Slap of Reality

On my short-term mission trip to the Philippines two summers ago, one of the ladies we had been discipling for several weeks asked my team and me a question. She asked, "If you have known about the Gospel for so long, why are you just now here?" Not only was that question a punch in the gut that has stuck with me to this day and will never fade, but it was also a hard slap of reality. 

Thousands upon thousands of people die each day and perish to a Christ-less eternity. They walk through life blind to their sin, to their lostness. They live in fear, with no hope. They are waiting & longing to hear the sweet name of Jesus. To hear that they are deeply loved. That they have a Savior. That they have hope. And that they have a purpose. 

They will always search, hunger, and thirst for the Truth yet never find it, unless you and I are obedient to the calling that God has placed on ALL of our lives to GO and make disciples of ALL nations. The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. They are waiting. They are ready. Will you go?   -Jacob

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

We shall have all eternity to celebrate the victories,

but we have only the few hours before sunset in which to win them.

-Amy Carmichael

Update from Gigi & Eastern Samar

Packed & ready to head back to the area

Not for us but for Christ.....let this video tell a story of what's happening after Filipino NT and American NT last 2015. Please keep the Waray Waray Tribe in your prayers as they continuously growing in Faith and for us, the local missionaries, to be more passionately seeking the lost, to be more understanding and patiently train the people in discipleship and not be weary. Strength and protection from any sicknesses and danger. To have a constant financial provision and good health. Wisdom for the next move, strategies and plans for this year 2016.

"Not to us, LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness." Psalm 115:1

Thank you so much for partnering with us....to God be all the glory!!

-Gigi

Eastern Samar Video

Waray-Waray Prayer Update

Believers are divided in groups to practice leading Simply the Word (STW)

“And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.” 2 Timothy 2:2 

Prayer concern:

1. Pray for Waray-waray leaders and disciples to be raised up from every village & that they will also reach out to other villages with the gospel.
2. Pray for Waray-waray people group that the eyes of their hearts may be enlightened so that they will understand the truth and the urgency of the Great Commission.
3. Pray for blessings for Waray-waray people's livelihood.
4. Pray and support for the follow up team's food and travel expenses as they move from village to village up river.
5. Pray for the follow up teams God's guidance, protection, strength and wisdom. 

Thank you to all partners and friends for praying and supporting me in this journey. To God be all the honor and glory. Amen. 

Brother in Christ,
Lovigie Dune A. Almine

Follow up team hiking into their area

Tell me how to know Jesus

This was the day Alice received her Bible. She cried tears of joy, and I cried with her. The previous day was the day she received Christ, her words pierced my heart and I could never forget them.

"I had been wishing someone would come and tell me how to know Jesus."

If you've heard me speak about my trip then you've heard her story. Not a day goes by that I don't remember these words. They changed me. I realized it's moments like this that I want to be a part of for the rest of my life; to be a part of what God is doing and to let Him use me wherever He will. Nothing else seems to matter anymore.

I have been told that Alice is now suffering persecution by her neighbors for studying the Bible, but she continues to study. That's what faith is. Please pray for Alice, that her faith would only grow in adversity.

There are so many people in the world whose hearts are ready, who simply need to be told how to follow Christ. Will you go to them?

“So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, 'Do you understand what you are reading?' And he said, 'How can I, unless someone guides me?' And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.”   -Acts 8:30-31 ESV

-Kallie

Mtn Trek 2015

Are you willing? Will you go?

"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

Thousands of people are perishing everyday to a Christ-less eternity, without ever hearing that they have a purpose, that they are loved, that they have hope, and that they have a Redeemer. And whether it is locally (your city), domestically (the U.S.), or internationally (the ends of the earth)... it is our responsibility as followers of Jesus to go out and share this Gospel of God's grace.

Are you willing? Will you go? 

After all, how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard and how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

-Jacob B

Waray Riverboat

Ulot Journal Entries: Jake

Jake and two of the kids from Bible Study

One thing that really touched me his summer happened the day before we left one of the barangays we were in. This one lady started crying and said, "Thank you for showing me the way to God." It really made me thankful to God that He has allowed us to be part of what He's doing to spread His Word around the world.

