Month: March 2012

The power of the Cross to impact peoples lives has always amazed me! You can’t encounter the Cross and it’s message of love and remain the same. I believe that the memory it etches in your mind, will remain with you for a life time. Today, we saw so many touched by the Cross. We saw children’s smiles as they got stickers, they got to touch the cross, follow the Cross and were excited to hear about the God that loves them. Also families that rejoiced because the Cross came to their house.

Today as we made our way to the crossroads in the center of the village, children were getting out of school and were everywhere! As soon as we started handing out stickers, children came running! Only few understood as I shared about God’s love but the smiles on their faces revealed the heart connection!

They followed us everywhere as we walked the streets of their village, up and down hills, along a dusty road to a big lighthouse on a hill, and back again. We all just smiled and laughed together as we tried to speak each others language. One time we stopped to talk and share with this huge family, only to find that more kids were following us afterward. It was a hoot! The father/grandfather of the family was so excited that the Cross had come by that he had all his children/grandchildren/nieces and nephews that lived there, come out to see the cross. We shared with them what we were doing and where the cross had been, which he interpreted and shared with his family. It was obvious that he had a great love for the Lord. After we had prayer with them, he said, “let’s make the picture” as he pointed to us and his family.

What a sweet time of fellowship. We then shouldered the cross and headed to the light house that was at the end of this long dirt road with our new found entourage of the Lord’s disciples! When we got to the lighthouse, we stood the Cross straight up and shot a picture of the children, the Cross and the lighthouse.

The next day, we decided to go the opposite way. We enjoyed stopping by each little market stand, mechanic shop and house, distributing the stickers and tracks that everyone so gratefully received. As we stopped in the shade of a banana tree, to get a break from the 100+/35+c degree heat, we noticed a family across the road waving us over. It was the start of a huge blessing! We carried the cross down their driveway to their little home. The man that greeted us introduced himself as Pastor Jesse and then introduced his wife and sister in law to us. Their smiles were so huge and infectious, you could just see Jesus all over them! As we sat there on a palm tree log, we shared coke, crackers and Christ!

The love and joy we shared in The Lord was so deep and real, this was one of those life meetings we will never forget! Their richness in Christ far overshadowed the poverty in which they lived as a struggling pastoral family in a very small village. Their church building was under a thatched roof behind their home, open air with no walls. I believe the Love is what held it up! Before we left, one of the most touching things that has “ever” happened to me was that this man of God, from his poverty, pushed into my hand a one thousand peso note (about $22,US) and said, “I want to sow into your ministry”! Well, the tears started to flow as Doreen and I struggled with receiving this generous gift from such a generous heart. It reminded us both of the widows mite. He would not take no for an answer as he assured us that the Lord would surely provide as they gave with faith from their poverty! No words can describe the love and faithfulness that we had witnessed in that moment! This passage immediately came to mind…(II Corin 8:2-4). “How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. For to their power, I bear witness, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves, begging us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.”

We are asking everyone who reads this to please pray for Pastor Jesse and his family and their health and work, in their little corner of God’s vineyard!

The last several days have been amazing! I’m  getting a cramp in my head trying to think of how to condense it so I’m going to give you the readers digest version.

We set out Sunday with our friends, Ronald and Charissa, to check out the north coast of Cebu island. LILO-an is a bit more rural than where we’ve been but we felt a spiritual darkness there immediately. The first hotel that we came to was on the beach but the rooms were very small and not very clean and we didn’t want to have Ronald and Charissa driving us around all day so we just decided to move there the next morning.  I was proud of Doreen for even being open to it! The worst part about it was, it was Kereoke beach, with five machines all within 100 feet of each other, and much of the time it was dueling Kereoke!! The interesting thing was that on Sunday when we went to check it out, a Jewish man, when he heard we were missionaries, came right to me and said, “I want to talk with you!” Then the hotel owner came over and began asking us many questions about what we believed, so “I WAS EXCITED”, I knew the fish were biting!!

After our first night of “dueling Kereoke”, come 8:00 the next morning, the dueling grueling Kereoke began again! I told Doreen that I would not put her ears through that, so we decided to head out looking for another hotel that morning. Though even if we found a place, we knew that we would go back there to find the Jewish man and perhaps the owner, to walk through the doors God had clearly opened for us to share the gospel of Jesus with them.

After our, not so quiet time and coffee, we walked out the tree lined drive way and turned right. We walked maybe 100 yards up the road, when Doreen spotted some people sitting inside, what looked like a roadside bar/hut/cantina and said lets go ask them if they know of a place. The owners were suggesting all the resorts further north, when the one man sitting there at the bar, named Uwe (a German), said, “I know a place you can get a nice room, clean, air-con, wi-fi,  and quiet for only 800 pesos. That was less than what we were paying for Kereoke beach. So, after we visited a bit, Uwe asked if we would like him to bring us there to see it. I said yes that would be fine, since I had a peace about it, so I tossed Doreen in the back of the little two seater truck and off we went zig zagging thru traffic and down some dusty potholed roads. I was relieved to see that she was still in one piece when we got there. What a trooper! She’s a real missionary!

