitedly invited us into her home when she realized we share the same faith in the same Lord. Ate offered us her testimony, and told us that Jesus became real to her when her 5-year-old son drowned a few years ago. The people around her told her that her son wouldn’t have died if she hadn’t become a Christian just a month before his passing. Still, she continues firmly in the faith and is raising her 2-year-old son to follow the Lord completely, just as her and her husband have chosen to do. The team continues to visit her for Bible studies, as well as daily encouragement in this difficult to reach village.

• Please pray for the Lord to soften the hearts of those involved in the cult. That those who listen would have clarity of the differences between the Living God and the one they are worshiping.
• Pray for strength for the team as they go out; that they wouldn’t grow weary by the ones unwilling to listen, but be encouraged in knowing that seeds are being planted, and that the Lord promises to do the rest.

-Bailey

Island Ministry Team

Philippines

Believe & be baptized

Ate J was baptized recently. She was not one of my group's Bible study contacts, but one of my groups members was sick so our national partners stayed with her and I went with the other group to their study. Ate J truly understood the Gospel and she was so excited to be baptized. Her husband, does not attend the Bible study & is active in a local cult. At the end of the Bible study, before we went to go baptize her, she asked if it was a sin to be a member of the local cult and so we pointed her to some scripture and she came to her own conclusion of "Yes." 

Pray with us that the Lord would use Ate J to lead her husband to the truth of the Gospel.

-Caroline

Island Ministry Team, Philippines

If God's Word Says It....

Example of a sari sari store

Nanay was someone who never sat when we did a Bible study at a local sari sari store. She always stood behind everyone and listened and would also come late a lot of times. When we did the Bible study on baptism, she came over and was just ecstatic and asked if she could get baptized. She kept saying, "If God's Word says it, then I want to walk in obedience." Of course, we wanted to make sure that she truly understood the Gospel especially since she was not one of the main participants. After asking her a series of questions it was so clear that her faith was true and we baptized her the next day! I have never seen someone have so much transparent joy about the Lord and excitement that she was doing something pleasing to him. 

She told us afterwards about how everyone was strongly discouraging her to get baptized, but she just kept saying that it was her decision, and she knew that the Lord wanted her to. It is our prayer that her excitement would continue and that she would keep sharing the Gospel with the people around her. 

Please join us in praying that Nanay would continue to live out the joy of her salvation and that she will be a light in her community.

-Caroline

Island Ministry Team, Philippines

Meet the Team: Philippine Media Member

Bailey & Colleen

Bailey is currently a student at Grace Christian Academy High school. Her favorite food is sushi and her dads cooking and she loves her cat, Holly and her hometown. 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 says, “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love.” This verse reminds Bailey to not be fearful of what the future of this summer may hold. She believes she is to love everyone she meets with all her heart, so that they, too, may know the God that she does.

Bailey will be traveling between 3 teams with her supervisor, Colleen, joining in with the team's ministries and sharing what God is doing through media.

Pray for safe travels for Bailey & Colleen as well as fruitful ministry opportuntities, even during their travels.

Not worth their time

The three teams in Southern Philippines (Journey Church, Tropical Harvesters and Island Ministries) have spent their days building relationships with people in each village and sharing the love of Christ. In total, there have been 4 professions of faith this week alone- praise God! Whether it be during transportation, meals, or ministry time, each team has used their own gifts and abilities to share the gospel.

On June 13, one team was presented with an unique opportunity. Upon arrival at their first Bible study of the day, the team realized the man they were there to see wasn’t home, and decided to turn back and follow where ever the Lord was leading them. 

They remembered that next door to where they were staying lived an old man. They had heard stories about the state of this man’s life and that, “It wouldn’t even be worth their time to try and talk to him.” Nonetheless, the Spirit moved and they decided to see if the man was open to listen. Quickly, the team learned that the man, Tito M, was open to listen as well as responsive. He had been a drunkard his whole life, and his family abandoned him years ago. On his own, he was forced to find shelter in a small portico with no walls, and rely on the kindness of others to provide for his physical needs. When presented with the gospel, Tito M expressed that he had never even heard the name, Jesus, because he was never taken to church as a child. Tito M explained that he knew he was broken and wanted to accept the free gift of Jesus Christ. The team will continue to pour into this new believer’s life through Bible study and fellowship.

We continue to pray for understanding of the gospel, that people who hear will be curious enough to want to learn more. 

Please pray for more opportunities to share the gospel with the communities and for the Lord to open the hearts of those who need to know about the true love of Christ. 

Pray for unity among each team as we continue to grow closer as a family and body of believers.

-Bailey
Media Team Member
Tropical Harvesters, Journey Church TH, & Island Ministry Teams

Meet the Team: Island Ministry

Island Ministry Team members with their national partners.
Left to right: Ray, Mercy, Caroline, Abby, Kate, & Katei

Abby is a recent high school graduate & will attend Jones Junior College in the fall. Her favorite food is homemade chicken alfredo and she loves stargazing. James 2:18 reminds Abby that this trip is for the glory of the Lord, and not for herself. "But someone will say, ‘you have faith; I have deeds.’ Show me your faith without deeds and I will show you my faith by what I do.”

Kate is a student at Western Kentucky University studying political science, religion, and history. She loves all kinds of French-fries and rock climbing. Psalm 96 reminds Kate to declare the glory of the Lord. She believes that through this verse, God truly reveals his heart for the nations, and that if the Lord loves the nations so strongly, she should do the same.

Ray recently graduated high school and will be attending Moody Bible Institute in the fall. Ray loves steak from Outback and the color yellow. Psalm 42:5 reminds her to stay expectant of what God is going to do, even when she gets discouraged. “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my savior and my God.”

Caroline currently attends the University of Southern Mississippi and is getting her bachelor’s degree in social work. Her favorite food is her mom’s chicken fajitas and she loves herbal teas. Joshua 1:9 says, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord you God will be with you wherever you go...” this verse helps her to know that the Lord is always with us no matter where we are.

Pray for team unity & boldness in sharing the Gospel.