~ Jake

Oras Journal Entries: Zack

The power of prayer has shocked me and opened my eyes to how great God is and how much He loves to hear from us. Before leaving America, I asked a church to pray for the people here but also to pray that on the flight I wouldn't get sick like previous times. It was a selfish request but God answered that and comforted me through the flight. This was only the beginning of many answered prayers. Every day God answered our prayers. One thing that I prayed every day for in particular was that He would lead us to those He had set up for us to speak to and that our eyes would be open to those people. God has answered that prayer over & over.

Every single time and every single person we shared with felt God sent. He hears us and is great to us!

~ Zack

Ulot Journal Entries: Jacob

Team leader Jacob and his teammates 

All summer, God has been teaching me to completely rely on Him in every situation! July 24th is one of the nights when He really showed me this. Our team had run out of water and had to send our containers via boat downriver into town to be re-filled, but because of a power outage in town, we weren't able to get our containers back. We weren't able to wash dishes or anything, so that night for dinner we had to eat soup with our hands. Right before dinner a very nasty storm came in with gusty winds. The house we were staying in started shaking and there were leaks all over the bamboo thatched roof. We also lost power and had to eat by candle light. So we were all huddled around the table, eating our soup with our hands while only using candle light, all while the house was shaking and leaking!

Normally I would've been so stressed and upset about this but the Lord reassured me that He was with us.

Though He might not get us out of the storm, He will always get us through it! 

And that's just what He did! He really showed me that my strength was from Him and that He is my sustainer! He gave me so much joy in that moment and that ended up being one of my favorite nights of the summer!

~ Jacob

Happy Birthday Josh!

This past Friday, July 17th, our very own Joshua P. celebrated his 20th birthday. We knew it couldn't be easy to be so far away from family and friends on a day like this so we planned a bit of a surprise. We woke up early to decorate with the various party favors we were able to scrounge up and then surprised the birthday boy when he woke up! Enjoy a few pictures of the occasion.

Mango Float Birthday Cake
 (Probably the best dessert ever invented)

Jess and her national partner

The Crew and the Birthday Day Boy

 Happy Birthday Josh! May you have many many more.

~ God Bless ~

Oras Journal Entries: Dylan

Dylan, Mighty Jungle Adventurer

This summer God took and broke me in so many ways. One thing that God has taught me is to be obedient to His calling. The most interesting thing that happened this summer was how God used me even though my heart wasn't fully in it. I was going into week two of ministry, my team leader had returned home and my grandmother had just passed away. Needless to say, I did not want to go out and minister. However God still really used us that week. We were able to baptize 11 people, including the captain of the village. It was amazing and really encouraging to see that happen. God will use us no matter the situation. God has changed me in so many ways.

Thank you Jesus for breaking me this summer. Jesus you are my mighty warrior.

~ Dylan
#thebadguysLOSEthegoodguysWIN

Ulot Journal Entries: Emmy

Emmy and one of our national partners

This summer has been an amazing experience. God has stretched me in so many ways and taught me so much during these two months. At times it has been tough, but God would always pull me through. He has given me a new found confidence in myself. He has shown me that I too can be a leader and that I'm worthy to preach His name.

This trip has also shown me how important it is that we preach God's name and the Gospel to as many people as we can. Two experiences this summer have shown me this. The first was in Sitouma. We had been discipling these believers for about three weeks and it was one of our last Bible studies. We started saying our goodbyes to the people there and one of the ladies told us how grateful she was for us but then asked us, "If the Gospel has been around for so long, why are you just now telling us?" This really tugged at our hearts. It truly showed me how Christians have become so comfortable in their lives and don't see the urgency of going and telling others about the Gospel.

The second experience happened in onn of our most recent barangays. We had been having Bible studies with several of the people. One of the ladies was Ate L & we'd had several studies with her. You could tell she was very thirsty for God's word. On our last day we were saying goodbye to the people and praying for them and when we got to her house she told us how grateful she was for us and that "Because of you I now know the way of Jesus." It was amazing to see how God used us in this lady's life and how she came to know Him.

