God, The Ultimate Travel Agent!

Got somewhere to be?

Don’t have time to catch the last jeepney?

Never fear! God is here!

God, the creator of the universe and best 
all-around guide you could ever possibly ask for.

Really, infomercials aside, God is the ultimate provider and I can not tell you how many times He has provided Ate Gigi and I with transportation when, realistically, we shouldn’t have been able to, let alone had such an easy time of it.

Just a few examples:

We had to leave the Mountain Trek team by 5PM the other day so we could get back to their base camp, get our things, get down the road and to the street terminal so we could catch a ride to Tacloban before the jeepneys stopped running at 6PM.

We were really pushing it.

But we just had to be able to record at least a little bit of the presentation the team was sharing at 4:45 so we had to do it. Before the presentation started we all gathered around to say our goodbyes, because we knew Ate Gigi and I would have to end up slipping out during the middle, and we prayed for God to give us safe travels and transportation.

Well, the time came for us to leave and we slipped out the back after discreetly waving goodbye to the others up front and we headed out.

The first thing we had to ride was a motor-tricycle and we got one literally the second we walked up to the street, we had expected to wait at least a couple minutes. Well we get in and the woman that is driving us strikes up a conversation with Ate, which is rare enough, and then when we got to the street we need to switch rides and she actually refuses to let us pay! That NEVER happens, we insisted that she take the money and after going back and forth for a minute we finally got her to accept it. Just the fact that she offered to let us keep it made us want her to have it all the more.

After that we had to get on a motorbike and get to base camp to get our things. The man that took us there waited for us to gather our stuff together and get back to him so we could go back up the road with him and then on the way up a steep, bumpy hill, that we had yet to be able to get up without having a bike break down on us because of the weight and steepness. Well, we got up slowly but without having to stop and push the bike up the hill!

We finally make it to the street terminal to get a jeepney and we still had plenty of time. We had to wait a few minutes but that was nothing and we were able to get on one that wasn’t even that crowded (again, unheard of!).

We made it back that day incredibly easily and even had someone offer us a free ride. It was God’s planning at work for sure.

Another instance was when we were with Team Ulot and had a hike back to base camp that took 45 minutes. We were running late that day and didn’t get to start heading back until 5:20PM. The thing is, it gets dark here at 6, like pitch black dark and we REALLY needed to take a bath in the river that night and you just can’t after it gets dark, so we were booking it.

Not 5 minutes into the hike we encounter a family that offers us a free ride on their motorbike!

We couldn’t all fit but the girls went first and the man went back to get the guys after dropping us off. It cut the time dramatically and though we had to hurry we all still got to wash off that night. A blessing if I’ve ever seen one.

Pray and trust in Him to provide.

Seen & Set Free

"I have seen. I have heard. I AM."

These are fragments of the words which God spoke to Moses in the burning bush. They are also the same three lines written on dozens of burning bush crafts completed this week at N Church. 

It would have been easy to miss these words. In the one-room church where we held our Bible Club, kids clustered around benches, scrambling over extra sheets of red tissue paper, pin brads, and uncapped markers. But even if someone tapped at my shoulder every other second, I said it everywhere I turned:  

"I have seen. I have heard. I AM."

As I get older, I'm starting to realize this is all I need to hear. So many things can take captive those who Christ can make free. Here we especially see the captivity of financial struggle. Our team hears of a young man's experience living on the streets, or we spot another woman at the end of the day, head in her hands, drooping over a table of unsold snack chips, the wrappers as shiny as aluminum. How can the message of Christ free those in circumstances like this? How can the kids of this county understand that Jesus' sacrifice releases them even from the struggle they were born into?
Maybe if they hear it enough. Maybe if we speak about how God saw and heard his suffering people long ago, they can trust that he does the same today. 

When we finished the Bible Club yesterday, we drove out of the suburb and passed a young boy's house. It was P. He stood outside, the sun hitting his smile. He proudly held up his burning bush. And as he stepped past that crooked mailbox into an open doorway to dinner or no dinner, to lots or little family, I knew the promise was still the same for him.

I have seen. I have heard.

Please pray that the gospel shared during the Kids Club would be impressed in these kids' hearts. Pray for their physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Pray that their families might know Christ and receive his liberating grace.

-Ellen

God Revealing Himself

I went to church Sunday ready to teach a simple Sunday school lesson on Philip and the Ethiopian. Little did I know that God had more in mind.

After singing, I gathered the children and went to head back to our little room. All the children stood up to go except for one little girl on the front row. They tried to encourage her to go, but she wouldn't. I picked her up and covered her little head as we walked in the rain back to the little concrete room where we'd meet.

As I taught the lesson and we played games I was told something that I could understand because it was in French about the little girl. Watching her I thought maybe she could hear or talk, but later I found out she was mute. I watch as the children played games and skipped over the little girl, who's name was Sarah. She didn't understand how to play. She looked very sad and didn't interact with the other children at all. Looking at her face I could tell that she longed to. She didn't even have a touch of joy on her little face. It made my heart sad because I wanted her to have the joy that all children should have.