Well, when we got there, turned out it was brand new and Uwe owned it. He was a carpenter so he decided to build a hotel there with a little store front and have his in-laws run it while he lives most of the year in Germany with his Filipino wife. It was still in construction stage though the rooms were finished and very nice. What an incredible blessing it had turned out to be! We knew God had led us right to where he wanted us!

So for the next several days, that became our base of operation. We were able to blitz this entire little village with the gospel tracks and stickers as we carried the cross! Some of the real special things turned out to be the way they fed and took care of us. Though he had no idea when he brought us there that we were missionaries and that I carried a 12 foot cross, Uwe just seemed to roll with it. One of the other special things was that when Uwe saw the guitar, I told him that Doreen was a gospel singer but she had also been a country singer for some years! When he heard, “country music” his eyes lit up, then I mentioned that she had opened for the Belamy brothers and he was even more excited because he had enjoyed them when they toured in Germany. After that, the die was cast, Doreen had to do a concert, he would not take no for an answer. So one night, Doreen literally sang for our supper! So much more could be said but it is already beyond the readers digest version! I’ll just say that we all had tears in our eyes when we left and our hearts were knit together! I believe it was the first time he had ever heard the clear gospel message. Doreen shared her testimony, as Uwe videoed it and she sang her song, “Because I Love You”.(Hisongs.com).

Many seeds were planted during our stay and we look forward to seeing each other again, here, there or in the air, as they say! Please keep Uwe in your prayers!  Before we left, he gave us his number in Germany and invited us to come visit them.

Carrying the Cross has always been my joy. The encounters with people are one of the things that feed me. Meeting them and hearing their stories, some brings joy and some brings hurt.  Some events are sooo exciting, as the Lord surprises me, the way He shows up and what He does! Some are just plain fun!
Like One of the days when I was walking down the road, I passed a fruit and vegetable stand around 100 meters long. As I made my way past the stands, I handed out stickers and tracks to the women that were selling there. They so gratefully received them. As I got to the last booth, the lady there thanked me and asked me what I was doing, so I stopped and began to share with her my story and why Jesus died on the Cross. I looked back and saw that all these other women had followed me with their tracks and stickers in hand, so as they gathered I just preached! I shared with all of them, the message of God’s love, while every so often, the lady that could understand English, would stop me and translate to the others. Those are the little encounters that are so exciting for me,you never know when they will happen. Those you can’t plan! It’s just Jesus!
The same day, to show you the ups and downs of emotions that I experience with the Cross, I was walking by a hut with a pool table in it, and I handed a track to, what turned out to be another Christian brother, I stopped and had fellowship with him about the things of Christ. While talking, a man came out from the “pool hall”, that we had given a track to the other day, and he wanted to talk. I went through the message of the gospel with him, trying to help him understand the love God has for him but he just wanted to argue which I do not do. Every time I have an encounter like this, my heart just breaks, because we, as Christians, know the fullness of life that Jesus gives and in reality, that is what everyone is looking for, meaning in life. But some, just refuse to see and like the old adage “there is none so blind as he who will not see”. So you love them and just move on.
The same day, less than an hour later. A news paper photographer spotted me with the Cross giving out gospel tracts to everything passing me. He stop his car in the middle of this crazy traffic, jumped out, followed me taking pictures, leaving his car where it was. Since it was rush hour, the cars, jeepneies, and motor bikes of various descriptions were passing me slowly. Which was great, because it allowed me to give them the tracts I hand out. Well he thought this was great. So he followed me for quite a while shooting pictures and trying to get “the story”! We had a great time, me with the Cross and him chasing me with this huge camera. He is a believer and turns out Christians here know him. Also getting the clear gospel message in the paper from an interview is always good!!

 Wed.,Feb. 29…
   Once again, the sights, sounds and smells have  confronted me all day as I carry the Cross. To think, many of these people and children have never taken a breath of clean air, walked a clean road or just enjoyed a pleasant view! The hustle and bustle of the Philippines, life in the city, creates these dirty streets, garbage and dying animals, it just blows my mind to see it all!! I meet so many and as I look into their eyes and listen to them speak, I know that they have never felt the joy of real love. It’s only use or be used! Oh, the emptiness in the eyes of many of those I encounter each day! There are so many children here in the philippines that are abandoned in the streets and left to, as best they can, raise themselves! One thing though, that is a stark difference, is when you meet a real believer and you see the light of Christ in their eyes. It is brought home to you again, the difference “Jesus” DOES make in a persons life and that is the hope you have for ALL people! That is also the motivation that keeps driving Doreen and I on! If they could just have ears to hear what the Lord is saying and His love calling out to them! Then there are those you meet who are so lost in the false security of “just religion” and Oh how dark is that darkness!! Jesus himself said, “be sure that the light that is in you is not darkness, but is the true light!” We meet so many here that just have religion, when the Lord wants us to have a relationship with Him. That’s why He died on the Cross, to pay our sin debt, to clean us out, to make a place where He could live, that through the resurrection and the gift of His spirit, He could come and dwell in our hearts and have the relationship that He so much desires!!
   

