First, my apologies for this taking so long, and secondly, a warning. This is long. Very long.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v661/Linachelle/Mission%20Experience/
Oh yes, and it's written more to the people who helped make it possible
for me to go on the trip. I didn't edit it for you guys. :P
Hope you enjoy!
Hello friends!
I’ve put off this letter writing a bit, because the thought of
condensing a month into a few pages seemed quite a daunting task! It is amazing how many things can happen in
the space of a month. During the
Mission Experience, I learned so many things, gained so many blessings, and
experienced so many new things. I thank
you all for supporting me in this trip that changed my life, and the life of
many others.
I began preparing for the trip long before it started. Time was spent it prayer, both for the
people in the Philippines, and for myself, that nothing would be between me and
God so that He could really work through me.
My evangelism group on the trip was Child Evangelism, and I would be
playing guitar for the Children’s meetings.
I was a little nervous about that!
The biggest group I had had ever accompanied was our small church, and
there would be hundreds of children at the meetings! I didn’t feel qualified to be such a key person in the
meetings. However, I felt that this was
something that God was behind, so I prayed that he would make up for my
inexperience.
The
trip started out with a long day of travel! By the time we reached Manila Airport I was so tired I didn’t
know what time it was, just that it was time for bed! We loaded our luggage (Praise God, it had all arrived safely!)
and drove to the Adventist Mission.
After about 3 hours of sleep and a much-needed shower, we headed back to
the airport for our flight to Palawan, a beautiful island situated in the
central Philippines.
The trip didn’t really seem to start until
we are arrived in Palawan. As we
climbed onto the bus that would take us to Quezon, our final destination, I
felt as though the trip was finally beginning! As we drove, I thought about the meetings that were just a little
over a week away, and was excited about what we would see God do during that
time. I watched out the window as we
drove past little villages, towns, and country homes. What will the place we stay at be like? I wondered.
Three
hours after our departure, we arrived at Villa Esperanza, our home for the next
3 ½ weeks. Right next to the ocean, it
had a beautiful view, and nice breeze.
I stayed in a cottage with four other girls, all in Child
Evangelism. We had a nice room, and
felt that we were especially blessed to have so many of us in one room because
we had so much fun together! We had
running water, and got used to taking cold bucket and dipper “showers,” and
flushing the toilet with a dipper of water.
The
first day at Quezon was spent in settling in, working with our Evangelism
groups, and a trip to town. We saw the
Adventist church, the sites for the meetings, and a chance to buy anything we
might need. The Child Evangelism group
had a great building for the meetings.
It was large, and had a stage with rooms to the side where we could keep
our equipment. I loved walking through
town – while it wasn’t modern, it had a charm to it, with it’s little huts and
stores. I felt like quite an oddity
with everyone staring our group!
The
next day was Sabbath, and as we arrived at the Adventist church, we received a
warm welcome, with handshakes, and greetings of “Happy Sabbath!” The service was almost entirely in English,
which was a big sacrifice for the church members. The people in front were nervous about their English, and the
members could only understand part of it!
We returned to the church after lunch for their AY (Adventist Youth)
meeting. It was so fun! After singing songs together as a group,
each pew would do something together like recite a verse, or sing a song. The Filipino’s love spontaneity! Next, they called a few from our group up to
share a testimony of something that God had done in their lives. I was a little nervous when they said that,
and hoped that I wouldn’t be called forward!
Mrs. Evert said it was a good reminder that we should always have a
testimony to share of what God has done for us.
After
the AY meeting, we split into groups and went out into the streets of Quezon,
passing out flyers for the meetings. It
was neat to get to see the people going about their daily lives, and see where
many of them lived. I prayed that each
person who received a fly would feel impressed to come, and would share it with
a friend.
The
next week was spent in training for the meetings. We would start the mornings with worship, and a group training
session where we learned about the Filipino culture, worked on speaking
clearly, etc. In Child Evangelism, we
discussed expectations for the meetings, worked on our song service, practiced
our sermons, and worked on craft materials.