After the lesson was over I turned around and there she was asking me in her silent way to pick her up and carry her back outside, just like I'd carried her in. When we got outside her mother was praying with the pastor so I stood there holding her and waiting. My translator explained that the little girl couldn't understand nor speak and that she was born that way. Holding her close I prayed for her, asking God to let her be the joyful child she should be and to possible heal her if that was His will.

Remembering I had a headband in my backpack I sat down on the bench, pulled it out and placed it on her head. I snapped a picture and showed it to her. Her face lit up just a little. One of the boys took a picture of the two of us together. I showed it to her and her face lit up a little more. She got the attention of the lady sitting behind her that was her mother's friend so that she might show her the picture.

I grabbed her little hands, placed them on the camera and helped her take pictures. You could see the excitement on her face with each picture she took. She had to take a picture of all the children there and had to show them all the pictures. I had accepted her as the child she was and she was finally showing the joy that a child should show. The pastor prayed for little Sarah, we put her shoes on and she walked away with her momma, turning to wave bye as she left.

It may seem to be something little, but for me seeing her light up and interact with the other children Himself through her, or maybe God has greater plans for her that he will accomplish because she is mute. It may not be through healing her or maybe we will never see how God uses her. I may never know, but God does. God truly does love this little girl, just as He loves each of us.

After they left my translator asked me, "How can we say that God loves the children when he allows them to be sick like her?" The truth is that He does love little Sarah. her being mute doesn't mean that He doesn't love her it's simply the result of sin being in the world. I was reminded of the story in John 9:1-12 where Jesus encounters a man that was born blind. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents that eh was born blind?" Jesus told them, "Neither," rather "This happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him." It wasn't that God didn't love this man, but God had greater plans that he or anyone else would've thought. Jesus used this man's blindness to reveal God through the man. How great amazing is that!

Maybe it's the same for this little girl. Maybe she was born mute so God could reveal Himself through her, or maybe God has greater plans for her that He will accomplish because she's mute. It may not be healing as the man in the story, but God can accomplish His goal in so many different ways. I may never see what God's plan is, but God knows.

It was Sarah's mother's first time at church. I know God has a purpose in bringing them both to church that day. Please pray that God will bring her back and that she might be saved. Also pray for Sarah, that she would be full of joy and not worry what the other children think of her being mute and that, if it is God's will, she might be healed. She was a beautiful little girl and I pray she will see that.

In Christ,

Kaylee

Burden.

"What is this?" a young Somali girl asked me, pointing to my necklace.

"It's a cross!" I answered.

"What is that for?" she questioned.

"It's to remember Jesus who died on the cross for us," I responded.

"I will never believe Jesus is God!" She exclaimed. "Never ever ever ever."

Those words have been ringing in my head all week: "I will never believe Jesus is God! Never ever ever ever."

Here is this young girl who I have grown to love. We go into their home at least twice a week to work on reading and math. She and her siblings are so fun. They each have smiles that light up the room. They love to make up jokes and laugh. They won't let me be greeted or say goodbye without the biggest, most genuine of hugs. Their mother is kind and welcoming. I have truly grown to love this family. Yet the tough reality has begun to set in: they pray to a god who does not hear them. They are devout for a religion that is not truth. They spend hours a day at a school learning and memorizing a Holy Book that is in many ways contrary to the Bible. If they were to die today, I would not see them in eternity. Ouch.

Along with this deep burden, this week has been a really good week. May we not forget our call. We have been invited into homes, mosques, and shared meals around many different tables with many different people this week. It has been so good. However, it must not be taken lightly. Relationships continue to be built and Bible studies continue with our friend, A. There are also more potentials of Bible studies that we will continue to pursue this week. We are bringing light into thick darkness and at times we become weary. But God is faithful. What comfort it brings that he hears us when we call on him!

These verses have been constant in my mind and brought much comfort:

2 Timothy 1:7. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind.

1 John 4:4. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

Please pray that Bible study continues and that we have open opportunity to share the life saving news of the gospel.

-Hannah

The Misty Mountains Call

The mountains are like my life. One moment they're high and the next they're down, and then they go up again, waiting for the next fall. The mountains cried today with rain, trying to wash away their pain. But now a giant blanket of fog has settled over them, blocking clarity and understanding. But in the distance, I see leveled, higher, greater mountain peaks. And it gives me hope. 

Through this trip I have learned that things are really hard. No matter how much you plan for something not to go wrong... it can and will. But we have to remind ourselves, we are not the author. God is. Everything is done for a reason. God doesn't make mistakes; though at times we hope He does. 

Our God is for us. He will never forsake us. He will always be there through our hard times and He will guide us through it (kicking and screaming) until we can see the picture like he does. Our lives are like a giant book, with interesting characters coming and going at different times, new settings and new interest. If we let our author lead us, we see a lot of character growth from where we began.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."

-Liz