All the praise, glory, and honor goes to Jesus Christ for all the amazing, emotional, crazy, and fun experiences that happened this summer.

~ Emmy

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

How Long Have You Known?

Waray team national partners welcoming the American team members - Tacloban, June 2015

God is so awesome! The village we've been in for the past 8 days is a remote village on the Dolores River. All the houses are scattered and hard to reach, but the people are so receptive. They are the ones who come to us and ask for Bible studies.

There was an old woman with whom we shared the Gospel and she said to us, "I've lived in this world for a long time and I am very old now. Why is it that you have just come? How long have you known this?" 

When I heard this I felt such a heaviness and my heart broke for her and these people.

Before we left in the village we gave her a Bible and she was very thankful to God because now she can read the Word of God.

32 people joined in the Bible study and 3 people followed Christ through water baptism.
All glory to God!! 

-Sharon 

National team member

Eye Opener

A few days ago while I was with the Mountain Trek team we went out the the village of SN which is a different village than the one they've been staying in. It's also a different environment than the one we've found ourselves used to. The work there is more survey because it's a completely new area and if the opportunity presents itself the team is more than happy to set up Bible studies. However, this village has been very unreceptive. They ask their survey question and eventually sheer the conversation toward the Gospel but people have just been very closed to wanting to hear more.

The Mountain Trek team would not be discouraged though.

They kept up their work knowing that what they were doing was vitally important to future ministry in this village ad that maybe they weren't even planting seeds, but they were at least plowing the ground for someone to come behind them and plant the seeds so that someone could again come behind them and water the soil and so on.

I was privileged to be there when they finally broke ground and even saw fruit they never thought they'd be able to see in that village.

I was with Kallie and Glen and we were going house to house and the first one of the day had a woman named Mary Jane that Kallie spoke with... shared the Gospel... and was overjoyed to show her how to pray and accept Christ as her personal Saviour.

The very next house we visited held a woman named Leah that I spoke with and was able to lead her in the same way.

Both of these woman accepted Christ as their Saviour and are now assured salvation. It really hit Kallie and me that day the severity of what God was using us for. We both teared up a little and agreed that even if those were the only people we had seen come to Christ this summer it all would have been more than worth it. Two months of our lives for someone else's eternity? That will always be more than worth it.

It was an eye opening experience to see fruit in such a spiritually oppressed place.

Praise God!

Please pray for people's hearts to be softened and for them to have clarity when the team shares with them.

Please pray for Leah and Mary Jane. Pray for their husbands to understand God's love also. Pray for these men to see their sin, repent, and seek after Christ as their wives have.

Dolores Journal Entries: Parker

This summer has been life changing for me. God has shown me so much over the last two months. I have never lived my life like Christ is the center. I have never had quiet times or personal Bible studies and prayer. I have learned this summer the importance of that daily Bible Study and constant prayer! I have also come to the realization that God can use me! 

I have always had a fear or spiritual battle in my mind of how can God use someone with as dirty of a past as I have. God says in Psalm 103:12, "as far as the East is from the West, so far does He remove our transgressions from us." God does away with our sins and our pasts, we just have to have faith enough to believe He has done it. I have also realized how selfish I have always been in my walk with Christ! I have always prayed for Parker, and I now see that it is not about me... but about what God did and can do! Another realization that has come to me is that the Gospel is not about things of the Earth but about the eternity of mine and everyone's soul! 

One story from our ministry is that we had shared the gospel and given a Bible to this man and he simply said, "For years I have searched for the Truth, and all I needed was a Bible to find it!" The man had a truly simple faith, but had a much bigger smile than I did. We just had to have a little faith in a big God. Always remember, no matter where you've been or what you've done; God can and wants to use you, so let Him, and when Satan comes and attacks you always remember, greater is He that is in you, than he who is in the world! All glory goes to God! Let God guide you! 

Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

-Parker