Pictures from Island Hoops & Healing

Take a peek into our world.... a few pictures from the past few weeks....

First house church gathering

Mid-summer break with the Mountain Harvester team

Kuya Jerome's baptism

2nd house church gathering

Always room for 1 more.... riding on top of the jeepney

Wise Thoughts

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.  Psalm 19:14

Pray for team members to have minds and hearts focused on Christ as they continue to minister to the lost.

Team of the Day

Island Hoops and Healing

Country of the Day

Philippines

God's Vision

Praise God for this week! We were invited to lead a youth fellowship. It was a great opportunity to cast the vision and help them catch God's vision for the world. There were 130 young people who attended the fellowship. We taught on the gospel hand, how to lead a Bible Study, and how to share your testimony with others.

I was reminded this week that we have two mission fields here, 1) to witness and 2) to help other Christians catch the vision. We have to live by the compass!
"EXPECT GREAT THINGS FROM GOD AND ATTEMPT GREAT THINGS FOR GOD."

-April, national partner
Island Hoops & Healing

A Hole, a tarp & some water

Praise the Lord! We got to baptize a man this past week! Praise God for the way this man has understood God's Word. He started out full of questions and uncertainties but the Lord provided clarity and it's beautiful to see the transformation. The general plan for baptisms is to do them in the ocean, but he is a paraplegic so that was not going to work in this particular situation. Our next idea was to find a large tub or something like that to fill with water, but no such container was available. Right when we were out of ideas and did not know how we were going to make this happen, by God's grace, we spotted a hole outside. We asked him if it would work and he said yes! The hole used to be used to burn coconut shells but no one was using it anymore. So we used a tarp that we borrowed to cover the hole, filled it with water, that's where we baptized him. It was an exciting event that we got to celebrate with him and family members he invited. Praise God for how He provided.

-Mia and Tori

Go

It’s hard to understand something that doesn’t have any information. Well our life has a lot of things that we need to understand sometimes or some people only focus on what they know or what they want to do in their life. God wants us to understand that He has a better plan for us instead of just doing what we know that satisfies us and will result only in physical things, which is only temporary.

It is God’s plan for us to enjoy life and He wants us to enjoy it with Him. For God is eternal and if we will be able to know what is God’s will for us then it will result to eternal joy.

As Christian we are called to glorify God. I know we all know that. But sometimes we forget other people. Do they not deserve to also enjoy life with God? Yes! They also must know that they can enjoy life not only on earth but also for eternity in heaven. So, as Christians we are called to “GO and make disciples of all nations.”

-Ecoy

Island Hoops & Healing national partner

Waiting on the Lord

One of our goals for this week was that we would wait on the Lord and rest in His timing. Apparently, God really wanted us to learn how to wait on Him. There were quite a few challenges to our week that no one could have possibly seen coming, whether it be getting almost a whole day rained out, searching all day for a waterfall that we never found, or a team member getting sick (I'm feeling much better now). There were many times when we had to wait on the Lord this week, but He has still been faithful to continue to allow us to share the gospel. This week people are still being saved even though we have had all of these setbacks. We have just been taught to rely and trust on the Lord this week.
-Jacob

Cuna Feel the Love Tonight?

This week we spent most of our time visiting homes of people we had already met and studying the Bible with them. The people of Cuna continued to be very welcoming and hospitable toward us and invite us back for future Bible Studies almost every time. A few people have already understood the gospel and others seem very close. God is definitely moving in Cuna, and it has been a great experience sharing Christ's love with them.

Please continue to pray for the salvation of the people of Cuna as well as the health and safety of our team so that we may continue serving the Lord faithfully.

-Daniel

Talon & Eriz

Continue to pray for Talon & Eriz as they help supervise 3 teams in the Philippines.

Pray for safe travels as they travel between teams.
Pray for open doors & hearts as they share the Good News.
Pray that they will be an encouragement to the teams as they minister alongside them.

#whywego    #ntp52

Opening Doors

This week was full of meeting new people, sharing stories, Bible studies, hiking (and getting lost), playing, dancing, and singing. It was also full of a ton of mosquitos and a new love/appreciation for "siesta time". But we are so encouraged to see what God has in store. We are only 10 days in and God has already opened so many doors. With 190 houses in this village, the opportunities to share the Gospel are plentiful. And the people are receptive (praise God for Filipino hospitality!). Please continue to pray for village C as we continue to share the love of Jesus!

- Bekah

Ready Testimony

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. - 1 Peter 3:15

Pray that team members would place Christ as Sovereign in their hearts. Pray that they would be prepared to speak the truth of the Gospel to all they meet. Pray that team members would actively seek opportunity to share Christ with others.

Team of the Day

Island Hoops and Healing

Country of the Day

Philippines

Reaching the Unreached

On a tricycle...

We are called to reach the unreached and the hard to reach. That is exactly what this team is doing.There is quite a bit of hiking and walking to get to the different places, but we are able to do it with joyful hearts because we want to share the gospel of God's grace with those who haven't heard. God has been able to open so many doors for our team. 

The boys have been able to play lots of basketball with the guys of the barangay (village) and the girls have been able to build relationships with the children. Although some trials have come our way, we are encouraged because we know that we are working for the Lord. As a team, we need boldness and to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that people's lives will be changed.

-Jacob 

Kids camp... singing & dancing with kids

Hiking up the mountain

The Great Adventure has Begun

Our team with our translators & supervisors

After 57 hours of traveling, we have arrived in the beautiful country called the Philippines. The Lord has kept us safe throughout numerous plane rides which included a 14 hour layover in LAX. We got to ride a ferry to the island we;re staying on and during this boat ride we were able to enjoy the splendor of a beautiful sunset.

Meet the Team: Island Hoops & Healing

Hi everyone! We’re the Island Hoops & Healing team headed to the Philippines. The team met this week but we’re already like family.

Our fearless leader, Bekah, is from Tennessee & goes to the University of Memphis. She is a Senior Nursing student.

Daniel is the one who always keeps it real. He’s from Mississippi & is a senior pre-med students at eh University of Alabama.

Jacob is the team jokester. He’s studying Science Education at Auburn University.

Tori is from Illinois & is a junior Bio-med Engineering student at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. She has a contagious laugh.

And I’m Mia, a Mississippian who just graduated from East Mississippi Community College with a degree in Healthcare Data Technology.

That’s the fam! You’ll hear from us again soon.  God Bless!

-Mia