Oras Journal Entries: Taylor

Taylor and her Oras family

This is a story about failure and faithfulness. My failure and God's faithfulness. It was our last day in Rizal, a village with a  large, fenced-in compound for a local cult. They worship a man named Rizal, a Filipino national hero. That particular morning Ate Dee and I went out to talk to people about the Gospel and invite them to Bible study. We stopped at a little store to talk to about five women. I shared my testimony and asked about their relationship with Jesus, and one woman spoke up. She said we could believe what we believed, but she was Rizalian; she said, "Rizal is my god." I was dumbstruck and shocked, and I'm ashamed to say that I walked away from them having said nothing to challenge her false beliefs with the truth of Christ.
I left that village feeling disheartened and like I had failed. But God... (isn't that one of the most encouraging phrases?) just kept showing me that He hadn't given up on me. He used my little sister to tell me not to beat myself up about it, but to learn from it, that He's still got plans to use me for the rest of the summer. He used my little sister (yes Tori, He used you) and several others to restore me like He restored Peter after his denial.

It's crazy to me how He never gives up on us no matter how much we fail; He's always teaching us and guiding us with gentleness and love.

~ Taylor