Lessons Learned

God has worked in so many ways within the past four weeks. He has continued to open doors and provided a way when it looks like there may not be one. We have had our ups and downs, but God has remained faithful. God has taught us so much individually and as a team.

• We have learned the definition of missions. That in our every day lives we are on a mission to share the Word of God. We serve a missional God and His Word is a missional Word. Missions is not always a foreign country with people we don’t know; it is in our neighborhoods, schools, and workplace. 
• We have learned that evangelistical job of being a believer. We are meant to share, to always share, and to never stop sharing. The life of Christian cant be separated from evangelism. 
• We have learned that we serve a patient God and through that we have to be patient. Patient to see God work and to see His plan. 
• Lastly, we have learned to trust. To trust in God and all that He does.

God has worked in mighty ways and continues to show us how great He is. God is already in Batangas and continues to show how mighty and wonderful He is.

Continue to pray for our team as we finish the second half of our summer in Batangas.

Being able to CONNECT

When we are not on campus talking to students, we are spending time at Connect. Connect is a House Church in Batangas that our supervisors started planted. On Sundays we go to church and on Wednesdays we all gather for prayer meetings. Connect is also where our nationals partners, Kenneth and Emely, are from. Kenneth and Emely are both involved in campus ministries and have done Nehemiah Teams in various areas of the Philippines. Without them we would not be able to speak the language, navigate the city, or really know anything.

At the Connect House we are also able to host different events for students. One Friday we sat up tables and chairs, bought some sandwiches and coffee, and hosted a cafe night. Leah and some Connect leaders sang worship music and Caroline led us in a message about the Prodigal Son. We had at least 40 people in all to show up. We have also hosted movie nights, sports days, and just time periods to hang out and get to know the students. Through Connect and the people we have met, we have felt at home and like we belong.

Becoming Family

We have become a family: living under the same roof, cooking meals together, and serving the same amazing God. We have seen each other fail and succeed, cry and smile, and have challenges and victories. But most importantly, we have seen how God has changed our lives and the Filipinos surrounding us.

Batangas City, Philippines is where we have called home the last four weeks. About an hour and a half south of the nation’s capitol, Manila, Batangas is a thriving providence dominated by the Catholic faith. Different universities and colleges are scattered throughout the city, producing many students and our tool to go on campus. The 5 of us are split into 2 teams. Caroline & I teach at BSU and STI, while Alainna, Jen, & Leah teach at CLB. We are teaching conversational English to about 8 classes per week. Along with teaching English we have been given the opportunity to grow relationships with students outside of the classroom. We spend our days on campus, meeting students and sharing the Gospel. Our lesson plans for class include scripture, Christian songs, and parables from the Bible. Through this we have been able to share our testimonies and what God has done through our lives within the classroom. We have also incorporated Bible studies and what it means to have a personal relationship with Christ. Through these English lessons we have been able to show the love of Christ and shine a light on the truth.

Pray for the students in our classes as their hear scriptural truths on a regular basis. Pray that these truths will create a thirst to know more.

Tropical Fisher-women!

Enjoying a day off with our national partners

The Tropical Campus Fisherman team is made up of four beautiful, strong-willed, God-fearing women. Alainna, our team leader, is 22. She is a history major at Baptist College of Florida and pretty much keeps all of us in line. She has molded us into a family and with her strong mind and passion for God she leads our team with love and bravery.

Leah is our wisdom and knowledge. She is 20 years old and studies psychology at William-Carey University in Mississippi. She is the girl with all the answers to our questions and also the one to remind us of why we are all here. 

Caroline aka Carol is my teaching buddy and also the most kind-hearted person I have met. She is also 20 years old and double majors in Mass Communications and Christian Studies at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas. Caroline is compassionate, sweet, and humble, always ready with open ears and a willing heart to do whatever it takes to win people to Christ. 

Lastly, we have our laughter, our happy heart, and the reason we stay smiling – Jen. Jen is 19 years old and studies nursing at a local community college in Tennessee. Jen is on fire for God and spreads her contagious smile all around.

Tropical Fishermen

Our primary focus is college students. We are teaching conversational English at local universities and trying to build relationships with our students so that we can witness to them. The primary religion here is Catholicism, but most people are open to hearing what we have to say about having a personal relationship with Jesus. 

Our local supervisors, Kennet and Emely, are members at a house church called Connect, which is the church Kim and Jeff planted when they first lived here. Kennet and Emely are training us in evangelism strategy, culture and language. We try to build relationships with students and invite them to Bible studies we have at our house. At the Bible studies we do vision casting, which is essentially teaching them how to share what they have learned. Before they have confessed or been baptized, we teach them the importance of evangelism. 

Over the past two weeks I have been challenged to view evangelism and the Christian life very differently than I have in the past. The Christian life as we so often live it--focued on our own personal growth and being satisfied with inviting someone to church once a year as our contribution to evangelism--is no Christian life at all. We are teaching new believers that being a follower of Christ and an evangelist go hand in hand. Our culture and language training has been so helpful in getting through culture shock.We have learned a few Tagalog words (Tagalog, pronounced tah-gah-lo, is the national language and is not to be confused with Tag-along, the popular Girl Scout cookie) and are beginning to learn the cultural do's and don'ts. 

Although we face language and cultural barriors and sometimes we feel homesick, it is so amazing to see how God is working here. Being in the Philippines is such a blessing and I can't wait to see what the next five weeks hold. Every day we see God's grace and faithfulness as we live and witness.

Please continue to pray for open doors and boldness to share our faith. I am quickly falling in love with the people of Batangas and I look forward to giving you more details in the weeks to come. Thank you so much for your support and prayers during this exciting adventure! 

By Him and for Him, 

Caroline