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| Some of our friends in the barangay! |
During our time in the last barangay, our team had the opportunity to come alongside these 4 girls and disciple them very intentionally.
They each have a hunger for the Word of God that is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before— their hearts have surely been prepared by God and the prayers of His children. They have little access to the Scripture. Through resources provided through IMB, we were able to distribute New Testaments in the local language to many who God has faithfully been working in the lives of, and have been waiting for someone to tell them the good news of the gospel.
I have never seen people receive the gospel with such excitement or receive the Word of God with such hunger and eagerness. From the moment they’ve received it, they just can’t put it down!
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| Reading the Bible together |
One afternoon, we sat inside with the girls and discussed topics such as forgiveness of sins, assurance of salvation, confession to God vs. to the saints, and freedom in Christ. Two of the girls had just graduated high school. Before graduation here in the Catholic dominant culture, it’s tradition to have a mass for the soon-to-be graduates. One of the girls, S, told us how ashamed she always feels because of her sins, especially after confessing to the priest. She shared how many Hail Marys the priest had told her to pray to “pay for her sins” and with desperation she looked at us and said— “but even after that, I still feel so ashamed.” We shared verses like Matthew 11:28-30, Hebrews 8:12, Romans 8:1, and others that speak to the hope in Christ. Her face fell and with a gasp she looked at us, holding up her bible, and said—“I am going to read this every single day.”
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| More discipleship time! |
J responded to the topic of confession to the priest by telling us that after hearing so many Bible stories and reading Scripture for herself, when it came time for the pre-graduation mass with her classmates, she had come to the conclusion that she “did not need to confess her sins to a priest! I can confess to Jesus myself” and has experienced much freedom in it as a result! She said she received many questions from her classmates when she boldly decided to not confess like everyone else was.
What a witness this act of simple, yet bold obedience was! Praise God!
Prayer requests:
- That the girls we discipled would continue to seek and find truth in God's Word, and ultimately salvation.
- For the truth to become clear to them that Jesus Christ is the only way for salvation, and they only need forgiveness of sins through Him.
-Madison
Rural Healthcare Team
Philippines