We got up early to get ready for church. Wow! How do I write about today?! We were able to meet and fellowship with a delightful group of believers, a connection only God could make. This little church group was a connection of a friend, of a friend, of a friend of Pastor Jonathon from Manila! (little did we know that this divine appointment would be the catalyst of all the ministry that we are to do here).God knit our hearts together from the very start!
Pastor Ronald and his wife Charissa are such a beautiful inspiration and testimony of a mission couple, living on faith! They show God’s love so beautifully through their self sacrifice and dedication. They reached out and embraced Doreen and I, as total strangers because our hearts beat alike in desiring to get the gospel out to the multitudes of people here on Cebu island! (we will speak more about their ministry later and how you can support their work and the difference they’re making in lives)
Ronald and Charissa have been building a work here that was an amazing thing for Doreen and I to see! As we watched a self-taught 13 yr old, play keyboard and  beautifully lead the worship team of other young people, all their hearts shining the love of Jesus! We were so honored because, as best they could, they did the service in English just for us! The day of fellowship that we spent will linger in our minds for a long time. Then late that afternoon they took us to their home for the youth fellowship service in their front yard. Under the shade of those trees, we listened to the young people share their stories and testimonies of how Jesus had changed their lives. The warm breeze blew through the yard and as the sun set, Doreen sang and I spoke. We were reminded once again that we were on the mission field!

-Ronald and Charissa helped arrange a room at “the baptist house mission compound”, which has proved to be a real blessing to us! One day after settling in there, we took the Cross out into the market place not far away. We handed out thousands of tracks and stickers which again, we’re so eagerly received which Doreen was amazed to see because it’s so different from America! As always here, it is HOT, HOT, HOT!!! But because of the hunger of the people, we were glad to keep going. We must tell you about this one young man around 19, that we gave a track to, who goes by the name “JR.” He works in this little tin shed on the side of the road which held an old sowing machine in it that he must use somehow to make his living. When we gave him the stickers and track, and shared with him that Jesus loved him, we could see that he was so grateful as the biggest smile you ever saw came across his face! It was so beautiful to watch him hanging on every word that I shared about the love of God. Though his friends came over, it did not even divert his attention as he listened. The last thing he told us was, “I will pray that prayer” as he pointed to the track!! Every time Doreen thinks of him, she remembers the insatiable hunger and hope she saw in his eyes, which still brings tears to her eyes!!

From my heart-Feb. 24, 2012…
Praise the Lord! As I write this, we are sailing between the islands in the Philippines… the last several days have been pure JOY!!  Though the sights, sounds and smells are all too familiar to me since I have been in so many places in this world, to Doreen, it is a first to a poorer country. To me it is a reminder that we are back on the front lines, so in that I actually have to say, I enjoy them, for I have so long been hungering with all my heart to get back to the mission field where I’ve been called! These multitudes of sights, sounds and smells help me to embrace the variety of God’s world and his love for all mankind! Whether it is the stench of the dumps in Nicaragua or the variety of smells of flowers in Fiji, Holland or New Zeland. I welcome them all because when I smell them, I know I am in the trenches for Jesus and this great big world NEEDS HIM!!
As we sit here looking out the big window in our cabin watching the islands and mountains go by, we do not know what awaits us ahead. All we know is that it is the island of Cebu! I look forward to carrying the Cross there. It was received well in Manila. Now we are taking it to another island. It is warmer there they say, and more rural. No matter, we go in His love! My prayer is that the Lord will allow me to feel a little of His heart for this people. He has always done that before and that is exactly why carrying the Cross and serving Him has the richness for me that it does. For life is not worth living till we look beyond ourselves and live for what’s important to HIM!!
Tonight we just enjoyed a quiet evening on board the ship. Dinner together was beautiful! Later, I walked out on deck for quiet time and to pray.
Sat. Feb.25…
Well, we will soon be docking in Cebu. Only the Lord knows what we will find there. We are ready, Jesus is with us! As we sail in, a beautiful rainbow welcomes us. We can see the storm clouds moving out. The sun is now up. We will dock at pier 5. We just received a text and we will have friends (we have not met), meet us at the dock. P.T.L!!!