I really enjoyed working with everyone, and as they days passed by, our
group grew closer. At the end of our
day, we took a break from our work, and enjoyed some recreation! We enjoyed fun games that helped us all get
to know each other better. I sometimes
think that was one of the healthiest parts of our day because we laughed so
much! We also had a chance during our
training week to give a short program at the elementary school to invite them
to the meetings. The children were so
excited to see us, and I prayed that many would want to come!
Another
important part of our training week was making sure that each of us had nothing
holding us back from working for God.
We wanted nothing to keep us from being effective witnesses for Him.
We
also had a couple of chances during the trip to enjoy some outings. We got to visit the open market, enjoy
breakfast, worship, and a swim at an island, visit a museum, and hike at Tabon
Caves. They were nice chances to relax
and have some fun!
There
were three Evangelism groups: Child Evangelism, DVD Evangelism, (3 speakers for
the adult meetings) and Health/Bible Work Evangelism. Everyone worked hard during the training week to be ready for the
meetings.
The
meetings began that Friday night. What
an experience! After setting up the
room, we gathered to pray for God’s blessing upon the meetings. I prayed that the room would be filled with
children, that we could have every bit of space filled! As the evening continued, I saw that prayer
fulfilled! Children kept pouring
in! I went around the room, welcoming
them, and attempting to pronounce their names.
I’m not sure whether they giggled because they liked the attention, or
because of my poor pronunciation!
Before I knew it, it was time to start the song service. As I went up on stage, I could really tell
that God was with me, because I felt no nervousness! All I felt was an excitement to be there, and a desire to show
these children Jesus.
We had so much fun singing with the children, and teaching
them the songs! Michelle preached an
excellent sermon, and the children sat listening with interest. When it came time for the craft, I sat in
the middle of a group on the floor, handing out supplies, and helping them with
gluing and coloring. I had my own
little “fan club” next to me – two sweet girls fanned me the entire time. They must have taken pity on my red sweaty
face! The time flew by, and soon it was
time for the ending prayer and song. It
had been a great evening, and it had been so incredible to see my prayer for
children answered so abundantly!
Each
evening followed essentially the same pattern.
After setting up the meeting room, our
group would come together for prayer.
This was really one of the most important parts of the meeting. As we would pray for one another, and ask
the Holy Spirit to be present, I could feel God’s presence, and strength to get
through the evening. Then we would make
our way to the doors to “open the floodgates” as we began referring to it. This scene got wilder and wilder every
night! Kids would dash around searching
for their nametag on the tables out front, then push their way through the
crowd for their attendance sticker before finding their seat. Beautiful gifts of flowers were brought to
us each evening, and the children would flash a beautiful smile as they
presented them to us. The programs
started out with song service, which was always a lot of fun. The better the children learned the songs,
the more enthusiastically they sang.
Next would be announcements, and some children would come up to recite
their memory verses. It was so fun to
see them learning God’s word! The
speaker would preach their sermon next, and although there always seemed to be
some children talking, they always seemed to know the answer to any questions
asked! This was followed by the craft,
which could be wild when it came time to hand things out! I was constantly calling out “Sit down! You get things when you sit!” I would be surrounded by a sea of little
brown hands reaching out, and a chorus of “ma’am, ma’am!” and beseeching
eyes. The children treasured the little
crafts they made, and enjoyed making them every evening. If we had time left, we would have a health
talk, sharing things on cleanliness, dental hygiene, germs, etc. We would close with a prayer and song, and a wave of
goodnight.
One
of my favorite parts of the evening was the song service. There is nothing like hundreds of children
singing. Nothing. After the first few meetings, the kids had
learned the songs fairly well, particularly our theme song, Lift up the
trumpet. The children would roar the
song at the top of their lungs! As the
guitarist, I would be straining to hear the song leaders, and keep time with
the children who had left the rhythm of the song for a shouted version of the
song. It was great – I never ceased to
enjoy the kid’s enthusiasm.
The
second night I preached my first sermon, which was on how sin entered the
world. Once again God took away any
nervousness I may have had, and filled me with a deep desire for the children
in the room to get to know Christ as their special friend.
Each
night I got to know more children better as I greeted them as they came in, sat
with them during the meetings, and helped them with crafts. They were so precious and enthusiastic!
Each
night we had an abundance of children, our average attendance being 350, and up
to 450 on some nights! I loved seeing
so many kids there.
We
had many miracles and blessings during the meetings. One that I will never forget happened the evening we presented an
appeal for baptism. Nearly every child
made a decision to be baptized someday!
As we began to work on our craft for that night, the electricity suddenly
went off. (This not an uncommon
occurrence in the Philippines, however, we had been blessed with power during
all of our other meetings.) There were
two seconds of dead silence, and then a roar of noise erupted from the
room! Some children were screaming,
some were making strange noises, and others, frightened by the noise were
crying. We were all trying to find our
leader in the dark, stumbling over screaming children who were heading for the
door. It was total chaos! We told all the children to go home, and
quickly emptied the building. What a
reminder of how blessed we were with electricity that was! As I thought on it later, I was struck by
the timing of the power outage. Not
until all the children had had a chance to make a decision to be baptized had
it happened. Amazing! One other miracle among the many we
experienced, is what I think of as the “re-appearing stickers.” Each child received a sticker for their
nametag each evening, so that we would know how many nights they had
attended. Shelly was our main sticker
woman, and as she gave stickers to the mass of children coming through the
door, and looked at her diminishing stickers, she knew there wouldn’t be enough
for everyone. She sent up a prayer, and
began handing out stickers from her last sheet. When she glanced down, she noticed she had one more sheet
left. I know I only had one
left... she thought. She finished that sheet then glanced
down. Once again, there was one more
sheet left! At the end of the meeting, she not only had enough stickers for all
the children, but stickers left over!
What evidence that God cares even about the small things in our lives.
The
last Sabbath was an extra special day.
We had programs for church in the morning, and that afternoon went to
the beach for the baptisms. Forty-two
precious souls were dedicated to Lord, including two girls from our team! I was so happy to see them making a decision
to follow Christ. That night we had our
last meeting, and talked about Heaven.
How I hope to see all of those children there! Bibles were passed out to children who had attended at least 14
of the 16 meetings. They held them like
treasures! At the end, there were many
tears as we said goodbye to the children, and church members who had helped us
with the meetings. They had become so
special to us over the past few weeks.
Sunday
morning we awoke early to the sound of singing. As I awoke from my groggy stupor, I found out that it was the
church members! Hurriedly we threw
clothes on over our pajamas and ran outside.
There a dedicated group of people from the church had come to sing us
farewell. I was touched by their
expression of love and sadness at us leaving.
For their last song, they sang a song about saying goodbye, and as they
sang, tears began to roll down all our cheeks.
We would miss these sweet people, to whom we had grown to love to so
much.
We
spent the day traveling to the island of Coco Loco, where we would have a
chance to relax, enjoy the wonders of the ocean, and reflect on what God had
done for us. The retreat was enjoyed by
all, and provided much needed relaxation!
Soon
it was time to travel back to Manila for our trip back to the U.S. I was ready to come home, yet it was so sad
to be leaving the Philippines, and all the people I had grown so close to in
our group.
I
learned many things on our trip. I
learned to enjoy the many little things in life so much more. I have never felt so rich before! I learned complete reliance on God, and
trusting Him to work things out. I learned
more about teamwork, patience, and love.
I learned that Satan can attack in the most unexpected areas, and we
must always have God close beside us to resist him. Most of all, I have a deeper desire to live for Christ, and to
share Him with others. He is my source
of comfort and joy.
Thank you all for
your help in making it possible for me to go on this trip. Your support, whether in providing financial
support or in prayer, has been greatly appreciated. It has changed my life for the better, and given me a new look at
life.
May God Bless and keep you,
P.S. I’m sure you
all would like to see pictures, and so I’m giving you that chance! I’ve loaded some onto a photo site so that
you can go and check them out.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v661/Linachelle/Mission%20Experience/
Also, I’ve included a link to a picture
of the Philippines:
http://nhs.needham.k12.ma.us/cur/wwII/WWII-p1-04/brooke-p1-jjp-4-1-04/images/map-philippines.gif
And
one of the island of Palawan
http://www.travelph.com/resorts/Palawan/images/palawan_map.gif
Enjoy!
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